The Moon in Kriya Yoga

By Rudra Shivananda

As we learn of the passing of a true hero, that of Neil Armstrong who took a small step on the Moon and expanded the boundaries of humanity, I’m reminded of the significance of the moon as a powerful symbol in the yogic tradition. Just as the effect of Armstrong’s feat will take generations to be felt, the effect of the moon principle is hidden although manifest in all our thoughts.

In Yoga, the moon is a symbol of the mind. The moon is fast moving and waxes and wanes, sometimes dark and hidden and sometimes bright and shinning. The mind is restless and fast moving – it is moody and changing, sometimes happy and sometimes sad. The moon can only be seen at night and is hidden in the day just as the mind is hidden in activity and only when one stops and reflects on it, does one begin to unravel its mysteries.

There is a dark side of the moon which is hidden from our view just as there is a portion of the mind that is hidden from us, that of the subconscious. The moon has no light of its own and can only reflect the light of the sun, just as the mind has no volition and direction without the light of the soul.

The moon in Hatha yoga is associated with the left energy channel called the ida nadi in the subtle body while the sun is associated with the right energy channel called the pingala nadi. The goal is to balance the sun and the moon in order to awaken the hidden potential called the Kundalini Shakti.

In Kriya Yoga, we are going beyond balancing and seek to actively merge the moon with the sun – that is to have the soul-spirit take control of the mind. In the first phase, the sun-fire is in the navel chakra or energy center and when it rises to the moon above the soft palate of the mouth, it causes the diffusion of the nectar of bliss which permeates the sensory mind to keep it under control. The moon-mind is like an unruly animal and must be tamed and controlled in order for the higher consciousness of wisdom-bliss to arise.

When the mind is somewhat controlled, it becomes possible for the moon-matter at the first chakra to merge with the sun-light at the third-eye center and this gives rise to a unity consciousness that transcends the moon-mind. In fact, the Kriya Yogi experiences the state of no-mind because she is now in the integrated super and supra-awareness state.

All this may seem a little esoteric to you but is nevertheless experientially verifiable during the course of sincere yogic practice.

Just as the moon is not the master of our solar system, so realize that the mind is not the master of our self and that there is the sun that gives the light and life to our external world just as there is the Self that bestows the light and life to our subjective world. If we want to really realize the truth, we can experience that even the material sun is enlightened by our subjective Self, which is merged into the Universal Consciousness.

A journey, no matter how short or long, begins with a first step and just as Armstrong has helped humanity on the journey to the stars by taking that first step on the moon, so also, the yogis of the past have taken the steps that will help humanity journey to the heights of our evolutionary promise of Universal Consciousness.