Sahaja Yoga
"Sahaja Yoga
Yoga, as a systematized doctrine, arose 5000 years ago.
Perhaps the reason for its occurrence was the great desire on
the part of people to learn the truth, to reach an absolute in
perception, to find spiritual rest in this restless world, and
to live in balance with nature. The seekers did not look for the
answers in the material world, rather, they addressed spiritual
perception. They used various methods and techniques, which
evolved into independent directions of Yoga: Hatha-yoga
(physical methods), Raja-yoga (mental comprehension) and others.
But only rarely did followers achieve real results because of
the difficulty of practice, incompleteness of knowledge and
personal ideology. The main problem was the awakening of
Kundalini -- Self-Realization.
In each person, from birth, a potential spiritual
energy--named Kundalini--is incorporated. This energy is our
spiritual Mother. The main idea of any Yoga is Her awakening and
further spiritual ascent under Her protection. But the largest
problem of all was simply how to awaken Her. Many doctrines
spoke about it, calling this process variously as
'self-realization,' 'second birth,' and 'Resurrection,' but no
one gave the practical recipe of the embodiment of this idea.
In 1970, as a result of long searches and experience, Shri
Mataji Nirmala Devi made possible a method that permits any
person to awaken the Kundalini energy within several minutes, to
receive his self-realization, and to go on the way of spiritual
ascent and perception. This method has received the name 'Sahaja
Yoga'. In translation from Sanskrit 'Sahaja Yoga' means 'inborn,
effortless union with the Divine": 'Sahaja' means easy, or
spontaneous - it also means 'inherent, born with...'; 'yoga' -
'to connect, to reunite, connection, union'. The name itself
reminds the person of potential opportunities incorporated in
him at birth and of the opportunity of their realization.
How little do we know about ourselves? We don't know about
our senses, about our talents, about what power we have. Only by
knowing all about the self, can the person maintain a healthy
organism in order to live in harmony with nature and other
people. Sahaja Yoga permits people to discover the next
dimension of the Universe - vibrations. It may sound strange
that spiritual practice can really help people, but that may be
because, western people are more adhered to material world. Due
to our modern lifestyle, with its fast pace and intense rythms,
people can be driven to extremes, and, consequently, fall into
mental problems, develop conflicts with nature, and lose their
sense of the joy of life. It's no wonder that, more and more
people are discovering the benefits of spiritual practice, and
Sahaja Yoga in particular.
Sahaja Yoga is simple in study and practice. It does not
require supernatural efforts, or violence over self, refusal of
worldly life, difficult exercises, or repetitious chanting.
Fifteen to twenty minutes daily practice of Sahaja Yoga
meditation (basically a profound "thoughtless"
contemplation) is all that is required to get real results in
all directions of creative human activity.
Practice does not require fanatical blind belief at all. It
is enough to consider the method of Sahaja Yoga earnestly, to
accept it as a hypothesis, to try it, and, if the practice
confirms its reliability and benefit, to accept it as valid.
Sahaja Yoga is not a dogmatic religion (religion - from lat.
Religio - piety, reverence, subject of worship), or a
traditional science (study of a material, its structure and
interaction), or philosophy (concept) - this is a universal
method which stands on the border of many areas of human
knowledge and practices. Rather, Sahaja Yoga represents
practical perceptions of existence which can be verified through
experience. As result, Sahaja Yoga has quickly spread all over
the world. Today, Sahaja Yoga is recognized and practiced in
more than 70 countries. Sahaja Yoga can be used always and
everywhere, as the person uses, first of all, his own forces and
energy.
Now the techniques of Sahaja Yoga have found application and
have gotten real results in traditional science, medicine,
agriculture, education, art, politics and business. Sahaja Yoga
does not suppress the person, as occurs in many doctrines or
dogmatic religions. On the contrary, it permits him to awaken
and to develop his individuality in its whole original beauty,
to discover the "sixth sense", and to look at world on
the other hand. It can be practised by anyone, regardless of
age, sex, race, education or creed."
Aleksey Yelesin, www.ce.net/
Saturday, April 06, 1996 3:57:21 PM
"Judaism and Sahaja Yoga
The connections between the spiritual traditions of Sahaja Yoga and Judaism
The connections between the spiritual traditions of Sahaja Yoga and Judaism are
vast. Not only that, the experience that Sahaja Yoga can bring to Jews, or
anybody else for that matter, goes far beyond the expectations that any Jew
(with the exception of the Jewish mystics, known as Kabbalists) has ever
entertained. In Sahaja Yoga, a Jew can finally experience Judaism as a living
force that nourishes, heals, and gives the unlimited Joy of the Spirit.
This experience of the direct perception and sensation of Divine energy has
become commonplace with the practice of Sahaja Yoga. Hundreds of thousands and
even perhaps millions of people from every corner of the Earth are feeling for
the first time the existence of God on their central nervous systems. This
experience transcends all religious and cultural boundaries. Sahaja Yoga shows
its practitioners the universality of all the religions of the world. This
experience is described in Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Christianity,
Greek Mythology, as well as most other spiritual paths. This experience is also
perfectly described in Judaism. So we can say that Sahaja Yoga is not a
religion, but a tool to shed light on religion. And when we bring the Light of
Truth into Judaism, we can see how fantastic it is.
The basic experience of the universal pure religion (as described by Shri Mataji
Nirmala Devi) is a very simple, yet powerful evolutionary process that initially
takes place on the central nervous system. Through pure desire and the Divine
Compassion of God, the dormant spiritual energy in a person is awakened,
creating an enlightened personality. The Torah clearly describes this in the
Book of Numbers, Chapter 11, verses 16-17 and 25:
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16: And the Lord said unto Moses: "Gather unto Me seventy men of the elders
of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over
them; and bring them unto the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with
thee.
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17: And I will come down and speak with thee there; and I will take of the
spirit which is upon thee, and put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden
of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.
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25: And the Lord came down to the tent in the cloud; and spoke unto him, and
took of the spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy elders; and
when it came to pass, that, when the spirit came upon them, they prophesied."
This spirit which is described is a reflection of the pure desire of God in a
human being. It is an innate energy which lies in the sacrum bone, or the
triangular shaped bone at the base of the spinal column. The word sacrum comes
from the word sacred, because the ancient Greeks, of whose language so much
English is based, knew that the sacrum bone was a sacred bone, and that it
housed this sacred energy. The spirit spoken of is actually the Shechina, or the
Divine Presence that protects a human being from evil. The word spirit means
wind. It is important to note that this energy is described as a wind, for when
it is flowing, it feels like a cool breeze emitting from the body. The word
Shechina comes from the Hebrew word shochem, which means to reside. The Shechina
is the One who resides in the sacrum bone.
In Her upward journey, the Shechina (or Kundalini) passes through a number of
centers which are expressed in the human anatomy as the nerve plexuses of the
central nervous system. In Sahaja Yoga, these centers have been called chakras
for thousands of years. There are numerous ancient drawings that exhibit these
chakras, and they are rendered with complete anatomical accuracy. This was all
done without any knowledge of human physiology, so it is quite obvious that the
source of this knowledge must be spiritual in nature. The word chakra means
wheel in Sanskrit, and indeed, they spin like wheels. They contain the pure
qualities as designed by God that every being possesses. The chakras and their
Divine energy were envisioned by the Jewish prophet Ezekiel, in Chapter 1,
Verses 19-21:
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19: And when the living creatures went, the wheels went hard by them; and
when the living creatures were lifted up from the bottom, the wheels were lifted
up.
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20: Whither so ever the spirit was to go, as spirit was to go thither, so
they went; and the wheels were lifted up beside them; for the spirit of the
living creature was in the wheels.
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21: When those went, these went; and when those stood, and these stood; and
when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up beside them;
for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
In Judaism we find the same knowledge of Sahaja Yoga was found through spiritual
pursuit and serves the same purpose. The Kabbalah, which is the core of the Law
as taught by Moses, describes the Sefirot. The Sefirot are the centers of divine
qualities in the spiritual body of a person. They are ten in number, and they
correspond perfectly to the chakras in their location and their qualities. When
one considers the discrepancy in the number of chakras and sefirot, one finds
that it is merely an instance of two slightly different interpretations of the
same system. A few sefirot are viewed in there different aspects as separate
sefirot, where as the chakra model establishes a connection, and therefore views
them as one. Furthermore, while the Sefirot are numbered as ten, they are
described as residing on seven different levels.
But the result is the same. When the Shechina is awakened, it nourishes these
centers which are the milestones of our evolution. In doing so, we begin to feel
and emit the true qualities that every human being possesses. The joy and peace
of this experience is a deeply profound one, and one that can carry the
practitioner to an entirely new and ascendant level of consciousness, the
consciousness of the Spirit.
This is clearly expressed in many areas of the Torah, but especially in
Solomon's Proverbs, Chapter 3, Verses 13-18:
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13: Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that obtaineth
understanding.
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14: For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and
the gain thereof than fine gold.
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15: She is more precious than rubies; and all the things thou canst desire
cannot be compared unto Her.
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16: Length of Days are in Her right hand; in Her left hand are riches and
honour.
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17: Her ways are ways of pleasantness; and all Her paths are peace.
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18: She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon Her, and happy is
everyone that holdeth Her fast.
That tree is the Shechina. That tree is the Kundalini. And that tree is growing
in humanity now. As a Jew is "the One who knows', so is a Sahaja Yogi "the one
who has become". Truly, they are meant to be one and the same.
