Editor
The Heart Chakra is the place of our Spirit, our joy, our security and our responsibility. It is placed in the centre of the chest which is also at the centre of the whole Subtle System. Our security is felt from this chakra: if we receive a fright we often spontaneously cover our hearts. It is the power of love and joy and confidence, emanating from heart, which testifies to the eternal, unconquerable Spirit that resides therein. The Sahaja Yoga affirmations for the Heart (Anahat) Chakra are, “I am the Spirit. In my Spirit I am completely secure. In my Spirit I am a completely fearless person.”
After Self-realisation, the heart is felt to have three distinct aspects: the left, right and centre. On the left is the Spirit, the Atma or Self which manifests pure existence, awareness and joy (Sat-Chit-Ananda). Once our Spirit comes into our attention we begin to drop false identifications with the body, mind, ego, emotions and conditionings. We are then free to be, open, spontaneous, natural instruments of the Divine. When we know we are the Spirit, we have the security of knowing we are eternal, children of God.
The deity or principle of left heart is God the Father, Lord Shiva, and His Shakti, Shri Parvati. In India and other Asian countries, people upon meeting each other acknowledge the Spirit in the other person by raising their hands to prayer position, in Namaskar, and by bowing. These gestures recognise and respect the essential divinity in the other person. As the poet says, “It is not for the sake of the person that the person is dear, but for the sake of the Spirit in the person, that the person is dear.” Perhaps the most dear relationship is the love between the mother and her child. This earthly mother (physical) relationship is also felt on the left heart, and so this role and relationship must be truly valued.
The centre heart governs the sense of security and protection. Here, when we are children, antibodies are created to fight any negativity within the body. The principle here is personified as the Great Goddess Jagadambe, the most powerful, multi-armed destroyer Deity who protects Her children and ultimately conquers all that is against Her children.
The right heart governs our relationship to our earthly father, and to our sense of duty and our sense of correct behaviour. The well-being and protection of our father, our relationship with him and with other masculine figures – husband, brothers and sons – and also the appropriate conduct of the father – neither irresponsible nor overly dominating – are important. Difficult relationships do put pressure on the heart.
The Deity or principle of right heart is the perfect husband, son, father and king – Lord Rama and his spouse Shri Seeta. He laid down, by example, the ideals or maryadas for right behaviour in family life.
Love is the ultimate quality or power of the heart – not the fearful, grasping, dependent or dominating condition some may calle love, but the great, fearless, life-giving, quality of open-heart that affirms, nourishes and protects. Pure Love is detached. It wants at all costs what is truly best. Spiritual love is the fountainhead of all life. It gives to all, permeates all and does all the living work. It is said, “God is Love”.
The principal element of Heart is air. Air is a primary need for us to sustain life. To clear and strengthen the Heart Chakra you can take large lungfuls of air. This effectively provides energy and dispels negativity.
Extreme over-activity of the right side, physically or mentally, stresses the heart, as does anti-God activity.
Essentially, in Spirit we are all one. Competition and fear reduce the sense of Love and compassion and so make us strangers to our Selves. Shri Mataji has said many times that, “Sahaja Yoga is only Love”.
(Photograph: koausa.org)
Self-knowledge is the key for a saviour to give to people. We have had so many saints. We have had so many Sufis. We had Tao people. We had Zen people. All kinds of realised souls came on this Earth. They all suffered. They were tortured. Nobody understood them. But now the time has come for you to know the truth, but truth which is not dry, truth which has compassion, truth that encompasses everyone, that brings the complete view of our existence. Why are we here on this Earth? What is our purpose? What should we do? Adi Shakti’s powers are such, of love and compassion, that they make you understand your Self first.
Love, for you, is very, very, limited. There’s no awareness of your own being. Just imagine what a great task it is for you, how much you have to be seriously becoming aware of your Self first.
That is extremely important. First you have to be aware of your Self. And now you have the light of your spirit. In the light of that spirit, you can see what you are and you can see how far you are going, how wrong things you are doing, what harm you are doing to yourself, and you have a power to cure it, to improve it and to come to your senses. These are the most important times. You will never get these times again. You never had it in history and you can never get it in the future.
Shri Mataji, 2001
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)
Recently, about 90 Sahaja Yogis from 24 different countries paid homage to Australia’s iconic heartland – Uluru (Ayers Rock), the abode of Shri Ganesha. They are visiting Australia to join in the celebrations being held in honour of Shri Mataji, the founder of Sahaja Yoga, Who is presently in Australia. The following story was written by Saraswati from Thailand who was one of the tour participants.
“Having lost my watch right upon arrival at Uluru – it vanished just after I had adjusted it to central Australia’s local time – I knew from the outset that I was in for an extremely special adventure; one that would take me beyond the boundaries of time, one timeless, eternal, sublime journey. And the five-day Uluru tour, attended by over 90 yogis from different parts of the world, was just that – a magical encounter with Australia’s most auspicious Red Centre and a mystical initiation to Tjukurpa, Aboriginal immortal religious heritage, loosely translated as Dreamtime and referring to the past, present and future.
From sunset and sunrise tours to spectacular Kata Tjuta walks through the Valley of the Winds, from breathtaking Rim Walks on the Kings Canyon to an unforgettable Sounds of Silence sumptuous dinner under the sparkling Milky Way, the Uluru Tour had it all. And much more, including an unexpected and emotional encounter with Bob Rindell, a Senior Aborigine whose words of wisdom and unconditional love melted everyone’s heart; impromptu meditations in communion with the sacredness of the surrounding nature; not to mention a public program attended by about 12 people.”
Saraswati from Thailand
(Photograph courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org)