kundalini
A heart is healthy not only if it gives but also if it receives. If for some reasons it cannot, then it aches and can make the whole body and the whole being become sick. It hurts because we are human beings. So whatever affects the heart can have an enormous impact on our moods and personality, on our physical health and spiritual wellbeing.
As Sahaj yogis, even if we are dealing with difficult people or difficult situations, our heart can ascend to a higher level. After Self-realisation, our enlightened attention can take us through the reactions of ego and super ego and rise to Sahasrara. Thus we enter a new and higher realm of pure forgiveness and of pure love, in which the heart can expand and let the vibrations flow both ways to the whole (also called Heaven on Earth).
After realisation, we are all walking on that path and our Kundalini (our inner spiritual Mother) is pushing us to grow and ascend as much as She can, and as much as we accept to face ourselves.
The tendency in this modern world is to make brain our God and believe that everything can be explained. But brain cannot explain heart. Being ourselves so small, how can we even think of trying, even more when it comes to our inner spiritual Mother’s Heart?
How can we explain the love that a normal human mother’s heart can have for her child or children? Where is it coming from? That love is so powerful, it can move mountains if it has to; it can fight to death if it has to. It can protect, heal, comfort but also correct, guide, strengthen. There is no end to what it can give and do. But this love (present in all of us) can become sick and tired if it is not allowed or not in a position to give or receive. Both movements of giving and receiving are essential for a heart to be healthy, to remain strong so that this Love can flow freely and without effort.
Raising our heart beyond brain is like freeing ourselves from all these entanglements that can be so overwhelming in life. It is the expansion of our small heart to a higher dimension, a higher Heart that encompasses and cares for the Whole world.
Our Heart belongs to Thee, our Heart belongs to our higher spiritual Mother (both ways), if we let it.
Meenakshi Pujari
(Photograph: www. sahajaradio.org)
So, now a New Age has started which is called the Age of Aquarius, meaning the pitcher carrier of spiritual holy water that is the work of Kundalini. (Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi)
Since the 1960s and ’70s there has been much talk about the Aquarian Age, especially due to the song, “Age of Aquarius”, from the musical, “Hair”. The words, “New Age”, refering to the Aquarian Age, have also become commonplace and seem to refer to a wide range of alternative philosophies, music, therapies, meditations, exercises and diets. But what is the real significance of the Aquarian Age?
Western astrological thought indicates that we have just come out of the Piscean Age and have entered the Aquarian Age. Each Cosmic Age lasts about 2,000 years and has its own atmosphere or world view due to the influence of the prevailing zodiac sign on all of the planets during their transit, as well as their configurations and the relationships between them.
Dan Costian PhD, author of “Bible Enlightened”, relates that in each Cosmic Age a new avatar or incarnation of the Divine took birth on the earth in human form in order to reveal another aspect of spirituality to human beings. In the Age of Gemini (c6000 – c4000BC) this Divine incarnation was Rama, in the Age of Taurus (c4000 – c2000BC) it was Krishna, and in the Age of Aries (c2000 – 1BC) it was Abraham, Moses, Zarathustra, Confucius, Lao-Tse and Socrates. In essence, the planets “set the scene” by providing the atmosphere or mood of the time to harmonise with and to reflect the message of the incarnation of the Divine of that Age.
The Age of Pisces extended from about 1AD to about the year 2000. The avatar or incarnation of the divine in this Age was Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The early Christians used the symbol of the fish, the sign of Pisces, in order to recognise each other. The birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem had been foretold by the prophets and was heralded by a star in the East, which guided the Three Wise Men to the baby in the stable.
Various predictions about the date of the beginning of the Age of Aquarius have been made. The Adi Sahasrara, the seventh and last chakra, was opened on 5 May 1970. This cosmic phenomenon was witnessed by Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi and she has described it in one of her lectures. This event has paved the way for the spontaneous awakening of the Kundalini energy so that people en masse can receive their Self-realisation, their connection with the Divine. I believe that this is the date of the beginning of the Aquarian Age.
So what can we expect the Age of Aquarius to be like? Eccentricity, originality, independent thought, love of innovation and contempt for tradition are all strong traits of Aquarius. So we can expect that there will be a shake-up of the old order and a questioning of all ideas about society, religion and relationships. This will lead to a search for new ways of being.
This time of questioning started happening in the late 1960s and ’70s when a lot of old ideas, traditions and indoctrinations were examined and thrown out. It led to the sexual revolution, a lot of experimenting with drugs and experimenting with new religions mostly from India, including ones promulgated by false gurus who saw an opportunity to make money. So it had quite a few negative consequences, but it was necessary for people to move beyond the staid, narrow ways of looking at things that had prevailed for some time and to become “seekers of truth”. Under the influence of Aquarius people will not accept what others tell them and like to learn through their own experimentation and experience.
Aquarius encourages the progress of humanitarian and social causes. So the Aquarian Age is one where pure love and altruism prevail. People work selflessly for the good of the whole, without exploiting or manipulating others.
Unity and integration are themes of the Aquarian Age. We can look forward to a truly multicultural world where individual differences are valued and respected while at the same time we are able to work co-operatively for the good of everyone. The sign opposite Aquarius is Leo which has an ennobling and enriching influence.
Originality and innovation are qualities of Aquarius. So we can expect inventiveness and creativity in all spheres of life.
The truth is another important aspect of Aquarius. All falseness and corruption should disappear. The appearance or exterior will be less important while the essence will be of utmost importance.
We can look forward to an end to “blind faith” in religion and to a time when the mystical knowledge that has been hidden and kept secret will be revealed – a time when people will be their own gurus, and know the truth within themselves, with the rising of their Kundalini.
Now very interesting it is to see that this Kundalini is the one which is called as the Kumbha – in Sanskrit language, means the Aquarius. We call it Aquarius, as one of the signs, and is the same as Kumbha in Sanskrit language. So it is the Age of Aquarius, is the Age of the Kundalini. Secondly is the Age of the Kundalini which will nourish, which is the Mother within you, which will rise, will give you the completeness of it, and which will connect you with your Spirit which ultimately gives you the enlightenment by which you become collectively conscious. (Shri Mataji Nirmal Devi, 1983).
All of these positive changes will not happen if we sit back and do nothing. The time is right for them to happen, but we must desire the change and take steps to bring about the change within ourselves. The first step is to desire to have your Kundalini awakening. The second step is to go through the process of attaining Self-realisation. You can do this by going to the link:
Sahaja Yoga Meditation – Self-realisation
The third step is to meditate regularly, preferably with other Sahaja Yogis as the meditation is easier and more powerful in a collective situation. So that means contacting the nearest Sahaja Yoga centre and attending the beginners’ classes, which are always free. By doing this you will be helping all the positive aspects of the true Aquarian Age to manifest on our earth.
Kay Alford
(Photograph: beyondthelookingglass.org)
Many thanks to Greta and Melike for their report on the joyful day at Woodstock Community Centre in Burwood, Sydney, where Sahaja Yoga participated in Burwood Council’s 2008 International Women’s Day celebrations.
“Everything in Sahaja Yoga is always sahaja, i.e. spontaneous, and this day wasn’t any different. Room 2, upstairs, was allotted to us. Just as we had set up the room the way we wanted, the organiser came to tell us that we had to move to Room 1, downstairs, because the television set was too big to be brought up. Dismantling quickly, we set up again in the new room, only to realise that it was much better and perfect for our needs! We were located just off the main auditorium with a lot of traffic. We had planned to screen a lecture given by Shri Mataji which was on DVD but when we got to Room 1, we found only a video machine. So once again, a change of tack was required, and the three meditation sessions scheduled before the screening of the film turned into one long session while the right equipment was obtained.
The organisers were very helpful and supportive of our efforts, steering people towards us throughout the day. About 40 to 50 people got their Self-realisation. There were many interesting activities which vied for visitors’ time, thus preventing many from participating in the meditation sessions. However, handbills for the film, Freedom and Liberation, flyers showing the nearest Sahaja Yoga public programs, and Sahaja Yoga information pamphlets were distributed, with everyone expressing a sincere desire for follow-up.
The meditation session helped to clear the atmosphere in the room, lightening it as the heart chakra opened. Just as we finished the meditation, people flowed into the room for the screening of the film, only to find the fuse had blown! This created another glitch, with most of the people streaming out again to get refreshments. By the time the electricity problem had been solved an almost new group of people had settled into the seats. These people watched the screening of the film, The Vision, and enjoyed the experience of the guided Self-realisation meditation. Everyone felt the peace and quiet of the Cool Breeze of the Spirit. Many of the women live locally and expressed their desire to attend the free Sahaja Yoga programs at the Belmore Community Centre in Burwood.
Somewhere in the morning I found a few minutes to get a cup of tea. One of the ladies who had come in during the meditation session came up to me and said, “I don’t know if I’m imagining it or not, but I am moving much more freely”, indicating that she felt much freer in the joints. I looked at her smiling, calm face and told her that it wasn’t her imagination but that this is what happens when people do Sahaja Yoga, and that there is often an instantaneous relief of whatever problem they may have had previously. It was very satisfying to know that we had made a difference.
No-one left without feeling the Cool Breeze, and right up to the last minute people were coming to take their Self-realisation. A few women’s organisations asked for introductory meditation sessions to be held at their own venues. We also left flyers and brochures on the community centre’s information table for any future visitors to the centre.
A special thank you to Aunty Joy whose initial research had made it possible for Sahaja Yoga to contribute towards the celebrations for International Women’s Day 2008, “Women’s Business: Celebrating 100 Years of Paid and Unpaid Work” sponsored by Burwood Council. We would also like to thank the staff of Burwood Council for making our participation an enjoyable event. ”
Greta and Melike
Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809 – 1892), one of the greatest English poets, has written one of the clearest descriptions of the Self-realisation that results from the awakening of the kundalini. The passage is found in a very early poem of his called “Armageddon”, written when he was only fifteen years old. The passage starts with his encounter with a beautiful angel (seraph) who tells him that his senses are “clogg’d with dull mortality” and his “spirit [is] fetter’d with the bond of clay”. Following this, the seraph commands, “Open thine eyes and see!” and in that instant he achieves his Self-realisation. He could then feel the unimaginable glory that lies within all of us: “I felt my soul grow godlike”. As “each failing sense … grew thrillingly distinct and keen” the world around him was transformed into a thing of wonder and beauty. “All sense of Time and Being and Place [were] swallowed up and lost”. He had achieved yoga (union with God): “I was a part of the Unchangeable”.
Aaron Rosenthal
Here is this beautiful poem in full:
The rustling of white wings! The bright descent
Of a young seraph! and he stood beside me
In the wide foldings of his argent robes
There on the ridge, and look’d into my face
With his unutterable shining eyes,
So that with hasty motion I did veil
My vision with both hands, and saw before me
Such coloured spots as dance before the eyes
Of those that gaze upon the noonday sun.
“0 Son of Man, why stand you here alone
Upon the mountain, knowing not the things
Which will be, and the gathering of the nations
Unto the mighty battle of the Lord?
Thy sense is clogg’d with dull Mortality,
Thy spirit fetter’d with the bond of clay
Open thine eyes and see!”
I look’d, but not
Upon his face, for it was wonderful
With its exceeding brightness, and the light
Of the great Angel Mind that look’d from out
The starry glowing of his restless eyes.
I felt my soul grow godlike, and my spirit
With supernatural excitation bound
Within me, and my mental eye grew large
With such a vast circumference of thought,
That, in my vanity, I seem’d to stand
Upon the outward verge and bound alone
Of God’s omniscience. Each failing sense,
As with a momentary flash of light,
Grew thrillingly distinct and keen. I saw
The smallest grain that dappled the dark Earth,
The indistinctest atom in deep air,
The Moon’s white cities, and the opal width
Of her small, glowing lakes, her silver heights
Unvisited with dew of vagrant cloud,
And the unsounded, undescended depth
Of her black hollows. Nay the hum of men
Or other things talking in unknown tongues,
And notes of busy Life, in distant worlds,
Beat, like a far wave, on my anxious ear.
I wondered with deep wonder at myself:
My mind seem’d wing’d with knowledge and the strength
Of holy musings and immense Ideas,
Even to Infinitude. All sense of Time
And Being and Place was swallowed up and lost
Within a victory of boundless thought.
I was a part of the Unchangeable,
A scintillation of Eternal Mind,
Remix’d and burning with its parent fire.
Yea! in that hour I could have fallen down
Before my own strong soul and worshipp’d it ….
Alfred Lord Tennyson (excerpt from “Armageddon”)
(Photograph: theatre.msu.edu)