Flowers from the Bouquet of Sadhguru Shri Jaggi Vasudev

Many of us would have heard about Sadhguru Shri Jaggi Vasudev ji - the founder and Guru of the Isha Foundation, who is known worldwide as a self-realized master who also speaks to international audiences on issues like current affairs and the role spirituality can play in improving the lot of mankind. 

Sadhguru also has many great "spiritual" creations in his centres worldwide, and the "Dhyanalinga" temple on the foothills of the Velliangiri mountains (Coimbatore) is perhaps the most unique of his creations - probably the only Shiva lingam in the world with all its seven "chakras" awakened (at least the only such Shiva temple to have been created in the past 2000 years). Temples typically have lingams with one or two centres "awakened", and thereby serve a more limited purpose. The Dhyaanalinga, on the other hand, with all its seven chakras awakened, is said to have the power to awaken the tendency towards spiritual realization in anyone who comes in its proximity and is open to receiving its grace. It is therefore like a guru, only, not in a human body, but in a "stone idol", to put it bluntly. 

The journey of Sadhguru's past few lives is also interesting - at least, what I gathered of it from a book. It seems a few hundred years ago a snake charmer was punished (to death by snake bite) by village powerfuls for doing something which was "not allowed by caste laws". The snake charmer knew precious little about yoga, but knew and believed enough to focus on his breath during the last minutes or hours of his life. As it happened, the "entity" was reborn soon and found a spiritual master in the very next life, and only one more life later, the entity found himself self-realized and playing the role of a spiritual master, known then in Southern India as Sadhguru Brahmananda. The guru from the previous birth had given him the task of constructing the Dhyanalinga temple, and Sadhguru Brahmananda knew that this was a contribution he had to make. Finding the social order around him not conducive to the creation of the Dhyanalinga, Sadhguru Brahmananda decided to take another birth in a social setting where the creation of the Dhyanalinga by a "grihastha yogi" (householder yogi) would not be a problem. There was a prophecy that the dhyanalinga would be crated by a householder yogi and the yogi chose his birth carefully to make it happen. This reborn yogi is known as Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. The dhyanalinga was finally created by this incarnation, in line with the task given to the entity a couple of lives ago.

For those who might wonder about the nature of this self-realization, it might be helpful to watch some of Sadhguru's interview videos. In one, he mentions how for 12 years, he never lost the state of "yoga" or unity with everything around him - a state in which everything around one is felt, deeply, as part of oneself. Subtle and other laws of the universe open up once this state of self-realization is achieved, but as many other yogis too have suggested, simply using these laws for limited purposes like healing is not always good. These yogis take on deeper inner transformation of Man as the main purpose of their earthly life, and perform actions which help in that larger goal.

"Flowers on the path" is, however, a very different kind of book in which only Sadhguru's writings in a leading newspaper have been collected. The essays are therefore relatively short and the messages are delivered in a style highly acceptable to the "educated elite" too. The book is in 3 parts - "Everyday Flowers", "Flowers on the Path" and "Flowers of the Beyond". It would be unfair to say that all the wisdom in these articles can be condensed in a few points with just one quick read of the book, but here I try to list out a few important themes or ideas which came out from the articles in just a single reading.

1.  Yogic practices try to help practitioners gain direct experiences beyond what we receive from sense organs and the routine bodily experiences. Direct experience can transform lives much more deeply than mere theoretical knowledge. In fact, the usual sense organs are useful mainly from a survival point of view. When the objective of life changes from survival alone to deeper understanding and creativity arising from true intelligence, then the outer sense organs no longer remain the right instruments to rely on. Attention then needs to be turned inwards, consciously, to enable the super-sensory apparatus (if one might call it that) to start functioning. Yoga is the state where the practitioner can actually feel this unity with everything around him/her. The knowledge gained in this state is truth, not some imagined reality as in a dream. 

2. As other spiritual people have pointed out too, many or most of the problems in human life stem from the identification of the entity to what "it is not". These can be physical objects, or somewhat less physical objects like thoughts, memories and emotions. This identification leads to misery and compulsive action. Awareness of the self as something beyond just the "seeker of these wants" leads to more intelligent action (rather than compulsive tendencies). Using this intelligence, which, it seems clear, is intricately linked to renunciation of these identifications mentioned above, is the way to get better solutions to worldly problems too. 

3. Understand that even good and bad are ideas which spring from our identifications and our petty egos. Even the criminal is in a sense a victim because he too has degraded himself - probably for reasons beyond his control. Let not our punishment be merely an act of seeking power in anger. That kind of self-serving emotion will not set the world right. Rather, we need to focus on developing the higher intelligence and working in the world based on that. Those who wish to tread the spiritual path need to understand how they divide the world into good and bad and thereby strengthen petty egos. The seeker needs to expand his sphere to think and feel beyond the petty ego which feeds the body. How else does one expect to be in yoga (union) with the whole  of creation? 

4. To make the divine experience real, the entity has to "grow" to realize his/her oneness with the universe and its creator, not merely as a theory, but actually. In karma yoga (the yoga of work), the expansion is accomplished mainly via appropriately engaging the body in the right kinds of work. In jnana (the yoga of knowledge), the same is attempted via primarily intellectual work. In bhakti (the yoga of love and devotion), natural feelings are cultivated to attain to the expanded state and in kriya yoga (yoga of working with energies), the basic "energy body" is worked with to arrive at the same. These paths are not false, but often what is needed is a good combination of all four. Therefore, there is a point to not being too narrow in one's approach to the divine too. 

5. One's "karma" (tendencies/destiny) is not just based on action. Rather, the whole intellectual and emotional quality of the action is involved. The feelings, desires, etc. related to action are equally important in developing these tendencies. Therefore, it is not so much the action performed which creates karma, but rather the intentions surrounding it and how ones "feels" about it. Like any inheritance, karma can be used for growth, but it can also be squandered away. One should try not to merely waste all good karma inherited from the past. 

6. Some yogic practices seem unnatural and difficult. If we don't naturally like something, we can only perform that action consciously. The difficult practices are targeted at getting the yogi out of the web of easy, compulsive actions, and start a process whereby actions are undertaken consciously, with deeper awareness. The development of this faculty of awareness is the goal of these activities (not just to hurt the practitioner's ego!). As one becomes willing to bend the body and say, touch his toes with his hands, one binding tendency (here, of the body) is broken. With each such conscious action, various kinds of inertia and binding tendencies are rooted out, breaking "bonds" of karma which were holding the entity behind on the path of yoga. 

7. Of course, we can teach children to brush every morning, but parents should not feel that the arrival of the child means that it is time to teach. It is in fact, time to re-learn from the child's ways of looking at things, because, let's face it, adult minds are typically distorted with that one major need of earning the day's bread. With so much distortion and confusion, it is  better to view life afresh from the child's eyes, rather than dump the same mess on the child too. 

8. The use of "supernatural" powers for limited ends like healing is often not advisable because the root cause, which is much deeper within, needs to be treated. Imbalances in the energy body caused perhaps by habitual thought patterns and actions are not done away by healing symptoms like, say, joint pain. The guru with knowledge of these sciences has to often consider questions like whether curing the joint pains will make the energy come up in other ways and, say, cause an accident. This is the reason why Sadhguru's programs target the correction of some more fundamental tendencies, and it has been seen that very often, healing also happens as a by-product of the programs. People probably come to Sadhguru for purely health related problems as well, but Sadhguru's approach is typically deeper, aiming at more fundamental transformations in our propensities - not just using a yogic power to correct a joint-pain or something. 

9. Growth, therefore, requires acceptance of one's current bondage(s) as well as taking the right next step continuously. Both of these are required. 

10. The guru is like a live map. Highly useful once someone has taken the decision to travel. 

Sadanand Tutakne

The "Ascent" in Sahaja Yoga

It was only a few weeks ago that someone close to me mentioned - in a completely different context - that good thoughts and memories should not just be relegated to the past as mere memories, but should rather be cherished, celebrated and renewed by remembering them at appropriate times. I have not thought much about this in the context the speaker was mentioning it, but I immediately saw in there a good reason to continue blogging. Apologies in advance to the speaker if a different outcome was expected of me, but also thanks for giving me an external impetus to continue with my monologues, even if unintentionally. Well, the mind is mischievous in its ways, but when did I deny that?

"Utthaan" (or, Ascent) by "Yogi Mahajan" is a book on the ascent of the Kundalini through Sahaja Yoga (the same famous Sahaja Yoga which has been brought to the world by Mata Shri Nirmala Deviji). It is of course a fantastic introduction to the six principal chakras in the body and their functions, but one reading brought me back into the "real world" of mankind where it is quite clear that these are mainly matters for practice and not so much for discussion. Then I decided that while the feeling might be true in its rightful place, information still has a role to play in its own right. Typically, any effort in this direction has to begin within the boundaries of "Maya" (cosmic illusion), and if we plan to make an effort of that kind, then what's the point crying about the fact that we are not yet illumined? Indeed, what's the point crying over the fact that we are perhaps not following that exact path either? Yogi Mahajan and Shri Mataji have given us this system knowing well that we live in Maya, and it seems quite fine to invoke another part of Maya - i.e., their blessings - and continue our efforts for the present.

The descriptions of the principal functions of the chakras are perhaps there in other books too, and at least the physical functions seem to be the creation and regulation of physical organs in the nearby area in the body. I do not want to go into those specifics today, but I would surely like to bring out some highlights of the book which I thought were particularly informative and helpful. If some explanations are "colored" by my own preconceived notions, then I beg the author's pardon.

1. The origin of the kundalini energy is also within the brain, which is the seat of creative intelligence in the human body, but as the body evolves (i.e., is created) under the direction of this intelligence, this kundalini energy travels far away to the bottom of the spine where it finally "rests" after the task of "creation" is complete. On the way, this intelligence creates various bodily organs and the other "chakras", which are different centers recommended for meditation, each serving some special functions. Other authors have also suggested that the chakras are centers where the "knots" between creative intelligence (the soul) and the body are very deep, and proper meditation on the chakras therefore helps "untie these knots", making the meditator aware of the intelligence (or the soul) which is the creator of the body and is distinct from it, even though tied to the body due to Maya. According to Yogi Mahajan, when the kundalini awakens and ascends all the way up to the sahasraar chakra in the head, it cleans (unties the knots of) the chakras and finally unites with the supreme intelligence in the brain, which is its "origin" or its "mother". This union, it is said, finally clarifies all the confusions regarding soul, matter and God, and is therefore the end towards which all Yoga is ultimately directed.

2. Blockages in these chakras prevent the kundalini from rising, and these blockages are typically the result of various physical and mental processes going on in the average human being, who is typically unaware of what activity might have what effect on these chakras. Excesses (whether physical, like eating wrongly, or mental, like too much ego-centric activity) typically deplete the chakras of their energy and cause blockages and resulting problems. There could be physical consequences too - from mild ones like minor digestive problems to much more serious physical illnesses - which could occur if these excesses are not controlled by good thinking and right living. Stress and even insanity can sometimes result from excessive indulgence, depending upon to what extreme one goes.

3. During creation, this intelligence (chaitanya) creates a complex network of nerves to help in its task of expressing itself through the body. The left side of the body contains nerves which manifest various desires and these are linked to the right hand side of the brain, called the "superego". The nerves on the right hand side are a network created in order to bring these desires to fruition, and these are controlled by the left side of the brain (called the ego). Imbalance between these two energy flows is typically undesirable. Excessive development of the ego puts pressure on the superego and makes a person uncaring, devious and perhaps even worse on the emotional front, while excessive emotionalism can lead to the development of an irrational personality, prone to emotional excesses and even insanity in extreme cases.

4. Sahaja Yoga, therefore, favors a balanced approach to the development of personality, in which energy - which typically swings between these two channels on the left and right side of the spine - starts flowing from the third, "middle" channel, also known as the "sushumnaa" in various texts. This is, of course, the main objective of yoga as per other texts too, but Sahaja Yoga is perhaps special because of its explicit recommendation to not go to extremes. No matter how "intuitive" it might seem to go to extremes in ones' spiritual disciplines, hear the Sahaja Yogis out for a second. As per the book, trying penances and very difficult practices are not needed - what is needed, rather, is an understanding of these blockages, what causes them and what can help eliminate them, and how to infer whether these blockages are indeed being removed via the practices recommended by the experts. This is the kind of training Sahaja Yoga provides, says this book, and what is needed here according to the book is a balanced approach to life, not an extreme one. As one develops along this path, one starts using the "parasympathetic" nervous system (insted of the usual sympathetic nervous system), and this leads to much greater creativity, because the work is then inspired more and more by the infinite creative intelligence of God.

5. Interestingly, the area surrounding the third chakra behind the navel (Manipura chakra) is called "bhava-saagar" (the world-ocean). Quite literal, in a sense, given that so much of our worldly activity surrounds the idea of feeding ourselves!

6. Sleeping with the mind and heart absorbed in the Sahasraar chakra is very relaxing, according to the author. Even relatively shorter durations of such sleep turn out to be very refreshing (recharges our batteries like nothing else could), he says, and this kind of absorption also helps prevent tiredness when working during the day time. Working after being situated in the sahasraar, according to the Yogi, takes the body's attention off thoughts of doer-ship (the feeling that I am doing this or that), and work then seems to flow naturally, almost as if one was enjoying some music directed by a good musician. As a result, the sympathetic nervous system does not get depleted of energy, even while working during the day. This is also, by the way, right meditation, according to the book. It is, therefore, not necessary to run off to the jungles to meditate, according to the Sahaja Yogis.

7. In closing, the book does not forget to mention that all such training is given to practitioners free of cost in Sahaja Yoga, because it is advisable for practitioners to think of Shri Mataji first and foremost as a mother (Divine Mother is a Mother too!), and then, it's only logical that the Mother does not ask her child to pay for her teachings.

Sadanand Tutakne