The 'Glow' of Health

Dr Swami Karmananda Saraswati, MB, BS (Syd.)

Today, newly developed and refined scientific instrumentation is making the energy forces in and around the human body, which were previously perceived only by yogis and mystics, clearly visible to all. These energies were known to yogis as a manifestation of prana, the universal life force, and to psychics as the human aura. They are described in different terms but their descriptions have much in common.

The famous American healer, Edgar Cayce, described a colourful energy body surrounding and interpenetrating the human body, vibrating at a higher frequency and extending slightly beyond the human body to form the aura. Cayce claimed that each individual has energy of a different rhythm, colour and vibration which pulsates from the solar plexus towards the head and feet simultaneously, somewhat resembling a three dimensional figure eight. The energy field of the human aura is described as thundering and quaking under the effect of strong emotions, especially anger and rage, which cause them to cascade like an avalanche.

Other psychics have described this phenomenon as a living, moving web of energy frequencies interpenetrating the body with vortices of energy or chakras located at certain points along the spinal column. These chakras perceived in the auric pattern are said to be integrally related to the function of the corresponding nerve plexuses and endocrine glands in the immediate region of the physical body.

More detailed descriptions attribute several layers to the human aura. The main layers are described as:

  • A dark quarter inch layer closest to the skin.
    A layer extending two to four inches out from the body, faintly coloured silvery green or golden, shimmering and moving like heat rising on the horizon on a hot day.
    A third misty outer layer extending much further from the body.

It is through the perception, manipulation and augmentation of this pranic aura that psychic and magnetic healers claim they can diagnose illness and impart healing to their patients through 'psychic surgery', 'laying on of hands' and similar techniques. It is this same energy which is mobilized and transferred for healing purposes in the tantric practice of prana vidya (full theoretical and practical descriptions of this practice are given in Prana Vidya published by BSY).

Yogis and psychics maintain that the human aura is not an optical phenomenon seen with the eyes, but a form of energy perceived through the ajna chakra or third eye. They maintain that perception of auras occurs spontaneously as a manifestation of spiritual development, and that it is merely a certain way of looking at the environment or other people, once this chakra is functioning.

There are specific yogic practices which can be used to awaken the psychic dimensions of the consciousness through opening the ajna chakra. A by product of this sadhana is an enhanced ability to perceive the human aura. The practices of jala neti, aum chanting with concentration on the eyebrow centre and external and internal trataka are especially recommended for this purpose. (The complete detailed sadhana for the awakening of this psychic centre is contained in Ajna Chakra, published by BSY.)

Researchers have also developed sophisticated aura training equipment and programs to enable people to extend their present senses to include perception of the aura. In the USA, some doctors are being trained in this perception and are utilizing the faculty in their diagnosis of disease.

Kirlian Photography

This widely known technique was developed in Russia in the 1940's and 50's by Semyon and Valentina Kirlian. The apparatus uses high voltage electricity (of the order of 12,000 V) to produce photographic images showing brilliant coloured emanations and flare patterns emerging from and enveloping various parts of the human body. The colour and intensity is found to change with the thoughts, emotions, moods, the state of health and the different states of consciousness. There is also variation according to the part of the body being photographed. It is found that every internal physical, mental and emotional event as well as the external influences of sound, weather, solar activity and environmental conditions are mirrored as a change in the Kirlian photographic patterns. Similar patterns are observed in photographs of plant and animal life. In fact, all living matter exhibits characteristic energy patterns in Kirlian photographs. Scientists believe through this they are witnessing a manifestation of the pranic body, which psychics 'see' unaided.

Russian and American researchers have found that disease states are reflected in disturbed flare patterns long before they actually manifest in the body in any diagnostically perceptible form. This raises exciting prospects for detection, correction and prevention of disease tendencies at an early stage. The Kirlian aura seems to vary in colour, intensity and discharge pattern in different disease states, and even at this early stage, Russian doctors are finding Kirlian photography may have a special application in the field of cancer diagnosis, for they have found that cancerous tissues have a different discharge pattern to normal healthy tissues.

Researchers are currently developing a standard diagnostic system which will enable doctors and healers to utilize and interpret Kirlian photographs in the diagnosis of disease states and the assessment of vitality, resistance to stress and the level of general health and central nervous function. It seems likely that Kirlian photography will become an important tool in medical diagnosis within the next decade.

The Schilieren System

This is a photographic technique which detects heat convection currents surrounding the body and was originally developed Germany in the 19th century to detect flaws in hot, newly manufactured glass. Convection currents are spontaneously generated wherever there are differing temperatures in a body of air or other gas. In this way the phenomena of wind and rain on our planet occur. Similarly, our human bodies generate a pulsing, circulating envelope of warm air about three inches thick in our immediate environment. This layer is not visible to the naked eye, but in Schilieren photographs it shows up as a halo surrounding human images and closely resembles the human aura as it is psychically perceived.

Using the Schilieren optical system, researchers have found that there are different layers within the human air envelope, each with its own colour, depending on air temperatures and densities. These layers are found to vary with the body's metabolic rate, the emotions, the level of mental and physical activity and the rate of respiration, as well as with the prevailing humidity and atmospheric conditions. The convection currents surrounding the body are observed to circulate in the following way. Starting at the soles of the feet, the air moves slowly upward over the body. At the groin and the armpits it reverses direction briefly, before spurting upwards from the shoulders to dissipate in a feathery plume about five inches above the head. Such observations correspond very closely to descriptions of the aura by psychics, and researchers propose that these warm air currents correspond to the inner shimmering layer of the aura described earlier. It seems that the air currents follow the flow patterns of the auric energy field. There is a remarkable resemblance between the feathery plume at the top of the head and the halo depicted in the traditional religious art of India and Europe.

Doctors at City University in London have discovered that this 'heat' aura is laden with bacteria, particles of inorganic matter and microscopic pieces of skin. The heat halo is found to contain up to 400% more micro-organisms than the immediate environment. It is suggested that the transmission of airborne infectious diseases occurs with the trapping of disease microbes by sluggishly functioning, unhealthy convection currents which serve as a fertile breeding ground for them. Individual susceptibility to diseases of this kind may well he facilitated by impaired circulation of the convection currents around the body.

The Schilicren system promises to be a valuable diagnostic tool, proving useful in physical medicine and in psychiatry and mental health programs. Preliminary studies of Schilieren photography observations reveal:

  1. Striking changes in colour coinciding with an increased bacterial count due to infection.
  2. Unusual changes in the patterns coinciding with areas of inflammation.
  3. Altered flow and temperature patterns surrounding inflamed arthritic joints, which suggests a special role in the early detection and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
  4. Potential application in monitoring the effects of radiation and drug therapy in patients undergoing the treatment.

Diagnosing the Human Aura

Many doctors possess the ability to perceive the energy level and auric emanations of their patients, psychically tuning in on the auric vibration and subtle disease manifestations from the moment the patient arrives for treatment. This is an important though largely subconscious part of the doctor/patient relationship. There is an element of psychic healing in all systems of healing, including allopathy. This explains, in part, why some doctors are better healers than others, even when treating the same patients with identical diagnosis and treatment regimes.

Psychic ability lies dormant in all of us and many doctors utilize their innate subtle senses in the practice of medicine, albeit without the awareness that they are doing so. It is often the case that the routine case history, examination, and laboratory tests are but a scientific verification of what has been intuited beforehand. Many experienced clinicians actually supplement their scientific diagnostic skills, which utilize rational thought to interpret the observations of the five senses, with a sixth intuitive perception of their patient's state and condition. This is extralogical, more of a feeling than a suspicion arrived at through deductive reasoning.

The various organ systems and glands of the body have different auric emanations in health and disease. The outstanding clinician consciously or unconsciously assimilates these impressions along with the scientific data recorded from observation and examination, and therefore has final diagnosis is drawn from a composite of all this differing input.

Many doctors are unaware that they are utilizing the psychic dimension of their being in their practice of medicine, insisting that, at most, they work on 'hunches' which are subsequently proved to be correct. They put this process down to clinical experience and scoff at suggestions of psychic ability. Many of the most materialistic physicians in the world actually possess extraordinary psychic diagnostic abilities of which, though they use them every day, they are totally unaware.

It is a strange and lamentable fact that we assume psychic ability to be either non-existent, or else to be an exaggerated and very different form of conscious perception which is the property of a few gifted individuals. In fact, psychic ability is natural and common place among us all, and seems in no way extraordinary to its possessor. It is so 'normal' that we fail to recognize it, even as we utilize Land act upon it every day of our lives.

Once there is an awareness of the essentially ordinary and down to earth nature of psychic experience, its development and enhancement is but a matter of continued practice and application. Practice is the essential factor in any discipline or study - such as the art of healing or the spiritual path of yoga, and it is practical awareness in everyday life activities that allows us to perceive and develop our innate psychic senses. Psychic perception enhances ability in whatever work you are engaged and enriches the quality and dimension of your life.

The practice of yoga brings about an effortless, natural, psychic awakening, and the doctor who practices yoga will find that psychic development goes hand in hand with the acquiring of clinical experience and leads to an holistic healing ability. Patients benefit from this development on all levels of their being. A person with psychic perception is not manifesting ‘superhuman’ powers, but is essentially becoming more human through expansion of his awareness into areas of consciousness, which in most people remain unexplored.

Auric diagnosis is a way of selectively 'seeing' or tuning into a patient's being, passing from the grossest material perception of the human body to more subtle signs, indications, feelings and perceptions. Perceiving the aura is as much a feeling as a seeing. Diagnostic indicators in the human aura include blockages and deflections of energy, dullness and contraction of the aura and a slowing of vibratory movements in different regions.

One excellent way of gradually becoming familiar with the concept of the individual human aura is to go to a public place such as a railway station or busy footpath. Witness as objectively as possible the infinite array of human beings passing by, each enmeshed and encircled by a different, individual auric emanation. Try to see and compare the similarities and the differences, and try to recognize different auric patterns, the vibrations of age, youth, good health, disease, hopelessness or happiness. Be an objective and inconspicuous observer, and practice for as long as you can, wherever you encounter the passing parade of humanity. This is an excellent way to begin to perceive the elements of the human aura. It is a matter of beginning to acquire a picture of man not only as a dense physical form, but man made up of the interplay of several types of energy. Physical energy, mental energy, emotional energy, vital pranic energy and spiritual energy all function in an integrated, harmonious way to form a happy, balanced, healthy human being.

On the other hand, be alert to incongruent and distorted energy patterns- the differing effects of too little physical energy too much mental energy, and so on. Look for the signs of dissipation or wastage of energy; be aware of fluidity of movement, excessive or diminished movement, facial expressions etc. They all have a bearing on and contribute to the human aura. Perceiving the aura is an instantaneous event, rather than a collective intellectual summation of impressions. That is why a crowded public place is the best situation in which to practice. Be careful that personal beliefs and opinions do not colour your observations, for you will perceive inaccurately if they do and you will end up judging people according to intellectual preconceptions. This has nothing to do with auric perception, which is objective, spontaneous perception of the whole being as it is.

Medical science is rapidly gaining interest in the human aura and its application to diagnosis and healing of disease. More and more doctors today hold the view that the practice of medicine embraces the total well being of patients, not only the physical manifestations of disease. It is now clear that the state of the body cannot be considered in any way separate from mental, emotional and spiritual states, for all are closely interwoven and interdependent. The 'glow' of good health is the radiance of a healthy aura.