Chapter 1

Though there was a staff of five hundred working under him, it was not enough to wish Jay Bera on his 35th birthday. No one wished him on his birthday. Nobody knew. He lived and breathed computer programs and had no time to make friends. He looked much beyond his 35 years- blurred vision, dark circles under eyes, dull-pink spots on cheeks and so on. Though his breakthrough work changed the industry for the better and for all time, but in the mad rush to succeed, he left his family behind. His wife tried to tell him, “They don’t want you. They want your ideas!”

He didn’t get it, “You don’t know how big it can get.” “I don’t want to know, and I don’t care!”
They split.
As it got bigger, it was not what his kids were looking

for, “We don’t want your money; we want your love!” They were estranged.

Amidst all the broken relationships, his laptop continued to remain faithful and even put him in over 50 nations. But in the bargain, he was burnt out. Stress snacking led to incurable obesity and that led to pressure on his heart. He migrated to Marijuana.

On his 35th birthday, Jay sat alone at Starbucks trying to drown his depression in cups of coffee. But no amount of caffeine could stimulate his numbed grey cells. The drugs had taken their toll. Though an atheist, he broke the rules and prayed for help. His inner silence was interrupted by peals of laughter coming from the table across. For a second he felt his brain ticking, his programmer eye instantly zeroed-in on a trio of carefree youngsters bubbling with laughter. What was with them? Were they oblivious that the IT industry was in depression, prized computer programmers were out of jobs, there was a famine in Africa, a cyclone was heading for America, war was raging in the Middle-East, and carbon emissions were punching holes in the ozone layer? Didn’t they have any commitments, aspirations or responsibilities? Yet, he could not help being drawn to their table. Their presence engendered oxygen, and he was dying without it. Taking a closer look, he observed a certain transparency that revealed a sense of serenity. As if gasping for breath, he stepped forward, “Hey, may I join you?”

“Sure, grab a chair. I’m Siddhartha, my friend Rita, and this is Grace.

Jay introduced himself to the group with handshakes. May we offer you coffee? Sugar?”
“No sugar please. I‘m diabetic.”
“Sorry about that.”

Jay shrugged, “That’s life. Adding to that, I’ve been really stressed working on a software that will bring the world’s first color multi-material 3D printer to our homes. My colleagues are excited about it, and they are amazed at the capabilities of the human mind. Like Thomas Edison once said, “If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”

Siddhartha agreed, “The human mind is capable of generating a tremendous amount of matter- whether through mechanical mediums like printers and machines, software programs or through chemical reactions within the body. While the human mind can really be a source of beautiful creations, most of us are unaware of matter being created within us without our knowledge. We are unaware that the reaction of our mind actually creates subtle matter within ourselves.

Mind is matter. The ancient scriptures bring this out in a subtle way. They call matter “Jada,” which is a remnant of the thought processes of the mind. These thought processes and reactions ultimately fossilize into anger, jealousy, greed and many more emotional forms. They create a sort of heaviness in the subtle body- this too is matter. This matter if left to sit too long, can start to interrupt the smooth working of the human body, thus leading to disease.

So, as we build the latest and greatest in technology, it may also be time to put some engineering into the working of our inner matter, its multi-color forms and dimensions and how it may be possible to go beyond all mind matter.

For this, it’s necessary to not let our daily reactions fossilize and remain inside us for too long or it can have a negative impact. For example, if someone offends us, we may build such a strong reaction against such a person, that our attitude toward him or her can go beyond normal civil behavior. And the smallest incident can remain within us for years, building negative reactions to such an extent that it becomes impossible to overcome or talk to the person ever again! Anger is probably the easiest of the matters that we can understand today, but there is other matter too- created because of reactions such as our greed, jealousy, lust and more, which may be even more difficult to comprehend. It would instead be better to start each day anew and not let the negative impacts of our daily likes and dislikes carry forward. This way we let none of our reactions solidify and become so heavy that we are unable to carry their weight in the days ahead.

Thus, we could begin each day afresh. Imagine being greeted each morning with the same softness of the early morning mist that gently sits on a hilltop or meadow and then fades away, leaving a clear picture of the day. Such is the nature of the mind. It is for us to keep it clear of the fog, and enjoy the beauty of each day.

We’ve certainly seen the stunning possibilities of our mind in material creations, now shall we experience the bliss of going beyond the mind?”

“You’re right, but I’m dealing with too many things, and my mind is a total mess. It’s like a program that’s crashed!”

Siddhartha chuckled, “Well, if you know why it crashed, why not crack its code!”

Jay was confused, “I’m not sure what you mean.”

Rita’s eyes sparkled, “Let me put it this way- your diabetes was the outcome of stress, because when one project finished you moved on to the next best thing – action-action-action – multi-tasking in some desperate attempt to ‘get it done,’ and eventually your one track mind blew up. But supposing you were to stand at a point from where you could see all the tracks, then you could become free, and could deal with the problem easily.”

Grace offered him a ham sandwich, “For instance, if you got a window on the program that crashed, then you can see the problem and attend to it. You become free, and instead of the program controlling you, you control it.”

More oxygen flushed Jay’s grey cells as he heard her say, “Why not subject yourself to a reality check and identify what contributed to the stress. Then you could simply put out the fire with the power of your resilience.”

“Where does this power of resilience come from?”
“It comes from a source within us called the kundalini.”

“Kundalini?”
“If you have a moment, we could talk about it.” “Mm… I’m sorry, I’m running late for a Board

meeting, but how about coffee tomorrow?” “Sure tomorrow. Same time.”
“Have a great day!”

Chapter 2

During the Board meeting, Jay’s fingers itched for the fast track button. His adrenaline level rose, and he was reminded of Grace’s tip, ‘supposing you were to stand at a point from where you can see all the tracks, then you become free, and can deal with the problem easily.’ He ducked the fast track. Not long after, he started to slow down. He found his moorings. He discovered a window from where he could see all the tracks. What he saw made him laugh – The turning point was right in front of his nose but in the tizzy of fast tracking, he had over shot it!

Having missed the turning, he then took a wrong
turn. To correct his move he attempted a U-turn, but then decided against it, ‘let me have a little fun first!’ He relaxed back in his chair, and followed the fast track till it hit its dead end. What surprised him was that it then recoiled back. It dawned on him that all linear movement was limited and came to a dead end, and then recoiled back, whereas, the movement of original creativity was vertical, and hence, infinite. The trick was to shift gears, and move to the point from where he could watch the linear movement of all the tracks. But that lay in the vertical direction. He tried to enter it but was distracted by thoughts that sucked his attention back to the linear track. After several attempts he realized that unless he silenced his thoughts, they would not allow him to enter the vertical track.

As the meeting drew to a close, he was relieved to find his neck free of knots. Not just that, he did not feel a craving to light a joint. For once, he went home without stopping for the usual drag at his friend.

The next morning he rose early, hungry for more oxygen, and caught up with the trio at Starbucks.

Siddhartha noticed the smile return to his face, “Hey, how did the meeting go?”

“Alright, but I kept thinking about our conversation yesterday.”

“Well grab a chair, and we can continue. Coffee everyone?”

“Thanks.”

“Let’s start from where we broke off. You began telling me about Kundalini or something about its resilience.”

Siddhartha savored his coffee, “That’s right. Just as the fundamental structure of the human body is the same in everyone, similarly the structure of the self is the same in all of us. And within that structure lays a power that has the function of connecting our awareness to the self. All the ancient scriptures of the world point towards this power, the Bible calls it the cool wind of the Holy Ghost, the Hebraic scriptures call it Ruach, and the ancient Indian texts called it the Kundalini.”

“Where does this power rest?”

Rita’s eyes shone, “This power rests in our sacrum bone at the base of the spine. It is essentially simple, spontaneous, and as natural as breathing. But there is more, whenever we put our attention on to something outside ourselves, an object, a place or a person; we can decode his energy block through this awareness.”

“How does this awareness come?”

“It is the power that itself is the complete awareness. It has the complete awareness of everything about us and what we do. The entire history and potential of creation is encoded in it. It has a motherly compassion for us. In fact it is the form of the mother within us. It is the reflection of the Primordial Mother. She loves us with a love much more profound than that which we feel for ourselves. In a sense we are the spirit. For that is the way we are made, but we are not conscious of it. When we become conscious of her, she empowers us with resilience.”

“How does her power of resilience work?”

“Our kundalini’s capacity of resilience is amazing. It opens our mental and emotional knots. I experienced the power of my kundalini’s resilience a month back. I was driving to work when my car skidded on an oil spill on the expressway. There was a truck approaching from the front, and I did not know what to do. I panicked. Suddenly my kundalini shot up; I became thoughtless, and without thinking I swirled my car to the left and just about escaped the truck by inches.”

“Not just that, my shoulder got dislocated, and with the vibrations of my kundalini, it got cured!”

“Vibrations???”

Grace added, “Nothing is static. Every cell in our body emits and absorbs vibrations. The kundalini generates vibrations. Christ described them as the ‘cool wind of the Holy Ghost.’ Adi shakaracharya called them ‘saleelam chaitanya,’ and according to Saint Gyanadeva, ‘the life- wind goes out of the kundalini and creates a cooling sensation in the body internally as also externally.’

“We can feel our vibrations and those of others on our finger tips. Moreover, we can transmit vibrations to others.”

Jay’s eyes widened, “That’s one heck of a computer!”

Siddhartha finished his coffee, “I trust my vibrations because my mind can be prejudiced, while the vibrations are not.”

“Hm…sounds interesting, maybe we could talk a bit more about vibrations,” suggested Jay.

“My apartment is just round the corner. How about joining us for a bite tomorrow?”

“I would love to.” “See you tomorrow.”

Chapter 3

Siddhartha’s flat was on the floor above a shopping arcade. The lift was out of order, but Jay didn’t mind. As he went up the stairwell, he caught a fragrance of wild roses; he sniffed around the flat but did not find any flowers. The flat was painted in a homely pink, and his attention was suddenly caught by a photograph of a serene lady on the wall, “Who is she?”

Siddhartha handed him some juice, “She’s our Holy Mother Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi who awakened our kundalini.”

“I must confess, I’m not religious. In fact, I am an atheist.”

Siddhartha patted him on the shoulder, “You know something, I was also an atheist before the Holy Mother introduced me to Sahaja Yoga. She said, ‘whether you believe in God or not, He is there. Without knowing the self, you cannot talk about God.’ So I started off trying to get to the self, and that’s where Sahaja Yoga came handy. The first step was to get my self-realization.”

Jay was curious, “Self-realization?”

Siddhartha smiled, “Instead of talking about it why not experience it. Just open your hands before the photo of the Holy Mother, and ask for your self-realization.”

Jay followed likewise. Not long after he felt his hands singing. He felt a cool breeze atop his hands, and his skeptic mind instantly turned to see if it was coming from the fan or an open window. Neither. He closed his eyes and followed Siddhartha’s soft voice, ‘put your right hand a few inches above your head and check out if it is cool or hot.’ He felt hot air blowing form his head.

As his breathing slowed down, his mind became still as earth. He felt a flow of oxygen release all the pressure from his head. He heard Siddhartha’s voice distantly, ‘now check again above your head if it is hot or cool.’ He felt cool vibrations blowing atop his head. He opened his eyes feeling feather light, almost floating.

“How do you feel?”

Jay’s eyes shone, “If you hadn’t interrupted, I would have floated! In fact I never felt so oxygenated. Where did it come from?”

Siddhartha’s smiled, “What you call oxygen is nothing but vibrations. They poured from your kundalini. When the kundalini settled atop your head, you felt the connection with your spirit. Before self realization your attention was wired to matter, and its gravity pulled it downwards, but after self realization your attention got wired to your spirit and rose upwards, and you felt light as though floating.”

The doorbell rang. Rita and Grace brought dinner. “I’ve made chicken Biryani for you. Lets dig in before it gets cold.”

Grace said a prayer invoking Shri Annapurna to bless the food, and then served everyone.

Jay licked his fingers, “The Biryani is delicious!!”

Rita quipped, “It’s my Grand Mother’s recipe. She was from Hyderabad and learnt it from the chief chef of the Nizam.”

“The Nizam must have been quite a gourmet!” remarked Jay.

“My grandmother told me that he deep fried puris with live sparrows inside. So when it popped open at the royal table, the sparrow flew out.”

“What became of him?”

“He had gout and died of overeating.”

Grace joined in, “I heard an interesting story of a king who was dying of gout. According to the court physician only vibrated water from the highest Perennial Spring (Shakti Peeth) in the Himalayas could save him. His three sons set off to find it. The eldest son was very arrogant and wanted to wrest the power from his father. He drew plans to outsmart his brothers. The second son was lethargic and self-indulgent. He wanted to wrest the wealth from his father, and devised plans to outdo his brothers. The youngest son was docile and innocent. He desired from his heart to save his father. In his search, he came upon a virgin princess who was the guardian of the Perennial Spring. She promised, if he returned in a year, she would allow him to take it. But the older two brothers endeavored to trick him out of it. As the year drew to a close, each one made came to claim the nectar.

The princess built a road of shining gold to the Shakti Peeth, and gave instructions that only he who rode in the centre of this golden road could claim the vibrated water, while anyone who rode to either side of it was not to be admitted.

Sure enough, the first two brothers rode to the left of it, the second to the right. With wonderful disdain, she turned them back. And for all his being docile there was an innocence about the way the third brother pursued his goal – an innocence which endeared him to the virgin princess and made it fitting that he should eventually succeed. Guided by the cool vibrations of the princess the third brother innocently rode in the centre of the golden road, and claimed the vibrated water.

The golden road stands for our central track where only those innocent like children can enter, the virgin princess was the kundalini, and the Perennial Spring or the Shakti Peeth, the abode of the Primordial Mother also known as the Adi Shakti.”

Rita added, “The arrogant was on the mental track, a channel on our right side or our IQ. The closer we move towards rationality, the further we move away from our axis. The dead end of the mental track is the ego. The ego analyzes, and thinks only of what is expedient.”

“Thus ego is the sum of our identifications with actions. It plans, projects, speculates and dictates. When we become futuristic, we keep thinking of the next best thing, and draw deadlines to achieve it – our tomorrows. In the futuristic movement of our attention we leave the present behind, and thus lose touch with our feelings.

Grace continued, “The second brother rode the emotional track, a channel on our left side. It makes us impulsive and illogical. The sum total of our identification with our background, social context and EQ gives us a superego. Because of conditioning we become lethargic and are drawn towards inertia.

As with the river, our awareness is shallowest at the edges and deepest in mid-stream, similarly our axis has to be deep.

“How can the axis be deep?”

The axis is the intelligence of the kundalini. When we are anchored in it we live most intensely and most profoundly. The intelligence of our kundalini enlightens the central track, which runs in the middle of the spine and is called the Sushumna nadi or the power of Shri Mahalakshmi. It widens the path for our kundalini to ascend to the apex energy centre atop our head and connect to our Spiritual Quotient or SQ.”

Jay scratched his head thoughtfully, “Hmm… so the central track means being in balance.”

Siddhartha nodded, “We are unique in that our brains are bestowed with frontal lobes. The left side lobes are the seat of abstraction, intellect and empower us with qualities like imagination, speculation and conceptual thought. Through this faculty we engage in philosophy, poetry and culture. But then came the catch; this add on tool – the power to use creative imagination also became a tool to conjure abstract fear – the fear of the unknown, suspicion, anxiety, stress, angst and future.”

Rita interjected, “My grandma spent most of her time worrying about the future.”

Siddhartha concluded, “To put it another way, we bring with us our angularities, imbalances, desires, ambitions, illusions, our particular past, our imagined future, our egos and super egos and also blindness of our conditioning. Unless we sensitize these blind spots, we can’t overcome them.”

Jay’s eyes lit up, “Awesome! What you described as the central track was the same as the vertical track I failed to enter because my thoughts distracted my attention. Now I understand that the thing is to become thoughtless, and then I can tread the golden road and claim the vibrated elixir. But how on earth do I circumvent my thoughts?”

Siddhartha explained, “The right side track goes to the future, and the left side track to the past. The right track comes to a dead end in the left side of the brain where it bloats our ego. The left track comes to a dead end in the right side of the brain where it bloats our super ego. Thoughts come from the past or the future, but in the present there are no thoughts. Unless we stand on the axis of the present we inevitably get sucked to the left or the right track.”

Jay nodded, “In other words if I stand on the axis, I can see all the tracks, and balance them?”

“Precisely! Both the ego and super ego try to dominate and dictate, hence are destructive. Therefore, we must get to our axis. The axis is the intelligence of the kundalini. Sahaja Yoga assists us in igniting our kundalini.”

The fragrance of a burnt cake floated in the room. Grace jumped, “Gosh! I had forgotten all about the cake I left in the oven.”

Jay smiled, “I sure miss the burnt crust of my wife’s cakes.”

Grace beamed, “Fortunately it’s just burnt a little at the corners.”

Jay helped himself, “Wow!”

After a delicious dinner, Jay thanked the group for the best evening of his life. He offered, “I’m taking the weekend off to visit my farm and would be delighted if all of you could join me?”

“Thanks. It would be fun to get some ozone back in our system.”

“Great! I’ll pick you up Saturday morning.”

Chapter 4

It was autumn but had the freshness of spring .The group trekked to a river. The early rays of the morning sun kissed the earth, as they crossed a thick forest. The fragrance of pine and fir refreshed their mental track. Siddhartha drew a deep breath, “Wow, I could fill my lungs with all this ozone to last for a month!”

Wild flowers touched by a soft breeze cast their spell on Rita, “The sight of autumn leaves turning into golden brown hues, and the timelessness of nature just silences my mind.”

“I think therefore I am. How the heck can the mind be silent and yet be aware?” asked Jay.

“My mind is silent, but I am conscious.”
“I don’t understand.”
“When our kundalini establishes at the apex centre

atop the head, we experience thoughtless awareness. In the axis of silence we can witness the mind tracks.”

Rita mused, “Not just that, in that silence we can hear the whisper of Gods!”

Jay was stumped, and he missed the crossing to the river. Siddhartha was close at heel, “I am sorry, as usual I over shot the turning. We have to retreat a mile.”

“No issue,” assured Rita.

Jay was in a pensive mood. Siddhartha cheered, “A penny for your thoughts.”

“When I look into your eyes, I am drawn by translucent pools of innocence. You know after my wife left, my life was a mess, and not long after my son got hooked on drugs. Well… one thing led to the other, and he got involved in a physical relationship with his boy friend. Now they plan to marry, and adopt children.”

Siddhartha patted him warmly on the shoulder, “It’s difficult to talk about innocence to people who prefer alternate sex relationships because they feel it is their fundamental right. But they forget that before they claim their rights, they have to respect the rights of other human beings to remain innocent, especially helpless innocent children. Once they become insensitive to innocence, it has a dynamo effect and does not spare the innocence of children.

You must have read in yesterday’s paper about a 16 – year-old who went on a shooting-spree in a pre-school. And such shooting sprees by young kids are becoming more frequent. The true anatomy behind these shooting sprees is complex but one thing that commonly emerged was that these kids grew up in a society that did not discriminate between morality and immorality, and hence the kids identified more with the anti-hero, loathed by the society. For instance, the 16 -year-old who went on a shooting spree in the pre-school had been sexually abused.”

Jay replied, “Well, he wants to bring up his adopted children with all the love and care.”

“Children adopted by gay couples grow up confused about sexuality. It interfaces inside them a grey area. For instance, the 16-year old confessed he had no issues with the school authorities or the children, he did it just for the heck of it.”

“Perhaps you can better understand if I explain the energy centre at the base of the spine that protects our innocence. Our innocence is protected by the primordial consciousness that created us. And precisely because it created us it protects our innocence, for unless it protect what it created, what would be the point of all the effort to create it?

“This pure consciousness seeks to fulfill our desires and aspirations by giving us the power of discrimination to ascend towards our evolution. But we can only use our power of discrimination if we are attuned to our innocence. A child brought up by gay parents grows up amidst mixed signals, and hence has confused moral values. It numbs the purity of consciousness at his base centre. Consequently, it sends confused signals to his brain receptors. His brain in turn cans this information in his database. His intelligence picks up this information and without the ability to discriminate he confuses what is biological normal as abnormal and vice versa. Without the power of discrimination there is nothing to stop him from doing something similar to the 16-year-old who went on a shooting spree just for the heck of it!

“Not just that, alternate relationships seek sanction from the society. As our society throws open its doors to these relationships, even those enjoying normal married life don’t want to miss out on the add-ons. Some are induced by peer pressure, and others indulge in it just for fun! Whatever be the cause of the inducement, it wrecks our energy chakra at the spine base, and blocks our ascent. Moreover, the innocent quotient, which is intrinsic to the collective’s base chakra, also gets blocked, and then nothing can stop the deterioration of such a society.

“Fortunately, with the discovery of Sahaja Yoga it is possible to revive our innocent quotient, because innocence is intrinsic to the whole creation and what is innate cannot be destroyed. It may be obscured for a while, but after self-realization the clouds are lifted. When our kundalini rises, we go into thoughtless awareness. Then our innocence rises in a beautiful way and guides us to what is to be done and what is not to be done. It is this intuitive wisdom that gives us the discrimination to discard what has to be discarded, and evolve what can be evolved. It enables us to enjoy the physical relationships in the sanctity of marriage. Sanctity of our physical, mental and emotional integration brings fulfillment to the couple and to the children born of wedlock.”

Innocence gives us the resilience to overcome the adversities in life as it has a potency that protects our character. An innocent person is a wise person because he sees things as they are, without being blocked by ego or conditioning. He expresses the unconscious freely.

At the collective level it manifests as his emotional intelligence is the expression of children’s play. Their play is so joyful, and our most joyful moments are with them. For them life is a play. Children find anything and make a play out of it. Christ said you have to become like children to enter the kingdom of God. That is to be childlike not childish. This quality is symbolized as Shri Ganesha, the little boy with an elephant head.”

“Why the elephant head?”

“Because of his wisdom and the fact that he doesn’t develop an ego.”

“Why a little boy?”

“Because he represents the principle of innocence, and when you worship a principle outside, you imbibe its principle inside of us.”

As they reached the river, they spotted Rita and Grace playing with water in a child-like glee. Jay understood what he meant.

Chapter 5

The girls waved out to them, “Where were you lost? We were waiting to d o a foot soak.”

Jay asked, “What’s a foot soak?”

Siddhartha explained, “As we go up the spine from the base centre or the first chakra, we enter the second chakra called the Swadishthana chakra. At the physical level, this chakra looks after the function of the liver, kidneys, spleen, intestines and pancreas. It breaks down fat particles in the abdomen to replace the grey and white cells in the brain, thus regenerating the faculty of thinking, planning, creativity and aesthetics. The liver is a vital organ and the seat of our attention. It generates the energy needed for brain activity. When it is overworked
by too much brain activity it can’t perform other
functions efficiently such as removing toxins from the body. Thus too much right side or over activity within the body whether physically or mentally cause stress. For me the easiest way to cool down my liver is to foot-soak in salt water.”

“You mean to say that it can de-stress the liver?” “Precisely!”
Jay smiled, “My computer-centric liver is like an

aggressive steam engine bellowing steam! It would need several foot-soaks to put off its fire, not to mention the pent up anger, irritability, the damage done by alcohol and drugs!”

Siddhartha said, “Let’s not worry about the past, and enjoy the present. Let’s sit on this flat rock, and put our feet in the water.”

A cool breeze kissed Jay’s hands. There were no thoughts; just the murmuring of the river telling the story of her long journey. He had never felt so connected with nature before. It dawned upon him that the computer his brain had been put on a silent mode by his kundalini. Not long after, he felt waves of heat evaporate from under his feet, “The water felt pretty cold when I stepped into the water, but now I feel like a volcano with so much heat escaping from my feet.”

Siddhartha assured, “When all the pent up heat is gone, you will feel the coolness again.”

The direction of the wind changed and he overheard the conversation between Grace and Rita. Grace was saying, “I am an artist and before Sahaja Yoga my subconscious surfaced my abstract works. It lacked the vitalizing force of the spirit. I was like a sick tree that had life but did not bear flowers. After I got my self- realization the tree got rooted to Mother Earth, and its sap rose to produce the most beautiful flowers. The sap was my kundalini, and she inspired me with the love of the all-pervading power. It also inspired those who saw the beautiful flowers on the tree of life.”

Rita remarked, “I discovered the source of infinite creativity when I treaded the central track. It wired me to its source from where poets, writers, musicians, and artists articulated the joy of the spirit, and shared it with us. It is the blessing of the Goddess of learning, Shri Saraswati. If we tread the right-side track, we invent from the ego. Conversely, from the left-side track we invent from the sub-conscious, that surfaces in fad art.”

Grace nodded, “And you need a fad artist to interpret the work of another fad artist!”

Rita chuckled, “And they join hands to pro duce a fraternity of fads!”

Siddhartha interrupted, “Whether others choose to be fads or freaks, you have to look up to yourself, and be responsible for your ascent. Unless you assume your position you cannot become your own master.”

Jay pondered, “That’s what I keep telling those stupid geeks in the Board Room- you have to be accountable for your mess – but that’s just what they want to hide from and look for escape routes.”

Siddhartha continued, “We can face others but not our self.”

Jay thought, “Heck, I can point fingers at my colleagues but can’t face myself. But now my kundalini has empowered me to face myself. And I’ve made the choice consciously to become my own master!”

Chapter 6

A chill wind blew. Siddhartha lit a fire in the living room, and Rita felt the warmth of the Holy Mother’s love in its glow. Jay sat beside her on the rug and leafed the sports column. He jumped up with excitement, “Guess what! I won a bet in the Grand Prix!”

“I didn’t know you were a Grand prix fan!”

“Heck, I am crazy about speed! I dream to participate in the next Grand prix!”

Siddhartha stoked the flames, “The ego loves speed. It wants to move faster and be ahead of others. No wonder new age music is becoming so aggressive.”

“Its beat makes me want to leap. I love it!” said Jay.

Siddhartha continued, “I remember the time I was like a speedy Gonzales. I became so speedy that even before my guests could finish their meals I would start clearing the table. The speed got to my stomach, and I suffered indigestion. Later I heard the Holy Mother reveal that emergency signals received by the spleen make it hectic.

35

The spleen is the speedometer of the body, and constant panic thrown its rhythm out of balance. She calmed my spleen with vibrations. I am still working on slowing down my hectic life style, and realize domestic peace is an essential element in it.”

Rita served piping hot mushroom soup, “I’m sure some hot soup would soothe you stomach.”

Siddhartha chuckled, “The hunger of the stomach can be satisfied by food but not the hunger of the mind. Its desires are like a child, having obtained the desired toy it becomes bored and wants the next one.”

Jay agreed, “Yeah, the new is new only for a day.”

“Not hankering after material things does not imply we should become sluggish or complacent or lack motivation,” reflected Siddhartha.

Rita interjected, “In fact I am a very motivated person, but in pursuing my aspirations, I have learnt to keep my balance. The problem lies when we lose our balance, and get slowed down by our primitive baggage of possessiveness, attachment, greed, miserliness and hoarding. But, after self-realization, the kundalini balances us and we let go the primitive stuff.”

Grace joined in, “From childhood I prayed to Goddess Lakshmi to fulfill my desires and bless me with prosperity. Our neighbors used to worship her for begetting wealth. But after self-realization I realized that her blessings of prosperity does not mean money but auspiciousness.”

Jay appeared puzzled, “Auspiciousness?”

“The Gita says that you should abide by your dharma, do your allotted duty without seeking its reward. I followed its advice and learnt that satisfaction comes not from the reward but in knowing that I made the right effort according to my dharma. And that’s auspiciousness – in abiding with one’s dharma.”

Siddhartha nodded, “The culture of the spirit blesses auspiciousness.”

“The culture of the spirit?”

“The kundalini stages her own culture, in which she bestows auspiciousness, and therefore nothing is old and boring. Each day begins anew, and each moment she nurtures the stomach chakra with the blessings of Goddess Lakshmi. When others are troubled and agitated an auspicious personality can sooth and comfort them.”

Jay mused, “Heck, morning to night I multi track desires. I guess it makes my liver tick, but it’s so exciting, and there is no way I am going to become an ascetic!”

Siddhartha smiled, “The image of a seeker as ascetic runs deep in religious cultures. But the one who desires worldly pleasures and the one who desires to renounce are on the same footing, for they both nurture desire. After practicing Sahaja Yoga, I didn’t have to give up anything, only I connected with the source of unconditional love.”

Chapter 7

After dinner the group relaxed on the deck sipping coffee and watching the skyline alive with stars.

Jay reminisced, “You know something, as a child I was fascinated by the sky painted with stars, and wondered what they were. My aunt used to tell me that they were people who had left this earth. I searched for the brightest star and guessed it must be my mom who left when I was only five. We cannot fathom the unknown but surely can make what we want of it.

Rita responded, “And because we can make what we want of the unknown, we should beware of the y arns spun by God-men about the unknown.”

Siddhartha nodded, “You are right. Charlatans masquerading as God-men spin too many yarns. They understand that the greatest human weakness is the ego, and find ways to pamper it, and that is how they lynch us. The guru business has flourished into a major industry.

They use the most sophisticated marketing skills from pampering the ego to exploiting guilt to sell their product.”

Rita added, “They use psychic powers such as materialization of things, clairvoyance, rhetoric, healing, switching off the mind, astral travel. In reality those who seek psychic powers want the secret of this power rather than the truth. Such seekers may be misguided or opportunists, their intent could be self-indulgence, curiosity, selfishness, ambition or simply greed.”

Grace interjected, “We are trained from childhood to think a certain way and believe that our religion is the best. When I was sixteen, my parents took me to the Kumbh Mela. It is the greatest show on earth. This massive gathering takes place every 12 years, and is known to attract anywhere from 30 to 70 million Hindu pilgrims. On this day, masses of humanity wash away their sins in the holy waters of Prayag, – Ash-smeared devotees, wandering holy men with dreadlocked hair, saffron-robed pundits, tourists, gypsies and pilgrims from near and far, all gather at the banks of the converging rivers Ganga and Yamuna to purify themselves. The thousands of tents pitched across this large stretch of land are swarmed with tea stall owners, vendors, God-men and shelter-seekers.

After the dip, people head home satisfied at their purification- a kind of atonement that requires no introspection, no meditation nor rationality but a simple dip in the holy waters to cleanse the mind. I was sad, yes, the dip had cleansed my body but did not remove the filth residing in my mind. It was no different from the pill people took to relieve their worries; others attend gatherings in temples and churches or roam the earth in hopes of self-enlightenment. If Divinity is to be reached through outward rituals whether it be shaving the

head, wearing a particular garment, bathing in holy water or roaming in the forest, wouldn’t the fish and animals have found God long ago?

It may serve us better to forgo the quest for God in the forests and houses of worship if Divinity lies in the truthfulness and goodness of the heart. And even if enlightenment is promising in any place of worship be it a temple, mosque, church or place of meditation, what would it avail if one lacks the desire to ascend and improve? What is it that brings us to these places? It is the temptation of popularity, excitement of socializing, meeting a life-partner, showing-off a talent, fulfilling a ritual or is it the pull of the heart, the search for truth and meaning to one’s existence? At the end, it is the honesty of our quest and how true we remain to ourselves that may be the measure of our worth in the Divine realm.

It set me introspecting on how I may be conditioned to believe that I belong to a religion just because I was raised that way. To de-brand myself I asked myself if I was a Hindu, Christian, Muslim, or Jew? This morphed into a deeper query, who am I? One day as I was driving home, it dawned on me that I am who I am because of who we all are.

This led to the next question who are “we”? Are we the body, mind, conditioning or the ego? The body is nothing but mass, and the mind, conditioning and ego are the product of our identification with it. Albert Einstein suggested that mass and energy are convertible. His principle of conservation of energy says that energy is indestructible. I found its parallel in the Gita, ‘the spirit is indestructible, unaffected by matter or any form of matter – it cannot be burnt by fire, not wet by water nor blown by the wind’. If we are all the spirit , then we are unaffected by matter that is the mind, conditioning or ego. An increased awareness of my spirit led me to a new consciousness of the cosmic spirit, or the Feminine Principle, which Tao named as the Mother of all things. I understood that consciousness is always singular, and the plurality of consciousness is maya, and that put the duality in my mind to rest. So really there should be no question of fighting about religion and so on.”

Rita recounted, “When I went guru-hunting, I asked myself; what attracts me to the guru? Was it his charisma, sex appeal, eloquence or a mass following? Does he represent a parent figure or a spouse substitute? Is my desire to belong to a group a cover for my insecurity? Is it escapism or a fad?’ What has been achieved by those who are practicing? Are they peaceful, responsible, self sufficient, loving, and compassionate or do they have an eye on my pocket or numbers.”

After I got self realization, the true Dharma awak ened in my void, and I didn’t have to bother about do’s and don’ts.”

“Void???”

“Surrounding the second and third centre is a void which is an area of outside influence. It represents the illusion, which eclipses our awareness from the reality.

The light of the kundalini dispels the darkness of illusion and helps us to cross the sea of illusion into the awareness of reality. Thus the void is the embodiment of our guru principle. When it is awakened, we become our own guru.”

“You mean you don’t need a guru?”
“After self-realization your vibrations guide you. You

can check out everything with vibrations. If the vibrations are cool then go for it, else let go.”

Jay heaved a sigh of relief, “Heck, we sure need to do away with all these quarrelsome fundamentalists and terrorists.”

Siddhartha continued, “When I met Shri Mataji I was appalled by the state of all the religions. She explained, ‘In the beginning all the religions came to bring people up to a point of balance. Then some people took charge of it and tried to enforce morality. But they failed because by forcing they could not bring morality. Religions became superficial; they merely talked about God but had no connection with Him. Without the connection, people began following the labels of religion and left its spirit behind. They did not know how to come out of their fixed ideas and started fighting in the name of God. Thus religions derailed and became power oriented. They formed a kind of puddles… so you really needed this river of life to fill up all these puddles and make them one.’”

Rita added, “In the light of the kunalini you get rid of all extreme ideas of blind faith, customs and miss- identifications created by religion. But you follow one universal religion which encompasses all the principles of the great religions of the world founded by the great masters; Lao Tse, Dattatreya, Raja Janak, Sai Nath of Shirdi (Late 19th century) Socrates, Moses, Confucius, Zoroaster, Prophet Mohammed, Guru Nanak. They laid the stepping stones for human evolution.”

Siddhartha prompted, “Not just that! They successfully deciphered the dharma etched in our genetic code and thus enabled us to bond with the love of the Primordial Mother.”

Grace nodded, “Fortunately, now it is possible to decipher with the vibrations of our kundalini, and we don’t need any guru or priesthood. Shri Mataji revealed the technique of decoding the vibrations of the energy centres based in the human genome through Sahaja yoga. Thus we can become aware of the absolute truth on our central nervous system. It is not a system of beliefs but

45

rather the joyful experience of the all pervading power of divine love.”

Siddhartha smiled, “If we deceive ourselves, then we cannot become our own master. To become our own master we have to cleanse our void like a mirror and clear out the 6 enemies (lust, anger, greed, attachment, jealousy, alcohol/drugs) Then your spirit shines like gold. Gold has the quality that it does not get tarnished. Similarly, such a person is always peaceful, no matter what. No one can chain, control or hurt such a person.”

Jay was tired, “It has been a long day, and I need a good nights rest to take in what I’ve learnt. Good night everyone!”

“Sweet dreams!”

Chapter 8

Jay had planned a sightseeing tour for his guest, and drove them to the ancient sites of the valley. It was early, and they decided to stop at an excavation site on the way.

The guide explained, “The men who dug into the earth here had heard about the legend of the buried treasure. For ages, treasure seekers had been misguided, returning home with hollow expressions. A few who found the place were unable to dig through the mysterious layers of earth that enveloped the chest of treasure.

But this group of men was well equipped. On their search, they had met a master who told them the secrets of uncovering the layers. They also learnt about the nature of the buried treasure, which was unlike anything the earth had ever seen. Even a glimpse could give man the key to eternal joy.

The men worked at the hard layers for days. They had learnt that it would respond to their inner state of being. So they used cool water to wash away the heat of their anger and aggression. As their aggression subsided, the layers of earth began to soften too, and they found it easier to dig. Not long after, their shovels hit a layer of ice. They knew the warmth of fire would melt the hardness away, so they lit a large bonfire. Soon it began to warm their cold hearts and brought forth a love so pure that it nourished their exhausted bodies. The ice melted. Soft golden rays danced into the dark atmosphere. The men had finally reached the treasure, but the golden light came from some other source. They glanced about and noticed that each of their hearts contained a golden chest, which was now open and emitted beautiful waves of joy.”

They realized that the hidden treasure had been with them all along in their hearts. Beneath the hardness of their impenetrable mind one side and frozen emotions on the other, the chest had lain buried. The master had equipped them with elements like water and fire to balance their inner self and meditative silence to reach their spirits. They now knew neither happiness nor unhappiness, only eternal joy.”

Siddhrata smiled, “Happiness and unhappiness are the two sides of the ego, but joy is absolute. It is a gift of our Spirit. The Spirit is the font of love, and her bonding in family relationship like marriage strengthens the collective heart chakra. Whereas, transitory and broken relationships fracture breed insecurity and thereby weaken the collective heart chakra. A fragile society is unable to wither a storm. What we see in others is only a projection of our self, but when we connect with the spirit we relate to the Spirit who we all are.”

The guide interjected, “You are right. Our society’s insecurity problem arises not from lack of money but from an emotional vacuum. You would be surprised to know that recent crime statistics reveal that love and sex claimed more lives than terror.”

Siddhartha continued, “That’s why it is important to respect the norms that nurture the foundation of our society. Hence, at the fourth step of human evolution, Lord Rama appeared to exhibit these norms. For instance, he set an example of behavior between husband and wife, parents and children, the individual and the society. By his ideal example of sacrifice he established the gracious boundaries for protecting the protocol of the heart.”

Grace added, “The protocol of the heart is what builds our self confidence. In childhood my parent’s love engendered self confidence in me. It built my defense mechanism and protected me from outside negativity. I find this quality missing in my friends who come from broken homes; there is so much fear in their hearts. Fear has weakened their natural immunities, and they are constantly catching allergies and viruses. Moreover, they have deep-seated complexes. The psychologist attributes their complexes to insecurity, but I believe insecurity comes from not respecting the protocol of the heart.”

Rita responded, “I believe that we attract to our self what we give out. If we are blocked at the heart centre, then we attract the corresponding mate, and thus perpetuate the problem. Hence, it is important to establish the protocol of the heart for fulfilling lasting relationships.”

Jay reflected, “My computer centric right-side track inadvertently flouted the protocols of the heart. My head ruled my heart and mistook the cognition of my senses for reality. Success went into my head and I thought money and power could buy anything. I got conditioned and my attention lost its mobility to catch the joyous waves of the heart. To feed my emotional side, I took drugs but that swung my attention to the other extreme. This pendulum like movement created a dual personality.”

Siddhartha explained, “Our kundalini sucks our attention back to the central channel. At the mental level it is difficult to conceive the existence of the Supreme Spirit or to yield to it because the idea of the Supreme Spirit or God is beyond the concept of our limited intellect. The linear movement of the intellect can only comprehend rational concepts. But concept is not reality. For instance we have become slaves of our watches, but time is the creation of the mind. What is important to us in the morning becomes irrelevant by the evening. If you ask a bird what is the time, she would have no answer. Time has no meaning unless there is a conscious observer. Similarly, the outer world becomes a reality for us only when it comes in contact with our senses. But the inner consciousness of the kundalini is innate. Though a logical person may shut the doors of the heart but the kundalini knows how to open them, and permeate the bliss of Lord Shiva.”

Jay nodded, “Now I can see clearly why the protocol of the heart must be given precedence in management control, production lines and systems. If the heart of the management opens it will have concern for the work force, and be mindful of its benevolence. The heart speaks to the heart, and the work force will put in its very best. This will turn the organization around and generate creativity, ascent and harmony.”

Rita added, “Not just that, it will stir the course of the total socio-economic system in a balanced way towards collective fulfillment. A fatherly attitude of an entrepreneur not only promotes industrial relations and production growth but also nurtures the right-side of the heart chakra anchored by the advent of Shri Rama.”

Grace said, “To penetrate the joy of our Spirit in every aspect of our life is the purpose of Sahaja Yoga. Satya Yuga will dawn as our spirit penetrates our daily life, art, culture, music, economy, agriculture and politics. The universe was not created to aggress or escape but to celebrate, adorn and enjoy our Spirit. The human being itself is the master piece of the Divine Artist. Let us compliment the Divine Artist by spreading her love.”

Siddhartha concluded, “At the physical level, the heart is the pump of the body, hence, any mental or physical excess strains it. The heat created by over-activity shifts from the right-side to the left-side of the heart causing heart attack. By treating our body like a gadget, we become like a gadget. Such a person may perform great bodily feats, but he becomes dry and joyless.”

Chapter 9

Jay woke up in the morning a worried man, “I feel a lump in my throat.”

Siddhartha felt a burning in his left thumb finger indicating a guilt block, “It is a block caused by guilt. After our discussion yesterday you felt guilty because you flouted the protocols of the heart. Your reactions to things that are past and dead are meaningless. After self- realization the opening of this chakra allows you to witness your blind spot and sensitize it. It gives you a window of the larger picture, and you realize that you are a part and parcel of the whole. Your consciousness expands to collective consciousness and you feel your chakras and also the chakras of others on your finger tips. This is an actualization on your central nervous system.”

Jay responded, “As my inventions revolutionized the Cyber industry, I identified with my achievement, became arrogant, and developed a superiority complex. But now I feel the superiority complex is replaced by its polarity – guilt. Heck, I’m almost bent by it!”

Siddhartha smiled, “It’s just a game. The one who feels superior is the ego, and the one who feels guilty is also the ego! Because of this paradox the innate sensitivity to feel vibrations of our spirit, which discerns between falsehood and truth is weakened. The accumulated guilt vents in cynicism.”

Jay said, “When I played games with others, I also thought they were playing games with me and led me to suspect everyone.”

Siddhartha responded, “How can you love others if you suspect them? Instead of feeling others through your heart, you began judging with your mind. The mind competes, and jealousy is its byproduct, and no wonder people are even jealous of their best friends.”

Jay added, “I was jealous of other people’s wealth, status and even clothes!”

Rita placed her hand on the center at the corner of her neck and shoulder and explained, “Lord Krishna as the archetype of the cosmic force presides over this centre playing the flute. The sweet music of his flute softens the lumps of guilt that block this centre. Our kundalini heeds the music and unties the guilt knots at this chakra. Every time the finger next to the left thumb burns, you repeat ‘I am not guilty’. This fifth chakra evolved to express the love of the spirit. The spirit is eternal and pure, and when we realize we are the spirit, we cannot be guilty. Your conscious mind registers this truth, and as you get rid of the guilt, the burning sensation will subside, and you will feel cool vibrations on the left hand.”

Siddhartha warned, “Moreover, your guilt can be exploited by others to dominate you. The easiest way to control others is to make them feel guilty.”

“You mean like the church fathers substituted used confession as a tool to dominate,” mused Grace.

“What about parental domination?” enquired Jay.

Grace responded, “The love of my mother was such that I abided her askance spontaneously. In that sweet learning process I never felt hurt. My childhood may be over, but the play continues, and I listen to the sweet loving melodies of Lord Krishna and overcome the adversities of life with his art of diplomacy.”

Rita served breakfast, “Better load your toast with butter. Lord Krishna loved butter! The fifth chakra has to filter all the pollution, and a well lubricated throat is like Teflon that does not allow the viruses to stick.”

Jay confessed, “The more I connect to the net, the less I feel the connect with others. I find it difficult to talk to my neighbors as though they come from another planet.”

Grace commented, ““Love flows as we talk to each other. Once we shed off guilt, our communication channels open and the heart starts flowing.”

Chapter 10

Jay invited the group to the annual soccer match at his old school. “Back in school, soccer was my favorite sport, but all too often someone would get hurt on his
knee or shin. Once someone kicked me on the shin, blood rushed to my head, I was angry, and retaliated.”

Siddhartha watched the game and saw a similar situation; a player kicked another on the sheen. Surprisingly, that didn’t stop the game. In fact, the “victim” kept playing, forgot the hurt, focused on the game and played his best and scored a winner goal.

He reflected, “In the game called life, sometimes we face people who hurt us intentionally or not.
When our focus stays on the hurt or on them, we can’t forgive, and all our thoughts are obsessed with how to get them back. We lose focus of the present and dwell in the past which doesn’t exist. In soccer, when a player does not pay attention to his game, he loses, and it brings the whole team down. Even if the attention drifts for a minute, the opponent takes control of the ball, and the game can be lost. Similarly, when someone takes control of your thoughts, it blocks the sixth chakra in the forehead, and you lose the enjoyment of being in the present moment. Perhaps, it’s better to forgive and move on to the seventh chakra. When our kundalini rises to the seventh chakra, we connect to collective consciousness, which is the source of eternal joy.”

Jay said, “Heck, I have a hard time forgiving!”

Siddhartha continued, “I too had a hard time
forgiving. But after my kundalini began knocking the door of my sixth chakra, my right ring finger kept buzzing, and I became aware of my ego. I watched the funny games my ego played since childhood. My parents praised my commonplace acts and utterances beyond reason. Their excessive adulation swelled my ego. Later in life when I became somebody the same adulation swelled my ego. Others may pop or prick the ego; the key thing is not to play into its hands.”

Rita pointed, “Non-forgiveness also fans the ego. It is your ego that does not allow you to forgive. Moreover, when we don’t forgive we harbor negativity in our mind, and that manifests as hate. To hate anyone is a sin.”

Siddhartha suggested, “The only way to connect with the hearts of people is to transcend the ego. The chief beneficiary of forgiveness is the one who forgives.”

Grace added, “I’ve learnt the lesson of forgiveness from our Lord Jesus Christ. Those who do not heed his message cannot enter the kingdom of God Grace pointed to her forehead, “The sixth chakra” gets blocked by
the myth that we have to atone for the sins of our previous lives. Christ’s advent was a major breakthrough in our evolution because he absolved us of our sins. Since he forgave us there is no need to go back to the past and feel guilty. He suffered for us, and hence we don’t have to suffer again.”

Rita narrated, “Perhaps you may have heard what the mighty Banyan said to the Reed, ‘you are spineless. Look at me; not only am I tall and stand erect, I also give shade to the weary.’

In the rainy season came a flash flood that uprooted the banyan tree. The reed survived as it simply bent with the current and when the current receded it became erect again.”

Siddhartha smiled, “Like the bent soccer player who became erect again!”

Chapter 11

In the afternoon they drove to an ancient Kali temple where the faithful were chanting mantras. Siddhartha commented, “Sahaja Yoga does not depend on chanting of mantras, intellect or any outward skills- it works through the subtle force of the kundalini that responds to every action. When the kundalini rises to the seventh chakra or the thousand Petals Lotus, it opens the fifth dimension. It is not a supposition or a hypothesis, but an actualization.”

Jay nodded, “As my inner tensions released, I actually felt the heat escape from atop my head, and gradually a cool gentle breeze like the flow of vibrations settled atop. It was so joyous like sitting in the heart of the universe.”

Siddhartha continued, “Yes, when your attention becomes pure you can sit in the heart of the universe, and feel love for everyone. The power of your kundalini’s love is so subtle that it can feel everybody’s kundalini. You start feeling its nature, its position in others because at a deeply fundamental level the separate parts of the universe are connected in an infinite and immediate ways. If the universe is interconnected then every human brain work reflects other brain works, and establishes there is only one cosmic brain or cosmic intelligence or Collective consciousness.”

Jay offered, “Like Consciousness is the software behind the hardware of the entire brain complex?”

“Precisely! The human brain is the computer, and collective consciousness is the operator. All our thoughts and expressions are located outside the brain complex in a collective conscious field. Hence, without going through the brain it is possible to be aware of them through the receptors inbuilt in our chakras, and thereby also neutralize their negative influence. All our hopes, fears, philosophies, arts, literature are nothing but reflections passed on by these receptors to our conscious mind.”

Rita pointed, “Before kundalini awakening the energy in this chakra is limited. However, after the union with collective consciousness the energy becomes unlimited. For instance, water in a tank can stagnate and be finished, whereas spring water, which is connected with an infinite source remains ever fresh and never finishes. Of course, the infinite source is none other than the Feminine Principle, the Mother of all things, or more precisely the Adi Shakti as described in the Hindu scriptures.”

“And collective consciousness is none other than the compassion of the Primordial Mother, The Adi Shakti. Meditation is simply an endeavor to plug into the mains, and enjoy her love. How else can it be? Meditation cannot be just a joyless trance but has to be a living experience of joy. Collective consciousness is beyond any notion of existence or its negation, speculation or visualization because it has no form, no ego. It is without causality or activity. We cannot think about it, it has to be an actualization on our central nervous system.”

Siddhartha continued, “Collective consciousness transcends the realm of objective knowledge and one’s own identity. As soon as the ego is transcended, we enjoy the reality, devoid of mind projections. From its prism everything appears as a play, and thus one continues to play one’s allotted role in life without being identified with ego. Through the unchanging awareness of reality the illusory nature of ego identification becomes clear and frees us; hence, we cease to be the doer. As Maya no longer holds her sway we accomplish everything without doing anything. Thereafter, it becomes possible to maintain our cool amidst all the mounting stress and pressure. This liberation is none other than, the ‘shunya’ or inner silence of Buddha, the ‘nirvana’ of Mahavira, ‘Moksha’ of Vedanta, or the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ of Christ.”

Jay nodded, “Having experienced the joy of my kundalini atop my head, my meditation sustained spontaneously. It’s so effortless – in fact organic!”

Grace added, “Not just that, but Sahaja Yoga is absolutely free. How can you take money in the name of God?”

Jay stated, “Now I understand that the various brands of meditation in the super market are nothing but money- making gimmicks. They cannot transform one person, so how can they transform the world?”

Siddhartha observed, “Lord Krishna said that welfare follows after the union with collective consciousness- ‘Yoga Kshema’. He implied that Divine Grace follows collective consciousness. Divine grace solves our physical, mental, emotional and material problems. That is not to say that our senses become numb, but that we become instrument of our spirit instead of ourego. The spirit enjoys herself. She does not seek satisfaction from outside as she is herself the source of contentment. She does not remain confined to one’s conditioning but enjoys variety, exuberance and mirth. We become an intuitive and a creative personality. Intuitive wisdom provides remarkable solutions to the most complex problems.”

Grace nodded, “You’re right. It enables one to respond to the most trying situations in an amazing way. In fact the most creative moment of one’s life could juxtapose with the most trying situation. Mahatma Gandhi recounted that his most creative experience of his life was

at the night of 19th March 1919, when he was devastated by the news of a Bill which ruthlessly put down all forms of patriotic activities in India as sedition.

‘That night I fell asleep while thinking over the question. Towards the wee hours of the morning, I woke up somewhat earlier than usual. I was still in that twilight condition between sleep and consciousness when suddenly the idea broke upon me – it was as if in a dream…that we should call upon the country to observe a general strike on that day…let all people of India suspend their business on that day and observe the day as one of fasting and prayer.’

The historic strike took place on April 6th. ‘The whole of India from one end to the other, towns as well as villages, observed a complete strike on that day. It was a most wonderful spectacle.’

The total success of the strike took the British authorities completely by surprise. It ushered the era of Gandhian leadership based on non-violence and non- co-operation was born, marking the emergence of a new technique in mankind’s struggle to achieve independence. Martin

Luther King Jr. also drew inspiration from Gandhi’s intuitive wisdom that would bring an end to an era of deep problems.”

Jay mused, “To the weak, problems are stumbling blocks. To the brave, they are stepping stones.”

Siddhartha patted him, “The most important product of knowledge is ignorance. The more you know, you realize the more you do not know. Wisdom is when you realize your mistakes and correct them!”

Epilogue

In 1970 Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi envisaged a method of en masse kundalini awakening which expanded human consciousness into the realm of collective consciousness. However, she observed that to enable global transformation a caucus of seven thousand realized souls was necessary.

In 1981 British biochemist Rupert Sheldrake confirmed that the form, development and behavior of living organisms are organized by invisible morphogenetic fields that function across time and space- that, as a group of animals learn and behave a certain way, other groups in other parts of the world might develop the same skills . Thus, as the kundalini of large groups of people all over the world is ignited, the morphogenetic resonance of their vibrational field would transform the consciousness of people across the world. Today, as millions practice
Sahaja Yoga, their peaceful vibrations have created the vibrational field for igniting the peaceful transformation of world madness into world harmony. Not just that, their collective kundalini is exposing the problem created by fundamentalism, fascism, racialism, terrorism and immorality, and thus working it out.

Albert Einstein believed, “Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifested in the laws of the universe – a spirit vastly superior to man.” That is to say that the human energy fields or chakras are no different from nature’s energy fields. Hence, as human energy fields come in balance, nature’s energy fields too would come in balance, and thereby solve all ecological issues.

The Berlin wall fell not by war or politics, but by the power of love. The power of loveemanates from our spirit, and it has the potency to permeate every cell of
the human body. The vibrations of our spirit works from the inner core to the outer shell. As the power of our Spirit starts the pr ocess of self- renewal within us, it also processes renewal at the collective level- our family, society, country, and thence the world. As we are, the world will be. It follows, if we want world peace, then there has to be peace within us. There are no short cuts. We can only be at peace with ourselves when we are at peace with the spirit. Thus, first and foremost we have to connect with our spirit, and this is precisely what Sahaja Yoga is about. It is an inside job. Once our kundalini connects our awareness to collective consciousness, the collective kundalini that is the Adi Shakti works out the rest.

Sahaja Yoga has brought science very close to reality, as it penetrates the fields of economy, politics, education, health, agriculture, ecology, science and technology, and realizes every scientist’s dream of a total unification of all energies through the grand unification theory.

Glossary

Kundalini: Sacred feminine energy residing in the sacrum bone, usually in a dormant state.

Self-Realization: The process of awakening of the kundalini. Shakti: Energy or power.
Adi: Primordial (Adi Shakti is the primordial energy).
Chakra: Literally means ‘wheel,’ but Chakra denotes an energy

center within the human subtle system. There are seven chakras- Mooladhara (above sacrum bone), Swadishthana (lower abdomen), Nabhi (navel area), Heart, Vishuddhi (throat area), Agnya (forehead) and Sahasrara (top of head/fontanel).

Vibrations: A subtle cool breeze felt after kundalini awakening- felt on hands and over the head especially. Sometimes may be felt as heat incase of imbalances.

Three Channels or Tracks: Within the subtle system- the right-side (future/action), left-side (past/desire) and center (present/evolution).