Namaste. As far as i know Sri Yukteswar, as well as Yoganandaji, wore a navaratna gem bangle, with all 9 gems? So is it safe to wear? Many pandits talk a lot, and i need to find clarity please. I’m also curious: there is a company selling those bangles with gems grown in a lab, under same circumstances with perfect quality? They say they sold over 3000 and all their customers are happy. My feeling is good, my knowledge is little. I want to do the right choice. Please help me.
—Falk Born, Germany
Dear Falk,
The navaratna bangle is not only safe but is highly useful and recommended, in general, for everyone. Swami Kriyananda wore one too. He writes in his book, Raja Yoga:
“Pure, unflawed gem stones of not less than two carats may also be beneficial, if worn next to the skin. An armlet of general usefulness, but one that is too costly for the average person to buy, is the so-called navaratna, or 9-stone bangle.”
Why is it so costly? The true navaratna bangle is composed of nine pure gemstones, each of them needing to be two carats or more: diamond, emerald, yellow sapphire, chrysoberyl cat’s-eye, blue sapphire, hessonite or cinnamon garnet, coral, pearl, and ruby.
Gems made in laboratories are synthetic. They may have have the exact chemical composition of a gem created in nature, so technically and aesthetically speaking there might not be a difference at all. But imagine the difference in the power of nature: the natural one has been created by pressure, by the power of earth, over a course of millions of years. It has, to my understanding, a completely different effect, vibrationally and spiritually speaking. The natural stones, I believe, are the “pure, unflawed gem stones” which have the highly beneficial effect that yogis describe and recommend.
Joy to you,
Jayadev
