When we want to correct someone, there is a chance that we will hurt them. But when we go out to hurt someone, there is no chance we will correct them.
CC licensed photo by photomequickbooth
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Correction and Hurt
CC licensed photo by photomequickbooth
The Ship Hath Sailed
One of my favorite proverbs is
Our agnya chakra is the most critical, most delicate and most easily affected. A person with no conflicts of any kind is either realized or completely oblivious. Conflict resolution approaches are the best way to test a person's agnya chakra. Without conflict, there is no way to confirm who will survive the new age that is rapidly closing in.
As the grand illusion, the Mahamaya, separates the wheat from the chaff, she sets up these serious games for our personal learning. These serious games can be harmless as long as we are not involved in the emotional aspect. Because it starts of with small seeds of discontent amongst a so-called brotherhood, which ultimately erupts in a fight which will for a part of the collective to leave. The reaper is at work testing people who can truly humble themselves and forgive others.
Last Monday, it occured to me in a morning meditation that the one quality I still lack as a Sahaja Yogi, is the ability to express love. I had genuine love for most acquaintances, but my failing had been the ability to express it. I did develop the ability to express it for seekers over the past few years, because that genuine love is the only thing that a seeker of truth can feel. However, there was a serious lack of ability to express love openly to other enlightened souls. Since the morning meditations were now regular and improving, I felt courageous to ask for this new ability. As the Chinese say, be careful what you ask for, because it may just come true.
The very next day, I played good cop/bad cop to pull over a organizationally speeding brother and issue a spiritual ticket. What I got in return was the culmination of his months long plan to slow poison our common friends. This slow poisoning was successful only because of, guess what, my total lack of ability to openly express love and adoration of my fellow realized beings. This comes partly from my Indian descent, where I leave communication with ladies to my wife or other female representative of the family. The passive aggressive negativity had thrived in the brain of my weak friend, and had him sow seeds of discontent quite discretely so that some of my other weak friends were starting to cut off their time with me. I suspected something, but the "speeding ticket" brought out the complete masterplan.
Like the unfortunate cop who gets shot by a druggie on a stop-and-bust, I was repeatedly shot down in the back multiple times as I asked for the drivers license and registration. A routine stop and check had turned fatal for me.
Now came the real part - will I give in to the ideas of hatred or bring down my ego, make the ultimate sacrifice of pride and humbly apologize, even though there was a clear violation of natural law. Like many ironic court cases of America, the process started with me issueing unconditional apologies to the poisoned friends for anything done unknowingly in the recent past. Asking for forgiveness. And as that started, they their poison revealed to me. If I had aggressively pursued the matter with the poisoned innocent, they would have frozen up and confirmed the trash talk about me.
Honestly, I was surprised by my mind's ability to express unconditional apologies and ask for forgiveness and acceptance. This could be the greatest jump in evolution of all the fantastic jumps I have seen this Fall of 2009. I am tempted to analyze the motivations of my malefactor, but the mind simply refuses to co-operate with thoughts of hatred. I would have never discovered this depth granted by Sahaja meditation, the blessing of the agnya chakra to humble down immediately. I would have expected that it would take me months before I would consider leveling with them. But the stakes are too high. The social capital we build is more precious than our fragile egos and one cannot implement this self-belief in any other system of yoga meditation. This is simply Sahaja, simply unique and simply amazing.
As the proceedings proceed, I sometimes feel distinct "working out" of negativity in different chakras. Clearing of this nature usually takes years. I am happy that this dynamic training environment exists within Sahaja Yoga where our false knowledge is actively removed, our theoratical learning is tested and corrected -- all without an institutionalized system of education.
Once you begin Sahaja Yoga, your ship, i.e., your being, will truly sail off the harbor into the wild seas and your captainship will be tested, improved and blessed.
CC licensed photo: symera_serin
"A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for." Grace Hooper
Our agnya chakra is the most critical, most delicate and most easily affected. A person with no conflicts of any kind is either realized or completely oblivious. Conflict resolution approaches are the best way to test a person's agnya chakra. Without conflict, there is no way to confirm who will survive the new age that is rapidly closing in.
As the grand illusion, the Mahamaya, separates the wheat from the chaff, she sets up these serious games for our personal learning. These serious games can be harmless as long as we are not involved in the emotional aspect. Because it starts of with small seeds of discontent amongst a so-called brotherhood, which ultimately erupts in a fight which will for a part of the collective to leave. The reaper is at work testing people who can truly humble themselves and forgive others.
Last Monday, it occured to me in a morning meditation that the one quality I still lack as a Sahaja Yogi, is the ability to express love. I had genuine love for most acquaintances, but my failing had been the ability to express it. I did develop the ability to express it for seekers over the past few years, because that genuine love is the only thing that a seeker of truth can feel. However, there was a serious lack of ability to express love openly to other enlightened souls. Since the morning meditations were now regular and improving, I felt courageous to ask for this new ability. As the Chinese say, be careful what you ask for, because it may just come true.
The very next day, I played good cop/bad cop to pull over a organizationally speeding brother and issue a spiritual ticket. What I got in return was the culmination of his months long plan to slow poison our common friends. This slow poisoning was successful only because of, guess what, my total lack of ability to openly express love and adoration of my fellow realized beings. This comes partly from my Indian descent, where I leave communication with ladies to my wife or other female representative of the family. The passive aggressive negativity had thrived in the brain of my weak friend, and had him sow seeds of discontent quite discretely so that some of my other weak friends were starting to cut off their time with me. I suspected something, but the "speeding ticket" brought out the complete masterplan.
Like the unfortunate cop who gets shot by a druggie on a stop-and-bust, I was repeatedly shot down in the back multiple times as I asked for the drivers license and registration. A routine stop and check had turned fatal for me.
Now came the real part - will I give in to the ideas of hatred or bring down my ego, make the ultimate sacrifice of pride and humbly apologize, even though there was a clear violation of natural law. Like many ironic court cases of America, the process started with me issueing unconditional apologies to the poisoned friends for anything done unknowingly in the recent past. Asking for forgiveness. And as that started, they their poison revealed to me. If I had aggressively pursued the matter with the poisoned innocent, they would have frozen up and confirmed the trash talk about me.
Honestly, I was surprised by my mind's ability to express unconditional apologies and ask for forgiveness and acceptance. This could be the greatest jump in evolution of all the fantastic jumps I have seen this Fall of 2009. I am tempted to analyze the motivations of my malefactor, but the mind simply refuses to co-operate with thoughts of hatred. I would have never discovered this depth granted by Sahaja meditation, the blessing of the agnya chakra to humble down immediately. I would have expected that it would take me months before I would consider leveling with them. But the stakes are too high. The social capital we build is more precious than our fragile egos and one cannot implement this self-belief in any other system of yoga meditation. This is simply Sahaja, simply unique and simply amazing.
As the proceedings proceed, I sometimes feel distinct "working out" of negativity in different chakras. Clearing of this nature usually takes years. I am happy that this dynamic training environment exists within Sahaja Yoga where our false knowledge is actively removed, our theoratical learning is tested and corrected -- all without an institutionalized system of education.
Once you begin Sahaja Yoga, your ship, i.e., your being, will truly sail off the harbor into the wild seas and your captainship will be tested, improved and blessed.
CC licensed photo: symera_serin
Friday, December 4, 2009
Everybody Hates Chris, But Loves Raymond
Happiness & Sadness are a state of mind and that is exactly where the trap is. If we shoot for joy which is a constant, always-on property we will not be dissapointed.The shortcut to a high is usually exciting the parasympathetic sympathetic channel (Sushumna), through egoistic means: drugs, cigarettes or alcohol. Perhaps even food sometimes. Exciting the parasympathetic makes one happy, which leads to a crash eventually because we are simply fighting fire with fire. De stressing the sympathetic requires detachment from the mind and the sympathetics. The good news is that that can happen in just one instant by acknowledging your spirit & denouncing your body.
Instantly one moves from being "Chris" to being "Raymond". As an aside, I must mention that the concept of detachment from the body, mind I intellect has to be innate. Not by leaving society, meditating in the jungles or shaving the head and wearing funny clothes. It has to be innate or else the true high will hot be achieved. One will only end up fooling the self for years on end.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Knowing Thyself, Definitively
One of the first questions that arises after learning to meditate, is how do we interpret our meditations? How do we judge our feelings & sensations during meditations? How to know what we are seeing within is true progress in the right direction? Three approaches are examined below for merits.
Asking Others to Judge Us
Having another meditation expert or peer feel our chakras and work on them is a great way to cleanse. It does not work quite well to get an absolute measure of where we stand within. Asking others coldly to check vibrations, in my experience, is a common mistake. Since we are all progressing towards perfection, getting a definitive answer from someone else is a risky proposition. The answer may be biased by emotion or tainted by the imbalances of the person checking vibrations without entering a good state of meditation. I usually avoid cold calling on awakened friends to check vibrations, as the spontaniety of feeling vibrations is now constrained by emotion, "performance pressure" and other stressors.
Self Checking Vibrations
The act of feeling our subtle energy centers is called checking vibrations. It is a spontaneous process when our attention reports bliss or stress in the subtle energy centers. However, the approach and practice of it varies widely. Doing it ourselves requires complete detachment and a strong witness state. The willingness to face our faults without guilt and correct them with advanced practices, which are beyond the reach of a majority, one can safely state. The lack of detachment almost always results in confusing answers.
Giving Awakening & Inner Experience of Meditation to Others
In my opinion, giving stands out as the best way to investigate our spiritual depth & inner growth. It is independent of our personal biases and present state. Our ability to pass on the experience of bliss to others is the golden yardstick to measure our growth. "We can only give what we have within" The honest and willing reciever will honestly report their inner experience. If our awakening is true, we are able to awaken others by our mere presence combined with their active desire. And to rule out the reciever's inability to report back their blissful state accurately, we can draw a conclusion about ourselves by giving self-realization to many others - to eliminate estimation errors.
If we have the light, it well pass on effortlessly to most people we attempt to enlighten. Daily meditation keeps our mortal shell clean & transplant. A non-daily mediator usually cannot sustain their connection with the universe and any attempt to pay forward the experience will by futile. In conclusion, only in giving others we can really discover what's within us. By giving enlightenment to others we can know for sure if we have nourished our light within. Based on what others recieve from us, we can make a definitive conclusion of who we are. So get going and know thyself!
Wish you all the best in your journey of meditation and personal growth.
Asking Others to Judge Us
Having another meditation expert or peer feel our chakras and work on them is a great way to cleanse. It does not work quite well to get an absolute measure of where we stand within. Asking others coldly to check vibrations, in my experience, is a common mistake. Since we are all progressing towards perfection, getting a definitive answer from someone else is a risky proposition. The answer may be biased by emotion or tainted by the imbalances of the person checking vibrations without entering a good state of meditation. I usually avoid cold calling on awakened friends to check vibrations, as the spontaniety of feeling vibrations is now constrained by emotion, "performance pressure" and other stressors.
Self Checking Vibrations
The act of feeling our subtle energy centers is called checking vibrations. It is a spontaneous process when our attention reports bliss or stress in the subtle energy centers. However, the approach and practice of it varies widely. Doing it ourselves requires complete detachment and a strong witness state. The willingness to face our faults without guilt and correct them with advanced practices, which are beyond the reach of a majority, one can safely state. The lack of detachment almost always results in confusing answers.
Giving Awakening & Inner Experience of Meditation to Others
In my opinion, giving stands out as the best way to investigate our spiritual depth & inner growth. It is independent of our personal biases and present state. Our ability to pass on the experience of bliss to others is the golden yardstick to measure our growth. "We can only give what we have within" The honest and willing reciever will honestly report their inner experience. If our awakening is true, we are able to awaken others by our mere presence combined with their active desire. And to rule out the reciever's inability to report back their blissful state accurately, we can draw a conclusion about ourselves by giving self-realization to many others - to eliminate estimation errors.
If we have the light, it well pass on effortlessly to most people we attempt to enlighten. Daily meditation keeps our mortal shell clean & transplant. A non-daily mediator usually cannot sustain their connection with the universe and any attempt to pay forward the experience will by futile. In conclusion, only in giving others we can really discover what's within us. By giving enlightenment to others we can know for sure if we have nourished our light within. Based on what others recieve from us, we can make a definitive conclusion of who we are. So get going and know thyself!
Wish you all the best in your journey of meditation and personal growth.
At a Quiet Courtyard in Ann Arbor
Last week at one of our meetings in Ann Arbor, an attendee shared a beautiful story of how he was helped with the knowledge of meditation during a stressful time. Here it is, with the name changed to protect his identity
Gerald is a graduate student pursuing his PhD at the University of Michigan in Economics. Most days he can handle the stress and juggle the busy schedule that comes along with being a doctoral student. But Someday even a seasoned student like Gerald cannot find a way to juggle all the balls tossed up so quickly by the virtue of his student life.
Today he had 3 grueling classes and to top it all, a final exam. The pressure has mounted and strolling through the streets of Ann Arbor he searched for a way to relieve his anxieties. That's when it struck him. He could try out some simple stress reduction he learnt at last week's meditation class.
He knew about the perfect spot - a little garden between the Michigan League and the Alumni Center, a small courtyard that would be the perfect place for an activity like meditation.
Ten minutes of silence and saying simple affirmations while placing his hands on his heart and forehead, he was already feeling good. The buzz in the stomach was gone. The racing mind was now working at a more normal speed.
A few minutes that morning put everything in perspective for Gerald He slipped into this dynamic. yet centered state where he was a witness to himself, sorting out a hectic day, one activity at a time.
Images:
"Stress" by flickr user otherthings
"Butterfly" by author
Gerald is a graduate student pursuing his PhD at the University of Michigan in Economics. Most days he can handle the stress and juggle the busy schedule that comes along with being a doctoral student. But Someday even a seasoned student like Gerald cannot find a way to juggle all the balls tossed up so quickly by the virtue of his student life.
Today he had 3 grueling classes and to top it all, a final exam. The pressure has mounted and strolling through the streets of Ann Arbor he searched for a way to relieve his anxieties. That's when it struck him. He could try out some simple stress reduction he learnt at last week's meditation class.
He knew about the perfect spot - a little garden between the Michigan League and the Alumni Center, a small courtyard that would be the perfect place for an activity like meditation.Ten minutes of silence and saying simple affirmations while placing his hands on his heart and forehead, he was already feeling good. The buzz in the stomach was gone. The racing mind was now working at a more normal speed.
A few minutes that morning put everything in perspective for Gerald He slipped into this dynamic. yet centered state where he was a witness to himself, sorting out a hectic day, one activity at a time.
Images:
"Stress" by flickr user otherthings
"Butterfly" by author
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Work Your Powers - Photography
Yesterday, while collectively listening to the 1982 Vienna address in September on the occasion of the 9-Nights festival, before the talk begins, Shri Mataji was browsing pictures taken by Sahaja Yogis in and around Europe. She then quietly but surely remarked something to the effect that photography has now become one of the powers of Sahaja practitioners. almost 3 decades down, photography has become accessible through digital camera and online sharing mechanisms. This must be taken up by realized souls and enlightened yogis to observe, report and transform their societies. There are a few remarkable blogs already displaying high quality photo blogging efforts (1000 petals). I would like to see some more.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Karaoke and Meditation: Unusual Partners in World Peace
CC licensed image by flickr user fensterbmeListening to a podcast about technology today, the topic of ethnographic studies came up and the interviewee mentioned how the study of Karaoke had revealed much about the differences of cultures in the east and west. And then it struck me. My use of Karaoke to break ice with acquaintences, was not a random co-incidence. (See Book referred to at the bottom of the post).
Karaoke is such a powerful activity when done collectively, and fails miserably when done alone (I mean REALLY alone, not recording for later distribution as many websites let you.) Over the summer we had Karaoke sessions almost once every month.
Past summer, during a long weekend, we hosted 3 families and a hoard of local friends which had more cultural diversity than one can imagine. Meditation is the activity that has traditionally brought us all together for weekend seminars. However, there were a few accompanying spouses who were not us much into meditation or were just getting their feet wet.
Like other weekends spent together, it seemed like another one where the non-meditating & newly meditating spouses would possibly feel alienated or just bored. Thankfully someone had the idea to jump start karaoke sessions and the ice was broken, melted and crushed into a smoothie. All of us, ALL - pre-teens, children, an Italian, an Irish American, a Indo-Pakistani-American, Russian, Finnish, Bulgarian, Indian and Brazilian were joined in ecstatic enjoyment of each other's company like never seen before. Participative music is the next best thing to integrate us, period.
World cultures, generations and other identities will merge by burning the candle both ways. The integration inside-out comes through meditation and outside-to-in comes through participative music.
What song would you like to sing along?
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