11 September 1992

Public Program

Toronto, Rosedale Heights School (Canada)

Talk Language: English | Transcript (English) – NEEDED

Introduction by Bala Kanayson

Sahaja yoga is a word which many people may not understand, because when we say yoga in the West, people think of someone you see on television twisting their body into very uncomfortable positions, or somebody standing on their head, or lying on a bed of nails. This is not what yoga is. Yoga comes from the Sanskrit yuk, which means the yoke. And you know what a yoke is? It is that part which joins the horse to the plough. And yoga is the union. It is that which unites the individual consciousness, or self, with the collective consciousness, or the universal consciousness. Sahaja means spontaneous. It also means born with. So Sahaja Yoga is a spontaneous union of the individual consciousness, you can call it a soul, a spirit, atma, whatever you want. But it is this part of you which is eternal, which has been, is, and always will be. And it is the part of you which is distinct from your body, your mind, and your emotions. Now those of you who know something about meditation, or enlightenment, or the spiritual path, you will have heard that it is very difficult to attain this.

Traditionally, traditionally in the past, it has taken people many, many years of intense discipline, of doing away with all their weaknesses, all their conditioning, and eventually, they attained some spiritual state. In Sri Rajaji, we have a very unique personality. We have someone who is of such a spiritual caliber, that she can awaken, in a human being, this spirit, in a very short period of time. So it does not require years of tapasya, or self-mortification. But in a very short time, in fact, often in the space of an evening, this awakening can take place. Now some may ask, how is it in the past, it has taken years and years of intense effort?

There are at least two reasons I can give you at this time. The first is that human beings as a whole have collectively evolved over the years, so that there are a large number of us who are now ready to obtain this spiritual awakening. Just as you know, many, many years ago, no one would have thought of going along the spiritual path. Most people were busy fighting wars and conquering in the name of God. We still have a few odd people doing things like that. We still have a few odd people doing things like that. But generally, mankind as a whole has begun to fight for peace. And they have begun to look inwards for something more in their lives than this apparently mundane existence. So there's a large number, a large group of people who we would call seekers, seekers of the truth. You may call them seekers of the divine, but basically they want to know what is really the absolute truth. They have had enough of all the lies from our politicians and from society and they want to know whether there's something more than just going to work every day, slaving and at the end, ending up six feet under the ground.

The second thing is that we have a special teacher, who is Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, and she has been recognised throughout the world as the greatest living spiritual personality on earth today. In fact, quite some years ago in Australia, there were headlines in all the major newspapers proclaiming her as one of the most significant spiritual personalities of this century. In the Soviet Union, tens of thousands of people have come to her programs and have achieved this inner transformation. And not only that, but they are practising it on a daily basis and teaching it to others. In Italy, she is hailed as the Divine Mother. And not only the government authorities, but even the press, which is traditionally negative, has given her very positive coverage. Because people have sensed, through all the layers of conditioning, that before them was a very special person. This very special person, who appeared disguised like an ordinary mortal like you and me, but through that disguise, they began to feel the great spiritual love and compassion and energy that she emanates. So with that combination of Shri Mataji, and with the fact that most of us are now seekers of truth, and I know all of you here are, these two things combined allow that happening to take place spontaneously and very quickly.

Now in every human being, there is a system set up, which you can see on this chart here, is a subtle system. It consists of three energy channels, which are called Nadis. And at the base of the central channel, at the triangular bone, which is known as the Sacral Bone, there lies an energy, which is dormant in most adults, known as Kundalini. Now the word Kundalini. Now the word Kundalini happens to be a Sanskrit word, and it is nothing to be, to feel threatened by. It so happens that in India, thousands of years ago, people looked inward. They did not have to fight the environment like we have to do with our terrible winters here. And so rather than having to move upwards, as we did in technology, they moved inwards and learned about their inner selves. And at that time, the language they spoke was not English, but Sanskrit. So the words that you may hear tonight happen to be of that language. So this Kundalini, this Kundalini, this subtle energy, lies coiled in three and a half coils at the base of the spine. Now many of you will know that the triangular bone is called the Sacrum, which tells us that the Greeks knew that there was something sacred about that part of our body. And in this sacred part, in this sacred bone, lies this energy, which is the residual energy of the Divine.

Now in a very young child, in a normal young child, this energy is awakened. By awakened I mean that it is flowing up the central channel and coming out here, through the top of the head, in the area known as the fontanel bone. As you know, the fontanel bone is very soft in a child. And as we grow older, it begins to harden and calcifies. So this energy is flowing, which is why you notice that children are usually very happy, if their parents allow them to be. And they are joyous, they are running around, they are completely care free, they are commuting with nature, with everything around them. But as they get older, we make sure that they lose this, and we condition them very well, parents, teachers, society. And eventually this Kundalini drops down, and finally, in the average adult, it lies dormant. Now what happens in Sahaja Yoga, is that this Kundalini is reawakened, and it begins to rise. Now as it rises, it has to go through different energy centers in its path. These energy centers are called chakras. Chakra means wheel, and these centers are like wheels. When you can see them with your inner eye, you will see that they are rotating in a clockwise direction. Now these centers become blocked, due to the different things that we do.

For example, the center you can see in the middle, that is colored in green, known as the Nabi Chakra. This center becomes blocked if we consume too much alcohol or, the center at the throat, known as the Vishuddhi, this center becomes blocked if we smoke. If we have lots of emotional problems, then the center located in the heart, the heart chakra becomes blocked. So by the time we are adults, we have done enough things to block all these centers up and we lose touch with what we really are. So we become Mr. X, and Mr. Y, and all that unity which children have felt and which realized souls feel, is completely gone.

Now when you attain your yoga, which is this realization, which the mechanism is, that the Kundalini, this energy, is awakened, it rises, it comes through all your centers, and it flows out through the top of your head. And you can actually feel it as a cool breeze coming out of your head. It flows through the fontanel bone. At the same time, you can feel in your hands, a cool breeze flowing in. And this energy, this coolness, has been called Chaitanya in the East. It has also been called the cool breeze of the Holy Spirit. And what it is, is, it is a sign that shows you that you have obtained that awakening.

Now what also happens within, is that of course you begin to calm down, you feel relaxed. And when this Kundalini passes through the Agnya Chakra, some people call it the third eye, you go into a state of thoughtless awareness. Now thoughtless awareness is not a thoughtless, dull stupor, but it is an intense state of awareness. We are completely aware of everything around you, except your thoughts don't come in the way. So as each thought rises and falls, and rises and falls, there is a space between those thoughts into which you go. And from that position, you can watch and observe everything as a witness, without being involved in it. And when the Kundalini comes up through here, and breaks through, the center known as the Sasra Chakra, we then say that you have your realization, because what happens is that it becomes connected to the whole. It is as though you are plugged into the main telephone network of the universe. And you are then able to communicate with everyone else who is on the network, which really means every other human being. And you can begin to feel how they are physically, mentally, emotionally, and of course know their spiritual state. But more importantly, you will know how you are.

So you will be able to work on yourselves, to cleanse out your centers, your energy, chakras, and to keep yourself in that meditative state. Now at the same time that this Kundalini, this energy, comes through your Sasra, your attention gets fully drawn inside, towards your heart. And we can say that the heart is where the spirit resides. And once you put your attention there, you begin to feel the nature of the spirit. And the nature of the spirit is simply joy. And you begin to feel this joy from within yourself. It does not require anything external to trigger it. Because it is your natural state, which is that state of a joyful spirit. And this is something which is very difficult to describe. But when you enter it, you are completely fulfilled. You have no desires for anything else. Even if someone came and dropped a million dollars at your feet, it wouldn't bother you. Because you are completely satisfied. If you can even try to think of being in such a state where you are completely satisfied. Where you are completely fulfilled. Where you know innately within your being that this was the purpose of your life. That everything else that we have been pursuing was totally futile. Was something that was merely a red herring. And that all along, while we were seeking outside, what we were looking for was within us.

Now when you reach this stage, some people become concerned. And they think, well, you will probably retire to a cave in the Himalayas. And not be a part of society. Especially husbands worry that their wives may do it. And wives worry that their husbands may do it. And children and parents and so on. But this is not the case. Because if you go back and look at the old traditions, some of the great sages lived lives as householders. And in Sahaja Yoga, one of the other unique things about it is that people who have attained this state are still productive members of society. Their productivity, of course, increases. And they spread these beneficial vibrations and energy wherever they may be.

Now perhaps I should stop at this stage and ask you if you have any questions.

[Cut]

There is, more difficult to describe what love is, I mean real love, not the other kind. But I will try to tell you that to think of it symbolically. You can think of the Kundalini as a multi stranded yolk, just symbolically so we have thousands of strands which aline….