Questioner: Well dealing with the spine, being a chiropractor, I’m just wondering if the physical body can put limitations on what you commented on.
Sadhguru: I really don’t know what a chiropractic does, I’m not aware of it. I just see the boards, chiropractic clinic, I just inquired what this is, and whatever people have told me, that’s all. I really don’t know what they do, but whatever they may be doing their knowledge of the spine is from the outside, by studying and that’s how they know the spine. So when that is all the knowledge is, the best thing to do is only to help somebody, who is all messed up in his spine, to just relax. Trying to do anything more than that to the spine would not be good.
All that is happening for most people is, by improper attitudes, improper energy, improper postures, spine tends to contract, you know. It should be like ‘this’ [stretched], but it tends to sit back, and sometimes grate upon each other, and create tension, and pain, nervous pain. Sometimes very excruciating pain. So if you can help a person to relax and stretch out his spine, it’s fine. But too much meddling with the spine is not good.
In yoga, we have what is called as angamardana. Angamardana literally means – anga means the limbs, or the body parts, mardana means to kill – to kill the body parts. So if you do angamardana, then everything in you will disappear from your experience, except your spine. Only the back of your head, and your spine will be still in your experience. The rest of it will be like not in your experience. Like some of you are seeing when you sit for shoonya, your hands and legs seem to be missing. So the whole body will be missing, except the spine. So when you get a person into such conditions, then there are many things you can do with the spine. But that is not to be attempted in a chiropractic clinic. It needs a completely different atmosphere. It’s not medical, you know, it’s not a physical or medical thing. It’s a different dimension.
I think a chiropractic could help a person to relax his spine. I don’t know what else is being done. You should tell me.
Questioner: Well, there are several philosophies on chiropractic and, I mean, it would take some time I guess to tell you.
Sadhguru: But forceful pushing of the spine could make a person very dependent on the chiropractic.
