Guru Nanaka was born into a Hindu family in 1439 in what is now Pakistan. Following a transformative realisation while bathing in the river Bein, He gave up his career as an accountant and began to travel throughout India teaching, composing hymns and establishing centres of worship known as dharamsalas.
He taught the absolute unity of God; everything is God, and everything is dependent on the will of God; therefore, spirit and matter are not ultimately antagonistic. Spirit is the only reality, and matter is a form of spirit.
“When I saw truly, I knew that all was primeval. Nanak, the subtle (Spirit) and the gross (material) are, in fact, identical,” Guru Nanak said. “That which is inside a person, the same is outside; nothing else exists; by Divine prompting look upon all existence as one and undifferentiated.”
It was a time in India’s history when Mughal domination had led to increasing tension between Hindu and Muslim. Seeing the divisiveness of human religions, He said: “There is no Hindu or Muslim, so whose path shall I follow? I shall follow the path of God.”
With a group of companions He visited Mecca and infuriated a local official who had discovered that the party were sleeping with their feet towards the Ka’ba, the holy shrine of Islam. As they were dragged away, the Ka’ba was miraculously seen to move also. Guru Nanak declared, “God does not live in one place. He lives everywhere.”
Guru Nanak taught that the way to connect with the Supreme is not through the mind or through rituals, but through direct personal experience. Therefore, He emphasised meditation on the Name and Presence of God.
“As fragrance abides in the flower, as reflection is within the mirror, so does your Lord abide within you. Why search for Him without?”
He also made it clear that realisation of Self/God is not possible without the compassionate agency of a true guru:
“The Guru is my ship to cross the world ocean. The Guru is my place of pilgrimage and sacred stream.”
“Let no man in the world live in delusion. Without a Guru none can cross over to the other shore.”
Before His death in 1539, Guru Nanaka chose one of his followers to take responsibility for establishing the principles He had taught. The principles were then passed down through a succession of gurus in the Sikh religion. Sikhism was not initially intended to be a separate religion from Hinduism or Islam but, due to a long period of persecution, it became increasingly distinct.
Graham Brown
During November and December 2006, the Sahaja Yoga Realise Australia tour will continue throughout regional New South Wales. The tour provides the opportunity for people living in regional areas to experience Sahaja Yoga meditation and attain self-realisation.
NORTHERN NSW REGION – Realise Australia tour dates, December 2006
* Woy Woy – Friday 1 December, 7:30 pm
Peninsula Community Centre, Cnr McMasters St and Ocean Beach Rd
* Erina – Saturday 2 December, 9:00 am
The Hive, Erina Fair
* Coffs Harbour – Saturday 2 December, 7:30 pm
Community Village, Earl St
* Kempsey – Sunday 3 December, 10:00 am
Kempsey High School Hall, 13 Broughton St
* Newcastle – Sunday 3 December, 5:30 pm
CPI House, Cnr King and Auckland Sts
The Realise Australia Tour 2006 will be visiting western regions of New South Wales to provide meditation meetings. The meetings will include guided meditation, knowledge of our inner energy centres and channels, and practical information on how to meditate at home and how to keep in balance. Click here for more information.
I am prompted to write about the experiences that have helped me in the areas of health and well-being. In the early 1990s I had reached a bit of a crisis point in my life, with my physical and emotional health suffering. I had tried various alternative healing techniques which seemed to help for a while, but didn’t “cut the mustard” on all levels for me.
In 1992 my sister-in-law, Sharon, suggested I try Sahaja Yoga as she had been to a program held in a private house nearby at Wynnum. What she explained to me blew me away – that people practising Sahaja Yoga could teach you how to raise your own kundalini. From what I had read previously, this was usually only possible after arduous study and with many years’ meditative practice. Sharon had felt her own kundalini quite easily at the program and when practising Sahaja Yoga meditation at home. She suggested I try to attend a program in my area.
To my delight, I found that a program was being run nearby in a private house at Ascot. The people running the program were very welcoming and knowledgeable on the subject of the chakras and kundalini, and offered all possible assistance to my desire to feel this meditation experience. They explained that when the kundalini is raised in a suitable manner, the student experiences pure meditation, or thoughtless awareness. The brain stops all its “chitter chatter”, allowing the nervous system to be nourished and enlightened.
I would say that on that first night I only felt a brief moment of thoughtless awareness, but went home determined to improve on that experience. With further practice each day, I was soon able to meditate with strong sessions of thoughtless awareness. This experience was so nourishing and balancing that many of my health problems disappeared. To this day I have continued to practise Sahaja Yoga meditation and I am still in awe of the experience that one feels when the kundalini is raised.
For others who may be interested, I will attempt to give a brief overview of how the process works. The kundalini is a spiritual energy lying dormant in the base of the spine. When activated, it moves up the central parasympathetic nervous system, nourishing the chakras and bringing them back into alignment. There is a tiny gap between each of our thoughts, and as the kundalini passes through the third eye chakra, it widens that gap so that we become thoughtless. The kundalini then passes out through the top of the head, manifesting as a cool breeze that can actually be felt. That cool breeze can be also felt on the hands when one is in balance. The great thing is that if one is out of balance, the kundalini indicates this problem on our fingertips as an experience of heat or a small pain. The fingertips become “enlightened” and allow us to determine which chakras need more work.
If you would like to find out more about the chakras, kundalini and meditation, you are welcome to come to any of the free Sahaja Yoga programs conducted at various places around the world. Contact details can be obtained from this website.
BR Qld