Everything in this universe exists in pairs – man-woman, day-night, logic-feeling etc. This is called duality. The experience of this duality arises within us from the nadis present in the left & right sides of our spine. Let us know about these nadis...

If you know about the anatomical structure of the spine, then you realize there are two holes on either side of the spine, these are like carrier tubes, through which all the arteries pass. These are called as Ida and Pingala, i.e. left and right nadis.

There are 72,000 nadis in the energy corpus of the body, called pranamaya kosha. These 72,000 nadis originate from three main nadis – left, right and middle i.e. Ida, Pingala and Sushumna. 'Nadi' does not mean artery or vein. Nadis are like passages or mediums in the body through which prana is transmitted. These 72,000 nadis have no physical form. That is, if you try to see them by cutting the body, then you cannot find them. But as you become more aware, you can see that the movement of energy is not irregular, it is going through fixed paths. Prana or energy passes through 72,000 different paths.

Ida and Pingala symbolize the duality of life. We traditionally refer to this duality as Shiva and Shakti. Or you can simply call it masculine and feminine, or it can be two aspects of you –logic and intuition or instinct. The creation of life is also based on these two qualities, life would not be as it is now. Everything is in its original form in the state before creation. In that state there is no duality. But as soon as there is creation, duality comes in it.

Purushochita and feminine do not refer to gender differences – or to being physically male or female – but there are certain qualities present in the nature. Some qualities of nature are considered to be masculine and some other qualities are considered feminine. You may be a man, but if your Ida Nadi is more active, then the feminine nature can dominate you. You may be a woman, but if your pingala is more active, then the masculine nature can dominate you.

If you can strike a balance between Ida and Pingala then you can be influential in the world. With this you can handle all aspects of life well. Most people live and die in Ida and Pingala, the central place Sushumna remains dormant. But the Sushumna is the most important aspect of human physiology. When the energy enters the sushumna nadi, life really begins.

Basically Sushumna is qualityless, it has no specialty of its own. It is a kind of void or empty space. If there is zero, then you can make any thing of your wish from it. As soon as the energy enters the Sushumna, you become disinterested. 'Raaga' means colour. Vairagya means colorless means you have become transparent.

If you are under the influence of Ida or Pingala then you react by seeing external situations. But once the energy enters the sushumna, you find a new kind of balance.

If you become transparent, then you will also be red if you have red color behind you. If you have blue behind you, you will be blue. You become fair. Wherever you are, you become a part of it, but nothing sticks to you. You dare to explore all the dimensions of life only when you are in a state of dispassion.

You may be quite balanced right now, but if for some reason the external situation becomes disturbed, then you will also become disturbed in response because this is the nature of Ida and Pingala. If you are under the influence of Ida or Pingala then you react by seeing external situations. But once the energy enters the sushumna, you find a new kind of balance, an inner balance, in which whatever happens outside, you have a special place inside, which is never disturbed in any kind of movement. which is not affected by external conditions. You can reach the peak of consciousness only when you create this steady state within yourself.