May the Force be with You!

                                with Argentinian ladies Buenos Aires 1994

​Dear All,

On 17th December the new Star Wars movie, 'The Force Awakens' is released in the UK and if you go and see it, consider this while you're taking in  the action on screen and munching your popcorn:

You may have a touch of the Jedi Knight in you :o)

When you first discover Sahaja yoga meditation and experience the awakening  of the Kundalini energy as a subtle cool breeze above the head, this represents just a few strands of a massive force of energy.

 

The reason just a few strands come up is because the opening out of the chakras is very little in the beginning. With regular meditation the state of the chakras are improved(cleaned) and more strands of the Kundalini energy can pass through.

With this you achieve a deeper, more enjoyable meditation; you can feel the vibes; you become a more relaxed and peaceful person; you can solve your problems easily; you become better off financially; you can cure yourself ; you can cure other people (unintentionally). And all this from still a relatively small number of strands of Kundalini rising in you.

So just imagine if you could somehow get more of the energy to come up.

Progress in sahaja yoga meditation is not measured by the amount of 'knowledge' you gain (and there's a lot of it), but by how much more of the energetic force of the Kundalini comes up within you and the effects of that.

To get more strands of Kundalini rising, a little bit of desire has to be put into the meditation practice ie. meditate 'with intent' . This can be done by verbalising the desire eg by saying  a few times, 'Mother Kundalini, please rise', which acts like an affirmation. The photo is tremendous help as a target.

If you then begin to achieve the results of that, then your effects go beyond just yourself but extends wider , as explained in this 2-minute talk: Effects of going deeper in sahaja yoga meditation - Sydney, Australia 1987

May the force be with you!

See you at group meditation on Tuesday

Regards

Related previous emails:

The Extraordinary Power of your Attention

Power in your hands - action at a distance

Connecting to World Community - your power of collective awareness

What scent does your meditation have?

​Dear All,

What scent does your meditation have? How can scent give you a deeper meditation?

Some sahaja yogis have mentioned that when they first had the experience of their kundalini awakening, it was accompanied by either a scent of roses or of sandalwood. When they looked around to see where the scent was coming from, there was nothing there and they realised that the scent seemed to be coming from within themselves.

It turns out that those most likely to get this experience have a very good mooladhara chakra because it's the mooladhara chakra that relates to scent. Even if you don't recall this experience with scent, a touch of diluted sandalwood or rose oil applied to the center of the crown of the head can add a subtle and pleasant extra feeling to your meditation.

The photo above was taken in 1994 in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia in Arab north Africa when Shri Mataji gave presents of vials of natural perfume (alcohol-free) or Ittar, to a group of arabic ladies who came to see her.

Interestingly, the region of the world most associated with the development of perfume is Arabia. And even today, if you get a chance to wander through the old souks of Bahrain, Dubai or any of the Arabic Gulf states, what is most likely to attract your attention is the waft of the scent of oud .

If you can get some arabic fragrance then these tend to be the best as an aid to meditation. Also if you tend to do a lot of concentrated work at the computer screen, which can affect the agnya chakra at forehead, then applying an invisible dab of sandalwood oil on the center of the forehead before you leave the house can soothe down the agnya.

Today's 6-minute video clip is about the mechanism of the Kundalini within you: 'Sacred Technology'.

See you at group meditation on Tuesday.

Regards

Related previous email : Getting to the next level

How you can go with the flow and succeed.

​
​Dear All,

In last week's email about how your meditation helps you to overcome stress, mention was made of a concept from Chinese philosophy called 'Wu wei' (无为).

This has been variously translated as: 'going with the flow' , 'success without action', 'non-doing'. Since this concept is central to understanding how your practice of sahaja yoga meditation begins to seep into your day-to-day life and can begin to reward you in some very interesting ways, it's useful to know more.

The idea of wu wei is specifically found in Taoist philosophy, founded by Lao Tzu  who is quoted as saying:

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished"

Shri Mataji uses the term: ' Ritambara pragnya' which could be translated as the 'enlightened knowledge/intelligence of Mother Nature'.

When you got your kundalini awakening, felt as a cool breeze above the head, this was your connection to Ritambara Pragnya. The cultivation of this connection is through your daily 10-minute meditation.

Although the most visible expression of Ritambara Pragnya is the changing seasons: Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer, it is much more than that. As Lao Tzu remarked,  this 'Tao' is in fact the Mother of existence itself. With the kundalini awakening it's as if you become a child of that.

Here is how this sometimes manifests:

You're looking for something; suddenly you find it. You're thinking of somebody; suddenly they give you a call. You're running late to the airport; news comes through that there is a flight delay. You're stuck somewhere; something happens and you're unstuck.
 

These and many other examples of the working of Ritambara Pragnya is the common experience of many sahaja yogis and if it hasn't started happening to you yet, it soon will. Just be more regular in your meditation and use the photo.

On the subject of the photo, the chinese sahaja yogis, who have a culture as ancient as the indians, tell us that Shri Mataji is the embodiment of Guan Yin .

​

See you at group meditation on Tuesday.

Regards

 ps. 1-minute video : More than just a meditation , also solves problems.

How you can overcome stress and enjoy positive change.

Dear all,

 

Dealing with stress is a big problem for many because it seems we're living in an increasingly stressful world, which may sometimes feel like being tied to a runaway horse.  The stress may be due to work pressure, financial pressure or being stuck in a rut in your life without any idea how to make a positive change.

 

Stress may have been a good thing in our evolutionary past when it provided us with a shot of adrenaline to either fight the sabre-tooth tiger or run away as fast as we could. The 'fight or flight' instinct is still with us. However, in modern, civilized life, when faced with a stressful situation, we are unable to act on the 'fight or flight' urge so it's like being dressed for the party but with no where to go.

 

With all that useless adrenaline giving us a feeling of emergency all the time, this can begin to have a bad effect on mental, emotional and physical health. This is what the science says(see notes). Unfortunately, science is unable to provide a definitive solution to stress. Some people self-medicate and turn to alcohol amongst other things(see notes).

 

With the deeper understanding about yourself that your daily 10-minute sahaja yoga meditation gives you, it's possible to see for yourself that stress, as with other aspects of your life, all begins in the mind.

 

Although what's happening to you may seem real enough, it's your mind's reaction to it that forms your experience of the situation. If your reaction were different, your experience would be different. Sometimes, a change in perspective or seeing a situation differently is sufficient to provide a solution or relief from stress.

 

But how about no reaction at all.

 

On the sahaja yoga subtle system chart(below) you'll see that activity on the left and the right channels produce exhaust that fill out the balloons of the super-ego and ego in the brain. It's the super-ego and ego that form the mind. But super-ego and ego are plastic because they change all the time based on reactions to the environment. So the mind is not real.

 

When you meditate, your kundalini rises up the central channel taking your awareness through a passage way between ego and super-ego. So with regular practice of meditation your awareness is increasingly able to enter a state of 'no-mind'* or 'thoughtless awareness'. There's no reaction**.

 

The effect of entering that state even for a few seconds or a few minutes can be powerful. Stuff happens. You are the captain of your ship.

 

As the effects of your meditation begin to seep into your day-to-day life then stress won't be a problem and you can positively change things by overcoming your mental limitations.

 

See you at group meditation on Tuesday.

 

Regards

​

Notes:

* 'No Mind' -  also described as 'mental silence', which makes sahaja yoga meditation quite different, and in fact , opposite of mindfulness.

 

 ** No Reaction : the awakened kundalini can completely simplify and make effortlessly achieveable in a very short time certain ways of being talked about in Zen and Chinese philosophy eg. Wu wei 无为 or 'Going with the Flow' as the basis of success in everything.

Stress Hormones explained - Huffington Post article

Both alcohol and substance abuse are implicated in a new study by husband and wife Princeton University economists , Angus Deaton and Anne Case and reported in New York Times Nov. 2, 2015.

Curing yourself with 'vibrated' water

​

Dear All,

If you've reached the stage in your meditation practice where you regularly feel the flow of vibes through your hands, then you can make use of this in some interesting ways, which you may already be familiar with from our weekly group meditation sessions.

 

This includes raising another person's kundalini and giving a bandhan to solve a personal problem or to help a friend in need (see a previous email : 'Power in the Hands - action at a distance') . Another very beneficial use of your vibes is to 'charge' water with it and drink the 'vibrated' water everyday.This has been known to cure an 'overactive' liver which is related to how relatively peaceful you feel most of the time, as well as the health of your skin.

 

To vibrate water, simply hold the palm of the right hand over a glass of water for a few moments, keeping the attention at the crown of the head. The hand channels the vibes into the water. Some people also stand a glass of water near the photo used for meditation, for a little while. The photo emits vibes some of which is absorbed into the water.

Clearly, there's no visible difference in appearance between an ordinary glass of water and vibrated water. The difference is in effect . See : Research on the effect of vibrations on water .

For any of you with a vegetable allotment or if you grow house plants/flowers, some experiments have been done which show the effects of vibrated water on crop/plant yield and you could experiment yourself. See: Effects of vibrated water on crop yield (1 min) . This is taken from a Press Conference & Scientific Discussion, Mumbai, India 13/01/1990.

 

 See you at group meditation on Tuesday.

Regards

Your 3 parts of Happiness

​

Dear All,

Many of you may have noticed that meditating daily allows you a little space each day in which to nourish, repair and create your real and authentic self. This then gradually begins to have it's effects on your outer life by giving it new meaning, purpose and satisfaction. How does this work?

According to Sahaja Yoga understanding, which is not contradicted by medical science, the 3 great organs of the body are the brain , the heart and the liver. These 3 organs represent our intelligence, our passion/emotion and our attention/creativity respectively. 

Because of the sometimes unfavourable circumstances of life we are not generally able to integrate these 3 aspects of our personality, or necessarily fully express them. The result can be a feeling of dissatisfaction with life and it may not be clear to us where this is coming from.

This dissatisfaction, in many cases, is being blamed on the effects of the sometimes meaningless grind of daily life, usually in the context of career and work. It has been suggested that this is evidence of a "midlife crisis" happening to people at an earlier age and a number of solutions have been offered, many of which involve quitting a job( see links below). 

However, it may not always be easy to change your job to a more satisfying one; or start your own business or drop everything and go travelling; even winning the lottery is not always the answer.

 

Shri Mataji once remarked that the increasing stress and dissatisfaction that many people are feeling is an indication of a collective unconscious urge for something higher, a new freedom. This is the unconscious urge to kundalini awakening, which represents the evolutionary breakthrough in human awareness/consciousness. 

It is no surprise that over the past twenty or thirty years, the interest in meditation, from TM to Mindfulness, has gradually gone mainstream; everybody seems to be doing some form of meditation or wanting to learn. In evolutionary terms this is the equivalent of ancient fish* massing in shallow water, growing legs from modified fins and then walking onto land to become the first amphibians. 

 

There's no doubt that , based on experience, when the kundalini is awakened and regular practice of meditation is established, then things do begin to fall into place in a very satisfying way.

 

As the kundalini begins to fully integrate the chakras, like pearls on a string, she is also integrating the personality and bringing into harmonious working the subtle controlling power of the brain, heart and liver, which could be described as the 3 parts of your Happiness.

 

Happy meditating!

 

See you at group meditation on Tuesday.

 

Regards

 

PS. The Integrated Self 

*Ancient Fish - Tiktaalik also see: Neil Shubin's "Your Inner Fish"

  

Emma Jacobs FT 18/09/14 - "Is midlife crisis just an excuse?"

Marianne Cantwell - "Be a Free Range Human: Escape the 9-5, Create a life you love and still pay the bills"

John Williams - " Screw Work, Lets Play: How to do what you love and get paid for it"

Rob Symington  - "The Escape Manifesto: Quit your corporate job , Do something different"

How the lotus of your heart boosts your immune system

​

Dear All,

If any of you have been to see your GP recently because of the throat infection that seems to be going around, it's likely that although you may have been prescribed antibiotics to fight the infection, your GP may at the same time have recommended that you avoid taking them. The reason for this is that in August doctors were issued with guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence* to limit antibiotic prescription because it is leading to a growing problem of 'superbugs' or bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics.

The medical professionals claim that there is a real danger that if the resistance continues to develop, then we may be faced with a situation where there is no viable treatment for certain types of infection. In April the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued an updated factsheet on 'antimicrobial resistance' citing tuberculosis and malaria as becoming untreatable in certain parts of the world**.

Should we be worried?

Well, take your pick. With catastrophic climate change, a geopolitical nuclear miscalculation and being taken over by terminator robots to choose from, surely a superbug pandemic doesn't add greatly to the risks human beings are already facing.

And , as a species, we may have been here before when our Neanderthal ancestors transitioned to the Homo Sapiens*** of today. The good news is that Mother Nature, like Apple iphones, sometimes provides 'bug-fixes' in the upgrade version. The bad news is that you have to scrap your iphone 4 and go buy a new iphone 6.

A clue as to how Nature is introducing this  'bug-fix' lies in the human immune system, which is the body's in-built mechanism for fighting infection. It's like the body has a vast army of highly trained soldiers with excellent communications that know when the body is under any kind of attack, and rush to the battle site to contain and remove the intruder. The U.S Department of Health and Human Services provide a very good public information document as to how the immune system works(see link below).

A key part of the immune system is the thymus gland which lies behind the breast bone in the chest and produces 'T-cells' which fight infection. According to a sahaja yoga understanding the thymus gland is governed by the heart chakra, which is nourished by the kundalini energy during meditation. So there's a strong connection between the heart chakra and how easily you are able to fight infection and therefore your health. There's even scientific evidence supporting this(see the Health Benefits of Love- link below to Huffington Post article).

If you're meditating daily then you may have noticed how when your friends come down with a bad case of flu, for example,  that completely knocks them out for two or three days, it only affects you for a day and is milder; if you catch it all.

The kundalini energy it seems is improving and strengthening the heart chakra in a way that seems to protect from infection, over and above the health-enhancing effects of meditation in general. And there potentially lies the 'bug-fix'.

If you remember from when we covered chakras & mantras - 'What's that tingling I feel on my fingers'  or 'Keeping good health -Be fearless!' the archetype of the heart chakra is the Warrior Mother. In indian iconography she is represented as 'Goddess Durga' or 'Jagadamba'('Mother of the Universe'). Also, interestingly, in India a connection has been made between this image and the person of Shri Mataji herself.

The allegory of a feminine power defeating a negative force (as portrayed in this 3min dance-drama : mahisasuramardini ) could very easily apply to the fight against infection.

See you at group meditation on Tuesday.

Regards

ps. Also related: Health and How your Lifestyle can make you Sick.

* Guidlines set to tackle over-prescribing of antibiotics

**World Health Organisation - Microbial Resistance/ factsheet 194 updated April 2015

*** Neanderthal Extinction

How Human Immune System works

The Health Benefits of Love