Esoteric anatomy: The body as consciousness

756 Pages·1998·9.73 MB·English

by  Bruce Burger

Copyright © 1998 by Bruce Burger. No portion of this book, except for brief
review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise without the written permission of the publisher. For information
contact the publisher.
Published by
North Atlantic Books
P.O. Box 12327
Berkeley, California 94712
Cover painting by John Ivey
Cover design by Andrea DuFlon
Esoteric Anatomy: The Body As Consciousness is sponsored by the Society for
the Study of Native Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit educational corporation
whose goals are to develop an educational and crosscultural perspective linking
various scientific, social, and artistic fields; to nurture a holistic view of arts,
sciences, humanities, and healing; and to publish and distribute literature on the
relationship of mind, body, and nature.
North Atlantic Books’ publications are available through most bookstores. For
further information, visit our website at www.northatlanticbooks.com or call
800-733-3000.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Burger, Bruce, 1942–
Esoteric anatomy : the body as consciousness / Bruce Burger.
p. cm.
“Sponsored by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences.”
Includes bibliographical references.
eISBN: 978-1-58394-594-0
1. Polarity therapy. 2. Mind and body. I. Society for the Study of Native
Arts and Sciences. II. Title.
RZ520.B87 1998
615.8’52—dc21
Dr. Stone’s books were originally published separately as: Energy, The Wireless
Anatomy of Man, Polarity Therapy, The Mysterious Sacrum, Vitality Balance,
Evolutionary Energy Charts, Polarity Therapy Principles and Practice, Health
Building, A Purifying Diet, and Easy Stretching Postures. In 1985 CRCS
Publications brought out an enlarged edition of Health Building, which included
A Purifying Diet and Easy Stretching Postures. In 1986 and 1987 CRCS
published Polarity Therapy: The Complete Collected Works of Dr. Randolph
Stone in two volumes consolidating Dr. Stone’s writings.
Throughout this work, we refer to Dr. Stone’s works variously by title, book
number, and abbreviation. Following the order of publication, Book I, then, is
Energy; Book II, The Wireless Anatomy of Man; Book III, Polarity Therapy;
Book IV, The Mysterious Sacrum; Book V, Vitality Balance; EEC, Evolutionary
Energy Charts; ET, Energy Tracing; PN, Private Notes; HB, Health Building.
Where Polarity Therapy: The Complete Collected Works of Dr. Randolph Stone
is referenced by volume, Volume I contains Books I, II, and III. Volume II
contains Books IV, V, EEC, ET, and PN. Dr. Stone’s publications are readily
available from CRCS Publications and the American Polarity Therapy
Association.
Quotations from Dr. Stone’s works retain the original capitalization and
underlining.
v3.1
Acknowledgments
I am thankful for the support of the contributing editors: Victoria Baker, Buz
Blocher, John Chitty, R.P.P., Chandana Becker, Ph.D., R.P.P., Mary Buckley,
Michael Drew, Linda Diane Feldt, R.P.P., Roger Gilchrist, M.S., R.P.P., Richard
Gordon, Frank Hemingway, Bob Sachs, Jim Said, D.C., R.P.P., Cybele
Tomlinson, Don Williams, Aurelia Zoltners, R.P.P., and Elizabeth Shaw (for
contributions to the Polarity Diet section). Special thanks to my wife, Chela,
who at the eleventh hour shared her editing expertise. Thanks to Krishnakirtana,
Pat Neal, Mimi Plouf, Denise Laverty, Chloe Randall, and Mark Allison, R.P.P.,
who produced the illustrations. Special gratitude to John Ivey for the original
airbrush painting on the cover and to Andrea DuFlon for the beauty she brought
to the design of the book. I would like to take this opportunity to express my
gratitude to the students and staff at Heartwood Institute who have supported the
evolution of this work over the last twenty years.
STUDENTS
The material taught in this book is for health building and does not in
any way qualify you to diagnose or treat any form of human illness or
condition of disease.
Thanks to CRCS Publications for permission to reproduce selections from the
following: Polarity Therapy: The Complete Collected Works, Vols. I and II, by
Randolph Stone, D.C., D.O., © 1986, 1987; Health Building by Randolph Stone,
© 1976, 1985, Randolph Stone Trust; and Astrology, Psychology, and the Four
Elements, by Stephen Arroyo, © 1975. Reprinted by arrangement with CRCS
Publications, P.O. Box 1460, Sebastopol, CA 95472. Thanks to Polarity Press,
for permission to reproduce Mark Allison’s lucid charts from Energy Exercises,
by John Chitty and Mary Louise Muller, © 1990, and selections from
Relationships and the Human Energy Field by John and Anna Chitty, © 1991.
Reprinted by arrangement with Polarity Press, 2410 Jasper Court, Boulder, CO
80304. Thanks to the American Polarity Therapy Association, for permission to
reproduce selections from Standards For Practice and Code of Ethics, ©
1996. Reprinted by arrangement with the American Polarity Therapy
Association, 2888 Bluff Street, #149, Boulder, CO 80301. Thanks to Shambhala
Publications, Inc., for permission to reproduce selections from the following: No
Boundary by Ken Wilber, © 1979; Grace and Grit, by Ken Wilber, © 1991; The
Power of Limits, by György Doczi, © 1981; The Tao of Physics, by Fritjof
Capra, © 1975, 1983, 1991. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala
Publications, Inc., 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA 02115.
I would like to express my gratitude to Mathaji Vanamali and Vanamali
Ashram, Tapovan P.O. Via Shivananda Nagar, Rishikesh, UP 249192, India for
permission to use portions of Nitya Yoga: The Yoga of Constant Communion an
audio tape commentary on the Srimad Bhagavad Gita. (Nitya Yoga is also
available as a book from Vanamali Ashram and in the U.S. is published as The
Word of God by Blue Dove Press). Thanks to Blue Dove Press for permission to
use material from The Ultimate Medicine, Robert Powell, Ed. Reprinted by
arrangement with Blue Dove Press, 4204 Sorrento Valley Blvd., Suite K, San
Diego, CA 92121.
We would like to thank Sri V.S. Ramanan, President, and the trustees of Sri
Ramanasramam for permission to use a photo of Sri Bhagavan Ramana
Maharshi and material from the booklet by Sri Ramana, Who Am I?, © Sri
Ramanasramam, Tiruvnnamalai, India, 1992.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Acknowledgments
Introduction by Richard Gordon
Blessing by Mathaji Vanamali
Introduction: Actualizing Your Compassionate Nature
Part I Loving Hands Are Healing Hands
1 What Is Polarity Therapy?
2 The Practice of Polarity Therapy
3 Transformational Body Therapy
4 Hands-On Energy Balancing Protocols
Sattvic Session
Rajasic Session
Tamasic Session
Foot Reflexology Session
Core Session
Spine Session
Perineal Session
Pelvic Session
Sacrum Session
Diaphragm and Heart Session
Joint Session
PART II Essays on Esoteric Anatomy
5 Polarity Therapy: A Transpersonal Approach to Natural Healing
6 The Theory of Theomorphic Resonance
7 The Evolutionary Cycle
8 The Golden Spiral: A Key to Understanding Energy in Nature
9 Purusha: The Omnipresent Cosmic Person
10 Sound Is the Temple of the Spirit
11 Babbitt’s Atom: The Key to the Secret Teachings of All Ages
12 Breath and the Cosmos
13 Intelligence Fixed in the Breathing Spirit Is the Hub of Being
14 Archetypes as Founts of Creative Intelligence
15 Conclusion: The Evolutionary Perspective
PART III The Practice of Somatic Psychology
16 Somatic Psychology
17 Elemental Imbalance and Character Disorders
18 The Ultimate Medicine
Part IV Resources for the Practice of Polarity Therapy
Appendix A Conscious Sound Vibration as a Healing Technique
B Body Reading: Every Wrinkle Tells a Story
C Polarity Cleansing Diet
D Right Livelihood: Your Career as a Polarity Therapist
E APTA Standards For Practice: Theory and Basic
Principles of Polarity Therapy
Glossary
Bibliography
End Notes
Introduction
When Bruce Burger asked me if I would like to write an introduction to his
book, I elected to do so without hesitation. I’ve never liked reading long
introductions, so I’ll keep this one short and to the point. I’ve known Bruce since
1978 and have always been impressed with both his dedication to his work and
the ample accessibility of his love. I believe that these qualities clearly manifest
through the depth of understanding which he brings to the healing arts. When I
hold this text, I feel as though I am holding one of the more important
documents of our time—an extremely comprehensive and extraordinary map of
our subtle anatomy. Esoteric Anatomy: The Body as Consciousness is an ideal
book for those who are seeking a deeper understanding of energy in the healing
arts. Bruce has mindfully woven insights from the wisdom of ancient India to
create a unique approach for understanding and working with life force, the
healing presence of the soul.
The first section of this book, Loving Hands Are Healing Hands, contains a
series of eleven energy-balancing sessions based upon Polarity Therapy. While
these sessions are quite simple and easy to learn, please don’t be deceived. These
sessions are profoundly effective. Then, through a holistic approach to healing,
Bruce presents a system of Somatic Psychology for clearing trauma from the
cellular memory of the body.
Bringing in over two decades of exploration and contemplation, Bruce
presents us with new models for understanding Esoteric Psychology, Esoteric
Anatomy, and Energy Medicine. These models are based upon archetypal
understandings of the healing arts, the five elements, and viewing the body as
consciousness. This useful, comprehensive, and insightful book is truly a major
work of devotion and love. I highly recommend it for students of healing, yoga,
and Eastern spirituality. Most especially, I recommend this book to those seeking
to bring their most cherished convictions about the sacredness and the unity of
all life into their service in the world.
Richard Gordon
Author of Your Healing Hands
and
Quantum-Touch—The Power to Heal
Blessing: Hari Aum
Sri Arvind (Bruce) Burger has spent a lifetime of study on the nature of sound
vibration and its effect on the physical body. He has been practicing Polarity
Therapy for many years. His chanting of the word Aum when he uses it for
therapy really makes your whole body tingle and vibrate in tune with it. This
book, Esoteric Anatomy, is the consummation of all his findings and
experiments of so many years and will be of enormous benefit to all those who
read it. The author is an Indologist as well as a great devotee of Lord Krishna
and there is no doubt that the Divine has given him all guidance in bringing out
this original and fascinating book.
All manifestation arises from the moment of forces precipitated by the
resonance that is Aumkar. Aum is the ancient word, the universal sound energy
which is pulsating with pure potential. This shakti is the very nature of the
Absolute. It is the living energy whose vibrations give rise to the whole of the
manifest universe. It is the dynamic impulse which reverberates within itself and
gives rise to all types of experiences—intellectual, volitional, emotional, and
spiritual. The universe arises from sound, as do all things with form. Sound
arises in the inner sky of our consciousness—the heart space in the head and the
sky space in the heart.
This sound unites with the vital breath and animates the inert body. Sound is
like an infinite ocean moving in all directions. It pervades everything both
outside and inside. In the form of the Higher Mind it becomes creation,
preservation, dissolution—Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva. Beyond that it passes into the
Thuriya state, which is soundless. This ocean of our potentiality has two aspects
—pure potential or Shiva and pure energy or Shakti, which is again divided into
three aspects—janana shakti, iccha shakti, and kriya shakti—the energy for
knowledge, the energy for desire, and the energy for action. All three are needed
for creation to happen. Thus Shakti is the supreme creative aspect of the
Absolute—vital and dynamic. It is completely stable yet never still, eternally
pulsating within the sea of pure consciousness. This resonance causes
movement, waves, and ripples which intersect, mingle, rise, and break.
How exactly this vibrant, self-aware, ever-pulsating yet ever-still ocean of