Sahaja Yoga
Before our physical birth we experienced a continuing sense of nourishment,
connectedness and security. After our physical birth we then experience our selves as separated, and so it is only natural that we seek and long for that sense of connection, nourishment and security.
This seeking finds expression in many ways. Sometimes we seek for gross, physical pleasures and external and material satisfactions in the world. Yet, these invariably do not fully satisfy us; they prove to be stormy, transient and therefore illusory. Perhaps this leads us to understand that the means to really satisfy ourselves, the Kingdom of Heaven, lies within us and so we may begin seeking in earnest for our inner or ultimate fulfilment.
There is a gap, between the separated and conditioned sense of self we experience ourselves as, and the eternal, spiritual core of our being which is completely secure, connected and joyful. This divide, between the illusory and relative nature of the world and the ultimate Reality, is manifest in a physical gap in the central channel, within the para-sympathetic nervous system. This gap actually exists physically between the sacral outflow and the vagus nerve, encompassing the Subtle area called the Void or the Ocean of Illusion.To cross this gap, this Ocean of Illusion, we need to develop balance, self-mastery and pure desire. We also require the help of a true Guru – someone who will awaken the Kundalini so that we can discern the correct Path and cross the Void to the heart, wherein lies the true Self, the eternal Spirit.
It is in this state of disconnectedness that seekers may search for a guide or Guru to help them to find the Way, a Path or process to cross the Void, the illusions, and connect with that Source of all satisfaction, joy and fulfilment – the Divine, the Source, Tao, or God. There have been many great incarnations of the principle of Guru or Spiritual Teacher who have incarnated to guide groups of sincere seekers towards their Self-realisation. The personifications or incarnations of this principle include Abraham, Moses, Muhammed, Zarathustra, Lao Tze, Confucious, Sai Baba of Shirdi, Guru Nanak, Raja Janaka and Socrates. Also, there have been false gurus who have plundered and damaged the seekers. The goal in Sahaja Yoga is to help the true seekers to find their Self-realisation so they can become their own gurus.
Most often for the seekers, so far, the only assistance has been to receive a set of guidelines, or rules, a dharmic way of behaving, that will help maintain individual and collective balance. So, we have sets of rules in the religions such as the Ten Commandments. Moses, as an example of the Guru principle, led his people out of slavery, across the ocean and to the promised land. Shri Mataji in this modern era holds a unique place in the tradition of Gurus because She has created a method for en masse Kundalini awakening and so facilitated the creation of so many potentially enlightened Gurus.
Only the Kundalini can bridge that great divide between illusion and Reality. On first awakening, Kundalini ascends the Sushumna (centre) nadi up to the Agnya chakra. It covers the lower plate (moordha) and then descends like melting clouds on the Ida (left) and Pingala (right) nadis to the Void. It fills the Void area, and then the three combined powers re-ascend the Sushumna nadi to open the lotus petals of the Sahasrara. The Spirit, which is said to be watching through the manifold subtle auras of the heart, has its seat at the top of the head in the centre. When the individual spark of the Spirit is raised and reunited in Union, or Yoga, with the all-pervading and all-powerful Source at the apex of the Sahasrara, then the Reality of the essential core of existence is realised. This enables a person to start to become his or her own Guru, based on a new enlightened awareness.
(Photograph courtesy of fromoldbooks.org)
There will be a realisation stall at the Leura Fair to be held in Leura in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney on 6 and 7 October 2007.
The Leura Fair is held as part of the Leura Garden Festival. People come from all over to visit the beautiful gardens in their springtime splendour. The main street in Leura where the Fair is held is lined with beautiful blossom trees in full bloom.
Please come along and enjoy the gardens, the ambience and the opportunity to find out about Sahaja Yoga meditation.
(Photograph courtesy of geekphilosopher.com)
A Cultural Evening of Meditation, Music and Dance will be held at Richmond near Sydney. The program will include meditation through realisation, a recorded talk by Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi (the founder of Sahaja Yoga), a performance by the world music group, “Music of Joy”, and a special dance performance by Sandeep Bodhanker and students.
Please come along and enjoy a wonderful evening of music, dance and joyful meditation.
Date: Saturday 6 October 2007
Time: 7.00 pm
Venue: Richmond School of Arts (opposite library)
Corner March and West Market Sts
Richmond
The founder of Sahaja Yoga, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, worked out the method of raising people’s Kundalinis en masse, the method used in Sahaja Yoga. After a new person’s first program, described in the article, “Your First Sahaja Yoga Program”, we teach you how to clear your chakras each day and how to bring up your Kundalini each day. We also encourage you to feel the difference in the depth of your meditation when you meditate with other people compared with when you meditate alone.
Sahaja Yogis who have been meditating for years still clear their chakras daily and attend collective meditation as often as possible; preferably daily and certainly a minimum of once a week.
There is an important reason to clear your chakras daily: when your Kundalini first rises, it is like a few strands of a rope coming up. It can come up a lot more strongly if your chakras are clearer. While the Kundalini does begin to clear the chakras, when it is up, our chakras do need some help – hence the Sahaja Yoga clearing methods taught at programs, using the natural elements.
The connection between clearing your chakras and the Kundalini is this: the clearer your chakras are, the more the strands of Kundalini can rise. The more strands of Kundalini that rise, the deeper the meditation you have. The deeper your meditation is, the more peaceful and connected to the Collective Unconscious you are.
The connection between the Kundalini and collective meditation is this: your Kundalini comes up more strongly when you are in contact with other people whose Kundalinis are up. Because you are connected to the Collective Unconscious, you are also connected to everyone else who is connected to the Collective Unconscious. Hence, when you meditate together, everyone’s individual connections become stronger, i.e. their Kundalinis rise more strongly when people are together. When people are together in meditation, the peace and deep, quiet bliss that results is indeed the “peace that passeth all understanding” spoken of in the Bible.
(Photograph courtesy of copyright-free-pictures.org.uk)