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
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
I sit, head bowed, and enjoy the shower of pure Chaitanya,
Golden, cooling and pure.
It washes every impurity in my being,
As powerfully as the Ganges rushes from the Himalayas,
Yet as gently as a mother cleanses her child.
A witness to this event, I enjoy.
I raise my head and see Your face, Our Holy Mother;
One glance and all the cares and tensions are dissolved.
Yet this is not the miracle, Holy Mother.
I sit amongst thousands all over the world,
Who are being cleansed and cared for by You,
As if they, not me, are the only one.
All are Your children;
All you care for as You do me.
Yet this is not the miracle.
The miracle is You, Our Holy Mother
Who chose to come to us in these days when we are at our worst.
You came to bless us and to bring us home.
Lisa
As you may know, the head of a company survived the 9/11 attack, because his son started kindergarten. Another fellow was alive because it was his turn to bring donuts. One woman was late because her alarm clock didn’t go off in time. One was late due to being stuck on the New Jersey Turnpike because of an automobile accident. One of them missed his bus. One spilled food on her clothes and had to take time to change. One’s car wouldn’t start. One went back to answer the telephone. One had a child that dawdled and didn’t get ready as soon as he should have. One couldn’t get a taxi. The one that struck me was the man who put on a new pair of shoes that morning, took the various means to get to work, but before he got there, he developed a blister on his foot. He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid. That is why he is alive today.
Now when I am stuck in traffic, miss an elevator, turn back to answer a ringing telephone – all the little things that annoy me – I think to myself, this is exactly where God wants me to be at this very moment.
Next time your morning seems to be going wrong, the children are slow getting dressed, you can’t seem to find the car keys, you hit every traffic light, don’t get mad or frustrated; God is at work watching over you.
May God continue to bless you with all those annoying little things and may you remember their possible purpose.