Aligning to the Source of Yoga

On Tuesday, 21st June happened to be the International Day of Yoga, Paramahamsa Nithyananda (fondly known as Swamiji), a living Yogi and an enlightened master, gave three important revelations about the Source of Yoga that the world should know.

First, he declared that Yoga does not originate from Patanjali (a great sage and siddha) as taught by many secular Gurus and Yogis. Patanjali is a great organiser of Yoga Sutras but at least 15,000 years before Patanjali, a being walked on this earth, he is AdiGuru Sadashiva. He is the originator of Yoga and there had been sufficient evidence to show that Sadashiva had clearly outlined detailed manual of yoga postures, Pranayama, Kriya as science of enlightenment. The complete works of Sadashiva are called Agamas. The source of Yoga is Sadashiva himself. Patanjali is a great devotee of Sadashiva who lived in Chidambaram and organized this science and presented it in a very systematic way as the Yoga Sutras. As a living representative of Sadashiva, Swamiji reminded that knowing the original source and the scriptures revealed by the original author is needed to keep the purity of any knowledge branch. In Vedic tradition, any sacred knowledge branch will be complete only if the founder’s intentions are revealed “as it is” to the person studying the knowledge.

Swamiji is not only an enlightened Guru, he is also a Shiva Yogi – one who has attained the state of Shivatva (Oneness with Lord Shiva). The moment he came into my life, he had been guiding me towards the authentic source of Yoga. Prior to meeting him, I had learned from several yoga teachers and attended a few Yoga teachers training from India and New Zealand but I struggled to practise Yoga Sutras because the sacred knowledge had to be heard from an enlightened Guru. I remembered in Sept 2005, I was in Christchurch, New Zealand attending a 7-day Yoga teachers training and I asked my room-mate: Gerry, I know Yoga originated from India, but I have yet to find my connection back to India.” Five months later in early 2006, the Universe sent an enlightened Yogi in the form of Swamiji to me who fundamentally was set to change my entire Yoga journey. The moment he started the discourse on Patanjali Yoga Sutras in 2009, I was absorbing like a sponge. Everything he uttered simply fed my thirst for this knowledge. At that time I knew he is the one who will guide me in deepening the knowledge of Yoga, so it was natural for me to align my understanding and practice to Nithya Yoga. Then Yoga Sutras started to become an experience in me with the sacred secrets revealed by him and his initiation. One great thing happened to me – with the blessing of Swamiji, I become a living teacher – I live what I teach and teach what I live. He is slowly moulding me into a perfect teacher as Sadashiva wanted.

The second revelation is: Always ask for the original source, Yoga is not something to be developed. When you practise from the original source, the atma pramana – personal experience always matches with apta pramana – the earlier Rishi’s experience. Atma pramana should be in tune with apta pramana. The individual experience should always be in tune with the original source – the great enlightened masters, the founding fathers of Yoga. Sadashiva very clearly defined the qualification of a Yoga Guru – He should have atma pramana and he should be completely in tune with apta pramana. Through his own personal enlightenment experience and in tune with the revealed scriptures he should be able to make the science into sakshi pramana – witnessing of the truth, only that person is authorized to teach.

Swamiji had opened up a whole new world of possibilities in me in terms of deeper exploration of Yoga through various scriptures from the source. Now, I am ready to embrace the Yogapada from Agamas once it is available in English. Swamiji has taken the responsibility to collect and archive all these ancient scriptures and make this knowledge accessible to everyone absolutely free without copyright at the website hinduismnow.org. Soon we will be able to read everything from the source. From my own experience so far, if you listen  to his insightful commentaries, take his guidance and initiation, he can simply transmit the experience to anyone if you are open to dive to the depth of Yoga in its purest form.

The third important truth he revealed is: Yoga is not just the science of keeping you healthy, it is the science of radiating enlightenment. Yoga gives you the power to manifest what you want, making you a superman. Yoga is a powerful alchemy system that gives result as soon as you start. So many yoga practitioners are struck with just learning the precision of body postures as a physical workout and some techniques of  blowing nose. To experience the depth of yoga, one has to have the courage to throw out his/her belief system and vested interest because Yoga is an independent intelligence which can lead us to the self-realisation. Sadashiva will reveal himself to you when you are guided by an enlightened Guru.

After having been initiated by Swamiji from several Inner Awakening programs and the recent Suddhadvaitam program in Kumbh Mela at Ujjain, I am now starting to play with a new dimension of Yoga – manifesting powers in creating a reality I want. Just a couple days ago, in the Wednesday samyama practice which I facilitated taken from original source of Patanjali Yoga Sutra with Swamiji’s blessing, I witnessed the first miracle in front of my eyes. A lady who had a blocked ear for 3 weeks, was healed from the Sound samyama practice itself. Another fascinating thing is my body is capable of living without solid food after Nirahara Samyama – the science of going beyond food patterns and living with pure cosmic energy gifted by Swamiji to the world. Since December 2012 after the initiation, the body is constantly in such a high energy level with no tiredness and boredom. With a powerful inner space like hiranya garbha (cosmic womb), I am living a life with constant new possibilities and miracles! I just know the knowledge revealed by Swamiji is coming from the authentic source!

In essence, I may not have started my path to Yoga from the authentic source but I know through my self-effort of practice and pure intention to learn from the very the Source of Yoga, Swamiji happened in my life as my Guru. Having found the right Guru means 99.9% of my job is done, now it is just a matter of aligning myself to the Source of Yoga and letting him do the necessary alchemy process for the ultimate flowering! Namaste! 😀

Silence is the source of inspiration and creation

Do you know the power of silence?
Are you aware that our body actually heals faster when we are in silence?

After coming back from the 21-day Suddhadvaitam program at Kumbh Mela in Ujjain for 2 weeks, I am experiencing this vibrant silence in my inner space – the no-mind zone. I just want to sit by myself and unclutch from this mind maze because I could clearly see the inner chatters but the main difference is I can stop the thoughts whenever I want. As per Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra Verse #2, it states that ‘Yogaha chitta vritti nirodhaha’, meaning ‘Withdrawal from mental patterns is Yoga’. Now I am living it! I can say it is such a tremendous freedom!

I am able to distinguish that thinking is a simple yet subtle action of the mind. I am the only one who is responsible for the mind to go on in action. The moment I become aware, I can reclaim my responsibility over my unconscious actions, the mind can just be stopped by centering on my breath awareness and applying the unclutching – a powerful technique initiated by my master, Paramahamsa Nithyananda (fondly known as Swamiji).

Swamiji said that if the Cosmos (brahmaanda) is reflecting as it is in the inner space (pindaanda), the human body heals itself when we infuse silence and put the mind in restful awareness. The macrocosm is in a state of eternal silence, if we are able to get back to this original silence of a meditative state without the disturbances of the mind, the body (microcosm) naturally heals by itself. Unfortunately, we have been habituated to move away from this meditative state as taught by society. We always turn to solutions from outside because we have forgotten that it is the state of being in the inner world which determines the state of doing in the outer world.

I notice a deeper level of healing is happening within me, for example, the eczema I used to have at the elbow joints and knee joints had cleared up since I returned from Kumbh Mela. Suddenly, there is so much love for self and the whole which I never experience before.

The more I rest in the silence, the more I discover the power of being silent in the gaps of the breaths. Another fascinating happening is the stream of inspirations which keeps bubbling out from that space of silence. I was inspired to create a new yoga module based on working on negative emotions which I will be starting next week. When I directed my awareness in the silence to the new book I started writing this year, I was shown the new thought trends in the book content. As explained in Shiva Sutra by Swamiji, it is said that the gaps between the breaths is the space where we experience the Shiva consciousness (divine consciousness). It is like you are plugged into the Source and there is a whole new Source of inspiration which is coming from the Spirit (energy) and it is no longer coming from the limited identity (matter) anymore. In that space of silence, you are flooded with energy and intelligence. You start existing in a difference space and constantly you will be having inspirations and expressing creativity because God becomes your supply of knowledge and creation.

In essence, silence is the very source of inspirations and creation. The more time you spend being in silence, the greater the healing and creativity you will express. If you observe the body language of mystics, sages and enlightened masters, you will be able to notice it is the silence which creates their intense presence. Namaste 😀

Experience of many lifetimes @ Simhastha Kumbh Mela

I just got back from an incredible 21-day program called Suddhavaditam which happened in Ujjain during the Simhasta Kumbh Mela with my Guru, Paramahamsa Nithyananda (fondly known as Swamiji). The program was attended by some 3,500 people from all over the world – the largest program ever conducted by Swamiji in a built-up camp from a 9-acre bare land.

In the camp, everything was run by volunteers or adheenamvashis (residents of Bengaluru adheenam) – be it kitchen, housekeeping, free food (annalaya) for public, free medical camp and a huge 108-deities temple with an exception of a few hired workers for cooking, washing and maintenance of the camp. Literally it was like a dream created out of nothing, yet everything happened in that extraordinary dream.

These 3 weeks had been an unimaginable roller coaster ride filled with excitement, fear, irritation, anger, love, compassion, kindness, healing, completion and bliss. On the first day of the opening of the program we were thrilled that many of us made it to the program despite all the obstacles which came our way. After the first initiation, then came the first storm after a heightened mood of celebration which flooded certain parts of the camp – the event hall and the dormitories. My bunk bed and part of my luggage were affected by the storm, we spent the 2 days walking in muddy floor and slippery ground. That night I had to share the bed with a female friend who generously offered to let me sleep with her. The amazing thing was the first storm didn’t dampen our spirit as we just focused on the recovery of the situation and started rolling up our sleeves to dry the hall with buckets and trays. Despite the wet ground, Swamiji gave us the first initiation as nothing would stop this from happening. Within 2 days, the water on carpeted floor in the hall and the ground dried up due to the hot weather. The first lesson we learned was – Focus on the right actions to get back on track and never entertain the negative emotions – this strategy actually helped us to overcome the discomfort of the first storm very quickly.

Swamiji began the first initiation of the higher 7 powers of 3rd eye – having a telescopic vision, power to see beyond an obstacle, power to see from distant, power to see one’s thought currents and emotions, power to see internal organs and scan others’ bodies. He followed up with another initiation into 4 powers of crown center ( Sahasrara chakra) – power to visualise complex intricacies, verbalise, internalise and digest any concept. Next he initiated us into another 2 powers of crown chakra – power of psychological levitation and physical levitation. The initiations awakened the qualities of bliss and living without patterns. The initiations generated a lot of excitement as we could see the manifestation of powers during the practice session facilitated by Ma Mahayogananda.

On the 4th day of the program, the Singapore and Malaysia groups were assigned the responsibility of serving food and cleaning after each meal for the participants and public visitors as a part of our volunteering service (seva). While doing seva of serving food, I witnessed all kinds of food patterns of human existence – people eating too much driven by the senses, people getting annoyed when they couldn’t get the food they wanted, people wasting food without feeling respect for food, people who don’t take the responsibility in bringing their own food tray to the washing bay after eating. In the first few days, these behaviours triggered a lot of agitations within me, I totally lost my cool! Why can’t people understand that we are all volunteers here? If each one of us can play our role, it would make everyone’s experience better. The moment I looked in, I cognized that there were people whose fulfilment derived from food itself besides being in Swamiji’s presence, I dropped the judgment and instead, I brought new understanding and completion, which put me back to the space of completion. With that clarity, I was able to continue with the serving of food feeling more complete. Interestingly, the more I served the lesser my appetite became as the days went by. By the end of the 21-day, I was very complete with my food patterns and I was ready to go beyond food living as a divine being.

The first Shahi snaan (holy bath) at the holy Shipra River was filled with so much excitement for all of us. After taking bath and dressed in traditional Sari for women or Yoga vastram for men, we gathered at 2 am to prepare for the procession and we hit the street in large contingent carrying colourful Vedic umbrellas, flags, deities as well as country flags. We danced to the rhythm of Nithya Kirtans (divine music) as we walked 2.5 km to the ghat (holy dip area).  As we hardly slept that night, so some of us took turns to rest along the way. When it was our turn to take the snaan, Swamiji led the team and entered into the river and took 3 dips. The rest of us followed suit but everything happened so quickly, we dropped the procession items and slippers, went into the river and submerged the body by taking 3 quick dips in the cool water. The next moment I realised the policemen yanked us out of the water and moved us away. After the holy bath, a feeling of bliss and completion emanating from my Being was felt as I walked my way back to our camp. Now I fully appreciate the sacred science of taking shahi snaan at Kumbh Mela – the power of cleansing of the sins and tasting of the nectar (amrita)!

After the Shahi snaan came the 2nd storm, this time it was a nasty cyclone which happened in the afternoon during lunch break. The group of us was serving food at serving area and a strong rustling of the wind started to sway the ceiling fans and the tent structure. The next moment we witnessed a large cyclone hit the area and blew down the front structure of the camp and then we saw a few zinc sheets from the temple roof flew off just like paper sheets. That was the moment a massive fear engulfed in all of us and someone shouted “Squat down” as we started to take cover under the food serving counters. This 2nd cyclone shook many participants to their core, many left the program the next few days as they didn’t have the strength to handle further shocks in their nervous system. One really needs a strong spleen to handle the fear attack of utter insecurity. For those who stayed on, this time we became much more prepared than the first storm, the group divided themselves into different teams to focus on recovery. Within 2 days, we were back on track! Swamiji later shared that when he saw the cyclone hitting the camp, he quickly shielded the area using his power and diverted the impact of the cyclone so that nobody was hurt. He assured that the test of Nature was over, there would not be any more storms. What a relief! The lessons I learned from this incident: 1) In situation of a natural calamity, you simply trust the master who is the Source since Nature listens to the Source, 2) If you are not able to relax into the laps of Cosmos in the presence of a living incarnation, wherever you go, you can never feel settled. I’ve learned to trust the master to protect us from all natural disasters. After this 2nd storm, the weather had been hot and sunny till we left the camp!

The 2nd Shahi snaan was another memorable experience. As it was the final Shahi snaan of the Simhastha Kumbh, the huge public crowd started to fill the street when we started the procession by walking to the snaan ghat. At one section of the road, it became too crowded and the policemen were not able to manage the crowd control properly. The public started to push and squeeze into the procession, many of us felt sandwiched like a sardine. The intense suffocation frightened me and I just prayed to be relieved from this situation. Soon enough, the policemen came to our rescue and opened the barricade and moved us to another road. It turned out that the 2nd Shahi snaan was the most beautiful experience as I was able to take the holy dip at my own time, completely enjoying the cool holy water with the deity –Nithyanandeswara, which was nicely tucked in my kavi (shawl) that I was carrying throughout the journey to Shahi snaan.

While the happening was going on as a flow of the event, we were also given time to practise the manifestation of powers after the initiations by Swamiji. By using the power of 3rd eye, some of us were able to see the room of another person through their inner space even though they have not visited their home. I was able to read the thought currents of others as well as describe the projected person in one’s inner space. These sessions gave us so much confidence in playing with the different powers as we saw the different expressions by others. Swamiji shared that after Kumbh Mela, he will continue to guide us in expressing the powers in daily satsang (morning discourse). Then came the final initiation called Astha Kanma – the 8 actions over 8 objects such as earth, water, fire, air, ether, plants and animals, other beings and the mind. When fully awakened, one can express 64 extraordinary powers (8 x 8) by playing with the multiple dimensions. He planted the seed of this powerful initiation in all of us on the 20th day of the program. People who didn’t have the patience and passion for the purpose they came for, they missed this final initiation. Swamiji once iterated that “Everything is only given. It can never be earned. But Sadashiva tests at least you have the ability to receive.”

After the completion of the program, it was celebration after celebration at different levels! Physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, we felt the intense bliss, fulfilment and  completion of this extraordinary program which raised us to a brand new level of existence. In Vedic tradition, powers are bestowed to people who are able to take responsibility for themselves and the world. Whether we are going to express the extraordinary powers, it is dependent on our decision to expand in responsibilism for the world.

In essence, this Suddhadvaitam program not only broke many of my patterns, it also gave me the clarity of one thing – the play of the human mind which derails us from seeking and experiencing a breakthrough in consciousness. If you have been working on aligning your mind to the Cosmic truths, you will sail through this program triumphantly. If you have entertained your physical, psychological and neurological ups and downs, you will miss the entire experience of this program. This is not even a program, it is a life-transforming gift of learning how to relax into Cosmos with trust and surrender even in moments of utter insecurity and realising that you are SadaShiva – Pure consciousness. Namaste 😀