# The Channel of the Moon **1) Master Patanjali says that we must “turn the combined effort upon the moon.”  What is the “moon” here?  Also give the relevant Sanskrit word, and related English words.** The “moon” in this case refers to the channel of the moon, one of the three primary inner channels of the body, running down our left side of the body.  The Sanskrit word for “moon” here is chandra cNÔ, which comes from a root √cand cNd, which is the same as the root √shchand íNdœ, meaning to shine.  Related English words are scintillate, shine, and incense. **2) Describe then how a person might actually turn the combined effort upon this moon.** We would use the last three of the eight limbs of the yogic path—focus, fixation, and wisdom—joined together.  We would direct them towards the left-hand channel, thinking about how it is empty of oming from its own side; how its basic nature and current condition are both coming from the seeds within our own mind.  We would then be in a condition to make it flow properly. **3) Describe the location and physical appearance of the channel of the moon.  Give its most common Sanskrit name in the later classical texts on yoga, then give some related English words.** The channel of the moon begins up the outside of the left nostril of the nose, continues to the tip of the head, and then descends down the left side of the spine to the groin, terminating at the tip of the penis or vagina.  It is a dull, milky white color, due to the predominance of the element related to semen.  The word most used for this channel in later classical yoga texts is ida #fa, referring here to a milky beverage.  Possibly related are the English udder and exuberant, which come from words indicating a breast or teat.  Related to these are the English daughter (literally duhitir, the milkmaid of the family) and dugs (in the sense of teats), as well as female, “giver of milk,” from an Indo-European root dhei, meaning to suck milk. **4) What general types of emotions run through the channel of the moon?** In this channel run our “cool” negative thoughts, such as desire or pride: liking things in the wrong way. **5) What does Master Patanjali mean when he says that we can come to “understand the arrangement of the stars”?  Include the Sanskrit word for “star” here, and some related English words.** Through the channel of the moon run the thoughts we have which misunderstand the nature of subjects (as opposed to objects): misunderstanding for example our own minds or ourselves—conscious things—as opposed to the things around us.   Here the light of the stars in being compared to the sparks of consciousness within us, called bindu or “dots” of consciousness. If we turn our concentration and understanding upon these lights, we can come to understand their nature too: that even what we think is coming to us as seeds ripen in our minds from how we have treated people in the past. The Sanskrit word for star here is tara tara.  This comes from a root √tir t&, meaning to pass or to turn.  Related words are the Sanskrit Tara (the goddess who helps us pass beyond the suffering world); and the English turn, translate, and through. **6) Speak a little bit about where our sense of duality comes from, being sure to distinguish between “good” and “bad” versions of this tendency.  Then give a real-life example about how we can deal with the false sense of duality.** The two side channels—the channels of the sun and moon—are directly responsible for our sense of duality, especially our tendency to think of “me” and “you” in a negative way.  It’s not wrong to think of “me” and “you,” certainly they do exist, and the difference can actually provide a basis for reaching our final goal. As always though it’s important to focus the combined effort of stillness and wisdom upon this distinction: to realize that the difference between “me” and “you” is fluid, and artificial; not something which is absolute, but which is rather springing from seeds within our own minds.  We can consciously affect this distinction, wrapping our sense of “me” around people outside of ourselves, thereby affecting the very source of karma itself. A typical type of duality would be just about any kind of decision-making which we ever engage in; for example, deciding how we will react to being threatened by terrorism.  Our two side channels force us into thinking that we only have two choices in reacting to violence: we can either react passively (which sometimes seems to work, but sometimes also seems to cause others to take advantage of us, with more violence); or else we can react with violence (which also sometimes seems to work, but also sometimes backfires again with more violence). The reason that neither approach seems to work consistently is that we have been forced into a false sense of duality.  We are approaching each choice as if it existed from its own side.  To avoid this false duality, we use our combined effort to see that we can only affect events by planting the appropriate seeds for the future—by gardening—and not by attempting to manipulate current, self-existent objects. **7) Master Patanjali says that “if we turn the combined effort upon the polestar, we can understand their workings.”  What does “polestar” refer to here, and what is the “their” in “their workings”?  Remember to give the Sanskrit word here for “polestar,” and some related English words.** The “polestar” in this verse is the central channel.  This is a reference to the one star (sometimes called the North Star in English) around which all the other stars seem to rotate during the course of the night.  The idea is that there is an unmoving central core or axis running down from this star, in the same way that the central channel acts as the core of the inner body. Within this channel run all our good and pure thoughts—and especially all of our wisdom, all of our understanding where things actually come from.  With this wisdom we can understand both the stars and the earth: the actual nature of both ourselves (“me”) and all the things and people (“you”) around us, the fact that we are all coming from seeds we have planted by taking care of others. The Sanskrit word for polestar here is dhruva Øuv.  This comes from the root √dhir x&, meaning to hold, and to be firm or firmly rooted.  Related words are the Sanskrit dharma (ultimately meaning a thing, or something which holds its own nature); as well as the English truth (firm); tree (firmly planted); and druid (a truth-seer). **8) Describe the physical appearance and location of the central channel.  Then give the primary name that is used for it in most of the later classical texts on yoga, the meaning of this name, and some related English words.** The central channel is a translucent golden red (as opposed to the opaque red and white of the two side channels).  It is also slightly larger in diameter than the side channels (about the width of a straw).  It extends from the spot between the eyebrows up under the skull to the tip of the head, and then down along the inside of the spine to the groin, then up to the tip of the penis or vagina. The most common name for the central channel in later classical yoga texts is sushumna, or the sunray channel.  This is a reference to the fact that sushumna can refer to the component in sunlight which illuminates and warms the moon: so that, in a sense, the central channel is contributing to the interaction and ultimate joining of the channels of the sun and the moon (ha-tha yoga). The word sushumna has three parts: su, and then again su, and then finally mna or manas.  Su means good; it comes from an old Indo-European root esu, with the same meaning.  Coming into Greek, the s  drops out, and it becomes simply eu.  This is the eu found in euphemism (a good way to say something), euthanasia (a supposedly good way to die), and eurhythmics (good beat). Manas  means mind, and is found in the English words mind, mental, and man (the thinking beast).  Together, su and manas means benevolent, kind, or pleased.  Adding the second su before this pair makes it even more strongly positive, emphasizing the goodness of the thoughts within the central channel.  By the rules of Sanskrit letter combination, the second su changes the original su into shu. It’s interesting to note that the word hymn or sacred song is thought to derive from the same root as the mna in sushumna, the channel through which the sacred sound of Sanskrit passes. **9) Another Sanskrit name for the central channel is avadhuti, and in fact one of most famous yogis of our lineage went by the name of Avadhutipa.  What does this name mean, and what would it have to do with a certain special planet?  What second sense of the word led the Tibetans to translate it two different ways?** The Sanskrit word avadhuti AvxUit means to throw off something like an entanglement.  Here it refers to the ultimate goal of releasing the central channel and its pure winds from the entanglement of the two side channels, along with their ignorance and negative emotions. Another name for the central channel is rahula ra÷l, which means the dark planet.  This refers to the belief that eclipses of the sun and moon were caused when these orbs were temporarily devoured by a dark planet.  This all goes back to a legend which say that a demon named Rahu attempted to steal the nectar of immortality from the gods and was caught by the deities of the Sun and Moon.  He consumed enough nectar to remain immortal and on occasion wreaks vengeance upon these deities by devouring them for some time. This is actually then an important reference to the fact that the central channel eventually devours the channels of the sun and moon: our misunderstanding of ourselves and our world collapses, and these two channels then collapse into the central channel, causing our transformation into an Angel of light. The Tibetans used two different phrases to translate the word avadhuti. One is kunpangma \o,-($=-1k, which again means to shake off the strangling side channels.  Another is kundarma \o,-8+:-1k, which means the channel of vibration or shaking.  This is a reference to the power of the energy and sound of prana moving in the central channel, along with corresponding effects on the body. **10) Explain what the word chakra literally means; mention some related English words; and then relate this name to the structure of the inner channels.** The word chakra c³ literally means wheel.  As our inner body first forms in the womb, the two side channels are already twisted around the central channel: we are already misunderstanding ourselves and our environment.  Secondary channels break out from these chokepoints horizontally, spreading out like the spokes of a wheel.  Looking down the central channel from the top of the head then, we see the shapes of wheels. The word chakra is an example of reduplication, or where a root is repeated to give the sense that its action is repeated or intensified.  In this case the root is √kir k«, meaning to do or create, and the original reduplication was something like kirkir, which evolved into chakra.  The idea is that a wheel repeatedly performs its function, doing the same thing over and over again.  Related English words are of course create, cereal (an important food which is grown), and crescent (a growing moon). **11) Give the general Sanskrit name for “inner channel”; explain the root of the word (and what it has to do with channels); and give some related English words.** The general Sanskrit word for “inner channel” is nadi naif, which literally means a stream or river.  This comes from a root √nad ndœ, which means to make a sound.  The idea is one of a stream making a tinkling or rushing sound.  Some related English words are note (as in a musical note); sound; swan (the singer); and sonnet. This is all a reference to the fact that the sounds of the Mother Tongue, Sanskrit, are running through the channels since beginningless time.  The external sounds and alphabet of this language have in fact been created based upon the inner sounds and shapes, which are the shapes of the channels, especially around the navel chakra. **12) Explain the role of the navel chakra in the formation of the inner channels, clarifying as well whether there is any actual connection between the channels of the sun and moon, and the sun and moon in the sky.** There is a direct relation between the inner channels of the sun and moon, and the sun and moon in the sky.  Both are caused by the same karmic seeds within us.  We can picture the outside sun and moon as a reflection then of the inner channels of the sun and moon.  Our own bodies—the structure of our blood vessels, nervous system, and skeleton—form around the inner channels as we grow in the womb.  These channels themselves start spreading at the area of the navel chakra; our bones and nerves and veins accrete upon these channels like ice forming in layers around a twig of wood, taking on all its contours. The outer world too then forms around these same layers, so that the very sun and moon provide a map that we can use to understand our inner structure.  If you live in New York, for example, then it’s no exaggeration to say that the West-Side Highway, the FDR Drive to the east, and Fifth Avenue running down the center of town are actually a direct reflection of your own inner body.