# Review From HYP3 answer key#2 question#2 **1) Describe the "Empress of Power"; where She sleeps; and how She sleeps.  Then describe the way in which She awakens, giving reference to the Sanskrit and Tibetan terms for this awakening—the Sanskrit with its root and cognates.** The "Empress of Power" here is Kundalini, who is sometimes also called Chandali: the Burning Light.  These are all a reference to the inner fire, which is normally said to start in the area of the navel chakra.  This is here called the "opening to the door of the Pure One," where the "Pure One" refers in this instance not only to the upper opening of the central channel but to the central channel as a whole. The "opening of its door" then is a reference to the _lower_ opening of the central channel: the point several fingerwidths below the navel where the two side channels and the central channel join—which is the focal point for the growth of inner heat. We have a potential here for inner fire to burn, but this potential is dormant until we can awaken it through hatha practices which cause a reversal of the normal flow of the inner winds.  The Sanskrit for this awakening is _prabodha,_ where _pra_ is a prefix that means _very much.  Bodha_ comes from the root √_budh,_ which means _to know_ or _to wake._  It is also ultimately related to the root √_vid,_ which also means _to know_ (or _see_ with the mind)_,_ and is found in the English words _video, wise, wit,_ and _druid._ The Tibetan equivalent here is _rab tu sepa,_ which means _to awaken completely._  The word _sepa_ is commonly used for the sudden awakening of a karmic seed from a past life, often occurring for example in our teens and causing us to exhibit special, unexpected skills—such as with a musical instrument. From HYP3 answer key#2 question#4 **2) Name the ten types of seals, including the Sanskrit for each, and describe each one in a few words.  How many of the seals will be be covering in this course?** The following are the ten types of seals from Chapter 3 of the _Hatha Yoga Pradipika._  We will only be covering the first five in this course, and the rest in Course 4. (1) Great Seal, or Mahamudra: Asana involving a seated forward bend, with retention of breath and thoughts (2) Great Lock, or Mahabandha: Meditational posture with retention of breath and thoughts (3) Great Spear, or Mahavedha: Asana involving retention and striking of body on ground (4) Skydancer, or Khechari: Meditative concentration with a manipulation of the tongue in the mouth (5) Flight, or Uddiyana: Abdominal contraction (6) The Root Lock, or Mulabandha: Lock of the area of the muladhara chakra (7) The Water Catcher, or Jalandhara: Chin lock (8) The Reverse Action: Easy shoulder stand (9) The Diamond Fluid, or Vajroli: Retention of sexual fluid; includes also the Combined Fluid, or Sahajoli and the Fluid of Deathlessness, or Amaroli, which are similar practices (10) Inciting Her Power, or Shakti Chalana: Lotus posture with pressing of lower abdomen] From HYP3 answer key#5 question#9 **3) Master Svatmarama says that with the seal called Flight the "great bird" is "stirred from its rest and caused to take flight."  Describe the bird here, and what its flight might be like.  Then speak a bit about the lion and the elephant which the Master also mentions.** The "great bird" here is the kundalini, or inner fire, lying at the base of the central channel.  With the Flight seal we are trying to reverse the normal flow of the downward-clearing wind, to bring it to take "flight" up into conflict with the life wind, which itself is pushed down—especially if we add the chin lock. This then instigates inner fire, helping the side winds through the triple juncture into the central channel, bringing on the clear light of the direct perception of emptiness. The Master says that the Flight seal is "a lion for the killer elephant."  The elephant here is a metaphor for death itself; the elephant was considered one of the most powerful beasts in nature and was of course used in battle with deadly consequences, crushing the enemy underfoot and slashing with its tusks, to which swords were attached. Death is strong, but the practices of hatha yoga are even stronger: and so we see the lion of our practice killing the elephant of death.  Only the lion is strong enough to kill the elephant. From HYP3 answer key#5 question#10 **4) Master Svatmarama, in closing his section on the seal of Flight, says that "it is surely the highest" of all the seals, and will allow us to reach "freedom, automatically."  Speak about this idea of "automatic" freedom, including both the Sanskrit and the Tibetan words here.** The Sanskrit term here is _muktih svabhaviki._  The word _mukti_ means _freedom,_ and comes from the root √_much_ (also seen as _moksh_, meaning _to release._  We see this in the common Sanskrit words _moksha (freedom)_ and Jivamukti. The word _svabhaviki_  means _by itself,_ or _automatically._  The _sva_ means _self,_ and the _bhaviki_ means _to happen._  The combination then means _automatic freedom._ What this "automatic freedom" _doesn't_ refer to is that we can somehow get enlightened automatically, without making efforts in the traditional steps and stages of the path.  What it _does_  refer to is that within ourselves, and within all the things around us, is the immediate potential for freedom. That is, all existing things possess as part and parcel within them the quality of emptiness, which is actually what is given the name of _automatic peace_ or freedom.  This means that there is nothing in the world which is _not_ such that it is not coming from us, from seeds we have planted by how we have behaved towards others in the past. If we can perceive this fact in a direct way—if we can see emptiness directly, through our efforts in the inner and outer practices of yoga—then normally within the space of seven lifetimes we can attain freedom from all negative emotions.  This freedom refers to overcoming all of our negative emotions, permanently.  No more anger, no more attachment, forever—because we now truly understand how to make good things come to us all the time, by being kind to others.] From HYP1 answer key#7 question#2 **5) Master Swatmarama says that Shiva embodies “the sacred sound, the dot, and the play.” Give the Sanskrit words for these three, and explain them briefly.** The Sanskrit word for sacred sound here is nada, meaning the sound of the inner winds flowing freely through the channels, and of the root syllables or bijas that help make up the channels. The word for the dot is bindu, referring to drops of consciousness as they flow through the channels, connected to the inner winds. The Sanskrit for the play is kala, and here refers to a concentrated dot or one-pointed state of consciousness which is well-practiced in using the inner sound and winds to perceive emptiness: the subject of the fourth chapter. From HYP1 answer key#7 question#4 **6) What are the three primary meanings of the Sanskrit word samadhi, which Master Swatmarama gives as a synonym for raja yoga? Explain the two parts of the word samadhi, and its sense as a balance.** One meaning of samadhi is simply a state of very deep, single-pointed meditation. The second meaning of samadhi relates to the object of that meditation—that point when we are immersed in the direct perception of emptiness itself. Another meaning which is often found in the yoga literature is of the final state of meditation: enlightenment itself, wherein the mind sees all things at the same time as seeing the true nature of all things, which gives us an ultimate ability to serve all living beings. The two parts of the Sanskrit word samadhi  are sama and dhi.  Sama here means equal, or balanced. Dhi comes from the root √dha, which means set down, or put down. The point is that, in a really good meditation, we are settled down equally in the sense of staying balanced between the two extremes of being distracted and feeling dull or sleepy. From HYP3 answer key#7 question#1 **7) Master Svatmarama speaks about the image of a bottle which is empty, and a bottle which is full.  First explain the image of the empty bottle, standing in empty space; and say a bit about the context in the section of the fourth chapter we're in.** The fourth chapter of our _Yoga of the Sun and Moon,_ to put it generally, is _raja yoga:_ the wisdom culmination of all our efforts in hatha or physical yoga.  Master Svatmarama, so far in this fourth chapter, has been on the subject of the direct perception of emptiness, arrived at in fact by performing the practice of the Skydancer, in its various forms.  Here he is comparing our mind to a bottle.  A bottle can be empty, or a bottle can be full. He expands the image to an empty bottle standing in empty space: the inside of the bottle is empty, and then out beyond the glass too there is only emptiness.  The idea is that our mind has its own emptiness, and that it is also perceiving emptiness. The way in which our mind perceives emptiness is clear.  We've talked about it with the example of a person who is angry with us.  We realize that the person in themselves is like a white, blank movie screen, and that the way in which we perceive them is coming from us.  This means that they don't exist out there from their own side in the way we always assumed they did; and when we can really grasp this in a moment of possible anger then we are perceiving the emptiness of the person, in an intellectual way. The way in which our mind is itself empty is clear when we undertake Mahamudra meditation.  We are focusing on the mind or the thoughts themselves, analyzing how even these do not come from their own side.  The content of our very thoughts is determined by the degree of kindness which we have shown to others around us.  We are not deciding which thoughts come up in our mind: we are listening to them. In these two ways then the mind is like an empty bottle in empty space. From HYP3 answer key#7 question#2 **8) Now relate the point of the metaphor of a full bottle placed in the ocean.** Just as the mind itself is empty, it is also full, and stands in the surrounding of a full world. This is a reference to the nominal or projected reality around us.  Outside of the mind, the world is indeed really there, even though everything is at the very same time empty. What this means on the outside is that things actually do really exist outside of us, because they are _projected_ by our mind as being outside of us.  The bumper on a taxi may indeed be a projection emanating from our mind, but it can nonetheless—or should we say "_and_ it can therefore"—break our legs just as surely. Saying that the outside world is a projection of our mind is not in any way saying that the outside is unreal; rather it is identifying _how_ the outside world is real: it is real in a way that we can change, through our own efforts. On the inside too the mind is full.  We do hear our thoughts, we do have emotions: and they are real.  Again they are real because they are projected by the mind; and this kind of reality is lucky for us, because it means that we can affect what we hear within our own mind.  If we take care to do what we can to assure the happiness of others, then our own mind will be full of good and clean thoughts. And so we reach the state of a full bottle in a full ocean, even as we are—at the very same time—an empty bottle in empty space.