Sahaja Yoga Introduction

On the 5^th of May 1970 Shri Mataji opened the Sahasrara chakra of the Virata and the unique opportunity of Self-realisation, second birth, became possible for all mankind. Once the Kundalini is awakened Shri Mataji allows those who are seeking truth to then becomes a ‘Sahaja Yogi’, the twice born, and then an attitude unique to Sahaja Yogis is born within. Then a new era begins for us, keeping our attention very much on Shri Mataji, and aspects of deepening our spiritual awakening.

The twice born are able to continually look forward to an eternal and spiritual world, neither as a dream, nor a vision of some other worldly experience, but as a reality and a happening, here today, by the grace of Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi we can live that life here and now, rather than being a far distant reality.

Shri Mataji’s elevated vision and plan for mankind in the form of Sahaja Yoga does not mean that we leave the present mundane world behind, but reflects our combined aspiration to leave our mark upon the Earth, to help transform it, precisely because our efforts are occupied with beautifying the universe in unison with Shri Mataji’s will when she opened the Sahasrara : for mankind to realise the true meaning of its existence.

Sometimes as the years pass we may find that we may become focused upon our jobs, family, money, other concerns, but our mundane life is not our main object, we know that we have always wanted something more. We know we are supposed to have the pure feelings of family, brothers, sisters, aunties and uncles. There is something much more which we grasped at times when we perceived that we are not only this physical body, that there is a meaning that runs deep in this universes, that is just beyond the grasp of our mental perceptions. Continue Reading »

Tags: "Sahaja Yogi experiences", "Shri Mataji", kundalini, Nirvicharya Samadhi, sahaja yoga, Sahasrara, self-realisation, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, thoughtless awareness

The Agnya chakra is situated in the centre of the brain. It is sometimes referred to as the “third eye.” It has three aspects: the ego, the superego and the centre Agnya. The ego, situated on the left side of the brain, is the result of the activity of the right channel, or Pingala Nadi. This channel is associated with mental and physical activity, and when we overindulge in either of these the ego balloon becomes bloated and we develop an exagerrated feeling of importance. The superego, is situated on the right side of the brain and is a result of the activity of the left channel, or Ida Nadi. This channel is associated with emotional activity, and when we overindulge in this the superego ballon becomes bloated and we develop our conditionings and memories. If the superego is very bloated, whereas the ego is not, this results in feelings of worthlessness and dispair. The development of the ego causes the calcification of the fontanelle area of the brain (which is actually soft when we are born) and causes us to develop a sense of “I-ness,’ which makes us feel that we are separate from others.

We cannot fight our ego, as we would have to use our ego to do so. By watching the activity of our ego and through introspection we can become aware of its tricks. By laughing at the activities of our ego we prick the balloon of ego and thereby deflate it. In addition, through Sahaja Yoga methods we can keep both the ego and superego from becoming bloated by keeping our left and right sides in balance.

The centre Agnya chakra opens when the ego and superego are in balance, and not in an overbloated condition. The key to this area is forgiveness. Provided that we forgive everyone and ourselves we make it possible for the kundalini to rise through this centre. Not forgiving others only results in punishment for ourselves. Forgiveness results in a feeling of relief, of lightness.

We also known in Sahaja Yoga that the Agnya chakra also governs the eyes and the way that we use our eyes is very significant. It helps to look at the grass, trees and the sky as these have a soothing and cleansing effect on the eyes. In addition, looking through a candle flame is also helpful.

And this is a very, very important chakra for Sahaj yogis, because when the kundalini rises above, above the Agnya chakra, immediately there is no thought. We do not get any thoughts from ego or super ego, but there is a wobbling in the Agnya because of your in-balanced ways; the in-balanced ways are sometimes that you are with ego or super ego. This has happened to our people in the West, because we have had so much of ego we got really tired of it. We got frightened with it. Then we started taking to drugs and things to increase our super ego, but by doing that what we are doing is pushing by one end, bringing by another end and that’s how we are wobbling our ego and super ego, by which we are not helping ourselves at all.

Shri Mataji Nirmala devi, founder of Sahaja Yoga, 20 December 1979

Tags: Agnya chakra, ego, Jesus Christ, meditation, superego, third eye, thoughtless awareness

The Vishuddhi chakra, situated at the throat level, governs communication. If the Vishuddhi on the right side becomes overactive then the person becomes loud, aggressive, disrespectful towards others. The Vishuddhi on the left side becomes affected when one feels guilty. When this happens one can become shy, timid, sly or sarcastic. If one indulges into feels of guilt too much this can result in angina, or even cervical cancer. The centre Vishuddhi when affected causes a person to have difficulties communicating with others.

Qualities of the Vishuddhi chakra are: diplomacy, sweetness of speech, collectivity, collective consciousness (by being connected to the same source we become aware of each other as well as the source), witness power (the ability to be detached in any situation and not to get caught up in it), and on the left side, the brother-sister relationship as well as self-confidence.

Feeling guilty is usually a form of escapism, and stops us from facing ourselves, and in particular, our ego. Through introspection we can find out if we are indulging into feelings of guilt in this way and so stop ourselves from falling into this trap. In the West we are also conditioned to think of ourselves as “sinners” and this contributes to our sense of guilt. The affirmation “Mother, I am not guilty” helps to neutralise these negative conditionings which stop the kundalini from rising.

The Hamsa chakra, situated between the eyebrows, is also part of the Vishuddhi and has the quality of discrimination, enabling us to determine which action is appropriate at any point. It also governs our sense of intuition, and through meditation our sense of intuition can become strongly developed.

The Vishuddhi chakra governs the throat, teeth, face and mouth. It also has another very important aspect in Sahaja yoga, in that it enables our sense of vibrations. Sometimes people don’t feel vibrations at the beginning, just after getting their Self-realisation, because this centre is out of balance, but as their vibrations improve they start to feel them.

The witness state is very important in that it allows us to detach ourselves from our ego and superego and from the situation that we are in. When our ego or superego reacts in a situation we observe these rather than identifying with them.

Did you see the sky, how beautiful it was? How orange, blue, all kinds of colours were there. The colour it takes, automatically, and is enjoying it. It is not bothered that it should remain forever, that this will go away when there is darkness. Just watching! The sky is just watching. Whatever comes its way, it takes it. So, it’s so beautiful and it’s so joy-giving.

So the another thing is that, when you are in that state of spirituality, then you are joy-giving, you are peace giving, you are compassionate and you love each other. All these problems of the ego just disappear. Ego is your greatest enemy I think, and it is the one that really hinders all the wealth and beauty of your life. So if you could just see this ego, how it works, just you’ll be enjoying it. It’s a drama it plays, alright? Let’s have it! You can see the drama and then suddenly you will be amazed that you are not in it, you are watching it. When you are detached from your ego you can see how it tries to entice you.

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, founder of Sahaja Yoga, 25.12.2000

Tags: collective consciousness, communication, detachment, diplomacy, ego, Hamsa chakra, meditation, sahaja yoga, self-confidence, sweetness, vishuddhi chakra

The Heart chakra has three different aspects:

• On the left side it is associated with the Spirit. The Spirit is what we truly are. Before we get our Self-realisation in Sahaja Yoga we tend to identify with our body, our mind or our emotions, forgetting our true nature. A poem which describes the Spirit in a very beautiful way is Tad Niskala by Adi Shankaracharya. When we allow our Spirit to manifest in our lives we experience joy, bliss and love. On the other hand, those who go to extremes of physical or mental activities can damage this centre, in some cases resulting in heart attacks. To nurture this centre we need to remain balanced and in a non-reactive witness state. By meditating regularly and asking ourselves “Where is my attention?” throughout the day we can prevent our awareness from being frittered away. The left Heart chakra is affected by our relationship with our mother. Problems in the left Heart chakra manifest as a tingling in the little finger on the left hand.
• The right Heart chakra is affected by our relationship with our father. This centre, when functioning correctly ensures that we stay within the boundaries of good conduct. Problems in the right Heart chakra manifest as a tingling in the little finger on the right hand.
• In the centre it is associated with our sense of security. If the left and right centres are affected this also results in the centre chakra being affected.

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, founder of Sahaja Yoga:

The Spirit is the only thing that is free within, which has no hangs-up, which has no habits, which does not stick on to anything, is completely detached and emitting joy to us. It is a thing that makes our Spirit, our attention so enlightened. Now enlightened attention, as I said, is not the attention that we understand, that “There’s a light, we see the light,” nothing of the kind. But with this enlightened attention our awareness becomes enlightened, so that we start feeling other people on our hands….

The centre Heart is governed by the Mother of the universe. She gives us the sense of security. When you are at the age of twelve years, you see, the bone that is in front here starts emitting antibodies, it creates antibodies within you till the age of twelve years and then these antibodies are really the soldiers of the Mother of the universe. We call Her Jagadamba in Sanskrit language, and they spread to the whole of the body and wherever there is an attack, they inform each other and they fight it out. These antibodies are created in the sternum bone in the front side of the, we can say, the ribs, where the ribs meet, thoracic region, that part, they stay there, are created till the age of twelve years. Now what happens in ladies specially, they are the mothers also, when their motherhood is challenged, they get a problem.

Tags: Heart chakra, Jagadamba, meditation, sahaja yoga, Spirit

The Void is the centre of self-mastery within us. This centre enables us to remain in a balanced state in spite of the pressures of every-day existence, provided that we stay within the boundaries of certain spiritual laws. These laws can be found in the scriptures of all religions. One example of such a set of laws is the Ten Commandments. These laws are not designed to punish us, but rather to keep us in a state of harmony with each other and the Divine. When the Kundalini is awakened it enlightens this area and we become naturally righteous.

The Void in the subtle system (shown in green in the diagram of the subtle system) represents the Ocean of Illusion, also known as the Bhavasagara. The Kundalini has to cross this ocean to take us out of our state of illusion. This occurred at a symbolic level when Moses parted and then crossed the Red Sea.

Mankind has been very fortunate in that ten great masters have taken their births in order to help establish this principle of self-mastery and righteousness within us. They are: Moses, Abraham, Raja Janaka, Mohammed Sahib,Guru Nanak, Sai Nath of Shirdi, Zarathustra, Confucius, Lao Tse and Socrates.

This centre is associated with the water element and a very helpful cleansing technique is to place one’s feet into a bucket of warm water with a handful of salt and to meditate for a period of time.

Tags: Abraham, Confucius, Guru Nanak, Lao Tse, Mohammed Sahib, Moses, Raja Janaka, righteousness, sahaja yoga, Sai Nath of Shirdi, self-mastery, Socrates, void, Zarathustra