"The Core of Yoga is Myself - When the Doing Stops" (2022).
Bernd Zeiger
A means of writing must be found which conveys
the thought processes that lead to
discoveries. Physicists have been of little help in thi
because most of them have no "historical sense." ....
The struggle with their problems, their trying
everything to find a solution which came at last often
by very indirect means, is the correct picture.
Albert Einstein
in “Conversations with Albert Einstein"
by R. S. SHANKLAND
American Journal of Physics 31, 47 - 57 (1963)
The book by Daniela Pickhardt and Joachim Pfahl describes in a true-to-life way the state of development of yoga reception at the beginning of the 21st century. A yoga exercise program is presented that integrates body-related exercises with mental yoga exercises (meditation). In no other book is this presented so comprehensively. This is shown by the following typical topics of the book:
- The foundation of yoga in the Upanishads of the Veda.
- The importance of the naturalness and effortlessness of yoga meditation.
- The integrating effect of yoga meditation on waking, dreaming and sleeping
- The contribution of yoga meditation in stress reduction and trauma processing.
- The holistic understanding of Patanjali's Ashtanga Yog
(1) stability, (2) flexibility, (3) integration, (4) purification, and (5) growth.
The methodological approach of characterizing the holistic experiences and effects associated with yoga through developmental qualities was developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi(1918 2008). From this perspective, the book reviewed here describes the contemporary milestones of the global yoga reception
1. Stability: The Upanishads of the Veda as the Core of Yoga.
Daniela Pickhardt and Joachim Pfahl start their book with a quotation from the Vedic Upanishads. By referring to the Upanishads right at the beginning, the book places itself in a cultural development that is increasingly shaping the entire global civilization. Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804) characterized this cultural impulse emanating from Europe as the transcendental quality of intelligence. This occidental enlightenment received timely confirmation by the first translations of the Upanishads into European languages towards the end of the 18th century. The word Upanishad (literally: "to sit near") expresses that the answer to all questions and problems of the complex world of events is not to be found far away and in the outside, but directly in the here-and-now of the consciousness of every human being. The "Transcendentalist" Friedrich W. J. Schelling (1775 - 1854) became an influential catalyst for the leap in knowledge starting in all areas of science and technology in the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century this development resulted in the discovery of the silent world of quanta. Especially Erwin.Schrödinger (1887 - 1861) and Carl :F. von Weizsäcker (1912 - 2007 ) explicitly pointed out the correspondence between the Absolute Being of the Upanishads and the quantum mechanical reality. The term Transcendental Meditation - as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1918 - 2008), calls the yoga meditation taught by him - can be seen as a practical realization of Kant's concept of transcendence, representing the unlimited "possibility of experience and cognition" inherent in the consciousness of every human being. Transcendental Meditation and yoga meditation are synonyms.
The quotation from the Upanishads with which D. Pickhardt and J. Pfahl begin their book characterizes yoga as "coming to rest of the senses, the mind and the intellect." Practically, this means: "He who can run, has also the ability to stand still". All essential findings and developments of the European culture, especially in science and technology are based on the interplay of rest and activity, which is called dynamics.
The scientific research of Transcendental Meditation since the early 1970s confirmed the close relationship between the physiological, biochemical, psychological, sociological and ecological effects of yoga meditation on the one hand and the fundamental improvements in the quality of life on the other. Stability, flexibility, integration, purification and growth are the main characteristics of this development, having as stable core the I-ness or quality of being. the absolute reality of the Upanishads
The quotation from the Upanishads with which D. Pickhardt and J. Pfahl begin their book characterizes yoga as "coming to rest of the senses, the mind and the intellect." Practically, this means: "He who can run, has also the ability to stand still". All essential findings and developments of the European culture, especially in science and technology are based on the interplay of rest and activity, which is called dynamics.
The scientific research of Transcendental Meditation since the early 1970s confirmed the close relationship between the physiological, biochemical, psychological, sociological and ecological effects of yoga meditation on the one hand and the fundamental improvements in the quality of life on the other. Stability, flexibility, integration, purification and growth are the main characteristics of this development, having as stable core the I-ness or quality of being. the absolute reality of the Upanishads
Yoga meditation and quantum theory together point to a correspondence between ancient knowledge and modern discoveries. The experience of the ground state of the conscious mind through yoga meditation corresponds exactly to the quantum mechanical state of least excitation or the "vacuum state" of unified quantum field theories. Parallel sdescriptions are found throughout the Vedic literature, especially in the Upanishads. The oldest knowledge of mankind proves to be the most modern.
This chart presents parts of a presentation during the conference on "Ancient Insights and Modern Discoveries" in Bombay, 1977. The qualities of the ground state in quantum physics, in the personal experience by Transcendental Meditation and/or on the basis of objective phsychological, biochemical, physiological and sociological investigations are supplemented in the original presentation in addition to the Upanishads by corresponding quotations from the Vedas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, Smrtis, Puranas and the Bhagavad Gita.
2. Flexibiliy: The naturalness and effortlessness of yoga meditation.
"The End of Doing" – this subtitle of the book by D. Pickhardt and J. Pfahl - denotes the second milestone of modern yoga reception, another consequence of the unification typical of yoga.
The transcendental aspect of life take n into account as a direct experience by means of yogya, does not remain without effect, since all the specific expressions of the subject - vitality, cognition, willing, feeling, thinking - have their origin.in the ground state of the conscious mind. This state of least excitation of consciousness is a reservoir of energy and intelligence. Life is profoundly enriched by it. This enrichment, however, is not a product of an effort or the acquisition of something foreign, but solely the consequence of the inate potential of abilities and talents already existing in every human being.
However, a certain cultivation is required so that the entire potential of consciousness can flow into thought and action. Yoga brings about this cultivation through meditation, the 2nd milestone in the assimilation of yoga. The modern yogic meditation culture developed in the 20th century through the growing number of meditation teachers worldwide and the example of meditating personalities . As a result, more and more people have a clear and realistic idea of what yoga meditation practically means. The key term is "connection" which D. Pickhardt and J: Pfahl repeatedly point out in their book .
Yoga meditation is the cultivation of the mind's ability or role to connect consciousness with the ealm of the senses,activity, and behavior
.Unlike the content related thinking, which recognizes or establishes relationships between objects or systems within a particular realm, meditation is connecting the source (reservoir) of all mental impulses with the target realm (sink) of thought sequences. Yoga meditation thus connects two levels between which there is a gradient:e.g. Between unexpressed and expressed, potential and actual, being and becoming. This makes yoga meditation an independent and indispensable part of every culture.
D. Pickhardt and J: Pfahl confirm this development in the modern global cultufre through many of their own experiences.
Yoga meditation fulfills its purpose only when the transcendental being is increasingly expressed in the activity of the mind, not so much concerning the content of thoughts, but their quality of energy and intelligence. The inflow of the power of silence is optimal when this process is not influenced by individual volition, but is entirely carried by the intrinsic dynamics of consciousness. An essential characteristic of yoga meditation therefore is its effortlessness. D. Pickhardt and J. Pfahl point this out again and again.
Another concept that is important for the understanding of meditation is naturalness. D. Pickhardt and J. Pfahl justify this with the help of the principle of equality of action and reaction discovered by physics, which says that. in nature effort and effect correspond to each other. According to this principle, there is one single measure for all changes in nature. Physics calls this measure "action" (in German usually called "Wirkung"). All those processes or activities are labeled "natural" where small changes in the sequence of events have no effect on the "overall balance" of the action. This "stationarity of action" is the basis of the economy principle of nature. This principle, first clearly stated in the 18th century, says that in natural processes a maximum effect is always achieved with a minimum of effort. Through this mini-max principle, natural processes become the fixed points of attention, because they are precisely determined and calculabl
"The End of Doing" – this subtitle of the book by D. Pickhardt and J. Pfahl - denotes the second milestone of modern yoga reception, another consequence of the unification typical of yoga.
The transcendental aspect of life take n into account as a direct experience by means of yogya, does not remain without effect, since all the specific expressions of the subject - vitality, cognition, willing, feeling, thinking - have their origin.in the ground state of the conscious mind. This state of least excitation of consciousness is a reservoir of energy and intelligence. Life is profoundly enriched by it. This enrichment, however, is not a product of an effort or the acquisition of something foreign, but solely the consequence of the inate potential of abilities and talents already existing in every human being.
However, a certain cultivation is required so that the entire potential of consciousness can flow into thought and action. Yoga brings about this cultivation through meditation, the 2nd milestone in the assimilation of yoga. The modern yogic meditation culture developed in the 20th century through the growing number of meditation teachers worldwide and the example of meditating personalities . As a result, more and more people have a clear and realistic idea of what yoga meditation practically means. The key term is "connection" which D. Pickhardt and J: Pfahl repeatedly point out in their book .
Yoga meditation is the cultivation of the mind's ability or role to connect consciousness with the ealm of the senses,activity, and behavior
.Unlike the content related thinking, which recognizes or establishes relationships between objects or systems within a particular realm, meditation is connecting the source (reservoir) of all mental impulses with the target realm (sink) of thought sequences. Yoga meditation thus connects two levels between which there is a gradient:e.g. Between unexpressed and expressed, potential and actual, being and becoming. This makes yoga meditation an independent and indispensable part of every culture.
D. Pickhardt and J: Pfahl confirm this development in the modern global cultufre through many of their own experiences.
Yoga meditation fulfills its purpose only when the transcendental being is increasingly expressed in the activity of the mind, not so much concerning the content of thoughts, but their quality of energy and intelligence. The inflow of the power of silence is optimal when this process is not influenced by individual volition, but is entirely carried by the intrinsic dynamics of consciousness. An essential characteristic of yoga meditation therefore is its effortlessness. D. Pickhardt and J. Pfahl point this out again and again.
Another concept that is important for the understanding of meditation is naturalness. D. Pickhardt and J. Pfahl justify this with the help of the principle of equality of action and reaction discovered by physics, which says that. in nature effort and effect correspond to each other. According to this principle, there is one single measure for all changes in nature. Physics calls this measure "action" (in German usually called "Wirkung"). All those processes or activities are labeled "natural" where small changes in the sequence of events have no effect on the "overall balance" of the action. This "stationarity of action" is the basis of the economy principle of nature. This principle, first clearly stated in the 18th century, says that in natural processes a maximum effect is always achieved with a minimum of effort. Through this mini-max principle, natural processes become the fixed points of attention, because they are precisely determined and calculabl
Quantum mechanical connectedness versus economy principle of nature
A graphic and precise description of the connection between the self-referral reality of quanta and the economy principle of nature comes from R. Feynman (1918 - 1988). He recognized that that the development of events runs smoothly from beginning to end and is precisely determinable, if the following characteristics are fulfilled:
- freedom: every single individual path of development (trajectory) make a contribution
- justice: all paths are judged with the same measure (action)
- coherence. All paths complement each other through superposition (interference).
The property of coherence allows two limiting cases: Constructive and destructive interference.
In case of constructive interference the interconnectedness of all possible ways of development is strengthened, which corresponds to complete frictionless relations, while by destructive interference the interconnectedness is damped in such a way that the natural behavior determined by the principle of economy dominates. So, what makes the naturalness of the economy principle possible in the first place is restriction of quantum coherence by destructive interference.
The natural course of develpment determined by the economy principle has optimal effectiveness; however, this can also refer to destructive processes. For example, from this point of view, wars and catastrophes are natural phenomena to balance tensions. Exercise of power, effort, struggle, and other volition-driven activities have a place in the framework of the economy principle. They therefore need to fulfill quality criteria that ensure collective order. To prevent wars, the economy principle alone is not sufficient rather it must be supplemented by coherence principles that reduce or prevent tension; conflict and friction.
Quantum theorists were the first to recognize the great cultural importance of effortless, harmonious behavior. Hans Primas (1928 – 2014) expressed this very clearly:
"Now the global problems of our mastery of nature are accumulating to such an extent that it seems incredible to us that things can be put right again without a fundamental reorientation of natural science. The fact that nature has become manipulable to an unparalleled degree and is also ruthlessly manipulated is closely related to the fact that modern natural science is limited to knowledge of exerting power and is unable to offer knowledge of cultured action."
Primas, H. (1992): Umdenken in derNaturwissenschaft.Vierteljahrschrift der NaturforschendenGesellschaft in Zürich 137, pp. 41–62
https://www.ngzh.ch/archiv/1992_137/137_1/137_5.pdf
https://www.ngzh.ch/archiv/1992_137/137_1/137_5.pdf
Primas, H. (1992): Umdenken in der Naturwissenschaft. Gaia 1, 5–15.
Primas, H. (1994): Umdenken in der Naturwissenschaft.Rotary 9(8), 48–51
Primas, H. (1994): Umdenken in der Naturwissenschaft.Rotary 9(8), 48–51
As the development of modern physics has shown, the exploration of naturalness and effortlessness leads to the core of modern civilization, which theoretical physics describes as the Unified Field of all the laws of nature which in yoga is the phenomenon of self-reference. The book by D. Pickhardt and J. Pfahl proves the great importance of yoga meditation in the realization of social coherence: yoga becomes a synonym for coherence.
3. Integrating effect of yoga meditation on waking, dreaming and sleeping.
The stability and flexibility integrating effect of yoga mediation is the 3rd milestone of global yoga reception. Daniela Pickhardt and Joachim Pfahl particularly emphasize the integrating role of consciousness. Their contribution to consciousness research and the promotion of mind-body coordination has the daily alternation of waking, dreaming and sleeping as starting point.
Yoga meditation complements the three interrelated and therefore relative states of consciousness by the experience of restful alertness a the fourth major state of consciousness. The term "4th state" comes from the Upanishads and was introduced to consciousness research by Robert K. Wallace as part of his dissertation on the physiology of Transcendental Meditation (1970). The regular practice of yoga meditation cultivates an integrated state of the nervous system. While waking, dreaming, and sleeping alternate during the day, while restful alertness is permanently reflected by the nervous system. In this way, the potential for development contained in the three relative states becomes accessible and forms the basis for higher states of consciousness, first of all the consciousness integrating rest and activity, which encompasses the entire range of immediate perception from the relative to the absolute and which is therefore called cosmic consciousness.
Already in the traditional yoga teachings of Patanjali the subject of psycho-somatic integration occupies a large space. Coherence, i.e. orderly interaction, proves to be a key phenomenon in all applications of yoga. From the observed connection between individual and social coherence, a synergetic research approach developed in the 1970s based of the transdisciplinary concept of "collective coherence", and which allowed to uniformly substantiateall the effects typical of yoga:
The book by D. Pickhardt and J. Pfahl is full of such AHA experiences.
5. Growth: Holistic interpretation of Patanjali´s Ashtanga Yoga
Yoga is essential for growth. This is the 5th milestone in the modern assimilation of yoga, which relates to prevention, a central theme in the book by Daniela Pickhardt and Joachim Pfahl
"Avert the danger that has not yet come" is a core tenet of yoga formulated by Patanjali more than 5000 years ago.
Even so the discovery of fundamental laws of nature by modern science has improved the overall quality of life, this advance has also dramatically increased the imbalances in life. The majority of people are far from happy. This points to fundamental deficits in knowledge and to the need for further development of the area of life that makes experience and knowledge possible in the first place. The consciousness of every human being is the area where growth is most needed if disaster is to be averted. Only when this area of life is included does growth bring the desired fulfillment. If this does not happen, the principle of entropy increase will take hold with full force and burnout is the inevitable consequence.
Orderly growth requires an alternation of activity and regenerative rest. In this regard, D. Pickhardt and J. Pfahl refer to a knowledge that everyone who practices yoga knows: Ashtanga Yoga is the key to achieving beneficial growth. Ashta means “eight” and anga means “limb” (ith connotation: “measure”).
The eight limbs of yoga establish a practical system of how to simultaneously coordinate and harmonize all areas of life: (1) behavior with the environment, (2) physiology and nervous system, (3) movement system, (4) breathing, (5) sensory experience, ( 6) thinking (7) meditating and (8) self-reference.
Because for Daniela Pickhardt and Joachim. the self or self-reference is the core of yoga, the eight-limbed stucture of yoga expresses a concentric order of life. Therefor it is safest to begin with the limb closest to the center of life. . With the self - the I-am - as the core of yoga, the state of the balanced, innocent-open, transparent intellect - sama-dhi - becomes the central experience of yoga. All other limbs specify this base experience. The simplest form of yoga is thus the simplest experience and this is defined by Patanjali at the very beginning of his Yoga Sutras.
Because the simplest experience is so central to yoga, yoga as a whole is understood as a system for cultivating direct perception. All areas of experience are already available in a unified form at the basis. or emerge from it.
Quantum mechanics describes an analogous situation where all expressed states e.g. of an atom, are already present in the ground state and can be systematically derived from this. What unfolds from the basic state is nothing other than what originally already existed as a whole at the basis. From the hydrogen atom as the simplest atom, 8 basic patterns of the behavior of atomic matter can be derived. These are the eight main groups of the periodic table of chemical elements found empirically.
The 8 limbs of yoga also describe an empirically given concentric structure of life, which deficts both the holistic nature of the individual areas of perception as well as the entire range of perception. Growth in the realm of direct perceptible suluminates in a singular state that includes all possible experience and is therefore called cosmicconsciousness. This corresponds entirely to the empirically based world view of modern cosmology. The universe can constantly expand because it is interspersed with collection points, called black holes, the regenerative stops for all what is happening in the universe.
However, the cultivation of human intelligence does not end with cosmic consciousness, nor does the cultivation of the nervous system end at this stage. Daniela Pickhardt and Joachim Pfahl point out that the knowledge that encompasses the entire range of the impulses of intelligence present in consciousness is called Veda. Veda is the basis for the realization of higher states of consciousness. The growth of consciousness ranges from cosmic consciousness to God consciousness to consciousness of the unity of part and whole.
Already in the traditional yoga teachings of Patanjali the subject of psycho-somatic integration occupies a large space. Coherence, i.e. orderly interaction, proves to be a key phenomenon in all applications of yoga. From the observed connection between individual and social coherence, a synergetic research approach developed in the 1970s based of the transdisciplinary concept of "collective coherence", and which allowed to uniformly substantiateall the effects typical of yoga:
1. reversal of the aging process, 2. health care, 3. creativity-enhancing education, 4. rehabilitation of crime and substance abuse, 5. life-conforming industrial development, 6. ecologically sustainable agriculture and forestry, 7. cultural integrity, and 8. world peace.
To meet these challenges in practice, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi developed a universally applicable coherence strategy at the European Research University (MERU), which he founded in !976. This strategy is based on the interaction (samyama) described in detail in the yoga teachings of Patanjali as the integration of
(i) natural thinking (dharana), (ii) effortless quieting of the mind (dhyana), and (iii) the source of thoughts (samadhi).
The interaction of these three limbs of yoga establishes an "automatism" (Siddhi program), which permanently enlivens the connecting link between being and becoming or psyche and physiology and thus forms the basis for a fulfilling life.
The universal principle thereby coming into effect thereby realizes the condition for the spontaneous emergence of order by reducing the excitation. This principle is based on the existence of a common ordering factor both for the sequence of collective states and for the internal states of the individual units. In other words, this principle says that the orderliness of a collective goes parallel to the accessibility of the ground state by the individual entities. This principle is applied, for example, when a doctor prescribes rest for a patient in order to restore health, or when judges isolate criminals from society in order to give them an opportunity to come to their senses.
Because this principle was discovered at the beginning of the 20th century by the physical chemist Walther Nernst (1864 - 1941), its objective consequences have been thoroughly researched and are used in many ways. Physics calls the principle the 3rd law of thermodynamics. This principle gives all physical dynamics - collective and individual -- an absolute foundation in the form of the quantum mechanical ground state, which is also the simplest and purest representative of quantum reality.
So far, however, the Third Law of Thermodynamics is taught at schools and universities exclusively with regard to the material-objective nature. Not taught is the consciousness-related generalization, which enables pupils and students "to reduce their mental anxiety and thereby create order in their feelings, thoughts, actions and behaviors ". However, this is the scientifically confirmed effect of integrating yoga meditation into all areas of society: education, health care, law, industry, culture, administration and defense.
Daniela Pickhardz and Joachim Pfahl especially point out the contribution of yoga meditation in treating the effects of traumatic events. Traumatic blockages are long-term burdens on life and are essentially responsible for reoccuring behavioral problems, for tensions being passed on from generation to generation, and for the failing to realize a conflict-free society despite good intentions.
The barriers or thresholds or obstacles to the integrated development of consciousness therefore require special attention.
(i) natural thinking (dharana), (ii) effortless quieting of the mind (dhyana), and (iii) the source of thoughts (samadhi).
The interaction of these three limbs of yoga establishes an "automatism" (Siddhi program), which permanently enlivens the connecting link between being and becoming or psyche and physiology and thus forms the basis for a fulfilling life.
The universal principle thereby coming into effect thereby realizes the condition for the spontaneous emergence of order by reducing the excitation. This principle is based on the existence of a common ordering factor both for the sequence of collective states and for the internal states of the individual units. In other words, this principle says that the orderliness of a collective goes parallel to the accessibility of the ground state by the individual entities. This principle is applied, for example, when a doctor prescribes rest for a patient in order to restore health, or when judges isolate criminals from society in order to give them an opportunity to come to their senses.
Because this principle was discovered at the beginning of the 20th century by the physical chemist Walther Nernst (1864 - 1941), its objective consequences have been thoroughly researched and are used in many ways. Physics calls the principle the 3rd law of thermodynamics. This principle gives all physical dynamics - collective and individual -- an absolute foundation in the form of the quantum mechanical ground state, which is also the simplest and purest representative of quantum reality.
So far, however, the Third Law of Thermodynamics is taught at schools and universities exclusively with regard to the material-objective nature. Not taught is the consciousness-related generalization, which enables pupils and students "to reduce their mental anxiety and thereby create order in their feelings, thoughts, actions and behaviors ". However, this is the scientifically confirmed effect of integrating yoga meditation into all areas of society: education, health care, law, industry, culture, administration and defense.
Daniela Pickhardz and Joachim Pfahl especially point out the contribution of yoga meditation in treating the effects of traumatic events. Traumatic blockages are long-term burdens on life and are essentially responsible for reoccuring behavioral problems, for tensions being passed on from generation to generation, and for the failing to realize a conflict-free society despite good intentions.
The barriers or thresholds or obstacles to the integrated development of consciousness therefore require special attention.
4, Purification: Stress reduction, trauma processing and restful sleep through yoga meditation
The book by D. Pickhardt and J. Pfahl conveys key insights through direct reference to the authors' own experience with yoga meditation for confirmation or illustration. The hopeful perspective is that it is always possible to largely compensate for the consequences of past mistakes and negative experiences. This cleansing and rehabilitation effect is the by-product of the integrated overall development promoted by yoga meditation. This is the fourth milestone in the modern assimilation of yoga.
Since the phenomenon of self-reference became accessible to individuals through the practice of yoga meditation in the second half of the 20th century,in parallel the realization developed due to the intensive exchange of ideas and experiences in the academic field, that self-interaction also provides access to all the laws of nature. The Self, which provides a stable and adaptable foundation for one's life, is also the home of all laws of nature. The remarkable consequence of this synchronicity is that the laws of nature are no longer just concepts to be reckoned with, but are a living reality whose consequences people must constantly reckon with. It is therefore ultimately irrelevant whether the fundamental laws of thermodynamics are theoretically known. They automatically shape individual and collective life.
An inevitable consequence of the second law of thermodynamics is, for example: Whoever mobilizes all his energies in order to achieve his goals and satisfy desires through constant activity will inevitably eventually be exhausted and have to take a break. Why is that? Because fatigue and wear and tear prevent you from consistently maintaining the same level of activity. Some energy is always lost in an irreversible and uncontrollable way. Disorder develops, the technical term is entropy. The practical implication of this is that continuity in activity always requires engaging in periods of regenerative rest, during which losses or wear and tear are removed and impurities are eliminated. Development cycles are therefore typical of life.
In the first research phase from around 1970, the central theme was the relaxation effect of yoga meditation and the resulting reduction in the consequences of stress as well as stress prophylaxis. This was soon supplemented by Ayurvedic detoxification and wellness treatments; Key word: reversing the aging process.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the focus of research shifted to post-traumatic stress disorders, which increasingly became the focus of meditation research due to local wars flaring up in all parts of the world and the dramatic effects of natural disasters and industrial accidents.
Associated developments in yoga are pain-therapeutic fascia yoga and dream-sensitive yoga. Dream-Sensitive Yoga is the specialty of D. Pickhardt and J. Pfahl. Since the pioneers of modern psychology - S. Freud, A. Adler and C.G. Jung – it is considered certain that dreams are associated with the processing of strong mental stress and shocks.
Waking, dreaming and sleeping together form a natural sequence of decreasing excitation with a regenerating effect. In addition, psychophysiological research has shown that the rest achieved through yogic meditation is many times deeper than that of deep sleep, so that all three relative states are prurified and regenerated by it. This can be understood as an ordering effect of the third law of thermodynamics in the subjective area. By reducing levels of arousal, the quality of all three relative states of consciousness changes in a life-supporttive manner. Yoga meditation therefore enables a new understanding of the dream and sleep state, in particular the blockages known as trauma. This blockages conceals natural laws that are inactive at the respective excitation level and thus give the respective area its typical structure. A situation also known as "symmetry breaking".
In contrast to this, the all-with-everything-connecting reality knows no blockages. This is illustrated by the quantum mechanical tunnel effect. The existence of thresholds or domains is the consequence of selection rules based on certain views or decisions. In short: Obstacles represent covert, inactive laws. Their resolution consists in taking a superior point of view. Therefore, the rule applies that problems cannot be solved at the level of the problems. The solution to all problems is to realize that there really are no problems at all.
The book by D. Pickhardt and J. Pfahl conveys key insights through direct reference to the authors' own experience with yoga meditation for confirmation or illustration. The hopeful perspective is that it is always possible to largely compensate for the consequences of past mistakes and negative experiences. This cleansing and rehabilitation effect is the by-product of the integrated overall development promoted by yoga meditation. This is the fourth milestone in the modern assimilation of yoga.
Since the phenomenon of self-reference became accessible to individuals through the practice of yoga meditation in the second half of the 20th century,in parallel the realization developed due to the intensive exchange of ideas and experiences in the academic field, that self-interaction also provides access to all the laws of nature. The Self, which provides a stable and adaptable foundation for one's life, is also the home of all laws of nature. The remarkable consequence of this synchronicity is that the laws of nature are no longer just concepts to be reckoned with, but are a living reality whose consequences people must constantly reckon with. It is therefore ultimately irrelevant whether the fundamental laws of thermodynamics are theoretically known. They automatically shape individual and collective life.
An inevitable consequence of the second law of thermodynamics is, for example: Whoever mobilizes all his energies in order to achieve his goals and satisfy desires through constant activity will inevitably eventually be exhausted and have to take a break. Why is that? Because fatigue and wear and tear prevent you from consistently maintaining the same level of activity. Some energy is always lost in an irreversible and uncontrollable way. Disorder develops, the technical term is entropy. The practical implication of this is that continuity in activity always requires engaging in periods of regenerative rest, during which losses or wear and tear are removed and impurities are eliminated. Development cycles are therefore typical of life.
In the first research phase from around 1970, the central theme was the relaxation effect of yoga meditation and the resulting reduction in the consequences of stress as well as stress prophylaxis. This was soon supplemented by Ayurvedic detoxification and wellness treatments; Key word: reversing the aging process.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the focus of research shifted to post-traumatic stress disorders, which increasingly became the focus of meditation research due to local wars flaring up in all parts of the world and the dramatic effects of natural disasters and industrial accidents.
Associated developments in yoga are pain-therapeutic fascia yoga and dream-sensitive yoga. Dream-Sensitive Yoga is the specialty of D. Pickhardt and J. Pfahl. Since the pioneers of modern psychology - S. Freud, A. Adler and C.G. Jung – it is considered certain that dreams are associated with the processing of strong mental stress and shocks.
Waking, dreaming and sleeping together form a natural sequence of decreasing excitation with a regenerating effect. In addition, psychophysiological research has shown that the rest achieved through yogic meditation is many times deeper than that of deep sleep, so that all three relative states are prurified and regenerated by it. This can be understood as an ordering effect of the third law of thermodynamics in the subjective area. By reducing levels of arousal, the quality of all three relative states of consciousness changes in a life-supporttive manner. Yoga meditation therefore enables a new understanding of the dream and sleep state, in particular the blockages known as trauma. This blockages conceals natural laws that are inactive at the respective excitation level and thus give the respective area its typical structure. A situation also known as "symmetry breaking".
In contrast to this, the all-with-everything-connecting reality knows no blockages. This is illustrated by the quantum mechanical tunnel effect. The existence of thresholds or domains is the consequence of selection rules based on certain views or decisions. In short: Obstacles represent covert, inactive laws. Their resolution consists in taking a superior point of view. Therefore, the rule applies that problems cannot be solved at the level of the problems. The solution to all problems is to realize that there really are no problems at all.
5. Growth: Holistic interpretation of Patanjali´s Ashtanga Yoga
Yoga is essential for growth. This is the 5th milestone in the modern assimilation of yoga, which relates to prevention, a central theme in the book by Daniela Pickhardt and Joachim Pfahl
"Avert the danger that has not yet come" is a core tenet of yoga formulated by Patanjali more than 5000 years ago.
Even so the discovery of fundamental laws of nature by modern science has improved the overall quality of life, this advance has also dramatically increased the imbalances in life. The majority of people are far from happy. This points to fundamental deficits in knowledge and to the need for further development of the area of life that makes experience and knowledge possible in the first place. The consciousness of every human being is the area where growth is most needed if disaster is to be averted. Only when this area of life is included does growth bring the desired fulfillment. If this does not happen, the principle of entropy increase will take hold with full force and burnout is the inevitable consequence.
Orderly growth requires an alternation of activity and regenerative rest. In this regard, D. Pickhardt and J. Pfahl refer to a knowledge that everyone who practices yoga knows: Ashtanga Yoga is the key to achieving beneficial growth. Ashta means “eight” and anga means “limb” (ith connotation: “measure”).
The eight limbs of yoga establish a practical system of how to simultaneously coordinate and harmonize all areas of life: (1) behavior with the environment, (2) physiology and nervous system, (3) movement system, (4) breathing, (5) sensory experience, ( 6) thinking (7) meditating and (8) self-reference.
Because for Daniela Pickhardt and Joachim. the self or self-reference is the core of yoga, the eight-limbed stucture of yoga expresses a concentric order of life. Therefor it is safest to begin with the limb closest to the center of life. . With the self - the I-am - as the core of yoga, the state of the balanced, innocent-open, transparent intellect - sama-dhi - becomes the central experience of yoga. All other limbs specify this base experience. The simplest form of yoga is thus the simplest experience and this is defined by Patanjali at the very beginning of his Yoga Sutras.
Because the simplest experience is so central to yoga, yoga as a whole is understood as a system for cultivating direct perception. All areas of experience are already available in a unified form at the basis. or emerge from it.
Quantum mechanics describes an analogous situation where all expressed states e.g. of an atom, are already present in the ground state and can be systematically derived from this. What unfolds from the basic state is nothing other than what originally already existed as a whole at the basis. From the hydrogen atom as the simplest atom, 8 basic patterns of the behavior of atomic matter can be derived. These are the eight main groups of the periodic table of chemical elements found empirically.
The 8 limbs of yoga also describe an empirically given concentric structure of life, which deficts both the holistic nature of the individual areas of perception as well as the entire range of perception. Growth in the realm of direct perceptible suluminates in a singular state that includes all possible experience and is therefore called cosmicconsciousness. This corresponds entirely to the empirically based world view of modern cosmology. The universe can constantly expand because it is interspersed with collection points, called black holes, the regenerative stops for all what is happening in the universe.
However, the cultivation of human intelligence does not end with cosmic consciousness, nor does the cultivation of the nervous system end at this stage. Daniela Pickhardt and Joachim Pfahl point out that the knowledge that encompasses the entire range of the impulses of intelligence present in consciousness is called Veda. Veda is the basis for the realization of higher states of consciousness. The growth of consciousness ranges from cosmic consciousness to God consciousness to consciousness of the unity of part and whole.
Translated with help of www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version