WARRIOR ENNEAGRAM YOGA (CALAH_RIBATI)

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Table of Contents

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- HISTORY OF CALAH_RIBATI

- STYLE OF CALAH_RIBATI

- THE WOMB BREATHING OF CALAH_RIBATI

- CALAH_RIBATI AND THE BRAIN

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HISTORY OF CALAH_RIBATI

CALAH_RIBATI or Warrior Yoga is the Hamito-Semitic Gnostic version of the Hindu Warrior Yoga known as Calahripati , (Calah_ribati in Semitic is almost a homonym of Sanscrit Calahripati).

the semitc term calah (pronounced SSALAAH) like the sanscrit term, yoga, means union, communion and ribati means chivaleric warrior.

Calah_ribati is a gentle mind-body art-form of healing, strengthening, rejuvenating and spiritualizing physical exercise, based on the physio-structural principles of the ancient Gnostic diagram of the enneagram (and its impressionistic mandala form, the octagon). its origins go back to the babylonians some 3000 years ago where it was practised in the sun and the moon chaldean temples .

The first westerner to bring a version of this ancient art form of mystico-physical movement to the west was the Greek-Armenian Gnostico-mystical teacher Georges Gurdjieff. he called his version simply Enneagram Movements and taught it as a part of his human development program in his Institute of Harmonious Development of Man in Fontainebleau near Paris.he claimed to have learned it in the Gnostic monastery of the sarmani brotherhood in central Asia.

Desmond martin in Archer's "the sufi mystery" and omar burke in his "among the dervishes" both confirmed after their separate visits to a sarmoun monastery in central Asia, in the early 1960's, the fact that the performance of series of yoga-like postures, based on some babylonian symbology, was at the heart of sarmouni mystical training system. In the ninteenth century isabelle Ebenhardt witnessed something similar among the qadiri marabouts of the Grand Sahara .. (see the gurdjieff moves link ,sarmung brotherhood link at the end of this page).

In ancient times this style of physical exercise is practised by Gnostic warrior monks who use it both as a means for spiritual growth as well as for martial health and fitness. these warriors were the western equivalent of Calahripati Yogis of India,the Ninjas and Zen Samurais of Japan and the Shaolin templars of China and were known as Marabouts around the Western Mediteranean(Maghreb ,Spain and Sicily)

they had their monasteries and lodges stationed at the main junctions of the ancient sea and land routes and their temporal vocation was to protect travellers, caravans and seaships from criminal gangs and pirates while living by a strict chivaleric code of honour (muruweah meaning manliness and manhood from which the Sicilian Mafia term, omerta, is derived ) within one of the many Gnostic Ways, promoting inter-faith dialogue, inter-cultural cross-fertilization and tolerance among people of different faiths and ethnic origins.

STYLE OF CALAH_RIBATI

CALAH_RIBATI practice consists of the performance of the two sequence-routines of CALAH_RIBATI (the sun salutation sequence and the moon salutation sequence).

each sequence is performed in a series of flowing moves synchronised with an active conscious mode of breathing .the postures are mainly deep semi-acrobatic fencing stances of the marabout warriors which are weaved into flowing moves and patterns of moves and performed according to the 8 physio-geometrical principles of the the mandala of the octagon (the mandalaic code of the Gnostic diagram ).

These principles which are are the Motion version of the Gnostic Designers' Eight principles of Mindfulness (see link at end of page) are as follows:

1- body-mind Centering

2- body Alignment

3- Relaxation in Contraction-decontraction

4- Mindfulness and control of Breath

5- Mindfulness and control of movement

6- Gracefulness and flow of movement

7- Balance and Coordination of movement

8- Endurance and Resiliency

At the biomechanical level the eight segments of the octagon represent the eight main directions of motion possible for the human body:

1- forward linear flexion

2- backward linear flexion (extension)

3- right rotation

4- left rotation

5- right abduction/left adduction

6- left abduction/ right adduction

7- right lateral flexion

8- left lateral flexion

At the level of the anatomical structure of the skeleto-muscular system the eight segments of the octagon represent the eight major joints of the body which move in any of the eight main directions of motion just mentioned.

these eight major joints are, from top to bottom, as follows :

1- the neck

2- the shoulder

3- the elbow

4- the wrist

5- the spine (which is a series of mini-joints but taken as one major joint)

6- the hip

7- the knee

8- the ankle

THE WOMB BREATHING OF CALAH_RIBATI

In CALAH_RIBATI , the breathing style uses the “core muscles” [ known as the "WOMB"or "RAHIM" in Semitic], which are the abdominals the lower back and pelvic floor, in a way different to other styles of yoga but almost identical to pilates thoracic breathing and Cheng Tai Chi reverse breathing .

This breathing technique is called the womb breath (el-nafs el-rahimaniy in Semitic) which is an abdominal lateral breathing style whereby you have to maintain mindfulness of the breath as well as a constant mild tone of the abdominal muscles (which in turn flattens the lower back and expands the ribs to sides and to the back), while moving in and out of the postures, in a given flowing sequence . .

At the level of the anatomy of the core muscles of the body (lower back and lower abdomen) again the eight segments of the octagon represent the eight segments of muscle that form the "core belt" , from right to left, anti-clockwise, starting from the spinal axis, they are ( A cross section would be of an octagon like shape) :

from spine to navel:

1-right spinal erector

2-right quadratus lumborum

3- right lateralus abdominis , a three-folded sheet of muscle formed of : right obliquus externus abdominis, right obliquus internus abdominis, right transversus abdominis

4-right rectus abdominis

from navel to spine :

5-left rectus abdominis

6-left lateralus abdominis, a three-folded sheet of muscle formed of: left obliquus externus abdominis, left obliquus internus abdominis,left transversus abdominis.

7-left quadratus lumborum

8-left spinal erector

and at the level of the rectus abdominus, the core of the core, the eight segments of the octagon are represented by the eight packets (four on the right and four on the left) of the rectus abdominis which are arranged into four two-paired packs (four packs and not six packs as popularily known where the lowest pack is taken as two packs. in fact it is all one pack as it is not divided by alba linea line).

the high-priests, shamans, magicians, witch-doctors and mystics of the first human civilizations of the ancient East were well acquainted with such details of human physiology, anatomy and physiopsychology. Hence, for instance, the JUM workers on The Semitic Etymological Dictionary Project DISCOVERED that :

"..the speakers of those ancient languages had an amazingly deep knowledge of the anatomy of both humans and animals.

Even between the late 5th and early 3rd millennia before the Common Era—that is before the first written historical records came into being—the Proto-Semitic vocabulary included several hundreds anatomical terms that describe practically all parts of the body, the external and internal organs, and the physiological processes from conception to birth, as well as many diseases and physical defects. Among those terms one finds very specialized anatomical meanings which are expressed by one word.

Consider, for example, *nasy ‘sciatic tendon,’ * arkub ‘Achilles’ tendon,’ *warid ‘jugular vein,’ and *hasis “helix, cartilage of ear.’ Only borrowed or descriptive words designate these objects even in such highly developed languages of modern cultures as English or Russian.

The word *yurl(-at) meaning ‘foreskin’ apparently indicates that circumcision attested in various Semitic peoples had been practiced in the earlier ProtoSemitic era.

The dictionary traces the evolution of such abstract notions as ‘soul’ and ‘vitality’ from a very specific physiological notion of ‘breathing’. Consider also the origin of ‘mercy’ and ‘compassion’ from the terms designating ‘uterus, womb,’ or the root for ‘love, desire’ originating from a term meaning ‘discharging sperm, exuding vaginal secretion.’

Attesting to a surprisingly high level of technological progress in the 4th millennium before the Common Era are such common Semitic terms as *ma-npuh ‘bellows’ (from the verb *nph ‘to blow’) or *rkb ‘to pollinate (date-palms) which evolved from the first meaning of the same verb ‘to have intercourse.’"[FROM SED PAGE SEE LINK AT END OF PAGE]

CALAH_RIBATI AND THE BRAIN

At the neural level, CALAH_RIBATI, through the increase of kinesthetic awareness and, optimal restructuring, works to develop and train new neural pathways and engrave them into the neuro-enodcrino-muscular systems in order to create an optimal functioning of the body-mind system ..

Calah_Ribati Yoga uses an experiential process which aims a re-creating the links between physical postures and psychological postures (feelings and cognitive attitudes). ..

To each physical posture either static or dynamic (movement) correspond a mental posture ... to the eight main physical directional motions correspond eight positive emotional postures (the eight neo-platonic virtues of the brethern of purity).

By learning to re-align our physical postures with their mental counter-parts we optimize the functioning of our human neuro-biological machine and the capacity to free ourselves from unwanted negative mental postures(schematas) and learn to replace them with positive ones.

As a chivaleric Art, Calah_Ribati's positive constructive postures are the chivaleric virtues such as joy, courage, fearlessness, self-confidence, inner flexibility, humility, generosity of spirit etc...

LINKS:

  • Gurdjieff's Enneagram Moves  
  • The Eight Principles of the Desighners Mindfulness  
  • Semitic Etymological Dictionary  

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