Sahaja Yoga, a unique discovery

Man in his search of joy and happiness is running away from his Self, which is the real source of joy. He finds himself very ugly and boring because he doesn’t know his Self. A human being seeks joy in money or possessions, in power or human limited love, and ultimately in religion that is also outside. The problem is how to turn one’s attention inward. The inner being, which is our awareness, is energy. I call it the energy of Divine Love. All evolution and the manifestation of material energy is guided by the supreme energy of Divine Love. We do not know how powerful and thoughtful this unknown energy is. The silent working of awareness is so automatic, minute, dynamic, and precious that we take it for granted. After self realization, this energy appears to us as silent throbbing vibrations flowing through our being. But we have been unable to achieve self realization because we cannot fix our attention on something that lacks form (abstract Being). Instead, our attention wanders outside on forms.

Now there is a method to tap the Divine power - Sahaja Yoga. At the very outset, I have to say that the working of Sahaja Yoga is very simple, although the operation within is quite complex. For example, if you want to watch television, it is very easy. But to explain the engineering technique of a television set is very difficult and the explanation is complicated. To learn about a television you also need a qualified engineer who understands it and who can explain its working.

I will try to explain Sahaja Yoga in the simplest way, but please note that it is really complicated if you want to know it in detail. The best way to enjoy television is first to switch it on and watch. Then later you can try to understand its engineering. As a Mother I would say that I have done the cooking for you. Why should you worry about how it is done? If you are hungry you should start eating. If you are not actually hungry, but only inquisitive, what can I do? I can neither force you to eat nor make you hungry with discussions or lecturing. I leave it to your wisdom and to your freedom to feel that longing.

SOME BACKGROUND ON SAHAJA YOGA

The word ‘Sahaja’ (Saha + ja) means born with you or inborn. Whatever is inborn manifests without any effort. Hence Sahaja Yoga is the name given to my system, which is effortless, easy, and spontaneous. It is a part of Nature, you may call it life’s source-the vitality of the Divine.

To understand life, consider the case of something that is living: a germinating seed. The seed grows by itself into a tree, blooms into flowers, and then the flowers become fruit. Any human effort cannot change the process of growth from a seed into a tree. The gardener can only look after the growth of the tree. In the same way, the process of the growth of our consciousness, to further evolution, takes place effortlessly.

When a foetus is between two and three months old, in the mother’s womb, a column of rays of consciousness, emitted through the all-pervading Divine Love, pass through the developing brain to enlighten it. The shape of the human brain is prism-like. So, the column of rays falling on it gets refracted into four diverse channels corresponding to the four aspects of the nervous system.

These are:

1. Parasympathetic nervous system

2. Sympathetic nervous system (right)

3. Sympathetic nervous system (left)

4. Central nervous System (This need not be discussed as it is the link with objectivity).

The set of rays that fall on the fontanel bone (apex of the head known as Taloo) pierce in the center and pass straight into the medulla oblongata through a channel (Sushumna). This energy, after leaving a very thread-like, thin line in the medulla oblongata, settles down in three and a half coils in the triangular bone at the base of the spinal cord (Mooladhar). This coiled energy is known as Kundalini.

The subtle energy enters through the center of the brain (Sahasrara Brahmarandhra) and precipitates six more centers on its way down. The gross manifestation of this subtle energy, in the Sushumna channel of the spinal cord, is termed the Parasympathetic nervous system. The centers of Chakras are expressed as plexuses outside the spinal cord. Surprisingly, we have the same number of plexuses and sub plexuses outside, as the number of Chakras and their petals inside, the spinal cord.

Medical science knows very little about this system. Science calls it the autonomous nervous system, meaning the system that works spontaneously-on its own. For example, if we want to increase the rate of our heartbeat, we can do so by exerting ourselves (activity of the sympathetic nervous system). But we cannot directly reduce the heart (activity of the parasympathetic nervous system). The parasympathetic nervous system is a system that is like a petrol pump through which the petrol of Divine Love fills us. But when a human child is born and the umbilical cord breaks, a gap is created in the Sushumna (the subtle channel in the spinal cord). And on the gross level, one can see there is a gap between the solar plexus and the vagus nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system. This gap is known as the void in the Zen system of religion and Maya (or Bhav- Sagar) in Indian thought. Later when ego and superego bloat up like balloons and cover our brain at the apex of the left and right sympathetic nervous systems, the fontanel bone calcifies, and the all-pervading vital force of Divine Love gets cut off completely.

Then the human being identifies himself as a separate entity and the consciousness of ‘I’ (Aham) presides. This is why Man does not know His universal unconscious. His ego severs this subtle connection.

VITAL ENERGY