4 different stages - Kechari mudra
Many psychic and spiritual schools claim to detain the most subtle teachings about how to transcend perceptions, how to reach higher states of consciousness, how to heal thyself and ultimately how to realise awakening and enlightenment. For what i've noticed during my long years of zen practice is that very often these teachings are... just teachings. If we consider the field of meditation, the exercices are all the same: the posture is the same, the breathing is the same, the state of mind is the same.
Of course, here and there you'll find variations... maybe tibetans are not this precise and strict about the posture like zen monks are, maybe in other fields of study the breath is asked to be conscious or in opposite unconscious. If we then observe the recommendations about the state of mind, then again... nothing tremendously new under the sky. Some will insist on mindfulness, others on emptiness, eventually even on nothingness... concentration, letting go, desindentification and so on... but taken apart the guided meditations that are growing like weeds at every spot where a drop of water falls, the exercises themselves are substantially always the same: one sits, adapts the posture in order to not constrict the breath and the mind is asked to not interfere with the unfolding of the universal teaching. You let yourself become a vessel and observe. Great, I like it :)
Be sure that the idea of the present article is not to denigrate any form of meditation practice, that would be silly, very incorrect and certainly unproductive. To cut with a certain suspense, the idea here is to expose a secret about what can be done during practice to catalyse achievement, to make it felt, to even taste it and to have your advancement onto the path of enlightenment and spiritual freedom certified by direct perceptions.
We are going to get to it very soon, please accept to be a little patient.
For those who are practitioners, let's say meditators, we all know that meditation acts like successive waves of absorption and that in between them, the self is called back to the surface of phenomenons. During these moments of pragmatic consciousness, the same obstacle comes back, again and again... what to do?
You certainly have experienced that inner voice asking: “And now, what do we do... or... what do I do?”. Patiently, one waits and spontaneously, naturally, automatically (and fortunately) gets absorbed again into the depth of the exercise...and again and again and again. It has never changed and eventually you never tried anything different inside the heart of your practice.
The question I have for you is:
“What have you tried to do that catalyses your absorption at deeper states of achievement, at a deeper state of experience?”
Before to go on toward the discovery of this impressive practice, I need to cast the full field of guru guided meditations away. To me, even if useful sometimes and certainly entertaining, guided meditation are an attempt to build a psychic artefact. It's illusory, asks efforts of your creativity and related achievements are completely depending on your guide... who's not you! The risk of loosing your true intimate and personal path is big. Why? Because your mind and soul are asked to be focused on doing something special, to not say artificial... like following instructions or following the flow of someone else perceptions, ideas, goals. Shortly said, guided meditations are “man made” and can only lead to a punctual achievement that depends on the guidance of another person. I certainly don't advice it on a daily basis.
If you want to be successful with what you're expecting from meditation, you'll have to go in there alone and by yourself... like a grown up.
If you want to improve the depth of absorption and indeed realise that inner quest of liberation, achievement and enlightenment, you'll have to use your own improvement assets... meaning your own body, your own breath and your own mind. You even want to be doing additional efforts.
The path through enlightenment can be easily be made shorter.
4 stages of Kechari Mudra
Remember that spiritually, there is nothing to achieve that is different of what you wish to achieve physically, mentally, emotionally and even socially. The ultimate goal, if there is one, is to harmonise thy self with health and ultimate aspects of happiness.
So, be be simple, in order to accelerate your universal development, you'll have to integrate practices that involve all the dimensions of yourself... and not only mind.
So what can you do during meditation that will be a catalyser, without the meditative exercise to become truncated? Of course, if you start to hyperventilate, you'll obviously discover something else, if you change posture and stand upside down for example, same will happen... you'll get in touch with something else... and same again if you decide to target your mind into a certain direction. But none of these technics will bring you toward universal and selfless absorption and achievement.
This can be achieved using the tongue!
In another article i'll write about how you could use your diaphragma but in the present case, I want to bring to light that incredible, amazing, fulfilling and enlightening practice called kechari mudra.
Kechari mudra is practised with the tongue. The ultimate version of it is to be able to reverse your tongue back to your nasopharynx and to reach the inner summit of it... and stay like this during the “don't do nothing absorption process”. Yogis eventually call this Bhakti... the natural and spontaneous process of universal unfolding.
So let's get to know how to achieve that.
Be sure it's not easy and you even may be tempted to believe it's impossible or that you must go through some frenulum harsh mutilations in order to realise this holy mudra. So know that it is possible for anyone that has a tongue and that harsh mutilations of your frenulum (the skin bridge under your tongue) are not mandatory.
How to start with the practice of Kechari Mudra?
I won't insist enough on the fact that it must be practised during meditation. If you just want to find a hype of what you can do with your tongue, you are totally missing the point. Kechari mudra is a catalyser; it is an asset that must be implemented inside spiritual practice, silent sitting meditation being what i advice.
Get to know how your tongue works
Do you know what the diaphragma and the tongue have in common? They both can work consciously and unconsciously. Observe your tongue when you eat for example... not to much though, else you'll end up biting it (!) Same when you speak, you don't need to be focusing on your tongue for it to do its job. This is tremendously important, because the nature of the tongue exercises are so that they allow you to shift in between conscious and unconscious easily whenever you're observing a practice related to your body.
The levels of Kechari Mudra - step by step
We can define 4 levels inside the practice of Kechari mudra, even 5 for the most extreme one. The 5th level won't be described here, same for the tongue mutilations i was writing about a bit before. We want to take it easy and not push it beyond limits.
Kechari Mudra step 1 - tongue meets your soft palate and uvula
In this first level, you will start training. Try to reverse your tongue all the way to your uvula...yunno, the punching ball-like piece of skin that hangs at the bottom of your mouth.
Open a bit your mouth and to pull your tongue inside. Try to touch the uvula with the tip of your tongue. Repeat until you are able to easily pull your tongue there and touch the punching ball. Use a clean folded tea spoon to push your tongue to the back of your mouth if you cannot do it simply without.
Observe and discover how your mouth is made. If you bring the tip of your tongue behind your upper teeth, you can feel the hard palate. Sliding your tongue in the direction of the back of your mouth and pushing upward, you'll find the soft palate. At the end of the soft palate hangs the uvula.
Maintain the tongue in contact with the uvula
Kechari Mudra step 2 - Pass your tongue behind the uvula
While your tongue is in contact with the front side of the uvula, open your glottis and blow a bit of air by your mouth. If the flow of air is quick and strong enough, it will blow your uvula in front of your tongue. Try to maintain this position.
If you smile, it's easier ;)
All steps must be repeated until ease is acquired, obviously.
Kechari Mudra step 3 - knock at heaven's door and get ready to enter
Once you've mastered the fold of the tongue to the uvula and the little blow that will bring your tongue behind it, you must find the place behind your uvula that will allow your tongue to push on it without it to come back to its normal place. Meaning, once in position behind the uvula, if you push your tongue against it, the tongue should start to enter the nasopharynx.
At this exact moment, you may have a reflex of throwing up. Definitely you unconsciously don't want your tongue to go up there. This is the difficult part to manage: to calm down the puking reflex... For that, you must be quiet and observe it without giving into it. Hold yourself and breathe. This is why kechari mudra should be considered to be practised inside meditation. Once you will be familiar with all this you will be able to practice tongue reversal at any moment...
You can from that moment on also start training a way to fold your tongue behind the uvula without using the blow (khechari becomes kechari). Passing your tongue aside the uvula, on the right or on the left.
Kechari Mudra Step 4 - Cobra stretches all the way up an empty cave
Let's go on higher. You are now able to reverse your tongue to the uvula, to blow it away from your way up and to lock your tongue on the soft palate. You also are able to manage your throwing up reflex. Keep having a smile on your face and progressively try to do the previous steps with a closed mouth (except the blow of course. You'll get rid of it by twisting your tongue around the uvula). Push more your tongue against the soft palate and enter fairly the nasopharynx. Again, hold your reflexes, stay calm and keep breathing normally.
Yes, these reflexes are hard to calm down. Keep the faith, you'll succeed.
Once your tongue enters fairly the nasopharynx and that you can manage your reflexes of throwing it out, you'll discover the emptiness of your face and realise that your tongue is able to feel this as a tactile sensation. It all starts from that point. You now discover something completely new about your body and a lot of realignments will start happening.
Try to keep your tongue up there as long as you can and let yourself be absorbed by self study.
From that stage you will experience the accumulation of different fluids in your mouth.
If you keep your tongue up there long enough, the saliva cannot be swallowed. When you bring your tongue back, you will then discover different salivas in your mouth. A very liquid one, on the down part of your mouth where your tongue usually lays, this will quench your thirst and a more thick one sticking to your hard palate that is more like food. I used to have fun calling that the spiritual “happymeal”, with the coca cola down and the cheese burger up. Swallow them one at a time: first drink the liquid saliva and then lick and swallow the thicker one on your hard palate. Taste them. How do they taste like is very important.
I must admit, at the beginning, it may taste pretty bad. You're detoxing from hidden knowledge about yourself and ignorance must be washed away before you get to heavenly tastes.
Kechari Mudra Step 4+ - Pump your tongue to the top
I like to consider what follows as a step higher than the previous one. I call it the 4+ step. Start stretching your tongue inside of your nasopharynx. Go around, discover the folds inside your nasopharynx, try to understand how you're made.
Stretch your tongue all the way to the top part of your nasopharynx. This can be eased by smiling and faking the swallowing movement. If you perform the swallowing movement, your tongue will be pulled higher in afterwards. Reach the top of your nasopharynx and stay like this as long as you can... until meditation ends if you can. You need to let the time to your system to produce the holy fluids.
When you bring your tongue down, you'll find the two salivas and soon enough you'll feel that an even more thick one is leaking down your nasopharynx. Make a little back tongue move, like you do when you want to snort in some mucus and bring that saliva to your tongue. Notice it is thick and that you can even roll it into a little pearl with your tongue... then swallow it and taste it. Extasy isn't it?
Once you'll be done with the bad taste of detoxing your system (I belive neuroendrocrine), you'll get in touch with different tastes that have a direct meaning...mainly sesame, honey, strawberry and butter taste. This is what is called the Amrita nectar and is certainly the most delicate, amazing, liberating thing you could humanly produce with your body. Hatha Yoga Pradipika even says that thank to Amrita you won't fear venom anymore, can't fall sick, can fast forever and eventually you'll obtain eternal life... great program right?
That's about it. You now know what kechari mudra is about and how to perform it.
I keep it simple here for now. With luck and time, i'll write more about it. Don't hesitate to contact me if you want to book an online session :)
Stay safe