You are now about to start reading a book about sadhana (spiritual practice). It is the beginning of an interesting adventure with both yourself and the valuable information contained herein. This book has two sections that were divided with the purpose of being small enough to transport or copy. The first section has a detailed philosophical explanation of the system and how it influences the physical, astral and causal bodies. As you advance you will encounter some of the research made by the author that focuses on the benefits of holding the breath during asanas (postures) and pranayamas (breathing exercises). As you continue, meticulous descriptions of different pranayamas and mudras (energy seals) that arouse mystical internal energies responsible for awakening the mind will be revealed to you.

The second section, the Addendum, contains precise descriptions of yoga asana sequences that stimulate this same mystical ascending energy (Kundalini). On top of this, you will be able to see Kirlian photos that show how the energy of Kundalini moves though the chakras (psycho-energetic centers) and how it affects them by modifying their colors and the body’s aura shape and size. In my heart I hope that anyone who comes across these teachings is blessed with the right perspective to make appropriate use of such practices. To do so, we must appreciate the essence of spiritual practice. There are many ways of practice, many flowing rivers rushing to the same ocean. Yet practice is of no use unless it is done with right understanding. Remember, it is the essence that matters, and that which is the essence is the simplest thing.

At the beginning, we go through life living from moment to moment. We develop personalities through our judgment of ourselves, others and the environment we find ourselves in. We construct a series of habitual patterns based on what we like and what we don’t like. In this way, we end up running after gratification and fleeing from discomfort. We need our memory to do this; without memory, we would not be able to judge based on past experiences. So we create a mental map filled with things to avoid and other things to desire, and the right paths to reach them. Life seems simple, and unhappiness is easy to keep at bay, according to the map. But somehow we find ourselves immersed in suffering. Pleasures never seem to last as long as we would like them to. So the habitual reaction is to run after more gratification, and we have the perfect habit map to do this. We repeat, redo, and repeat over and over again. We end up living our life going from expectation to expectation, reaction to reaction. Is there an end to this?