The pulse of the cosmos mirrors itself in the human body, with the beating of the heart reflecting the throbbing rhythm of the universe. The same elements that comprise the mantle of this earth make up the human body, and the laws that govern their form and actions are the same. Each one of us comprises of a microcosmic manifestation of all elements and laws existing throughout creation. To separate humanity from its place as an evolute of the cosmos is to deny the very core of reality.

We can’t escape. We are all products of the omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient causal principle. But we can hide, we can deny, we can veil ourselves in the illusion of “free will” and “self-determinism.” Nonetheless, each one of us has two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, two arms, two legs, and one mouth and one anus. Each must breathe. Each must eat. Each must sleep.

Physics tells us that when two or more vectors of force interact, a new flow is created following the path of least resistance. Man is a product of the vectors of cosmic force, and has within himself an inborn flow, an innate direction. By denying the principles that gave him birth, man can resist or divert the flow. But the price is pain and a sense of separation, anxiety, and loneliness.

Yoga is the science of seeking out the flow that rises and falls in each of us, then turning in and harmonizing one’s existence with this flow.

Dharma is the flow, and karma is the means by which one can reestablish contact with this all-pervading essence. The first stage is the realization that one is an evolute of the cosmos. Only then can one begin to bring one’s own discordant rhythm into harmony with the larger patterns of the cosmic symphony.

The sun rises and sets each day for all beings. And throughout the world the daily cycle of light and darkness establishes the basic cycle for all life forms.

With the first stirring of dawn, about ninety minutes before the sun appears over the eastern horizon, comes a great surge of energy on the planet. Sleeping creatures awaken, shaking the vestiges of inertia from their systems in preparation for the activities of the day.

Then, less than a half hour before sunrise, a second surge of energy rushes through the atmosphere, this one still more powerful. With this second in draft of radiation comes the single most important moment of the day- the time when body chemistry is set for all living beings.
Man is also affected by this cycle. Physiologists from Japan found a sudden and dramatic shift in the blood chemistry of human subjects inevitably occurring within ten or twenty minutes of the sun’s appearance.

The blood at this time is thinned and suffused with fresh chemicals, which gradually exhaust themselves only to be restored again at the next sunrise.

Physical health and emotional well-being are both the products of the body chemistry, a fact demonstrated by the changes in both states produced by the addition of foreign chemicals (drugs) to the system. If drugs can produce changes in physical and emotional states, both must themselves be reflections of body chemistry.

This brings us to the first and most important step in harmonizing individual being-rising at least forty-five minutes before dawn.

The suffusion of the system with new energy takes place ten minutes before sunrise, whether or not we are consciously prepared and awake but how much better if we are prepared.
Chemical reaction take place best in the clean vessels, free from contaminants. Our own bodies are vessels of chemical reactions. Logic dictates that a reaction taking place in a vessel free from wastes and contaminants will produce much greater results than a reaction in an impure vessel.

During sleep, the human system centralizes all wastes and refuse products in the bowels and bladder. The lower abdomen is full of wasted charged gases that will be used on awakening to push the urine and stool out of the system.

If one is sleeping at sunrise, these gases and waste will be present during the setting of blood chemistry. If one is awake, bowels and bladder emptied, body cleansed, and sitting in a receptive mood at sunrise, how much different would be the outcome?

Throughout history, all religions in all parts of the world have stressed to one degree or another the importance of rising before dawn and greeting the new day refreshed and receptive. The Hindu tradition lists failure to meditate in these early morning hours as one of the fourteen failings.

Only a healthy person can enjoy living in this world, and the first key to bodily health is rising ten minutes or more before dawn. Sanskrit scriptures call this time Brahma mahoorta or Amrit bela. Brahma mahoorta means the “time of Brahma,” pure consciousness, the divine self. Amrit bela signifies the time of the nectar of life.

With the first stirring of dawn, about ninety minutes before the sun appears over the eastern horizon, comes a great surge of energy on the planet. Sanskrit scriptures call this time Brahma mahoorta or Amrit Bela. Brahma Mahoorta means the ‘Time of Brahma’, pure consciousness, the divine self. It signifies the time of the ‘nectar of life’.

During these crucial minutes, the body’s glaze of the health increases, as do physical strength and power of concentration. One is filled with fresh energies, inspired to undertake any kind of work and any project initiated at this time is always completed. Difficult problems requiring great mental effort are most easily solved, and memory is at its sharpest. Sick persons feel released from the agonies that kept them awake and troubled through the night, often falling into deep, replenishing sleep.

Only in the past one hundred years have people in civilized nations neglected rising before dawn. And it is these same hundred years that have heralded an unprecedented upsurge in heart disease, cancer, and a score of other disorders-as well as the birth and phenomenal growth of the psychiatric and psychological professions.

BED TEA OR BAD TEA

Modern man should understand the importance of early morning rising. He has forgotten those practices that should be followed after waking to tune in the body and the mind. Each morning is the start of a new day.

What purpose is a new day if we allow ourselves to get entangled in the trips of the previous day? By allowing our energies to be spent in pondering the previous day’s follies and fortunes, the advantages gained by rising before dawn are exhausted in a destructive fashion. Receiving energy is important, but equally critical is the manner in which we spend it.

And of prime importanc is to not to take any food or drink in the predawn hours. Many people are addicted to a cup of coffee or tea, even before setting out foot out of bed. In India, where tea is the national beverage, this practice is prevalent among Western-oriented people and is called “bed tea” by the traditional majority. It must be considered a crime against the system. For what one is doing is adding a chemical stimulant to the system before emptying the bowels and bladder.

Morning is the time to keep one’s speed slow and easy. Adding a stimulant not only speeds up the system, but causes the waste charged gases to move upward, circulating throughout the body.