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Advanced Yoga Practices Note: For the Original Internet Lessons with additions, see the AYP Easy Lessons Books. For the Expanded and Interactive Internet Lessons, AYP Online Books, Audiobooks and more, see AYP Plus. Lesson T34 - Kechari and the "Secret Spot" (Audio)
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From: Yogani New Visitors: It is recommended you read from the beginning of this tantra yoga archive, as previous lessons are prerequisite to this one. The first lesson is, "What is tantra yoga?"
It's funny how kechari is so couched in sexuality. I was going to say 'sexual metaphor', but really, it is quite literally sexuality. The tongue and pharynx resemble lingam and yoni, only here we're all complete with both genders. Then there are the erectile tissues in the nasal passages... I feel as though I've lost my virginity again. It wasn't really as much fun as the first time, but I'm willing to give it a chance. ;) A: Congratulations on your entry into stage 2 kechari! You've just crossed a major milestone on your journey in yoga. The sexual metaphor is appropriate. Kechari is directly tied in with higher sexuality, just as sambhavi and all the other mudras and bandhas are. All of these link directly into our sexual neuro-biology in the pelvic region, expanding its function upward throughout the body, and beyond. While "losing virginity" with kechari may not be as much fun as losing it the other way, kechari makes up for it in the long run. As ecstatic conductivity rises, we eventually end up in a kind of constant simmering whole body orgasm. Then all of these yoga mudras are functioning naturally in reflexive coordination. A lesson called "whole body mudra" was just posted in the main lessons on this subject (see Lesson 212). Kechari is both mysterious and conspicuous in its role in cultivating higher ecstatic experiences. Part of this is because it is a "new place" where the vast majority of human beings have not been yet, even though getting into it is just a centimeter or two away from the everyday travels of our tongue. The means for entering it are controversial, at least in these times of little (but increasing) understanding of kechari. It is likely that many will be going there in the coming years. Why? Up in the cavity of the nasal pharynx, within easy reach of an inquiring and liberated tongue, is an organ that is erogenous on a level similar to the genitals. "Spiritually erogenous" is a good qualifier for that, as kechari stimulates ecstatic/sexual energy upward in the body, while the genitals, if not brought into tantric preorgasmic practice mode, will lead our energy out to serve the reproductive function. Let's call the spiritually erogenous focal point up there in the nasal pharynx, the "secret spot," since we have known so little about it before now. Once the word gets out, the erogenous aspects of kechari alone will draw the pleasure-seeking masses to it. And why not? Who would have babies if it were not so enjoyable to make them? Should becoming enlightened be less enjoyable? When the spiritual path becomes widely known for what it really is, a constant internal orgy of radiating ecstatic bliss, then the roads to enlightenment will be crammed full with practitioners, just as the roads to reproductive sexual experience are crammed full now. Interestingly, the two roads intersect, right here in the world of tantra, which is why this lesson is being posted here instead of in the main lessons. It is time to let our hair down a little on the subject of kechari. So what is this secret spot? In main lesson #108 on kechari, the edge of the nasal septum was described as being "ecstatically sensitive." It was also called an "altar of bliss." Here in the tantra lessons we call it "spiritually erogenous." With all of these descriptions, it should be clear that there is something special going on with the septum in kechari practice. The septum is the flat, thick membrane that divides our left and right nostrils. The back edge of it runs up the middle of the front of the cavity above our soft palate called the nasal pharynx. When the tongue finds its way up into the nasal pharynx, it also finds the edge of the nasal septum. About half way up the edge of the septum is a small protrusion, a small bulge. It is extremely sensitive. That is the "secret spot." As with our regular sexual anatomy, there is a lot more going on in the nasal pharynx, inner nostrils, etc., than at that one spot on the edge of the septum. But the secret spot is a focal point, much as the clitoris is for a woman, or the head of the lingam for a man. The secret spot is like that. But there are some fundamental differences between the secret spot and our genitals. First, unlike with the unconditioned genitals (though they too can be made spiritually ecstatic through tantric practices), it takes stimulation over time to fully awaken the secret spot. The length of time will depend on our overall progress in purifying and opening our nervous system using the full range of yoga practices we have available. The rise in ecstatic conductivity in the nervous system greatly increases the sensitivity of the secret spot. Kechari practice is a stimulator of ecstatic conductivity throughout the body, and the rise in sensitivity of the secret spot is an effect of this. Cause leading to effect, and effect leading to cause. The more the secret spot is stimulated, the more sensitive it becomes, along with the increasing ecstatic response throughout the entire nervous system. On it goes, without limit! This rise in ecstatic response is an important part of the road to unending ecstatic bliss in the body, which radiates outward to saturate the surrounding environment with divine love. So, there are good incentives to develop the capability to practice kechari throughout our sitting practices, and longer. It is a primary way to cultivate endless inner pleasure, and at the same time a way to cultivate world-wide illumination. This is why kechari has been called "a giant leap for humankind." Second, unlike with reproductive sex, kechari and stimulation of the secret spot does not lead inevitably to reproductive genital orgasm. While the secret spot becomes highly erogenous over time, it is a different kind of sensitivity. That is why the term "spiritually erogenous" is used. The stimulation in kechari of the secret spot touches all of our erogenous areas from the inside, luring our passion inward and upward to the main pleasure centers in the brain. Imagine being sexually stimulated from the inside. Being highly aroused with no external stimulation to speak of at all, and having all that pleasure rising up through the body in waves, culminating in the pleasure centers of the brain, and then undulating back down to the end of every nerve. What are these pleasure centers in the brain? They are components of the third eye, the ajna, which occupy a region including the medulla oblongata (brain stem), pituitary and pineal. The influence spreads naturally to the crown (corona radiata) also. All of these participate in the ecstatic processes rising in the nervous system. So, with kechari, combined with sambhavi (the powerful third eye technique), the other mudras and bandhas, and siddhasana, we are engaging in a powerful inner lovemaking. Combine all of that with the underlying daily influences produced in deep meditation (inner silence) and spinal breathing techniques, and we have a formula for cultivating endless ecstatic bliss and outpouring divine love - enlightenment! When we are meditating, kechari can be done quietly with the tongue resting gently on the secret spot. At other times, we may be inspired to actively stimulate the secret spot with various movements of the tongue. Here the sexual analogy becomes very close, and probably not much advice is needed. We each have our own ways of achieving maximum stimulation. Kechari offers this opportunity as well. But, as with using external sexual stimulation in sitting practices, we want to be careful not to totally disrupt our routine. So "dynamic kechari" should be reserved for times when it will not distract our deep meditation. There is no reason why kechari cannot be dynamic during spinal breathing, as long as we continue to travel the spinal nerve with our attention. It can also work well with spinal bastrika, targeted bastrika, yoni mudra, in tantric sex, and at any other time we are not engaged in deep meditation, samyama, or other activity where our attention is being delicately applied. It is at the practitioner's discretion. In the early stages of kechari, beginning active stimulation of the secret spot, we will likely become sexually aroused. Later, it will not happen much externally, and we will be lit up with ecstasy inside. That is how it goes. As we carry on with our internal lovemaking, joyful pleasure will be pulled up from within our genitals, and from every erogenous zone in our nervous system. Then we will shiver with joy as the waves undulate up and at the same time back down through every cell in our body. We may be covered with goose bums, cry out with ecstasy, dance around like a whirling dervish, or whatever the energy moves us to do. It is an unending inner orgasm! Meanwhile, palpable waves of love will be shooting out of us, uplifting everyone in the neighborhood. That is a pretty good use for our sexual energy. Just as good as making babies. We can do both if we want. It is making the most of all that we have in us. Lovemaking is the joining of the two polarities of life to fulfill the purposes of creation. It happens automatically externally, and that leads to reproduction. With conscious participation, it can be cultivated to happen automatically internally, and that leads to enlightenment. The guru is in you.
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