From: nitish@cs.sfu.ca (Nitish Mandal)
Subject: Sahaj Yoga
Organization: CSS, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 02:24:42 GMT

                            SAHAJ YOGA - A UNIQUE DISCOVERY

                             by Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi



          Man in his search of joy and happiness is running away from
          his Self, which is the real source of joy. He finds himself
          very ugly and boring because he doesn't know his Self. A human
          being seeks joy in money or possessions, in power or human-
          limited love, and ultimately in religion that is also outside.
          The problem is how to turn one's attention inward.

          The inner being, which is our awareness, is an energy. I call it
          the energy of Divine Love. All evolution and the manifestation
          of material energy is guided by the supreme energy of Divine
          Love. We do not know how powerful and thoughtful this unknown
          energy is. The silent working of awareness is so automatic,
          minute, dynamic, and precious that we take it for granted. After
          Self-realization, this energy appears to us as silent throbbing
          vibrations flowing through our being. But we have been unable
          to achieve Self-realization because we cannot fix our attention
          on something that lacks form (abstract Being). Instead, our
          attention wanders outside on forms.


          attention wanders outside on forms.

          Now there is a method to tap the Divine power-Sahaja Yoga.

          At the very outset, I have to say that the working of Sahaja
          Yoga is very simple, although the operation within is quite com-
          plex. For example, if you want to watch television, it is very
          easy. But to explain the engineering technique of a television
          set is very difficult and the explanation is complicated. To
          learn about a television you also need a qualified engineer who
          understands it and who can explain its working.

          I will try to explain Sahaja Yoga in the simplest way, but
          please note that it is really complicated if you want to know
          it in detail. The best way to enjoy television is first to
          switch it on and watch. Then later you can try to understand
          its engineering.

          As a mother I would say that I have done the cooking for you.
          Why should you worry about how it is done? If you are hungry you
          should start eating. If you are not actually hungry, but only
          inquisitive, what can I do? I can neither force you to eat nor
          make you hungry with discussions or lecturing. I leave it to
          your wisdom and to your freedom to feel that longing.


          SOME BACKGROUND ON SAHAJA YOGA

          The word "Sahaja" (Saha + ja) means born with you or inborn.
          Whatever is inborn manifests without any effort. Hence Sahaja
          Yoga is the name given to my system, which is effortless, easy,
          and spontaneous. It is a part of Nature, you may call it life's
          source-the vitality of the Divine.

          To understand life, consider the case of something that is
          living: a germinating seed. The seed grows by itself into a
          tree, blooms into flowers, and then the flowers become fruit.
          Any human effort cannot change the process of growth from a


          Any human effort cannot change the process of growth from a
          seed into a tree. The gardener can only look after the growth
          of the tree. In the same way, the process of the growth of our
          consciousness, to further evolution, takes place effortlessly.

          When a fetus is between two and three months old, in the
          mother's womb, a column of rays of consciousness, emitted
          through the all-pervading Divine Love, pass through the de-
          veloping brain to enlighten it.

          The shape of the human brain is prism-like. So, the column of
          rays falling on it gets refracted into four diverse channels
          corresponding to the four aspects of the nervous system.

          These are:

          1. Parasympathetic nervous system

          2. Sympathetic nervous system (right)

          3. Sympathetic nervous system (left)

          4. Central nervous System (This need not be discussed as it is
             the link with objectivity).

          The set of rays that fall on the fontanelle bone (apex of the
          head known as Taloo) pierce in the center and pass straight
          into the medulla oblongata through a channel (Sushumna). This
          energy, after leaving a very thread-like, thin line in the
          medulla oblongata, settles down in three and a half coils in
          the triangular bone at the base of the spinal cord (Mooladhar).
          This coiled energy is known as Kundalini.

          The subtle energy enters through the center of the brain (Sa-
          hasrar Brahmarandhra) and precipitates six more centers on its
          way down. The gross manifestation of this subtle energy, in the
          Sushumna channel of the spinal cord, is termed the Parasympa-
          thetic nervous system. The centers of chakras are expressed as


          thetic nervous system. The centers of chakras are expressed as
          plexuses outside the spinal cord. Surprisingly, we have the same
          number of plexuses and subplexuses outside, as the number of
          chakras and their petals inside, the spinal cord.

          Medical science knows very little about this system. Science
          calls it the autonomous nervous system, meaning the system
          that works spontaneously-on its own. For example, if we want
          to increase the rate of our heartbeat, we can do so by exerting
          ourselves (activity of the sympathetic nervous system). But we
          cannot directly reduce the heart (activity of the parasympa-
          thetic nervous system). The parasympathetic nervous system is
          a system that is like a petrol pump through which the petrol
          of Divine Love fills us. But when a human child is born and the
          umbilical cord breaks, a gap is created in the Sushumna (the
          subtle channel in the spinal cord). And on the gross level, one
          can see there is a gap between the solar plexus and the vagus
          nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system. This gap is known
          as the void in the Zen system of religion and Maya (or Bhav
          Sagar) in Indian thought. Later when ego and superego bloat up
          like balloons and cover our brain at the apex of the left and
          right sympathetic nervous systems, the fontanelle bone calci-
          fies, and the all-pervading vital force of Divine Love gets cut
          off completely.

          Then the human being identifies himself as a separate entity and
          the consciousness of "I" (Aham) presides. This is why Man does
          not know His universal unconscious. His ego severs this subtle
          connection.


          VITAL ENERGY

          The sympathetic nervous system uses the vital energy. There are
          two systems-left and right. The two channels, which carry this
          energy, in subtle form (in the medulla oblongata), are known
          as Ida and Pingala respectively. The right-side system (in the
          right-handed person) caters to the emergencies of the active


          consciousness(extra efforts and emergencies). The left-side
          system (in medicine they say it remains dormant) caters to the
          subconscious mind of the psyche (libido).

          Both these sympathetic-nerve systems are called the Sun and Moon
          channels (i.e., Surya nadi and Chandra nadi). Hatha Yoga comes
          from the words Ha and Tha, meaning the Sun and Moon. By this
          yoga you can control the activity of the sympathetic; you can
          use more stored energy or else completely stop the activity of
          the sympathetic for a short time.

          Just by using the stored energy you cannot achieve the eternal
          flow of the divine. With control over the sympathetic you can
          slow the heart rate or even stop the heart for a short time. You
          may achieve all the physical gross symptoms of the parasympa-
          thetic. But you cannot activate the parasympathetic which is the
          channel for your real yoga (meeting of the divine). With Hatha
          yoga you may even control your mind. But the mind thus governed
          is heavily conditioned for the spiritual flight into the divine.
          One may keep good health and good mind to be a good citizen in a
           society, but that is not the only aim of life.
          
             
          

          THE CHANNELS OF ATTENTION

          Both sympathetic and parasympathetic act on the plexuses, but
          in opposition to each other. The parasympathetic relaxes the
          plexuses while the sympathetic squeezes the energy by constrict-
          ing them. One fills in the vitality and the other consumes it.

          There is a gap in the parasympathetic nervous system (Sushumna)
          but no gap in the sympathetic nervous system (at the navel).
          This is the hurdle that has rendered all our searching-and
          entry into the parasympathetic-fruitless so far. It is like
          three ladders, two of them touching the ground while the central
          one is hanging in the air. So whenever we try to rise in our
          consciousness, we move on to the sympathetic system.


          consciousness, we move on to the sympathetic system.

          If we pass toward the right side we enter onto the activity that
          goes on bloating in the balloon of ego. Thus we feel responsible
          and active. When this activity increases beyond limits, like a
          growing tree whose roots are not equally grown, the being falls
          to the ground.

          Over activity of the sympathetic nervous system causes tension,
          sleeplessness, and ultimately all deadly diseases like cancer.
          These diseases are caused by the constricted plexuses that have
          been drained of their energy. If you can make the parasympa-
          thetic dominate the right side, then we can antidote the effects
          of over activity. Then all the diseases and the effects caused
          by this right side get cured automatically.

          The left side sympathetic nervous system (libido) has the power
          to store all that is dead in us. It connects you with store
          houses of the subconscious mind and with the collective subcon-
          scious (Bhootlok or Paralok).

          At the backside of the brain, at the apex of this channel, the
          super ego exists like a balloon. It becomes heavy by storing,
          the conditioning of the mind through libido. So if the tension
          is heavy it breaks the superego into many fragments. If you
          still overexert by conditioning, a partial vacuum forms and this
          sucks another dead personality from the collective subconscious
          (Paralok) into your superego. So in your pursuit of truth,
          if you take to further efforts and indulge in concentration,
          training of the mind, forced abstinence, forced meditation, or
          complete slavery to the emotional attachment of the mind, the
          libido with the aid of the affected superego may connect you to
          the collective subconscious (Paralok) where all dead souls-bad,
          good, or saintly-exist. These souls start manifesting through
          you and you get siddhis or extra sensory perceptions. Actually
          these are the different subtle (dead) personalities dominating
          us through super ego.

         DANGEROUS TECHNIQUES

          There is another method that may be effortlessly employed by
          many so called teachers. This method, by which they turn the
          chakra in the direction of the libido, can put you into your
          subconscious. This method either makes the aspirant go into a
          trance or accept the complete domination of the dead spirits
          introduced by the teacher through the plexuses.

          In the first case, the Sadhaka feels relaxed, his mind is
          switched off. But after a few years of practice, he realizes
          his weakness. He cannot face reality and takes to heavy use of
          drugs. In the second case, the aspirant becomes a complete slave
          of the teacher and starts giving away all material possessions
          to the teacher without understanding the logic behind it. These
          teachers never explain the technique they have employed, nor
          do they give their powers to anybody else. In short, all ef-
          forts in the name of religion, or the mishandling of Kundalini
          by so called realized people, can only activate the sympathetic
          nervous system (Ida and Pingla). These activities cannot make
          any progress toward bringing about the play of parasympathetic
          (Sushumna).

          All mesmeric powers such as materialization power (enslaving
          masses for money or fame), visionary powers (Drishti Siddha),
          speech powers (Vani Siddha), curing powers, transcendental
          feelings (powers of switching off the mind), separation of body,
          and many other powers, are very ordinarily found among those who
          practice the control of spirits (Pretsiddhi or Smashan Vidya).
          All such powers can be proved to be the powers of the dead in
          any one of our experimental Centers.

          These are not Divine powers because the Divine has no interest
          in these gross subjects. It is interested only in the miracle
          of the inner being and its further manifestation to bring about
          human evolution. Thus those who indulge and use their attention


          human evolution. Thus those who indulge and use their attention
          (Chitta) on such "siddhis" and those who run after such gross
          miracles find it difficult to follow Sahaja Yoga.

          We have noted that when such people confront Sahaja Yoga, they
          start trembling and shaking like lunatics. If with very great
          difficulty such a person reaches the state of Self-realization,
          he completely loses all interest in such powers and in their
          exhibition. He is freed of all extra dead personalities who
          dominated him.

          There is no need to pass through the subconscious strata to jump
          the unconscious. The subconscious is an end by itself and one
          gets lost after entering its realms. These strata are placed
          vertically. The only direct way is through the parasympathetic
          (through Sushumna)-the central path that takes you to the Divine
          (the universal unconscious)-through Sahaja Yoga.

          It is very dangerous to use the powers of the subconscious
          which may become uncontrollable and torture the practitioner
          and Sadhaka. Those who are temporarily benefited may suffer
          irreparable loss to body, mind, or grace.
          
            
          THE PROMISED GOAL

          All religions have promised inner silence when you reach the
          state of Self-realization-the inner miracle of the subtle aware-
          ness and not gross jugglery. The Bhagavad Gita says that you
          become the witness (Sakshi Swarup) of the play of the Divine.
          Many modern thinkers are also talking about the new awareness.
          This has been described as "thoughtless awareness" which results
          in collective consciousness. We hear of many prophesies made
          by ancient and modern writers about the evolution of a new race
          of super-human beings of unique awareness. These are no longer
          empty words. Through the discovery of Sahaja Yoga it is possible
          to achieve the transformation of the human consciousness to the
          higher planes promised by various seers.


          higher planes promised by various seers.

          The subject of Kundalini is no longer a matter of book knowl-
          edge. Now you can see, with the naked eye, the breathing of the
          Kundalini at the Mooladhar. You can feel the different chakras
          in the spinal cord with your fingers. Formerly, bridging the gap
          in the Sushumna was the insurmountable problem. But it is being
          discovered that this gap can be filled with the vibrating power
          of Divine Love. The Kundalini rises like a majestic mother and
          breaks the apex of the brain (Brahmarandhra) without giving the
          slightest trouble to the child (Sadhaka). It happens in a split
          second, in the short spell between two successive thoughts. Of
          course, if the aspirant (Sadhaka) is diseased or his chakras are
          constricted by over activity of the sympathetic nervous system,
          the Kundalini, being the Mother of every individual and the em-
          bodiment of love, knowledge, and beauty, knows how to reveal

          Her love beautifully and to give rebirth to Her child without
          causing any hurt.

          There are many descriptions about Kundalini warning us against
          the dangers and perils of the taming of Kundalini. Also many
          books describe various gross or frightful experiences of the
          Kundalini awakening. Actually this is caused because Kundalini
          cannot rise without Sahaja Yoga, i.e., if someone, who is not
          Self-realized, tries to awaken Her, the Kundalini does not
          leave Her seat and, without the proper invitation, the Kun-
          dalini becomes adamant and angry. Thus the sympathetic gets into
          activity. When She is accused of sex, She sends heat waves over
          the sympathetic nervous system which causes the constriction
          or blockage of the plexuses and the path of the Kundalini is
          completely broken down. Sometimes one gets into funny gesticula-
          tions or loses complete awareness of the outside. Moreover with
          mishandling of Chakras and Kundalini due to the ignorance or
          greed of the teacher, the chance of realization for the aspirant
          can become very poor and sometimes impossible.

          The mind that is very much conditioned, or the mind that is the


          The mind that is very much conditioned, or the mind that is the
          slave of self-indulgence or of egoistic actions and thoughts,
          is also a very slow conveyance for Sahaja Yoga. Even if you
          read too much about the deconditioning of the mind, you may
          get only further conditioned. If you try to decondition by
          efforts, you can become conditioned much worse than what you
          were. Deconditioning is only possible through Divine Love. The
          main "condition" of Sahaja Yoga is that your will and freedom
          are always respected.

          In Sahaja Yoga the person is fully aware and alert and receives
          inner silence and experience without doing any unnatural move-
          ments. He sits in a completely easy pose throughout or he also
          may lie down (Sahajasana or Shavasana). The breathing is normal
          or less than normal.
          
             
            RELIGION

          Religions are also the expressions and experiments of realized
          souls-the seers. They also talk about the inner being, second
          birth, and about Self-realization. In the beginning, in India,
          they tried to take the attention inside by introducing symbols
          that they saw of this unconscious, universal being within. This
          gave rise to pantheism and the aspirant's attention got stuck to
          symbols (Sakar) and to rituals which killed the main objective.

          So the other type of experiments of talking only about the
          abstract (Nirakar) gave rise to many other religions which ended
          up as dogmas or "isms." The reason is obvious. Talking about
          the flower or the honey cannot take you to the honey but can
          only create dogmatic "isms" in the mind. You have to be a bee
          to reach there, i.e., you have to be reborn. This has to happen
          within to take you inside.

          It is too great an achievement and unbelievable, but I feel the
          search of ages has brought great results.



 

          THE END OF THE PATH

          The mind, with a child-like innocence achieves very quick re-
          sults. Whatever may be the loads of the mind, if the longing
          is honest and earnest, sooner or later, the aspirant can get
          Self-realization. After reaching this state the vibrations
          start emitting from the extremities. These are described by
          Adi Sankaracharya in his work "Ananda Lahari."


          These vibrations are the waves of Divine Love that can fill also
          other persons' inner being and give them the same experience
          of Self-realization. This is how the chain reaction starts. One
          light enlightens another.

          The physical manifestations are as follows:

          The pupils of the eyes become dilated (Parasympathetic action).
          The face becomes radiant, the body becomes light, all tension is
          completely removed. The rising of the Kundalini can be seen by
          others and felt by the aspirant. First the throbbing is clearly
          felt at Sahasrar (apex of the brain) and when it stops, complete
          silence is felt within and in all awareness. The flow of grace
          is felt coming down, cooling the whole being. As the atten-
          tion moves to the subtle, gross attachments drop out. A person
          gradually loses identification with falsehood and artificial-
          ity. In matter, he sees beauty and not its possession value.
          In knowledge, he identifies himself with the Truth and is not
          afraid to profess, nor does he indulge in the double standards
          of life. His flow of love becomes spontaneous, generous, without
          any tinge of attachment, possession or any return. The person
          becomes ageless-a hollow personality.

          Now let us see what happens inside.

          The attention of the consciousness moves to the inner being


          The attention of the consciousness moves to the inner being
          (Kundalini). As the thread (Sutra) of a necklace is passing
          through every bead of the necklace, the inner consciousness
          (Kundalini) is also passing through every human being.

          As soon as our attention moves to our inner consciousness we
          can move on to everybody's Kundalini. One starts feeling the
          Kundalini, its nature, its position in other persons. Collective
          consciousness is thus established. Now you become a universal
          being. After some days you cannot say who is the other person.
          The power of love is so great and dynamic that with the movement
          of your fingers you can move the Kundalini of thousands. It
          becomes child's play.

          This is how the en masse evolution of human beings will take
          place. These are the signs of the advent of the Golden age of
          Truth (Satya Yuga). Let us forget whatever hardships we have
          suffered in our search in the past. It does not matter if some
          could not find it before this. You have to open your mind and
          understand that though the discovery is unprecedented, it does
          not make any seeker or predecessor small. If some experiments
          are made, it does not matter if, ultimately, we have found
          out the way. It is a collective achievement. Perhaps in the
          chaos of Kali Yuga it was to happen and many of us, who have
          been earnestly searching in many lives, are reborn to have
          their promises fulfilled by the Divine. Maybe we were our own
          predecessors.

          On the tree of life there might have been very few flowers but
          now the blossom time has come. Their fragrance of longing has
          collectively materialized the manifestation of Sahaja Yoga. Many
          are going to jump into the realm of thoughtless awareness where
          you get introduced to yourself and start identifying with your
          universal nature. Those who deserve will get the throne of their
          inner being which rules the skies of peace, and the oceans of
          divine love and supreme knowledge within, which is limitless
          (Anant).



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