Vishuddhi
Sahaja Yoga was founded in1970 by Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi. Shri Mataji developed a method by which people en masse could get their Self-realisation, in which they feel total peace and tranquillity, absolute oneness with nature and the universe and complete psychological integration. Self-realisation has been called “individuation” by Carl Jung, and “self-actualisation” by modern psychologists and psychiatrists. Previously, people wanting to obtain their Self-realisation had to spend many years with a guru in the Himalayas going through many hardships and privations in order to cleanse their chakras to reach this height of spiritual attainment.
Shri Mataji’s method, called “Sahaja” which means “spontaneous” and “born with you” takes just ten minutes and is very joy-giving. Self-realisation takes us into a state of meditation known as “thoughtless awareness” in which we are awake and alert but are not thinking and are not affected by what is happening in our environment.
During Self-realisation the residual life force which resides in every human being in the sacrum bone at the bottom of the spine rises up through the limbic area to the fontanelle bone at the top of the head. The limbic area is the “old” brain which controls our heartbeat, our digestion, our breathing – all the work done by the autonomic nervous system. This limbic area becomes enlightened and works more effectively, calming us down and normalising and slowing down our physical processes, so that everything functions more smoothly and efficiently.
After Self-realisation, in thoughtless awareness, we become more perceptive and are able to feel subtle differences in the state of our own being and in the beings of others. Shri Mataji calls this new awareness “vibratory awareness”. We are able to feel the state of our chakras on our fingertips. Each of the seven chakras corresponds to a different finger or part of the hand. When there is a problem with a particular chakra it manifests as a tingling or heat in the corresponding position on the hand. Problems with the chakras, known as blockages, can be cleared with simple techniques using the five elements. When the chakras are cleared the heat is replaced by a feeling of coolness.
Each chakra has a different sphere of influence in our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual lives. Any imbalance or blockage in a chakra will manifest as a problem in one of those four areas. For example, the chakra at the throat, known as the Vishuddhi chakra, corresponds on a physical level to all the organs governed by the major nerve plexus in the throat, that is, the neck, sound-box, mouth, tongue, teeth, lips, inside the ears and hearing, as well as the shoulders and fingertips, as the nerves from this plexus also travel down the arms to the fingers. So, a problem with this chakra could manifest as a physical problem with any of these organs, or it may manifest as an emotional, mental or spiritual problem.
On the emotional level, this chakra is concerned with feeling connected to others, self-esteem and feeling guilty. On the mental level it is concerned with feeling respect for others and being diplomatic. On the spiritual level it is concerned with maintaining purity in our relationships with others.
In effect, with Sahaja Yoga we are able to feel imbalances in our systems and to correct them before they get to the stage of developing into major illnesses. If we already have an illness Sahaja Yoga is helpful in the treatment of the illness and in alleviating symptoms. Sahaja Yoga also helps us to see ourselves clearly, to see our faults and failings as well as our positive traits, and allows us automatically to become better people, get rid of our bad habits and addictions and resolve our problems.
All of this information is freely available at Sahaja Yoga beginners’ classes. Everyone can achieve Self-realisation and the state of thoughtless awareness, and everyone can start to feel the vibrations on their hands and learn to decode the signals. According to the wishes of the founder, Shri Mataji, Sahaja Yoga is always taught free of charge.
Kay Alford
For information about Sahaja Yoga programs, please follow the link below:
http://www.sahajayoga.com.au/level_1/Free%20Lessons.shtml
The Vishuddhi Chakra is the place of our communications and our relationships. It is situated at the throat and is a complex centre for receiving and sending. We understand that waves have vibrations, like TVs and mobile phones, and that routinely these instruments pick up these invisible waves and make sense of them. Likewise, to a much more subtle degree we are empowered to pick up and send vibrations, waves. This happens through our Vishuddhi Chakra.
The Sahaja Yoga affirmations for Vishuddhi Chakra are, “I am not guilty,” “Mother, please make me the detached witness and part and parcel of the Whole,” and “Mother, verily You are the sweet countenance of all my words and deeds.”
After Self-realisation, the Spirit is able to interact with our consciousness much more directly. When our Vishuddhi Chakras are clear we can put attention on people, things, ourselves, and get accurate direct knowledge of everything at the vibrational, subtle, actual level. This is a new state of Vibrational Awareness working through our hands and awareness. The whole cosmos both within and without begins to open up to us and we begin to see more of the grandeur and essential nature of the creation. This facilitates our enlightened understanding and we witness things, events and people in a more detached and knowing way.
The Vishuddhi Chakra picks up on the etheric vibrations from wherever we place our attention. This is a very good reason to be careful where and how we place or direct the attention, including the attention of others. The Vishuddhi can and does transmit vibrations, not only in the gross sense of speaking, or arm movements, but by placing our heart-felt and focused attention on people we can literally bestow qualities on them. We soon realise we get our own transmission back, and so we determine, as best we can, to be an instrument of Divine Love. We also have the power to evoke feelings in others, like guilt, anger, jealousy or love, through our speech.
Ideally, we see everyone as a pure spiritual being, a part and parcel of the Whole, of which we are part. This means everyone is sacred, and worthy of the same respect and loving treatment as we would give our sister, brother, child or parent. One of the most dear relationships is the sweet love between the brother and sister. Unfortunately, in the West this relationship is poorly valued. Likewise, the idea of sweetness and diplomacy as an ideal is also almost lost, with the idea of aggressiveness or sarcasm taking its place in order to get what we want. The brother-sister relationship is felt on the left side of Vishuddhi and sweetness is expressed on the right.
The Vishuddhi and accompanying Hamsa Chakra at the top of the nose work as filters. Smoking, anger, guilt or inability to witness are some of the things that can cause this chakra to “catch”.
The personification of this principle is the Lord Krishna and his consort, Shri Radha. His incarnation principle was to clarify our eternally spiritual nature and to urge us to see and witness the divine drama of creation as a play. He was Yogeshwara, the God of Yoga who urges the practice of yoga. “When the mind of the Yogi is in harmony and finds rest in the Spirit within, all restless desires gone, then he is a Yukta, one in God” (Bhagavadgita).
Essentially, in Spirit we are all connected. This connection is felt through our Vishuddhi. Vishuddhi is the hollow flute which expresses the sweetness of the Heart. The sweet music delights the sender and receiver. This whole manifest creation is known as the Virata. The Virata is reflected in all its power and glory within us as the subtle body. We can know absolutely that we are part and parcel of the Whole.
Pavan Keatley
(Photograph: writespirit.net)