April 26, 2006

The Journey with Harijiwan
By Erin McKeever

Photo by Nina Berry

Sat Nam!

It takes a lot of power to move your assemblage point-- to have more than one way of perceiving reality.  It sounds so simple on the surface, but most of us are stubborn, if not fixed, when it comes to how we choose (yes, it’s a choice) to see our life and the lives of others.  Best of all…we don’t even know it!

Everything you eat, think and do assembles your reality and has a cumulative effective on how you structure, perceive and, therefore, experience your world.  The more you practice meditation, mantra, breath and yogic postures, the more strength and flexibility you build to move yourself out of unproductive and painful spaces.  Even if you select just one of the above you are ahead of the game.

A simple, easy posture Harijiwan reminded us to use to re-assemble any physical issue is baby pose.  Sit on the heels, bring the forehead to the ground with the third eye (between the brow point) touching, stretch the arms back behind you resting at your sides, palms facing up, breathe long and deep.  This posture focuses the energy at the third eye bringing you into a neutral state where great relaxation and harmony can occur. Eleven minutes of baby pose a day changes your body’s infrastructure and chemistry creating balance on multiple levels.

We also want to include the aura in this cumulative equation.  The aura (linked closely with the etheric or spirit form of the Self), like the body and mind, is just as sensitive to diet, thoughts and behavior.  It too has a structure that allows you to perceive in a certain way (the larger and brighter, the better) and if left unattended, can acquire holes or imbalances in color which, in turn, diminish your life force.  Awareness of the breath increases the aura, as does wearing white and all cotton clothing.  Auric magnitude plays a significant role in attaining clarity of identity and its strength of projection, and the impact our identity will have on others.  How well we nurture, integrate and improve upon all three bodies affects our ability to function in normal day to day living, but particularly in states of stress and unpredictability.  Harijiwan’s emphasis on the proper use of breath in class, be it chanting, meditation or holding postures is due to his understanding and appreciation of the breath’s influence on how we receive and perceive information.  An excellent mantra Harijiwan used to expand the auric field was Ajai Alai.  The specific sounds of this mantra pattern the neurons in the brain to find strength and expand our ability to search our entire system (body/mind/aura) for courage and will power.

Ajai Alai calls forth the indestructible, invincible energy of the Universe and merges it with our own (this is from Guru Gobind Singh’s Jaap Sahib).  You activate and reconstruct new neural pathways using Ajai Alai creating thought and behavior patterns that give you the capacity to decide how you want to live. Your choices feel more authentic and graceful because they are inspired from within. Otherwise, you keep looping back to the same experiences that may feel different at first, but later seem all too familiar. Ultimately, you find yourself asking, “How did I end up here again?”  Harijiwan discussed the pitfalls of this pattern.

The sub-conscious mind existing within this new framework, or point of reference, has a greater chance of sucking you back into these loops for a number of reasons: you slack off in your practice because who needs it…you feel great; or, you rekindle old relationships and situations thinking you can undo or redo the mistakes from your new perspective.  You are missing the point!  There is no need to go back and fix things.  The only thing you are required to do, Harijiwan insisted, is move forward and create a life based on the new, more conscious you.  But, we need to keep in mind it’s the prana, the life force, which holds this new space.  Your ability to be precise in decision making, including whether or not you will revisit the past, is directly connected with the decision to ignore these sub-conscious’ shenanigans by diving deeper into your practice.  Or, it’s return to Gilligan’s Island where you keep running into the same characters with the same limited wardrobe and bad hairdos.  Diving deeper means something different for everyone: remaining consistent in your sadhana or being mindful of your diet and thoughts.  It can also mean adding on the length of time you meditate, the number of classes you attend, or your involvement with the spiritual community.  Keeping up is the key. The way to keep up is to discover a pace that is right for you by creating a personal practice that fits your lifestyle and makes you feel good. 

The last few weeks Harijiwan focused on the emotional body.  We tend to run our behavior through our emotional currents and take action from here instead of using the strength we build through the pranic body to steer us. One of the amazing benefits of utilizing the sound current through mantra is the fact it does not require you to get zapped by an outside person, such as a teacher or guru, and it connects you with the higher realms where emotions do not reign supreme.  Love, acceptance and inner wisdom are the only guides in these elevated energy fields and the mantras allow you access to it all.  Harijiwan said, “…even one recitation of Wahe Guru can liberate you, but you don’t believe it!”  In our last Lotus Blossom of the Heart workshop we directly addressed the fourth level of the sub-conscious where ancient fears reside that emanate fearful and destructive emotions.  Harijiwan said this does not mean we are to deny the human fact we are emotional beings.  Rather, we want to put our best foot forward as much as possible and move from clear consciousness.  You need to figure out where you are emotionally, and then use the mantra and the breath to re-direct your thoughts and consequent actions through a stream of consciousness that is unfettered by the dictates of past, present and future fears.  Once we have experienced higher energy fields, we have the ability to duplicate them.  But, Harijiwan also reiterated something that is singularly important:  we all have our own personal relationship with the energy field.  It is up to you to create your own practice within the context of these ancient teachings and technology if you want to experience the knowledge, wisdom and blessings bestowed upon those who enter.

We are in a cusp period, a time in our history before everything as we know it changes.  Do you really want to be like everyone else or do you want to express and create and experience the real you during one of the most exciting transitions in earth’s history? If the answer is the latter, it is essential to find the neutral space within your mind, which balances the body and aura and gives you the capacity to survive the monumental changes of the present and those which surely lie ahead.  Develop the discipline now to align yourself with the current of the Universe- not the undercurrent of fear intentionally devised by external forces to control you- before the speed quickens to a pace that seems unmanageable or unattainable.  It is never too late to create a firm practice that integrates the earthly and heavenly forces where you can reach these neutral zones and experience what it is like to ride above the chaos instead of succumbing to it.  Remind yourself as often as possible, “the structure of my thoughts can be altered by my breath and the sound.”  When you combine the prana and mantra, new spaces and places are opened and forward movement can be achieved.

Practicing  Kundalini yoga gives you the know-how and actual experience of how new energy fields feel and flow, on levels both personal and cosmic.  The different energies we generate and move through afford us the chance to see something or someone from a fresh viewpoint, changing our outlook and attitude.  The big question you want to ask yourself is:  Will I take advantage of this golden opportunity for change or…Will I allow the mind to pull me back into a cycle of redundancy and compliance?  The latter doesn’t sound so great, but we believe it’s safer to stick with what we know rather than step out on the edge.  The truth is, you are already on the edge or you wouldn’t be reading this message and exploring outside the box for a way to expand upon the quality of your life.  The wind is not going to wither, nor is the rain expected to subside.  As a matter of fact, the weather is about to get a lot more unpredictable.  So, what are you hanging around for?  Take a chance and jump!   See where the journey takes you.

Many blessings,
Erin