1. The Spirit And The Psyche

When we are dealing with spiritual or religious subjects, it is difficult to avoid being dogmatic or subjective in some way. This should not be interpreted as a pejorative statement; it is a simple fact that the meaning of the words we use and the very logic of language come from human experience on the plane of the senses, which is by definition different from the other, spiritual plane which we are trying to describe or comment on. Thus, any affirmations which we make when we are referring to concepts of the sensory plane can, in most cases, be tested; but as we move away from the sensory plane towards subtler realms of the mind (ethics or moral, for example), it becomes more and more difficult to test the truth of the assertions or judgements that are made. This difficulty becomes most extreme when the subject is ‘the spiritual realm’, something which points vaguely in a certain direction and does not even cover a concrete area.

As Jung commented:

‘Man is incapable of defining a ‘divine’ being. When, with all our intellectual limitations, we call something ‘divine’, we have simply given it a name which may be based on a creed, but never on real proof.’

Even the so-called ‘transpersonal’ psychologists like Maslow, Grof and Wilber among many others, who have translated ‘religious’ concepts into a language more in accord with contemporary rationalism (they refer to ‘expansion of the consciousness’, ‘metaprogramming’, etc.) cannot avoid introducing a strong doctrinal flavour into their descriptions of those heightened states of transpersonal consciousness, or establishing explicit causal connections between those states and the ‘ordinary’ ones in which most mortals find themselves.

Perhaps for this reason Jung’s stance on this problem of dealing with religious or spiritual matters continues to be the most honestly objective, possibly because it is the most humble. The basis of his approach is to be found in his theory on ‘the reality of the psyche’. The psyche does in fact exist: it is existence itself. It is an almost ridiculous prejudice to assume that existence can only be of the body. In fact the only form of existence which we have immediate knowledge of is animic.

Even when our senses react to real, visual or aural phenomena, they are in some way transported from the “realm of reality” to that of the mind. Within the mind, they become psychic events whose ultimate nature cannot be known (because the psyche cannot know its own psychic substance). Every experience therefore contains an unlimited number of unknown factors, not to mention the fact that every concrete object is always unknown in some aspects, because we cannot know the ultimate nature of matter itself. 4

In the above quotation the expression ‘the realm of reality’ should be placed within inverted commas, even from a Jungian perspective, as it seems to refer to an ‘out there’ which we can only know about as far as the psyche reflects its stimuli.

Thus the psyche appears as ‘the objective whole’, the only thing which can be known directly. Even our own physical body is just one more stimulus in the wide field of the psyche. We are conscious of our body when it appears in the psyche and the consciousness can ‘contemplate’ it (‘witness’ it). It is not a matter of denying the existence of a physical, material world, which might be ‘out there’, or of denying the existence of a spiritual world which might be ‘up there’. As Jung says: “The problem of whether a certain idea is true or false in its epistemological sense, that is, in the sense of its closeness to an object or reality outside itself, is not a matter for psychology. It is only concerned with the fact of its existence, and insofar as it exists it is psychologically true”.

Thus, the idea of God or of ‘the Divine’ is a psychological truth. Any God we imagine will be contained in the matter of our psychic energy and will have the quality of that matter. The hypothetical ‘ultimate reality’ (the ‘real divinity’) would be situated beyond this psychic plane and we would not be able to say anything about it. As an Eastern philosopher expressed it, ‘it will be neither existent nor non- existent’. It will be the vacuum (Sunyata) or what is not created (Aviakta), although these terms are not correct because they are rooted in their opposites, ‘what is full’ and ‘what is created’. They are terms from the psychic plane, like all those which we can use.

This psychic or psychoenergetic whole has no absolutes, only ‘dualities’ or relative states.

In any case, as we know, most of this ‘psychoenergetic whole’ is unconscious. ‘Unconscious’ means that it is not retained by the attention before the witness which is the consciousness. The consciousness only reaches a small part of this psychic immensity.

For Jung there is a personal unconscious and a collective unconscious. The personal unconscious is formed mainly by all the impressions and energies which the personal ego has chosen not to keep under the light of the consciousness, because it considers them painful or unacceptable, and which have thus been relegated to a dark (unconscious) area and labelled ‘bad’ (negative). They now constitute an energy focus with an invisible influence, which is only perceived in the ‘symptoms’ it produces. (Jung called this area ‘the shadow’.) The collective unconscious is the unconscious part of the psyche which each person shares with the rest of humanity. It contains universal ‘archetypes’ which are sometimes revealed to each individual through symbols or signs in dreams, or through intuitions or inspirations. These archetypes acquire, especially in dreams, a ‘numinous’, that is to say, ‘divine’ quality, (to use Jung’s terminology) as an expression of superhuman forces or entities. In any case, all of these forces which exist in the psyche influence what appears before our consciousness as ideas, desires, aversions, intuitions, emotions, etc.

As we have already said, everything which appears before our consciousness (the ‘spectator’ or ‘witness’ or however we want to call that ‘function-state’ of becoming aware of something) has a dual (or relative) character; love is perceived by reference to its opposite which is hate, cold by reference to heat, the sublime by reference to the mediocre, etc. This must doubtless have an origin in the very nature of the psyche, which is where all the concepts, sensations, etc., which we perceive are created. That is, this principle of duality or relativity must exist in the ‘construction materials’ of the psyche itself.

The Vedanta doctrine expresses a theory which explains the cause of this situation very well. What we have called the psyche or the ‘psychoenergetic whole’, which is the total range of all that we can possibly know (at least as far as ‘ordinary’ knowing is concerned) is made up of three kinds of energies. In fact, for the Vedanta (and also in the doctrine of Sahaja Yoga) all that is manifest is made up of these three energies.

The three energies which the Vedanta discusses are called tamas, rajas and sattwa in Sanskrit. In reality it is between the first two energies that the play of duality takes place, while the third, sattwa, appears as a potentiality in the perfect balance of the other two. There is a similar concept in Taoism, where the two counterposed energies are called ying and yang, and tao (the ultimate reality) is reached by the perfect balance of these two forces, that is, in the presence of the energy of balance, which Taoism does not mention as a separate energy, and which the Vedanta calls sattwa.

The tamas energy in the psyche has an absorbent, dense quality. What is ‘real’ is darkened, clouded, shadowed, disappears in the amorphous density of tamas. When the inner attention is attracted by this energy the consciousness becomes drowsy and the individual loses interest in action and the outside world. While he or she is awake the inner state is one of melancholy and depression. The judgement becomes clouded and the individual lives in doubt and uncertainty. At its most extreme, when the inner feeling of reality is totally absorbed in the complete meaninglessness and the dead mineral vacuousness of the primary ondulations of tamas, life becomes unbearable, the mind is filled with ideas of death and self-annihilation, and the desire for suicide and for an end takes over the attention and the consciousness.

Without reaching this extreme, absorption in tamas leads to states of mind which we might call ‘of a lunar nature’, that is, cold, pale, subdued and melancholy. ‘Romantic’ ideas and attitudes are inspired by this type of energy. The world of spirits and ‘spiritualism’ and ‘the occult’ are contents of this energy plane. Archetypes of a ‘dark’ nature, such as ‘devils’ or any kind of infernal beings, and the concept of ‘hell’ itself are products of this realm of the psyche, but as real as the energy which nourishes them. The density of this kind of energy makes it suitable as the storehouse of the memory. All conscious or unconscious experience is recorded in tamas. Its permanent emanation in the consciousness creates the feeling of the existence of the ‘past’.

Rajas energy is the opposite. Its essence is action and activity, movement and excitement. If tamas creates a screen which absorbs reality into its amorphous interior, rajas projects on that empty density all kinds of illusions and phantasmagorias which install themselves before the impressionable consciousness as goals and ideals to be achieved. Human beings, seduced by these illusory but attractive and appetising objectives, charged with meaning and (apparent) ‘reality’, never stop anxiously running after them. It is these objectives which give meaning to human beings’ existence and are ‘outside oneself’ (that is how they appear to the consciousness in the psyche). To attain them one needs ‘power’ (power itself, like money, ends by becoming an end in itself instead of a means to achieve other ends). Power leads to the struggle for power which brings in its wake ambition, greed, arrogance and egotism. When rajas goes out of control it leads to a state of overexcitement and anxiety which we might call ‘manic’. In a less radical state the state of mind generated by rajas might be defined as ‘solar’, that is, hot, luminous, bright and vibrant. Unlike tamas, which leads to unpleasant inner states and experiences (sadness, depression, lack of will to live, etc.), rajas, except in the negative extremes (rage, uncontrolled violence, manic excitement, etc.) generates a state which is felt to be agreeable and pleasurable. Under the influence of rajas the individual feels full of energy and vitality and tends to be cheerful and to enjoy the senses. He or she is driven to ‘live intensely’, that is, to exploit to the full the satisfaction produced by the stimulation of the senses. To be excited by food or sex, to have adventures so as to perceive emotional changes and excitement are impulses produced by rajas.

Most of the ‘numinous’ archetypes of a positive nature come from rajas. Heavenly visions or even mystical experiences of elevation or communication with the divine energy (normally solar energy) inner experiences of spiritual light or sound (in short, spiritualized sensoriality) are phenomena of the higher levels of rajas.

But at the more ordinary psychological plane it can be said that rajas is at the service of the ego. It is rajas which inflates the ego and which at a collective level projects social values and goals (as collectively communicated ‘reality’) which the individual, driven by the ego, to satisfy the ego, is to pursue indefinitely. An obvious characteristic of goals is that they are always in the future; thus they can never be reached, and if a goal seems to have been reached it loses its ‘colour’, as rajas no longer illuminates it, and a new goal appears which is slightly further away. It is for this reason that the inner feeling of the existence of the future is generated at this level (rajas) of the psychoenergetic whole.

In his theory of instincts, Freud speaks of a ‘life instinct’ and a ‘death instinct’. It would be a mistake to identify these instincts with rajas and tamas, as, while an imbalance towards tamas can produce a ‘death instinct’, an imbalance towards rajas does not correspond to a (balanced) ‘healthy life instinct’, but rather would lead towards an uncontrolled and manic activity, equally negative for the health of the organism.

Jung’s basic ‘introversion-extroversion’ duality describes an important aspect of the tamas-rajas energies. An individual who is influenced by rajas will in effect tend to be extrovert, while where tamas predominates the individual will tend to be introvert. However, the meaning of tamas and rajas is much wider than this, and includes an infinite number of nuances, some of which will be discussed later on in this book.

Let us examine, then, how the very nature of the energy matter of which the psyche is made produces or is a consequence of the phenomena of duality, opposition or contradiction which we then perceive on different planes of our experience and for which we seek ‘scientific’ or rational explanations. We might say that the world is ‘seen’ through the glasses of tamas and rajas, which form, one in respect of the other, the thesis and antithesis of any concept. Thus the opposites ‘heat- cold’, ‘masculine-feminine’, ‘dry-wet’, ‘light-dark’, ‘alive-dead’, ‘manic- depressive’, etc. are all founded on the opposition rajas-tamas.

Social beliefs sometimes mislead by introducing value judgements, as, for example, although a state in which rajas predominates may seem more pleasant than one in which tamas is dominant, this does not mean that we should avoid tamas and try to keep rajas dominant before our attention and our consciousness. Unfortunately, that is the ‘advice’ which is accepted, applauded and promoted collectively in western societies. The culture of success, of comfort, of the exploitation of the senses, of living life ‘to the full’, etc., is a culture which is conveying the message that ‘what is good is rajas’. As this is not true, this lifestyle exhibits the contradictions produced by the negative aspects of rajas that is, by an imbalance towards rajas, which come mainly from the overenlargement of the ego (which is fed by rajas).

Jung saw the ego as an archetype, that is, as a ‘form’ in the energy matter of the psyche. For Jung the ego is not the ‘being’ (that is, the real human entity). Jung called this hypothetical ‘real entity’ the self (Selbst). The self is buried in tamas, and has superimposed on it all the fantasies of rajas, of which the most important is the ego as something real. Until the self appears, (if it does), human beings identify themselves with their ego. But the ego is not ‘solid’, the certainty of its existence and permanence does not come from ‘inside’, but from the outside, from the stimuli, praise and confirmation which it receives from outside. For this reason the ego needs to control the outside world.

For the ego, which is perceived as psychic energy, everything which is not itself is the outside (including its own physical body). Fortunately for the ego, the rajas energy which nourishes it also contains the control mechanisms. This is the part of the mind which works like a computer, that is, which codifies and handles concepts according to binary logic (or Aristotelian logic in terms of language). The entire universe and all its manifestations are broken down, separated from one another and classified so that they can be input into the rajas computer which manages the ego. The ego has a reifying vision of the world.

Thus, the mental function in human beings, what we commonly call ‘thought’, is a characteristic associated with rajas, while the emotional and intuitive aspects belong to the realm of tamas. Let it be clear that when we refer to ‘thought’ we are talking about this computer- like managing attitude. We do not include here other functions which also seem to belong to the mind or thought, such as ‘capacity of discernment’, ‘common sense’, ‘imagination’, ‘creative thought’, etc.

In Sahaja Yoga the tamas aspect of the psychoenergetic whole is called the collective subconscious and the rajas aspect the collective supraconscious. This does not mean that the former is lower than normal consciousness or that the latter is higher, in the sense of superior, but rather denotes a ‘spatial’ positioning in relation to ordinary consciousness. In the Jungian conception both subconscious and supraconscious are included within the concept of collective unconscious.

But, finally, the most important thing is to establish that both rajas and tamas are, in terms of value (that is, from the perspective of the growth or positive evolution of human beings), of equal importance. They give to the psyche the same character of ‘bilateral symmetry’ as that possessed by the body.

However, in everyday language errors are made, precisely because of society’s tendency to give greater value to the expression of the characteristics of rajas. In the physical body, as we shall see below, rajas is expressed in the right side and tamas in the left. The etymology of the word sinister (‘left’ in Latin) also indicates the negative associations of the ‘left’, as something dark, disturbing, terrifying, as tamas energy often appears.

Another distortion of language mistakenly places non-rajas concepts in opposition to tamas concepts. For example, the opposite of ‘cowardice’ (tamas) is not ‘bravery’ but ‘recklessness’ (rajas). ‘Bravery’ is a concept whose meaning belongs to another level, of the balance of the opposites ‘cowardice-recklessness’. The same might be said of many other concepts. For example, the opposite of ‘miserliness’ (tamas) is not ‘generosity’ but ‘wastefulness’ (rajas). Naturally, the concept ‘generosity’ appears as something in the centre and higher. The errors come from the cultural habit we referred to earlier, of associating tamas with ‘bad’ and rajas with ‘good’, as a result of the experience of rajas as agreeable and tamas as unpleasant and the supposition that what is pleasurable must be ‘good’. Let it be clear that the term ‘good’ is used here in the sense of what leads to development and evolution towards greater balance, improved health and the expansion of the consciousness.

This central position of balance between the opposites rajas and tamas which allows us to reach a higher level which is above them and reconciles them, which in Hegelian philosophy is known as synthesis, in the Vedanta is called sattwa.

But sattwa is not simply an abstract concept; it is a real state of the psychic energy. Sattwa is the state of absolute purity within the psyche.Through the spectacles of sattwa the world would be seen as it truly is; sattwa would allow the consciousness to perceive the present in its real ‘selfness’, in perfect purity, without any contamination by past or future. What is real could reach the consciousness in its full completeness through sattwa. The presence of sattwa in the attention and consciousness produces a state of mind which is experienced as joy or happiness. This is not the bubbling enjoyment of the positive states of rajas, which always contains the seed of its opposite (the ‘hangover’ or exhaustion), and which also always requires an ‘external’ cause, but joy and satisfaction per se , without any cause or object, as something which is nourished from inside because that is the way it is, that is the true nature of the real.

The sattwa way is the way of evolution in human beings, the way of their development towards their plenitude in ‘what they have to be’. But sattwa implies balance, so that there can be no health or peace outside sattwa. Any other situation which may seem balanced can only be an unstable framework of compensations and supports which will sooner or later crack and reveal the precariousness of the structure. As it is a path of balance, the way of sattwa has sometimes been described as ‘a knife’s edge’. To the right and left of this path of clarity and purity are the inflated mountain of the ego (rajas) and the deep, shadowy chasms of what Shri Mataji calls the superego (tamas). The sattwa path in life is the path of Sahaja Yoga.

But although the ‘spectacles of sattwa’ permit an undistorted view of realty, they are still spectacles. To reach union with the absolute we also have to remove them, to transcend them.

As we said at the beginning of this chapter, we are moving within a psychoenergetic framework, and the absolute cannot be contained within it. The psychoenergetic totality is ‘the creation’, which is the field which our consciousness can explore; our ‘gods’ can only be constructions within that energy which, as we have seen, is biasing (rajas-tamas). Only in its sattwa aspect can it give us an undistorted reflection of reality, but it is only a reflection. Absolute reality, that is, Divinity, in religious terms, has to be beyond that psychoenergetic totality. In the east the Divine absolute is called ‘the unborn’ or ‘the unnamable’, meaning that it is beyond this creation.

For this reason, this energetic field which is ‘the creation’, and which in we have called ‘psychoenergetic’ totality, which is made up of the three kinds of energies (rajas–tamas and sattwa), in eastern philosophy is considered maya, the ocean of illusion, what is not reality. This term maya or ‘illusion’ has been misunderstood in the west because of the tendency to consider ‘the creation’ as the material objects which our senses perceive, and not to understand the psyche as something real, but as a function of the biological brain. From this point of view the idea that the world is ‘illusion’ for a westerner means that the chair in which he sits or the vase he takes in his hand are not really there, which he finds impossible to accept and even ridiculous.

But the point of view which we take here (which is similar to that adopted by Jung and other scientists) does not take up the old philosophical argument about whether things exist ‘in themselves’ or ‘for themselves’, but assumes that human beings have to deal with psychic phenomena. If I take a vase in my hand or if I reflect on a mathematical problem, it all immediately becomes a psychic phenomenon. That is, part of the psychic energy is mobilised, and my attention places it before my consciousness so that I ‘become aware’ of the fact, I feel certain emotions, etc. Whether vases or mathematics exist ‘outside me’ is not something that we wish to discuss.

That is, the psyche or the ‘psychoenergetic totality’ has in its make-up three types of energy which we have commented on. Health is achieved through the balance of the rajas-tamas energies which generate opposites, that is, through the way of sattwa. But this path leads to the ‘self’, to use the Jungian term, beyond psychic energy, that is, to liberation or ‘where words are no more’.

The following parable from the eastern tradition elucidates the above:

‘The three gunas (energies) can be compared to three thieves who ambush a man in a forest. Tamas, one of the thieves, wants to destroy him, but through the persuasion of Rajas he is simply tied to a tree by his hands and feet and stripped of all his treasures. After some time, Sattwa (the third thief) appears, frees the man from his bonds, gently takes him out of the forest and sets him on the path towards his home.

Sattwa has to let him go alone, because Sattwa is also a thief, and fearing that the Law may capture him cannot accompany the man beyond the forest.

Tamas wants to destroy the man, Rajas to subject him to the world and rob him of his spiritual treasures, Sattwa to leave him on the path of liberation.’

2. The Qualities Of The Psyche

When we feel our inner being, that is, when we have the sensation or experience of ourselves, of ‘what we are’, that experience is ‘coloured’ by a quality that stands out from other experiences. Sometimes we feel solid and sure of ourselves, in charge, able to control the situation, our interior seems ‘in one piece’, solid and indestructible. Our relationship with the outside is, at those moments, like that of an emperor ruling his empire. At other times we feel within us an exhibitionist spirit; we like making people laugh, being the centre of attention, mocking everything like a court jester. We could list a thousand different forms which the ‘psychic energy’ adopts in our interior, creating the sensation of ‘what we are’ at that moment. It should be understood that we are not talking about the roles we have to play in society which require us to show a certain quality or appearance of personality, but about what we really feel of ourselves inside us. It is not unusual for the role that we have to play because of social demands to be in contradiction with the ‘true’ quality of spirit which vibrates in the psychic energy and is announced in the consciousness as ‘what we are’. For example, there are ‘aggressive’ salespeople who feel themselves to be poets, and ‘conquering’ military men with the psychic structure of teachers.

In conventional psychology the qualities of the psyche are interpreted as ‘personality traits’, or as ‘temperament’, or ‘character structure’, etc. In general these qualities or configurations of personality are attributed to the influence of the body organs (glands, nervous system, etc.) and to one’s upbringing. That is, as is always the case with the western point of view, the origin of all explanation lies in what we might call the ‘outer world’, that is, in the phenomena which are capable of exciting our senses and organs of perception.

As we have said, the ‘outer world’, when we are conscious of it or when we experience it unconsciously (the senses register all stimuli, even though we do not realise it), is nothing but an aspect of our ‘psychoenergetic totality’. But as that psychic energy has a dual aspect (or it might also be said to be of two kinds) which we have denominated tamas and rajas, the ‘outer world’ can be ‘built’ in its inner version with tamas or rajas materials, or a mixture of the two.

If tamas predominates, the ‘outer world’ will be full of magic and mystery. Every object will seem to us to have a life which communicates emotionally with us; the ‘spirits’ of the world become perceptible to us. The world of fairy tales and that of ‘primitive’ cultures is a world elaborated internally with a predominance of tamas energy. The inner and the outer world are barely separate.

If rajas predominates all of this is lost; the ‘outer world’ is reified, the frontier between ‘outer world’ and ‘inner world’ becomes more solid and separating, inanimate objects are ‘completely dead’, but even living things (including people) tend to be considered as objects. This situation permits a greater control of the ‘outer world’ which can now be ordered, classified and manipulated. The ‘inner world’ which becomes more uncertain and unpredictable is in turn divided into a ‘thinking’ aspect (ideas, words, etc.) and everything else, which is emotional and intuitive. The ‘thinking aspect’ can be more easily ordered according to the pattern which is used for the ‘outer world’, that is, converted into clearly defined parts that can be processed and manipulated. In this way, the ‘outer world’, which is perceived as ‘very external’ or very ‘clearly external’ becomes ‘what is real’, while everything which is felt as ‘internal’, with the sole exception of rational thinking functions, is considered as ‘fantasy’ or as epiphenomena of the exterior plane. As for the organism itself, all that is accepted as ‘real’ or ‘truly existing’ (that is, as a ‘thing’) is the physical body (exterior). Thought, feelings, even consciousness, are phenomena which have their origin in the mechanical functioning of the physical body.

In fact, both of these situations have their source in the energy aspect which serves as a base in the psyche to convert sensory stimuli into material for the consciousness. It is easy to see that in the cultures we call “western”, where rationalism and the “scientific paradigm” predominate as a base for the comprehension of the universe, it is “rajas” energy which is pre-eminent, while in other cultures (some of the so-called “eastern” or “oriental” cultures) “tamas” still receives more attention.

For someone from our culture, who has scarcely any energy apart from “rajas” to assist him in comprehending life and reality, it is very difficult to approach the “spiritual”, and there are thus many obstacles to acceptance of Sahaja Yoga, exacerbated by its unaccustomed forms and concepts. For this reason we shall here attempt to give as rational (“rajasic”) a vision of Sahaja Yoga as possible.

The way which seems most appropriate to us is to learn to accept the Jungian idea of “the reality of the psyche” and of how the whole universe, whether or not it exists on other planes, is contained in the psyche either immediately or potentially. It is important to realise that this does not mean that we are defending a Platonic kind of philosophy, or that we follow a Kantian approach in preference to other philosophical stances, but simply that we are adopting (as Jung himself says) a phenomenological point of view. We are not here asking whether or not there is an “outside world”; we are restricting ourselves to the study of those psychic phenomena which correspond to the so-called “outside world”, but we are only interested in them as “psychic phenomena”.

Once the reader has accepted this, the next step is to find out something about the “psychic substance”, which is the matter from which we perceive and comprehend things. The theory we have discussed of two polar energies (“tamas” and “rajas”) and a third (“sattwa”) which expresses balance and purity explains very well the essence of the phenomena we come across in daily life (the relativity and duality of concepts, language and existence itself) and even in pathological excesses (manic-depressive swings, paranoiac obsession, etc.) From this we may draw an important conclusion:

True health in all aspects can only be found in the state of balance, that is, “sattwa”.

This conclusion has an even more important corollary:

From the situation of balance, that is, from the state of health and “sattwa”, the state of consciousness of the Absolute is reached automatically. To put it another way, the consciousness leaves the relative psychic plane for the Absolute “divine” plane.

“Automatically” here means in a “natural” way, without effort, spontaneously.

The reason is, as we have explained in the previous chapter, that “sattwa” energy is, within the psychic universe (what is manifest as apprehended by the psyche) the closest energy to what is “real”. As we have also stated, “what is real” is a situation (what else could we call it?) outside the manifest universe, where everything that “is” is revealed as it “is” without being shaded or deformed by the translation of “tamas” or “rajas”.

This energy of balance (sattwa) is, according to tradition (and Sahaja Yoga), the path of the evolutionary current, along which humanity as a species and each human being as an individual are moving; transformation is produced through “sattwa”. This does not mean that there is no internal “transformation” when the life movement is carried out in the other kinds of energy (“tamas” and “rajas”). The transformation and broadening of the psychoenergetic matter which is available to the consciousness is inevitable and is a condition of life itself, where nothing is in repose, but the direction of that transformation may “deviate” or even go backwards.

As it is easy to see, these ideas suggest the existence of an”evolutionary goal”, a kind of “intended place” towards which we are moving and whose direction, within the complex network of psychic energy in which the consciousness is immersed, is indicated by the “sattwa” path. In this way, it may be said that “good” exists in an absolute sense, and that it is everything that moves us in the direction of evoltion, while “bad” would be what is involutional (although it may be pleasurable or “good” in the relative sense). The following diagram illustrates this.

DIRECTIONS OF THE PSYCHE

That there is “an evolutionary goal” cannot be an object of proof. It is contained in the teachings of Shri Mataji and in the philosophical- religious tradition of Hinduism and of all the great religions.

The work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, renowned for his contribution to the field of anthropology, is an attempt to prove the existence of that objective. To quote one of his essays:

It is perfectly clear to our experience that emergence in its evolution only occurs successively and in a mechanical dependence on everything that precedes it. In the first place, the elements which come together , and afterwards, the “soul” which manifests itself and whose operation is not translated from the point of view of energy, except in a more and more complex and sublimated rolling up of the forces which transmit the chains of elements. The Radial in function of the Tangential. The pyramid whose apex is sustained by the base. This is what appears to us along the way. And this also is the way in which , at the end of the process, Omega itself shows itself to us as far as the movements of synthesis culminate in it. In any case, we know very well that beneath the aspect of this face of evolution, it is only showing half of its face. The last item in the series, it is at the same time something outside all series.

Teilhard de Chardin gives the name “omega point” to that place towards which he sees the evolutionary forces converge which incessantly seem to build, destroy and rebuild again the human being. At each stage a transformation is produced which definitely contains “something more” than the previous one. It is also interesting to refer back to the final sentences of the quotation, because of the parallelism between the writer’s ideas and the point of view which we are proposing here. The “omega point” (the evolutionary goal) is the end of the evolutionary series, but is at the same time outside all series, that is, outside the space-time field where evolution is produced. This space-time which we have called the “psychic totality” (what is created or manifest) is what constitutes the object of our consciousness at present. Thus, to leave the “psychic totality” would be like waking from a dream, reaching a different reality, in this case, the truly real, or, if one accepts that denomination, the divine.

But “the divine” or “the real” is already appearing in our consciousness through the “sattwa” aspect of the psyche. It is from “sattwa” that evolution follows the correct direction, which is why we call this direction that of “absolute good”.

However, and although it may seem contradictory, there is an opposite for the “sattwa” direction. It now becomes necessary to introduce the controversial concept of “negativity”.

We have already said that on the psychic plane which generates opposites (tamas-rajas) painful situations may arise for the consciousness which is identified with these opposites. This occurs when the attention is absorbed by the energies of this plane in their external form. We might say that what we call a “normal” person is someone who does not cross certain limits of the “tamas” or “rajas” directions of the psyche. When for any reason these limits are crossed, states may be produced which are considered pathological, and which are defined in conventional psychology as manic or depressive (according to whether the direction is “rajas” or “tamas”).

For example, someone who lives immersed in the accelerated western world, eager for power and social success, planning the future down to the smallest detail, is moving, psychically speaking, along the dangerous paths of “rajas”. If the deviation in this direction increases, his or her anxiety also increases and the person can fall into states of intense manic suffering.

If, on the contrary, a person’s temperament and habitual behaviour tend to be “tamasic”, he or she will be pushed towards melancholy, into seeing the world as “meaningless”, living as a “bohemian”, a “drop-out” or a “nihilist”, desperate, suffering, and becoming more and more depressed.

Nevertheless, although there is suffering and the mind is darkened, the “level of consciousness” is maintained. We might say that the swing towards “rajas” or “tamas” is produced on a horizontal plane and at whatever level of consciousness the person has.

But as well as these extreme states, which in themselves are “negative”, within these energy manifestations there would seem to be morbid formations which do not necessarily involve the movement to the limits (extremes) of “rajas” or “tamas”. These are what can be called negativity proper, which functions as a “concealer” or “eclipser” of “sattwa” energy. When a movement towards the extremes (manic-depressive states) occurs, there is a distancing from “sattwa”, but “sattwa” continues to shine and to be present in the psyche. In the case of negativity, “sattwa” is simply “covered up”, “darkened”, its light is “blocked”.

Without the light of “sattwa”, the whole structure of the psyche falls to a lower level which we might call “malign” (at least if we view its ethical consequences from the perspective of a “normal” human being). The energy of the psyche becomes disintegrating, destructive or entropic. That is, a movement in the “vertical plane” is involved. The consciousness falls to lower, more “animalistic” levels. Ethical and moral discernment is reduced. Acts may be committed which to a consciousness of a higher level would appear “barbaric” or “wicked”, but which the “fallen” consciousness finds desirable and pleasurable. An accurate illustration of this process is the story of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jeckyll is moved by forces of the psyche with a strong “sattwa” influence in a direction of cohesion of energy towards planes of greater complexity and perfection (the anentropy which is perceived in the evolution of life). We give the name “love” to the ethical expression of this energy configuration. Mr Hyde, however, lacks the influence of “sattwa”. The reflection of “the real” is not present in his psychic field because the “sattwa” conduit is blocked, so that the psyche tends towards the disintegration and entropy which lead to the more elementary levels of existence. We call the ethical expression of this disintegrating direction “hate”.

As is logical, the blockage of “sattwa” is not produced from the vertical plane of “sattwa” but from the basic horizontal plane which constitutes the essential “substance” of the psyche, and which is the dimension which generates the opposites “rajas-tamas”. Thus, the fall towards disintegrating entropy will be tinged by the qualities of the direction the blockage comes from. To use the well-known terms of conventional psychology, when the blockage comes from “rajas” the structure of the psyche and the individual’s behaviour will take on the characteristics we know as “sadistic”, while in the case of “tamas” we call it a “masochistic” state. In the case of Mr. Hyde, the blockage clearly proceeds from “rajas”.

It should also be noted that while the (manic-depressive) “imbalance” is always painful for the organism, the (sadomasochistic) “fall” is not necessarily so, and the activity induced by this state of psychic energy is lived with satisfaction, and even with pleasure.

The space which we have allowed ourselves for this discussion does not permit us to explain the above ideas in greater detail, but we hope that, at least at the general level which we aim for, it is sufficiently clear, and above all, that the reader now perceives the difference between the “relative” (rajas-tamas) dimension and the dimension “towards the absolute” of sattwa or lack of sattwa. As we have seen, rajas or tamas always rest on their opposite, like the background and the figure of a painting – the “figure” needs the “background” to exist. The direction of “sattwa”, however, is an evolutionary synthesis. Love does not need hatred in order to “be”. In fact, love “is” being. Hatred is perceived when something which is on an evolutionary plane (we might also say, on a plane of “love”) “wants” to fall to a lower plane, and thus produces a destructive and disintegrating perturbation on the plane on which it finds itself.

Perhaps we might add that the love we are referring to here is the Love which is the essence of the Being (of the Collective Being), and not the so-called “romantic” love of “falling in love” which is egotistical and individualistic and almost always has “sadomasochistic” components.

What we have discussed above determines the basic qualities of one’s state of mind, that is, the way in which one lives oneself and what one therefore shows in one’s behaviour. It is a consequence of the psychoenergetic matter which attracts the inner attention. “Attention” should be understood in the broadest sense of the word, not just in its everyday usage to refer to our conscious handling of the attention, but also when it functions outside the control of the wakeful consciousness. Thus, for example, when we are carrying out a task, for maximum efficiency we have to “pay attention”. In these cases the attention is “collected”, “concentrated” on those particular phenomena which interest us. But our attention also functions even when we are not trying to direct it anywhere in particular; in this case our attention acts spontaneously, according to the particular psychoenergetic structure of each person. We may be absorbed in the contemplation of something which is happening when suddenly our attention is attracted by a clock striking, and we realize that we are late for an appointment, that we’ll be late if we don’t set off immediately, etc. In the same way as our attention is attracted by “external” phenomena, it is also mobilized by “internal” episodes. These events which are acted out on an “inner stage” are more diffuse, less identifiable and “separable” than the “external” ones, so that it does not seem as if our attention is acting in a similar way to the way it acts “outside”. The cultural habits, especially in the West, of a society oriented towards the efficiency of our actions on the “external” environment, also lead us to train our attention in its “outside” form while neglecting completely its internal aspect. For example, children are obliged to train their attention from a very early age with regard to thousands of events related to their culture or survival, (from controlling his or her sphincters to crossing the road safely), but no one ever tells them how to use their attention in the different kinds of thoughts, emotions and events which occur inside them. Once again this is the idea that what is “inside” is “what we are” and that what is “outside” is “what we are not”, and can therefore be manipulated by us. An equivalent attitude towards the “inside” would be vigorously rejected because it would seem to be like wanting to manipulate ourselves, and therefore, would be an attack on the sacred essence of our freedom. The belief that the essence of freedom is to be found in the psychic plane is a truly ingenuous idea which is still present in Western mass culture. The discovery of psychoanalysis and the subsequent development of advanced methods of psychotherapy have shaken this belief and have suddenly revealed the huge number of systems of manipulation and conditioning to which we are subjected, which begin in our own cultural background and continue in religions, scientific beliefs, the methods of the consumer society, etc.

In the East, this belief is not shared. There it has long been known that if freedom exists it must be outside (beyond) the psychic plane. That is, the source of freedom is the same as the source of “what is true”, “the absolute”, and, if one accepts the expression, “the divine”.

While we are on the psychic plane (because our “attention- consciousness” does not know how to go beyond it) we will be in the terrain of the relative, the conditioned and the mechanical, to a greater degree the more we move within “tamas” and “rajas” energy, and to a lesser degree the closer we come to “sattwa”, whence we may capture the reflection of the “real”, that is, of our “Self” or “what is” in reality.

But, even if a perfect balance of the opposite-generating energies “rajas-tamas” allowed our attention to present the universe to our consciousness through the pure energy of “sattwa”, the experience of this situation would perceive differentiated modalities or qualities in the “Self-universe” relationship. That is, the reflection of “the real” acquires in the “sattwa” aspect of the psychoenergetic whole different modulations which permit the experience of a universe with different qualitative dimensions. These dimensions are experienced in the same way as forming part of “our internal energy”, which, as we have said above, is felt as “what we are”.

In short, then, the different qualities that are perceived in the universe, understood as the whole of what we experience as “inside” and as “outside of us” come from two conditions of the “psychoenergetic whole”.

1. The different nature of psychic energy which we have described above as the “different directions of the psyche”.

2. The different modulations of psychic energy which are introduced in the psyche from “sattwa”. According to traditional Eastern knowledge these qualitative modulations of energy occur because there are certain points or “vortices” in the “sattwa” aspect which generate each particular modulation. These modulating “vortices” have been given the name “Chakras”.

The function of the “chakras” allows us to experience the universe with different conceptual nuances and qualities. According to the Eastern tradition, there are a large number of chakras, but there are seven major ones.

These vortices or chakras have been activated progressively in the psychoenergetic mass throughout human evolution. We shall return to this evolutionary aspect and to the role of the chakras within it later on. For the moment we shall restrict ourselves to enumerating the seven basic chakras and the type of psychic quality they generate according to Shri Mataji’s teaching.

As we have said, blockages in the “sattwa” expression of energy may come from “tamas” or “rajas”, and since “sattwa” is expressed through the chakras, to speak about blockage of “sattwa” is equivalent to saying that there are blockages in the chakras. When one of these vortices or chakras is obstructed or blocked, the (active) quality which is expressed through it is reduced, and replaced by the lack or “darkening” of the quality. We must stress that the fact that there may be an opposite verbal concept in our everyday language does not mean that an opposite kind of energy is acting in the psychic matter, but simply that the active principle which comes before the consciousness from the “sattwa” form of the psyche through a chakra is reducing its presence.

To try to make the difference between the “sattwa” and the “rajas-tamas” dimensions clearer we might use a mathematical metaphor. Let us suppose that we have two scales, one of which is a scale “without an origin”, for example, of extreme values between +1 and -1 (or +infinity and – infinity) which could be used to measure the “rajas-tamas” dimension. On the positive section of this scale we would place all the “rajas” states up to the most extreme, and on the negative section we could position all the “tamas” states up to the most acute. The “sattwa” dimension, however, would have to be shown on a scale with its origin at “zero”, which would represent a complete lack of “sattwa” at that particular point of the psyche. The extreme position (which we might call 1 or infinity) would indicate that that point of the psyche is completely occupied by “sattwa”, and therefore reflects to the consciousness “the real”, “the true” or “the divine” which comes from “beyond the psyche”.

One might say that “the antireal” does not exist as an active substance, in the same way as darkness does not exist as an energy form; it is the light which has energy, although the absence of light may create illusory situations. But one thing is the “potentiality of the illusion” and another the “illusion itself” which does need an active agent. This agent is to be found in the “rajas-tamas” dimension whose task it is to produce within the psyche all the states of partiality, relativity, opposition, etc., which we all know and which by their very nature can lead to dangerous imbalances.

As for the “qualities” generated by the chakras in the context of the psyche, we must understand them as the framework of our possibilities of perception and awareness. If, for example, we perceive and understand qualities like “innocence”, “generosity”, “detachedness”, etc., it is because those qualities form part of our “psychic matter”, which we have also called “psychoenergetic whole”. Thus, when external stimuli (as when we are in the presence of someone who expresses that quality) or our own inner balance are conducive to it, our inner attention can move to the “sattwa” aspect of the psychic energy, which in turn, modulated by the corresponding chakra, takes that “feeling” or “inner value” of the quality to our consciousness. These qualities, in short, are simply a more or less clear reflection of that realm “beyond the psyche” which we have named “the true”, “the absolute” or “the divine”.

The chakras, or if the reader prefers, their effects (awareness of qualities in the psyche) have not arisen suddenly and simultaneously, but have gradually appeared during human evolution. We shall now list them in the order in which they have been activated, giving the Sanskrit names they have received in the Indian tradition and the basic quality they generate according to Sahaja Yoga.

– Mooladhara chakra – According to tradition this vortex of energy appeared at the beginning of the creation of the “manifest”, which in psychological terms we might call “the appearance of the Universal Unconscious”. It thus represents the basic quality of the psyche or, in other words, the “flavour” or “primordial expression” which the psyche produces in the consciousness. We might describe this “flavour” as “innocence”.

“Innocence” is thus the initial form in which the psyche appears in its pure state, that is, when the “sattwa” (central, balanced) aspect predominates in the consciousness, before repeated, deep and persistent swings towards “rajas” and “tamas” extinguish the presence of “sattwa”. It is the first reflection of “the real” in the consciousness of the manifest, and the “Mooladhara chakra” modulates it as “innocence”.

We see this reflection appear in small children and in the rare cases of adults who still conserve, as we say, the “spirit of a child”. With time, the development of other inner structures and of unbalancing influences from the external environment, dims the participation of “sattwa” in the individual psyche, and the initial innocence is gradually replaced by more or less acute forms of corruption. Innocence contains wisdom and power.

Wisdom must be understood here as the intuitive knowledge of the essence of things and not as the possession of a wide repertoire of mental patterns on what things represent. Children and those people who are truly innocent are very wise in this sense. It is the distorted criterion of modern urban culture (where “rajas” predominates as the psychic matter through which the world is comprehended) which has created the association between “innocence” and “stupidity”. The concept of “wisdom” has been lost, to be replaced by that of “cleverness”, which means “cunning”, the ability to obtain the maximum advantage from everything which comes within our reach. “Wisdom” does not require any effort, while “cleverness” does involve possessing the necessary resources, keeping the engine running and one foot constantly on the accelerator, not trusting anything or anyone and maintaining all our advantages.

With “power” something similar occurs. Who can harm a child? We speak of innocence as “disarming”. There is a great power in innocence, but it is obviously not what we usually mean by “power” (again in the psychic realm of “rajas”) as having greater capacity than others to generate violence, or to respond to the violence which we are sure that others (by definition our “enemies” to a greater or lesser degree) will inflict on us.

– Swadistan chakra – This is the next modulation produced in the psychic field as a reflection of the current which comes from the absolute or real plane. The “form” it acquires in the collective unconscious, and, thus, that which it takes on as a potentiality before the individual consciousness, could be described as “creativity”.

What is the source of the musical inspiration of Mozart and Bach, of Dante’s and Goethe’s astonishing writings, of Plank’s and Einstein’s incredible discoveries? To quote Picasso on his creative method, “I do not seek, I find.”

It is possible that creativity arises from certain previous elements which make up the creator’s starting point, but the result is different from the initial components, it is something “new” and hence we call it a “creation”.

This concept of creation should not be confused with the search for the best solution to a problem, from a range of known alternatives, which is within the capabilities of a computer. Even the theoreticians of “artificial intelligence” agree that “creation” in the strict sense of the word is exclusive to human beings.

Creation is something which arises before the creator from an unknown realm. The creator recognizes it and gives it form on the conventional psychic plane.

This unknown realm is what we call here the field of the absolute or of the real, and which Jung called the “Self”. Every human being has, to a greater or lesser extent, access to this realm through the chakras, which are like windows in the psyche, covered only by the subtle veil of “sattwa”, but which can be darkened by the thick curtains of “rajas” and “tamas”.

When the creator “gives form” on the conventional plane to what comes from the absolute realm, he or she does so using “tamas” and “rajas” energy, or a combination of the two, which is the balanced way.

Leaving aside the singular cases of creative genius which may serve as proof but are not the usual state of the psyche, and turning to the average human level, the activity of this chakra is known in its irradiation towards “tamas” energy as imagination and in “rajas” energy as planning.

An inappropriate use of the imagination, such as the acceptance of false, unbalancing or negative symbolic material, will block this chakra from “tamas”. The teachings of false gurus or the acceptance of mistaken doctrines have this effect. But it should be understood that we are not referring to the mental or logical aspect of such doctrines and teachings, but to their symbolic aspect which acts on a much more unconscious psychic plane.

On the other hand, an excess of “planning”, of trying to keep future events under the control of the ego, and the fear of “leaving things to chance”, move “rajas” energy in such a way as to produce a blockage in the swadistan chakra.

– Nabhi chakra – Within the psychic space, this point of generation of qualities produces the inner sense of satisfaction, of feeling cared for and contented. Like all the “qualities” which we have discussed, this is not an idea which is encoded by the mind, but a deep feeling of well-being in relation to the environment.

The “psychological health” of this point is expressed through interpreting and accepting in a positive way those aspects of the environment related to our psychological and physical well-being, such as: the possession of money or material goods and the kind of relationship we have towards them; the people who care for us and support us, and the family in general; marital relations (not in their sexual aspect but as a family relationship); work and our work relationships; etc.

Mistaken attitudes towards these areas will block the chakra and obscure our inner sense of well-being.

– Anahata chakra – The inner experience produced by this chakra from the depths of the psyche is that of security.

This is one of the most important aspects in the structure of the psyche. According to Sahaja Yoga, the emergence of the Self is sustained by the energy of this chakra, or, in other words, it is from this aspect or “place” in the psyche that the Self will blossom to fill the consciousness.

The “tamas” side of this chakra is tuned to the psychic resonance of the experiences the individual has constructed with relation to the mother or the person who filled the role of mother. The “rajas” side works in a similar way with respect to the father.

Only a complete balance in these relationships and an appropriate feeling in each of the “father-mother” (rajas-tamas) aspects will allow the attention to bring into the awareness the presence of sattwa energy, which in this chakra is modulated as security.

Imbalances lead to a lack of security and produce strong associated effects in other chakras, along with psychic symptoms which conventional psychology has labelled neurosis (or psychosis in the most serious cases). In fact, a great deal of psychological theory on neuroses (and in particular psychoanalytic theory) has centred on the problems derived from imbalances in this chakra.

Space does not permit us to enter in greater depth into how many discoveries of analytical psychology (related to the psychological bonds with the mother and the father) are explained in the theory of chakras, as they are understood in Shri Mataji’s teaching. The aim of this brief summary is to offer a general overview from a western perspective.

– Vishuddhi chakra – When this chakra functions properly (that is, when it is “sattwa” energy which is present in our awareness) the quality perceived may be described as sense of collective being, of rising above individuality and consciousness of unity with Humanity as a whole.

The opposite situation (of identification or “attachment” to one’s personality and one’s own image), which arises when this chakra is not free from the pressure of “rajas” and “tamas”, is the usual situation of the average human being, so that this state of “identification” is what we consider “normal”, and a life ruled by the principle of “unity” and “collectivity”, and detachment from our individual image and from the results of our own actions seems impossible to us, or only imaginable in saints and ascetics.

An example to illustrate this identification on which many studies have been carried out is the possession, or rather the driving of a car. The personality change which takes place when someone sits behind the wheel of a car is well-known. It varies according to whether the car is big or small, a basic car or a sports car, etc., but in any case the meaning of the vehicle is absorbed by the ego, and a normally placid person can change into an aggressive maniac. The same phenomenon of identification occurs with respect to social roles, personal relations, membership of groups (nations, races, etc.), possessions, and, what most manifests itself, the identification with one’s own body and with the results of one’s own actions.

These phenomena of identification are nothing more than blockages of the vishuddhi chakra, from the psychic energy of “rajas” or “tamas”. When there is a strong imbalance towards “rajas”, the psychological impact produced may be described as arrogance. As we have explained, “rajas” is an energy which throws the psyche into action, towards achievements in the future. It is the identification with those “achievements” (whether they be real or imaginary) which produces the qualitative modulation which we call “arrogance”. In “tamas” the phenomenon of identification is similar, but experienced from the standpoint of fear and insecurity. We do not like the result of the action (our action), but our deep identification prevents us from facing up to it and finding a solution for it; we prefer to keep it within our psyche, pressing on the Vishuddhi chakra from “tamas”. This state is experienced within as guilt. Many people have strong guilt feelings which act unconsciously. In general guilt is confused with responsibility, and few people in the West, which is a guilt-generating culture, can understand the profound psychological difference between the two concepts. According to Shri Mataji, we are all responsible for what we are and what we do, but she insists that we have never been and will never be guilty of anything.

– Agnya chakra – Qualities such as forgiveness and its derivations, compassion and non-violence, are produced by this qualitative modulator of the psyche when its function is not tarnished by obscuring energies.

An important characteristic of this chakra, according to Sahaja Yoga, is its connection with the flow of our thoughts. Thoughts are products of the “rajas-tamas” interaction. They consist of images or words, and we might call them “mental objects”. They are useful for action, and the brain manages them much as a computer manages the material contained in its memory banks. But they have no further function. However, we have become accustomed to considering them as intermediaries between the universe and consciousness. That is, instead of being aware of what is really happening (in the present), we are aware of the mental translation (in the form of thoughts) of real phenomena. Because of this, everything which appears in our consciousness (that is, thoughts) has a lesser or greater load of “tamas” or “rajas” (past and future). A discussion of this matter would take us beyond the scope of this book, so that we will simply limit ourselves to drawing the reader’s attention to our deep-rooted habit of confusing what is real with our thoughts, to such an extent that a thoughtless state is imagined as similar to a state of stupor or unconsciousness. The famous phrase “I think, therefore I am”, can be misleading, unless we accept that “I also exist and am conscious of it (more conscious, in fact) when I do not think”.

It should be noted that when we speak of “the real” here, we are using the word in its ordinary sense, and not as when we identify it with “the absolute”. The real in this context refers to the phenomena which we perceive when we are awake, and which, as we have said elsewhere, are also psychic energy, but not necessarily “thoughts”.

When the agnya chakra functions properly, the parasitic thoughts (that interminable conveyor belt) are absorbed, and the experience is one of “peace”.

Resentment, which is produced by a blockage in the agnya, is nothing more than a negative culture nourished in a solution of (also negative) thoughts. To overcome resentment (that is, to reach forgiveness) in the context of thoughts is very difficult to achieve and to maintain, although it is advisable to try to do it because it unblocks the agnya and assists the thoughtless state, where true forgiveness is possible.

– Sahasrara chakra – Within the “psychic space”, this point is situated on the boundary with “beyond the psyche” which we have referred to as the realm of the absolute, the true and the real.

The incidence of this “realm of the real” on the psychic plane through the Sahasrara chakra has an “integrating” quality. All of the other qualities and energies we have spoken of in this chapter are harmonized and tempered for the final evolutionary jump.

According to Shri Mataji’s teaching, humanity as a collective entity is at this time preparing its psychic access to this quality, which has only recently been “awakened” in the collective unconscious.

***

Each of the qualities which we have described has nuances and variations, and, as we mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, there are other less important generating vortices of qualititative states which we shall not discuss here for reasons of length.

These qualities are properties of the psyche, and can be experienced in multiple combinations, with different influences of “tamas” and “rajas”, thus generating the infinite variety of human experiential possibilities.

Some of these combinations crystallize in figures which are used in a repetitive way by the individual psyche, which we can call “archetypes”. Jung described some of them, such as the mother, the child, the hero, but many others have been described subsequently by other contemporary psychological trends.

As for the “qualities”, Jung describes a relatively complex structure made up of the “functions of the psyche” which are usually represented in a figure like this :

According to Jung, everyone has these four functions in the psyche, but normally only one is dominant (the differentiated function) and provides the conscious attitude of direction and quality. Apart from the four functions, Jung also bears in mind the direction which the “psychic energy” usually takes in a given individual, which may be inwards (introversion) or outwards (extroversion).

These two directions of energy multiplied by the four functions of the psyche give rise to eight categories or possibilities which Jung calls “psychological types”, and which are described in one of his major works.

The two directions of the energy (introversion-extroversion) can easily be identified with the two states of “psychoenergetic matter” which we have called “tamas” and “rajas”. Introversion indicates a predominance of “tamas” while extroversion shows a greater presence of “rajas”. As for the “functions”, they are also aspects of “rajas” and “tamas”. If we look at Jung’s four functions, we can see that they may be classified in the two categories.

On one side we have the functions of the “perceptive” type, of sensitivity to the nature of an environment. The “feeling (sensory)” function has a clearly perceptive character, as it involves the capturing of stimuli from the outside world by the bodily senses. It is outward- looking and belongs to the field of “rajas”. The “feeling (emotional)” function is parallel to the sensorial one, but its field of action is the “inside”. That is, its role is to perceive the state of the “inner world” and it indicates its results through emotions. This is evidently a function of “tamas” energy.

The other two functions have a “cognitive” character. The cognitive function in “rajas” is called “thinking”, that is, using our “mental computer”. In a person with a predominance of this aspect of “rajas” we would find rigid attitudes, fixed ideas, fanaticism and a tendency to austerity and asceticism. The equivalent function in “tamas” is “intuition”, which is the source of that “immediate knowing” which sometimes appears “magic” but which can also, in extreme situations, lead to hallucinatory states where the notion of reality is confused.

Evidently, every non-balanced, non-sattwa person has these psychic alternatives to a greater or lesser extent. It is also possible to oscillate from one to another, so that sometimes some functions predominate, and at other times others.

3. The Ego

We are all conscious of “being”, that is, of “existing”, of “being here”. This needs no theoretical demonstration, it is something which is experienced by everyone.

But this feeling of “being” does not exist in isolation. in fact it is absolutely, and, apparently, indissolubly associated with two other experiences which seem equally true and which are:

I am. That is, my being is differentiated and there are other beings (“Is”) different from mine.

I am something. What I mean is that I am something concrete, which I can describe (with attributes of personality, physical makeup, etc.)

A discussion on the differences between the feeling or experience of the “being” and the perception of the “I” (as a consequence of the differentiation) has not, in general, concerned psychologists, and has remained in the field of theoretical philosophical speculation. However, it is essential to make this distinction in order to understand the human psychoenergetic mechanism, what unbalances it and makes it sick and what can restore its health once more.

In Jungian psychology some kind of distinction is made. The “ego” (which is in turn divided into a conscious and unconscious part – the “shadow”) is differentiated from the “self”, which is considered the true I and which tends to emerge in the second half of one’s life. The “ego” is an “archetype”, that is, a structure or formation in the psyche, and the individual identifies him or herself with it. If the “ego” has not become too crystallized in the first half of a person’s life, it can gradually give way to the “self” when this begins to emerge. In an ideal situation, the “ego” dissolves into the “self”, which occupies the consciousness as the true reality of oneself. When the self begins to emerge it announces its presence in the consciousness through certain disturbances, and there may be some symptoms which produce psychic pain in the individual, such as “disorientation” or “anguish”, because of the loss and breakdown of internal values. In fact it is the values of the “ego” which have to give up their place to those of the “self”, deeply rooted in the depths of the Being. If the “ego” resists giving up its dominant position a conflict of energies is created which can end in a neurosis or even a psychosis. This is a very elementary approximate outline of the Jungian point of view of the subject which we are dealing with here. Eastern (Indian) “philosophy-psychology” views this question in a more or less similar way. A clear distinction is maintained between the “ego” (Ahamkara), which is a function of the psyche, and the “self” which is here called “the spirit” and which is spoken of in different ways according to its degree of plenitude and purity. The words “jiva”, “atman” and “brahman” are used according to the plane from which they are contemplated.

In both the Jungian and the Eastern systems the process consists of passing from the “I am something” state, the “egoic” state in which the average person lives, to the “I am the spirit” state (or the “Self”). In this state we might say that the limiting “I” disappears, because it acquires the infinite extent of the spirit, which is the same as disappearing, since in the experience of the spirit the “you” does not exist either. According to the traditional Vedanta teaching, the “spirit” is pure “Being”, so that the three initial components dissolve into one.

In everyday life the three components of the expression “I am something” are experienced in a unitary way, as “one single experience”, so that to deal with them separately can only be an artificial, theoretical and analytical attempt. Indeed, all analysis is artificial; we have already said that it is a quality of the “rajas” aspect of the psyche, which is the seat of language and all mental activity concerned with pigeonholing, relating and computing, which is the style of the cognitive posture on which science and the ideas we have tried to develop here are founded.

It seems to be commonly accepted by psychologists that children at birth possess an “oceanic consciousness” also denominated “protoplasmic” (Piaget) or “pleromatic” (Wilber and others) or in other ways which are not relevant to us here, because what interests us is the common idea that in this state there is no differentiating “I”.

For example, Loevinger comments: “We cannot consider the child to have an ego at birth. His first function consists of learning to differentiate himself from what surrounds him.”

However, we cannot say that he is “unconscious”; he is conscious of events and is therefore conscious of “being” even though he is an undifferentiated, unlimited and solitary being. According to the Jungian researcher Neumann this is “the pleromatic stage of heavenly perfection of the unborn”, to which Wilber adds: “One should bear in mind that this is a prepersonal, not a transpersonal perfection. It is in reality a kind of primary paradise, of innocence and ignorance, which precedes the “fall” into selfconsciousness. This state should not be confused with the transpersonal paradise of the superconsciousness. One is “pre” and the other “trans”, and the difference between both is made up by the totality of the life cycle of the consciousness.”

In the words of Sahaja Yoga, we could say that at the moment of birth the Mooladhara chakra is sending a flow of innocence and purity to the psyche. The “rajas” aspect does not yet influence the psyche, which has as its base “sattwa” (which supplies the joy of being) and “tamas” (which contains the mechanical, vegetative impulses, and where the “oceanic” sentiment is probably articulated, because “tamas” contains the original inheritance of the species, the “collective subconsciousness”). It is also here that we find the genesis of what we shall call the “archetype of the Primordial Mother”. This naturally does not refer to the egoic, dualistic way in we understand the concept now (for there to be a “mother” there must be a “child”), but to the very essence of psychic energy. The Mother is the totality of psychic energy, which includes the subject himself during this stage and even with a few variations in the stages which immediately follow it.

We will return later to some interesting aspects concerning evolution. For the moment we only want to point out that the experience of “being” was not in principle accompanied by the experience of “I”.

The “I” is formed as “rajas” energy begins to appear in the psyche. The “outer world” begins to crystallize, and there begins to be a differentiation between the organism itself which, in terms of psychic energy corresponds to one part of the psyche, and the rest of the world which, as we have said, is another part of the psyche. The separating function is carried out by a mechanism which we usually call “ego” (ahamkara in Sanskrit). We should explain that the word “I” can lead to confusion, because it is sometimes identified with the “being” and at other times with the “ego”. When the word is used here it is always in the sense of denoting a separation or differentiation (for there to be an “I” there has to be a “you”), so that it is synonymous with “ego”. Note that the separation is carried out in the psychic energy (psychoenergetic totality) of the subject and from a mechanism associated with the “rajas” aspect of energy.

Although the “ego” begins forming from the very moment the subject is born, “selfconsciousness”, that is, the subject’s realizing in a mental way (integrating it into his system of concepts) that he is “an I”, a being that exists as “I”, is not produced until later (at seven or later). For some subjects it is an unforgettable experience, for others it occurs almost unnoticed.

Although the “ego” is a boundary-marking function, establishing frontiers within the psyche, and its impulse comes from “rajas”, this does not mean that what the “ego” marks as “what I am” is only composed of psychic elements of a “rajassic” nature. It may well happen that a subject with a very rigid and crystallized “ego” (with fortified frontiers) may nourish his inner attention with depressive “tamas” energy and be a “depressed egotist”. As we know, the popular image of an “inflated ego” does not only present strong differentiation (self-assertion), but the characteristics of the “rajas” personality, such as, for example, arrogance, ambition, desire for power, an excessively mental attitude, reification of one’s environment, manipulation, etc. But even a person who normally seems like this can sporadically or permanently fall into “tamas” (indeed, this is what usually happens).

But it is obvious that the ego as a function is orientated towards the future (which is typically “rajas”) and possibly this is its utilitarian purpose in the game of life. For this reason, some writers call the ego “idea I” and associate it with an “ideal I” as a dynamizing element which moves towards the future (to try to reach the ideal). Thus, we can say that the “ego” does not only fence in the psyche to define the “I-the other” opposition, but also incessantly pushes us towards goals which the “ego” considers necessary for its own affirmation and consolidation.

All this makes it sound as if the “ego” were some strange personage who possesses us and drags us towards its own ends, which are very different from our true ones. But in reality the “ego” is a simple function of the psyche with no other intention than that of “functioning” according to its laws. It is the “being”, that feeling of existing, of being here and being real which we mentioned at the beginning, and which is a pale reflexion of the “Self” in the psychic energy, which gives “meaning” (consciousness) to the whole mechanism. When it is reflected in the psychoenergetic totality it becomes trapped in the differentiating circle of the “ego”, and it identifies itself with what is inside that circle and “forgets” that it is also what is outside it, that it is not only what is outside it but that its indestructible brightness comes from “beyond” the “inside and outside”, from beyond the psyche, from the divine kingdom of the true and the real.

Sankara, one of the great philosopher-masters of India , illustrates what happens in this metaphor:

“(The Being) … is not born and does not die, does not grow or grow old, but as it is eternal does not change at all. It does not stop existing even when this body disintegrates into its components and disappears. As it penetrates this universe and is independent from it, it does not suffer any alteration, as occurs with the space after the destruction of the jug which contained it.”

That is, the “Being”, as it is reflected in the psyche (in the “rajas- tamas” or “sattwa” aspect), becomes “being something”, but as it is caught by the “ego” in the psychic substance it passes into the differentiated state of “I am something”. And it is in that “something” limited by the “I” that the drama of life takes place. When the “something” is purified (it gradually becomes “sattwa”) the “I am” meets the reality of its own “Being” (it stops being “ego” mixed up with everything else and becomes “Self”). The “I-ego” (rajas) and the memories (tamas) are then perfectly balanced on another plane, accessible to the Self but independent, tools that enable the body to go through life but which are no longer an object of identification.

This transformation is “the meaning of life”, and until it occurs the “I am something”, which we shall for brevity call “the ego”, will continue to perpetuate the lack of balance, trying to find satisfaction in imaginary goals created by “rajas” in an infinitely repeated future, because if the goal is reached, the long-awaited satisfaction bursts like a bubble, and another slightly more distant goal has to be chased after.

As security does not come from “inside” (because “inside” there is only the “rajas-tamas” conflict in constant vacillation and imbalance) it has to be sought “outside”. But “outside” is hostile because it is “the other” and the “ego” thus feels justified in strengthening its boundaries, in becoming “more ego”, that is, harder, more rigid and impenetrable. We all know this process, which leads to anxiety and depression, to violence towards our environment and towards ourselves, to competitiveness and frustration, in short, to unhappiness and dissatisfaction.

4. The Structure Of A Conflict

Human life seems to take place under the sign of conflict. This conflict has been the basis of many plays and dramas, such as Greek tragedy, Goethe, Shakespeare, surrealism, … It could be said that human endeavour in all fields is the struggle against conflict. We seem to be in contradiction with nature and we try to “conquer” it, but paradoxically all we do is annihilate it and thus pave the way for our own annihilation. Other human beings want the same things as we do, so we fight them, killing and generating hatred and destruction amongst us. But we also feel in contradiction with our own selves. We wonder about the meaning of our lives, because we know that all our ambitions, quarrels, anxieties and illusions will end in the apparent nothingness of death.

The solutions have naturally been sought among the material which was available. This material could only be “psychic material”, as everything passes through it.

In the West, where the collective psyche is dominated by the “rajas” aspect, the paths which have become available have been of a more mental kind, that is, analytical, organizing, classifying, controllable by the ego. We call the predominant kind of “belief” “science”. In the East the influence of “tamas” energy is much greater, and there has therefore been a greater tendency towards introspection and introversion, that is, the attention has been more directed towards the truly psychic (towards the aspect of the psyche which we call “inside” or inner world, while “science” is more concerned with the aspect which is directed “outwards”). Beliefs on the nature of truth take shape in doctrines denominated “mysticism”, and the ways of solving conflict are called “yoga”.

Sahaja Yoga, precisely because the word “yoga” appears in its name, would seem to be closer to the East than the West, and this is indeed true to a certain extent. As conflict is of a psychic nature, the solution also has to be of a psychic nature. It is thus where the psyche has been the primordial object of attention that people are bound to be nearer to the solutions. The problem is that when that direction (introspection) is dominant and there is no kind of scientific rigour, control method or rational scepticism, it is not difficult to fall into superstition, self-deception and ignorant credulity. This does not mean giving a scientific veneer to some mystic beliefs (or pseudomystic beliefs, like those found in some famous present-day cults and “masters”), by translating them into the language of physics or cybernetics. As always, it is in the positions of equilibrium between the two extremes that the dynamics of ascent and growth are to be found. The common ground between the attitudes of the objective Western scientist and the mystical Eastern philosopher can be summed up in two words: “common sense” and “pragmatism”.

“Common sense” should not be confused with “rationalism”, which is not the application of reason but rather the use of “computer logic”, which requires previous encoding (that is, reification). “Reason”, the human quality equivalent to “common sense”, comes from the “sattwa” aspect of the psyche, while the reifying rationalism is typically “rajas”.

There can also be semantic confusion with the word “pragmatism” Sometimes a high executive in a company is said to be “pragmatic” because, in order to achieve his own personal ambitions or because he is in complete agreement with the equally selfish demands of the company which he serves, he is capable of being completely insensitive to any kind of ethics or emotion, and can destroy any obstacle which stands in his way in order to achieve the planned objective, like an efficient machine. If the reader has understood what we have explained so far, it will be clear that this behaviour also belongs to the psychic kingdom of “rajas”. To be pragmatic in the “sattwa” sense is “to be in the present” and to act “from the present”, that is, to face what is as it is, without any justifications from “rajas” objectives or self-deception from “tamas” conditioning. To be pragmatic is to be “straightforward” with oneself and “open” with others. The results of action are simply this, but even though we are responsible for them we can still judge them with impartiality (not insensitivity). In short, to be pragmatic is to act with common sense.

It is this appeal to common sense and pragmatism which Shri Mataji makes constantly to those who are becoming acquainted with Sahaja Yoga. Be open-minded, do not judge from your own prejudices, observe results with impartiality, consider whether what is said, what is done and what is experienced has internal coherence. We believe that this is a scientific posture.

But to return to what we have called “human conflict”, which is the subject of this chapter, we have already indicated a few aspects of its structure in earlier chapters, and it is our wish to sketch out a general map here. We shall begin by reviewing what we have expounded up to now, in a very schematic way.

All experience is of a psychic nature

Not only “internal” experiences of a mental or emotional kind, but also the result of our sensory perception of the outside world.

The individual psyche is an “aspect” of the collective psyche

We say “aspect” and not “part” because we do not want to give the impression of something which can be divided into separate pieces. We know that there are connections between the psyches of different subjects, there are shared “psychic currents”, there are numerous phenomena which demonstrate that the psyche of a subject is not a closed compartment, but that rather it would appear that each subject is “swimming” in a common sea of energy, and uses different aspects of that energy at different times and according to his or her particular make-up.

There is a realm of the true and real “outside” the psyche.

As it is outside the psyche we cannot imagine or describe it. Any concept is meaningless when applied to this plane. From the psyche it cannot be perceived in the same way as the world and the consciousness which we have and experience when we are awake (“plane of waking”), and cannot be perceived when we are asleep, where our dreams recreate another world (“plane of dreams”) which also appears complete and all-embracing. Naturally it is not something that can be demonstrated with words, and it must be considered a working hypothesis. Even subjects who have had “peak experiences” (illumination or visions) cannot usually be sure that they have really perceived this plane and not other elevated planes within the psyche. We shall call this dimension (or non-dimension, to be precise) “the plane of truth” or “absolute divine plane”. In a way we could say that the psyche is a kind of “distortion” of this plane. In Jungian theory the individual representative of this plane is the so-called “self” (Selbst).

The psychic substance has three aspects or basic qualities which we call “rajas-tamas” and “sattwa”

We have already dealt in some detail with these concepts, so will simply remind the reader that they are applicable to both the individual and the collective psyche.

The “plane of truth” can reach the psyche through “sattwa”

That is, our consciousness which is conscious of psychic states can receive signals from the “plane of truth” if the inner attention can concentrate on that state of the psychic energy (sattwa) and is not oscillating between “rajas” and “tamas”.

When the “plane of truth” is reflected in “sattwa” it generates differentiated modulations or qualities.

We have called these modulating points “chakras” and have briefly explained the qualities generated by each one, and the way in which blockages in the chakras are perceived.

The psyche possesses a “differentiating” function which presents part of itself to us as “ourselves” and the remainder as “the other”

We have called this function “ego” and have said that it is made of “rajas” materials, that is, with energy which pushes towards the future.

These are, very schematically, the ideas we have presented up to now. According to this “conflict” is produced because, as a result of the “rajas-tamas” oscillation, our action in life is mistaken, we identify with it and create an internal contraction which blocks our chakras, so that it becomes more difficult for us to perceive the “plane of truth” (as the inner darkness and self-deception increase), and the mistake is reproduced on a larger scale, and so on.

But we might ask: What is it that produces this oscillation? Why is it not possible for our attention to nourish itself permanently from the “sattwa” aspect, and thus from the “plane of truth”? To answer this question we must introduce two concepts which we have not yet referred to:

1.- The “motor force” of consciousness which in the Indian philosophical tradition is given the name Kundalini energy.

2.- A fault or discontinuity in the path of “sattwa” to what we shall call “the Void”.

Anyone who has been interested in Eastern culture and its methods of inner growth will without doubt have come across the concept of “Kundalini energy”. It has been described as a very dangerous energy for the psyche (it can produce madness) and even for the physical organism, but at the same time as something that can take us to the higher planes of consciousness. It all depends on whether one has reached the appropriate level of preparation, and whether one has an experienced master who can lead the disciple along the correct path to awaken this energy.

Shri Mataji describes this energy in a different way. It is something natural and, like everything natural, it is harmless and positive if we let it act as it should, that is, spontaneously. Any function of the organism becomes dangerous if it is forced to leave the context for which Nature has designed it.

“Kundalini” energy could be defined, in the terminology which we use here, as a “representation in energy of the “plane of truth” in the human psychic organism”. Its function is to feed the consciousness with the energy of that plane so that the consciousness can contemplate it. Its path to the consciousness must naturally go through “sattwa”.

But it must be said that the “quality” of the energy which allows the contemplation of the plane must be in keeping with the level of “purity” of the psychic plane which is contemplated. If there is a good “rajas-tamas” balance in the psyche, then “sattwa” can appear before the consciousness and bring it reflections of the “plane of truth”. In this case the energy which illuminates the consciousness can be Kundalini, as it is the corresponding energy in the psyche on that same plane.

It should be noted that the whole structure which we are describing is nothing other than an interrelationship between consciousness and energy. The consciousness is the “being”, the “witness” or however we want to call “becoming aware” or “being conscious”. The “conscious being” is fed by the Kundalini, at best in its pure state, or in weaker or adulterated versions, which produce poorer states of consciousness.

“Energy” is “what we are aware of”, that is, the psyche, or the psychoenergetic totality, and it also exists in varying degrees of “quality” or transparency to the “plane of truth”, according to the intensity of the presence of “sattwa”.

The “level of consciousness” and the “level of quality of the energy” (that which one Is conscious of) should be similar, as imbalances can be a cause of conflict.

A comparison may serve to illustrate this idea. When we are asleep and dream (we are in the presence of the “plane of dreams”), the energy of the consciousness with which we live on that plane is appropriate to it, so that we can contemplate completely absurd and surrealist situations as if they were the most natural thing in the world. But it sometimes happens (many people have had this experience) that we suddenly realize that we are in a dream. For example, we realize that the person we are talking to died some time ago and cannot really be there, or any other situation where something “absurd” becomes apparent. This state can be interpreted thus: the “energy” of the “plane of awakeness” is feeding the consciousness, but we are still in the “plane of dreams” (on a lower psychic level). The reaction in these cases is to want to escape from the “plane of dreams”, that is, we want to wake up, or, what is the same thing, “to be in the presence of the plane of awakeness”. And that is precisely what happens: we wake up. But can we imagine what would happen if we had to remain trapped in the “plane of dreams” with our consciousness fed by the energy of “awakeness”? The idea does not seem very attractive.

If we accept the extrapolation of this idea to higher planes we could ask in the same way, what would happen if the Kundalini energy, which is the energy of the highest conceivable “plane” for the consciousness (the energy of “Truth”) appears there in all its intensity, but our imbalances, unresolved attachments, vices, etc., keep us on much lower planes? The answer is not difficult; it would be catastrophic.

And this is what happens with some procedures orientated by the “ego”, where the Kundalini energy is violently forced to “awaken”. Sometimes, as occurs with some “Tantric” methods, the very system itself has a repugnant and licentious appearance – what then can be expected of the masters or the disciples?

But there is another way of relating to the Kundalini energy and this is the way of Sahaja Yoga. Here the energy is “invited” to “awaken” and progress to the consciousness, but as it is a spontaneous movement, its entry into the field of the consciousness is very progressive, very subtle, and is only produced as far as the “clarity” of the psychic organism permits. It appears in the consciousness and nudges us, very sweetly, to “go a little higher”, it conveys to us the “desire” to approach the “plane of Truth” (to awaken to higher planes), and to do what is necessary to “clear” our psychic organism (by transforming our behaviour, our attitudes to life, etc.) The energy itself collaborates with this work from within the psyche. In practical terms this means that it orients our action, that we feel within us that clarity and confidence in making the right decision.

Shri Mataji says in metaphorical terms: “The Kundalini energy is your spiritual mother, and like any mother she only wants your ascent, your development, and she will help you sweetly, without forcing anything, as a mother helps her child to learn to walk and everything else, while she cares for it and nourishes it.”

In Western psychology there is no concept like that of Kundalini. The energy aspect of the psyche has been considered from a too materialistic viewpoint, that is, in accordance with the treatment accepted in physics and biology. The only concept which could have any similarity is that of “libido” which was invented by Freud and later transformed and debated by a large number of his disciples. In Freud’s version the “libido” was understood as a kind of psychic “sexual energy”. Perhaps it is no coincidence that in the East also, in methods which are considered dangerous (harmful for evolution from the point of view of Sahaja Yoga and rejected by Shri Mataji) such as some tantras, there is supposed to be an association between sexuality (the sexual act) and the awakening of the Kundalini energy.

Jung also used the word “libido” to designate psychic energy, but with a completely different meaning from Freud. Jung rescued the concept from the narrow frame of sexuality in which Freud had confined it and extended it to all the transformations which are produced in the psychic matter. In Jung’s case the interpretation is so general that it can include Kundalini and any other kind of energy which acts in the psyche.

We have already said that for Sahaja Yoga Kundalini is a very special energy. It is not the energy which moves our body, or which moves our emotions or activates our thoughts, or the energy that becomes blocked in complexes or repressions or which crystallizes in archetypal figures. Kundalini energy can influence all of these other energies, but it itself is the “essence” of all that is energy, it is the energy of the consciousness and contains the pure desire of being in the presence of the “plane of truth”, that is, of being conscious of the Absolute, True and Divine.

But now we might ask: “If Kundalini energy ascends spontaneously without our having to make any effort, and if it is the True guide, the ‘healer’ who leads us along the right path of evolution, why is there a conflict, why is humanity not already receiving the aid of this energy, and why is it necessary to awaken it?”

The answer is “the Void”. The path of Kundalini energy through the psyche to our consciousness has to follow “sattwa”, as we have explained. But according to Shri Mataji’s teachings, there is a point on the “sattwa” path where there is a breach or discontinuity and Kundalini cannot pass. As the flow of Kundalini in the consciousness ceases, there is a development of “rajas” and the “ego”. To try to find an explanation of why this is so would lead us into pointless metaphysical speculation, which could only be speculation. What does appear to be true is that the absence of this energy in evolution (we do not know at what moment in human development the “breach” was produced) has favoured the development of the volitive functions – it has placed a certain number of functions under the “control” of the consciousness of awakeness – which on the physical plane means the development of the central nervous system and the cerebral cortex, and has permitted an equivalent progress in the functions of individualization through the assertion of the “ego”. Perhaps this is the “tree of knowledge” which the Bible refers to. What is true is that in almost all developed mythologies (of cultures of any importance) there are allusions to some kind of “expulsion from Paradise”, that is, a rupture (breach) between the perfect world illuminated by divine knowledge (Kundalini) and man who is left to his own powers (ego). Mythology is the symbolic expression of the collective memory (the past of “tamas”).

In Sahaja Yoga the beginning of the process of transformation is started by the closing of the breach in the path of “sattwa” so that the ascent of Kundalini to the consciousness can take place in the spontaneous and natural manner we have spoken of. As the “sattwa” path in the psyche is scattered with points or vortices which modulate psychic qualities, which we have called “chakras”, the passage of Kundalini gradually clears them and frees them of blockages. When Kundalini reaches the “agnya chakra”, the current of thoughts is absorbed by the liberated chakra and the internal sensation is of deep peacefulness. In general the whole sensation is refreshing like an “inner shower”. Outside, on the physical plane, the progression of Kundalini to the consciousness is manifested with a sensation of “cool breeze” on the palms of the hands and on top of the head, and sometimes in the whole body. Further on we shall explain how the closing of the breach of “sattwa” is produced and the significance of this process.

5. The Symbolic Aspect Of The “Outside World”

Between the “outside world” and what we observe in our psyche (“inner world”) there is an obvious correspondence. This correspondence is of vital importance in understanding the way in which Sahaja Yoga works. For this reason we shall dwell on this point and analyse the concept of “symbol”, which is where the psychological influence of the objects and forms of the physical world have traditionally been studied.

However, in view of what has been said in earlier chapters it will be clear that we do not consider there to be two worlds (the psyche and the physical world) which are independent and only connected by certain influences which circulate in the direction “physical world- psyche” (phenomena of the physical world received through the senses which affect the psyche), but that physical world and psyche are two aspects of the “same thing”, since the interrelationship is permanent and multi-faceted. The concept of “symbol” may assist us in reflecting on this.

For Jung, “a word or an image is symbolic when it represents something more than an immediate and obvious meaning. It has a wider ‘unconscious’ aspect which is never defined with precision or explained completely. Neither can one hope to define it or explain it. When the mind explores the symbol, it is led to ideas which lie beyond the reach of reason.”

In this definition of Jung’s, as, in general, with all definitions, even those which come from other fields of knowledge such as semantics or semiology, it will be noted that the attribution of meaning to the concept of symbol is produced, above all, by opposition to that which is made to the concept of sign.

A sign alludes to something more that what it is in itself. A letter of the alphabet is not just an ink mark on a piece of paper, but also represents a sound. Traffic signs are not simply coloured triangles or circles, but are also instructions to drivers or pedestrians. One characteristic of the sign is that it is directed to that part of the “psychic structure” which we call “mind”, that is, that part where the contents are to be found, forming units separated from one another in an acceptably precise way, where the relationships between them obey certain stable rules which constitute a “logic”. In other words, the “rational” or “reasoning” part of the psyche (which we have said belongs to “rajas”). Another characteristic of the sign is that in order to interpret it we have to be able to “decode” it, we have to know the “code book”. For someone who cannot read, an “a” on a piece of paper will be just a curious mark. To someone who does not know traffic regulations, road signs will appear to be strange metallic, possibly decorative, pictures.

For Jung there are certain images or sounds whose meaning is “immediate”. When we see a “horse”, we immediately know that “it is a horse”. We would have to include signs in this category of signals of immediate meaning when we have the key to their interpretation. When we see a “stop” sign, we know that it is a “stop” sign and that we have to stop.

But this immediate meaning is produced because this kind of signal is aimed at that reasoning part of the psyche, structured in codes and logic, which we call “rational mind”.

On the other hand, a “symbol” goes further, crossing over the superficial levels of the “mind” and reaching deeper layers (which psychologists call “unconscious”) where it moves unknown energies. If these energies in their movement reach the threshold of consciousness they surprise and move us, sometimes pleasantly, sometimes with fear or even horror, but always leaving in us a “feeling”, an “emotion”, a sensation of totality of something which escapes our reason, which cannot be grasped by our system of mental codes and categories, but which, however, “is” completely, full of a disturbing but real life.

We might say that while “normal” signals (including “signs”) only reach that superficial part of the psyche called the mind, and exercise there a transforming and modifying effect, “symbols” reach the totality of our “inner world” or our “psychoenergetic body” as a whole, so that their influence affects our energetic whole, transforming the whole structure from the foundations to the surface, to take us towards evolution or towards involution.

How could our psychoenergetic entity change, evolve, purify itself and reach the necessary transparency to make other levels of reality accessible to our consciousness, if it were not for the presence of “symbols” in the signals which reach us from the “outside world”?

But from Jung’s definition we can deduce that there are signals which are symbols and others which are not. In colloquial language this is obviously how we usually use the words. A horse galloping through a meadow, a river of still waters are only that if they are found in a “normal” context, a horse or a river, data which are more or less emotionally coloured by our experience for the use of our mental computer, and we usually leave the word “symbol” for cabalistic hieroglyphics or the surrealist images of a dream.

But if a “symbol” is something capable of reaching and transforming our psychoenergetic whole, is there any signal which does not to a greater or lesser extent have that capacity? For example, we look at the sky and we realize that it is covered with clouds (data); it is probably going to rain or perhaps there is going to be a thunderstorm (sign); a vague fear spreads through us, we continue looking at the sky, and suddenly it seems to say something to us, we discover a vitality, a living something which wants to address us “especially”. We do not know what it is, perhaps “our heart misses a beat”, or perhaps it just shines for a second in our consciousness to be erased from our memory by other thoughts or perceptions. Who has not had experiences of this kind with signals from everyday life? When we feel that we are perceiving the “magic” of something (perhaps a sunset, the flames of a bonfire, or simply the position of an object on a shelf) we are simply being conscious of a “symbolic effect”, of the influence of the situation in our psychoenergetic depth and totality.

In conclusion we will say that every signal (word, sound, image, situation, etc.) has a symbolic power, that is, it is there to produce some kind of effect, of transformation, in our living whole.

However, bearing in mind the way in which these signals are produced, we can distinguish two kinds:

a) Signals which are produced with the intention of exercising the symbolic effect which they are capable of generating. We might say that we use them as tools or as techniques to bring about a psychic transformation, and we do it consciously and intentionally. In Sahaja Yoga (and also in other doctrines) when we use words or phrases to this end we call them “mantras”, when they are gestures with the hands they are named “bandans” and in the case of more complex repertoires, elaborated sequences of symbols are called “rituals”, of which the most common are denominated “Pujas” and “Havanas”. We shall explain what these consist of later.

b) Other signals, which are not intended to have a symbolic effect but which have one in any case. As we have said, sometimes we are able to perceive it while at other times it passes unnoticed.

We must also bear in mind that not all symbols have the same force. By this we mean that the energy with which they penetrate and act on the psyche is stronger in some cases than in others. This energetic difference may depend on the kind of symbol, but it depends above all on the “agent” which generates the symbol. There are people, places, situations, etc., endowed with a greater capacity for energetic expression. The “symbol” is the carrier of the energy, the key with which it penetrates in the deep psychic structure, but the energetic potential comes from the “agent” which generated it.

All the signals which appear in our environment therefore have this symbolic power which transforms our interior, but we ourselves are also a living symbol for the world. Our body, our actions, words, gestures, emotions, our whole expression is activating, through its symbolic power, other psychoenergetic structures, and, of course, our own retroactively.

Life is thus a constant energetic transaction between psychic entities which have visible bodies, and where we should include not just human beings but all creation. The external aspect of this transaction receives the name “symbol”, but in fact the symbol is “only” an external signal, a consequence of our intellectualization of what has happened. The important thing is the energy and its transforming effect on our psychic totality. Similarly, a banknote is only a symbol and when it is transferred from one subject to another what is really transferred is a very complex “value”, which has a deep power and influence on the whole social framework.

We know, naturally, that there are also invisible energies which affect us. Physics speaks about them and new forms are appearing constantly. In the action of these energies on our psychoenergetic totality the symbolic accompaniment seems to be lacking, which is why they pass unnoticed and we only know about them through their effects. Until we have organs of direct perception of these energies we are at their mercy. If they are “good” they will activate our psychoenergetic structure in the direction of evolution and we will feel better and better, “cleaner”, “more transparent”; if they are “bad” they will move our living totality in the direction of involution, and we will feel “darker” inside.

If what we have set out here is accepted, and as the aim (that which is positive for us) could be summarized as the “clearing” of our energetic whole, the guidelines for leading our life in that direction can be limited to the following:

1.- Make our psychoenergetic organism accessible to the right

“symbols of transformation”.

2.- Remain under the influence of favourable invisible energies.

3.- Make sure that the “symbol” of our own action is positive, so that it does not harm our organism retroactively.

We shall see later how this is achieved in Sahaja Yoga. In any case it is necessary to “move” in the right direction, and to do this we need some information about the state of our “psychoenergetic structure”, and how it behaves under external stimuli. A normal human being has three ways to obtain this information.

1.- Through “inner perception”, that is, the “feeling-sensation” of the inner state. The intuition which brings us the “taste” of the way we feel inside.

2.- Through the reflection of our actions in the outside world. That is, the way in which the “outside world” reacts to the symbolic “acts” which we produce.

3.- Through dreams, through genuine symbols which we have to know how to interpret.

A “Sahaja Yogi” has a fourth procedure, the “cool breeze on the hands” with all the nuances and signals which Sahaja Yoga studies and which we are trying to describe here. We call it “vibratory consciousness”, and it allows the Sahaja Yogi to be directly conscious of the state of his or her subtle psychoenergetic plane.

6. Inner World – Outer World

Everything that we have said so far refers only and exclusively to the plane or realm of the “psychic”, which, as we have said, is the only plane with which we have direct contact.

But our bodily senses (sight, hearing, touch, etc.) also place us in relation with another plane, which for the purposes of differentiation we shall call “outer world”. We shall use the expression “inner world” to refer to that psychic plane which has been the basis of our explanations up to now.

We are sure that for many people the concept of “inner world” will not be easy to interpret in the sense in which we use it here, so we will devote a little time to it.

When we speak of an “inner world”, we are referring to a “real universe”, that is, to “a place where we are”. Its co-ordinates are not temporal space like the physical universe we are used to, where there are three dimensions of space which we can apparently measure but which contemporary physics is systematically demolishing. The co- ordinates of the “inner world” are qualitative. There are currents and movements in it, but they are not from left to right or from above to below as we are accustomed to understanding movement; they are from depressive darkness to the clarity of understanding, from irrational fear to objectless joy, etc., etc.

A naive mentality considers the “inner world” not as an unspannable universe but as the “personality”, that is, what we are, and projects everything else on the “outside world” which it considers the true “universe”. The “inner world” is thus limited and cut back, linked to the small part of space which the physical body occupies. At most we use the term “inner world to described phenomena which seem to occur within our brain. Everyone thus has his or her own “inner world”, or intimate, private “world”, which is only called “world” in a metaphorical sense, not because it really has the characteristics of a universe. What acquires the character of a “universe” and of “reality” for such a mentality is what the senses reveal. The “world we live in” is the “outer world”.

We do not want to deny the existence of an “outer world”, although there would be reasons for doubting it. Our point of view is based on a concept which we might define as axiomatic: “All knowledge is psychic.”

When I see a bird flying, in reality what “comes from the outside” is not a bird flying but a certain number of photons, particles and radiations which excite my senses. The construction, with all those materials, of a bird flying is carried out in my psyche; there are all the data, the meanings, the memories, the logic which can be applied to the situation, and also the emotions, feelings, etc. The final result, that is, the kind of “flying bird” which I may see (menacing, joyful, full of meaning, etc.), is influenced by a multitude of forces from the “inner world”, most of them unconscious for me. Each object and phenomenon of the “outer world” is an object and phenomenon (or many objects and phenomena, because there need not be a one-to- one correspondence) of the “inner world”. The problems of the “outer world” are, in reality, problems of the “inner world”. The “inner world” is as unlimited as the “outer world”. It is in the “inner world” that the criteria of “true” and “false”, “objective” and “subjective” are established.

We have given this “inner world” the name “psychoenergetic totality” to give an idea of its limitless character, of its representation of the “all” and of its psychic quality. An individual human being is a spectator of that infinity, identified with a small part of it through the magic of his or her “ego”, conscious of a part under his or her “area of identification” and unconscious of everything else but influenced by everything. The aspect of the individual psyche which is nearest to the subject we call “individual psyche”, while we call the totality “collective psyche” or “universal psyche”. In any case, most of both the “collective” and the “individual psyche” is unconscious.

But the constant stimuli of the “outer world” are so strong and so exciting that the internal infinity becomes extinguished. To see something of it we need to limit the passage of sensations from the outside. We can do this by closing our eyes and blocking our ears, which are the entry routes for most external stimuli. In many yoga systems in India there are methods and techniques for achieving this entrance into the interior. In the West one of the explorers of this internal space who has used the most radical methods imaginable is John C. Lilly. He was the creator of the “sensory deprivation tank”: a soundproof and completely dark coffin, filled with salt water at body temperature in which one floats. If one also sucks a substance designed to desensitize the senses of taste and smell, one becomes completely isolated from the “outer world” on entering the tank. Dr. Lilly underwent various experiences of this type, while taking increasing doses of intravenous LSD. Incredible as it may seem, he managed to leave his “deprivation” tank and has related his experience in an amazing and illustrative book.

We should, then, recall that all conflict which can exist in human life is a conflict from the “inner world”, and that both natural, spontaneous evolution and the “efforts” which human beings may make for their transformation are directed towards the “inner world”. However, the character of “reflecting screen” of the “inner world” which the “outer world” possesses makes it a wonderful tool in that transformation.

In fact, what we see as “outer world” (the interpretation of all those energies which penetrate our senses) is a reflection of our “inner world”, or, to put it another way, is our “inner world” projected. When we produce a phenomenon in the “outer world”, a concomitant phenomenon is produced in the “inner world”. To clarify this point we might make the following comparison: When I lift weights in a gymnasium a directly observable phenomenon is produced, which is the fact of my lifting weights (let us say, something from the “outer world”) but at the same time another phenomenon is produced (in this example comparable to the “inner world”), which is the development of my muscles.

Similarly, when something from the “outer world” produces love in me, for example, what is happening is that my inner attention has moved to find the “sattwa” aspect of the psyche. But if someone insults me or hits me and I return the insult or blow, my attention must go away from “sattwa” and descend into lower areas of “rajas” to enable me to do so. If I decide to forgive I will return to “sattwa” and will mobilize pure energy from the “agnya chakra”. This is also a kind of gymnastics, and the part of my psyche which is within my reach (that is, “what I am” in the way in which this concept is understood in ordinary language) will be structured according to the type of psychic energies I exercise in this way. In other words : “My inner growth towards higher levels of greater health, balance, consciousness, etc. (sattwa) is produced according to the extent to which my external behaviour is correct.” One thing cannot exist without the other, because they are two sides of the same coin. From this we may deduce something very important :

“Although there are techniques which may help to understand the structure of the “inner world” (meditation, ceremonies, therapies, etc.) and to act directly on certain particularly unhealthy aspects, the GREAT TECHNIQUE of treatment is to live with the correct behaviour in the outer world.”

But all prescriptions, commandments and sermons have proved inoperative for the achievement of this “correct behaviour”, because they have to be interpreted and converted into “rules”. Rules are maintained at the level of the mind and only serve to encourage the rigidity of the “ego”.

Where are also situations in which we are surprised to find ourselves lying, hating or attacking, and in which, if we are sufficiently intelligent, we may want to stop having attitudes of this nature; but at other times we do similar things without realizing it, or we do them at subtler levels where they pass unnoticed.

In Sahaja Yoga, as we have said earlier, initiation consists of bridging the void in the sattwa channel and permitting the Kundalini energy to pass. This new situation allows us to bring the state of our “chakras” into our consciousness through our physical body (mainly through our fingers). When we mobilize internal energy in the wrong way (through actions, thoughts or emotions) the negative effect on our “chakras” is felt immediately (as heat) on our fingers. A right action, on the other hand, loosens the pressure on the chakras and the passage of the Kundalini is felt as a “cool breeze” on the palms of the hands. We shall see all of this in greater detail in later chapters, where we shall explain the perspectives of Sahaja Yoga on the physical body and environment.

To conclude this chapter we should like to propose that the reader pause to reflect on the important fact of the complete correspondence between “inner world” and “outer world”. To say that “they are the same thing” could lead us into thorny arguments, because our experience shows them to us as separate, but we can understand a correspondence like that between the two sides of a very thin piece of paper.

There is an aphorism which is attributed to Hermes Trimegistus which says that “as above is below”, meaning that there is a correspondence between heaven and earth, between the divine world and the visible universe. In the conception which we propose here this aphorism could also be applied, but with certain nuances. In our opinion “heaven” (like hell) is also a part of the collective psyche (and thus of the individual psyche). Heaven is part of the higher aspects or levels of “rajas” and “hell” of the dark areas of “tamas”. As we can see, this conception of the “spiritual” is also relative and comes from a rather primitive way of understanding the world, where the differences between the material (below) and the spiritual (above) correspond to ingenuous ideas about the “visible” (the real, human, world, of matter) and the “invisible” (the kingdom of spirits, gods, heaven, etc.) Modern science has brought and continues to bring many “invisible kingdoms” closer to the material plane. Our point of view is that there is in effect an absolute divine plane which we have called the “Plane of reality”, but that it is outside the psyche and we know nothing about it. It is, obviously, neither above or below or anywhere in relation to the psyche; it is inconceivable and unnameable, and we use it as a working hypothesis to explain certain things about the “psychic” plane, which is where we are, and which we do know something about.

The psychic plane is unlimited (or at least that is how it seems to us). There are more transparent areas where “sattwa” (evolutionary) energies predominate, and which we could call “Heaven”, and there are other areas where “sattwa” is almost completely absent, which we might call “hell”. Sometimes, the human consciousness manages to connect with one of these “higher” or “lower” psychic planes, and feel “higher states of consciousness” to use the current term, or, in the traditional archaic language, mystical ecstasy, heavenly visions, revelations, etc.; or “bad trips”, infernal visions, possessions, etc.; or whichever expressions we prefer.

All of this is the “psychic plane” (or psychoenergetic totality), and we are connected to it from “inside”. What we call “outside world” reflects this inner plane, which is why a deep observation of and understanding of nature and the universe brings us closer than anything else can to the understanding of the “inner world”. Let us recall the ferryman in Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, who had never done anything but take people from one bank of the river to the other, and yet who was the wisest of the characters in the story because he had “known how to listen to the river”. To use the terminology we have employed here, “he had known how to see in the river the reflection of the inner world”.

For this reason, we should like to propose an alternative aphorism to the one quoted earlier : “As it is inside so is it outside”.

7. The Outer World : The Physical Body

Evidently, the closest thing to the “outer world” is our own body. As we have said, all aspects of the psyche which make what we might call “the individual or personal psyche” have a reflected expression or counterpart in the exterior world, via the physical body.

The diagram on page 7 shows the organs of the physical body in which the psychic functions and characteristics that have been mentioned in previous chapters are “embodied”.

It must be stressed that while the “outer world” with one’s physical body “appears to be outside us”, in reality it can only be known insofar as it is configured as an aspect of the psyche.

All the energy characteristics that have been described as elements and structures of the psyche (chakras, Kundalini, etc.) represent aspects of the subtle space called “psycho energetic whole”, but when we contemplate the “outer world”, and particularly our “physical body”, we find in it vestiges of these elements and structures, expressed with the materials and in the manner which correspond to that outer world, whose energy is accessible to our senses.

The opposing psychic forces of “rajas-tamas” are expressed in the physical body through the sympathetic nervous system. This system, of course, consists of bundles of nerves running symmetrically up and down the spinal column, which are inverted in their progress to the brain, so that the bundles from the right side of the body join the left side of the brain, while those from the left side join the right hemisphere of the brain.

For Sahaja Yoga, the right side of the body (and left hemisphere of the brain) is associated with the psychic energy called “rajas”, the type of energy which pushes us towards the future and therefore has the necessary elements for controlling that future. As early as 1874, the British neurologist John Huglings Jackson described the left hemisphere as the centre of “the faculty of expression”. This side of the brain is also known to be related to the faculty of carrying out logical operations and everything to do with putting items in order, spatial orientation, planning, etc. In other words, a series of functions that robotics is already capable of incorporating in an automatic mechanism, albeit in a still rudimentary form. Language, in other words the manipulation, organization and structure of words, is another of the faculties of this part of the nervous system. It must be remembered that words are the crystallization and encodement of concepts and experiences to be used later as “objects” susceptible to control. The attributes associated with “rajas” energy should be easily recognised in the above description.

“Tamas” energy has completely opposite characteristics. It has more to do with the emotional, or rather, with the “sentimental” or “romantic”. Its physical expression corresponds to the left side of the body and the right hemisphere of the brain. It is interesting that contemporary physiology shows a less precise knowledge of the right hemisphere than of the left. It might be useful to ask whether this is influenced by the research method itself and by the markedly “rajas” attitude of the researchers, which leads them to use some kind of cognitive framework which prevents anything which does not fit into the framework from entering it. In other words, we seem to be trying to understand the right hemisphere by using the left hemisphere.

The psychological functions of the right hemisphere are described ambiguously as “artistic faculties”, and in general “non- verbal activities”. It is known that this hemisphere’s role in human intelligence and judgement is non-analytical and global; what we call “intuitive knowledge”, reaching conclusions from a global, non- analytical integration of multiple data. Psychologists and physiologists also agree that women have greater right hemisphere activity than men, while in men the left hemisphere is generally more active.

On the other hand, “tamas” energy’s responsibility for past memories and conditioning has gone unnoticed by researchers in human physiology. Maybe this is because the concept of “memory” is also associated with an aspect of “rajas”, the maintenance of verbal archives. The learning of concepts, dictionary knowledge or what we might call “computer-type memory” belongs to “rajas”. This naturally does not refer to the past as experience, as a reality, but only as useful data for a process in the future. C. Rayner, in the general introduction to the subject which we quoted earlier, gives a vivid example:

“If we’re walking down the street and recognise a face, the identification of that face is the job of the visual memory of the right hemisphere. However, the name of the person who the face belongs to is supplied by the left hemisphere.”

Note that “recognition of the face” is an activity which is linked to the past (tamas), because ‘recognition’, even semantically, means ‘to re-know”, in other words, going back to the past where the ‘original knowledge’ took place first, and then ‘going over it’ again in order to find the face which is in front of us now, once again.

Remembering the name, on the contrary, means having access to a file which contains the attributes of the subject and a label (the name). Even though the original facts come from the ‘past’, they have been instrumentalized (rajas) for a future ‘use’.

The ‘bilateral symmetry’ of the nervous system in an organism also corresponds to the opposing symmetry which is maintained on the psychic planes of ‘rajas’ and ‘tamas’.

The aspect of ‘sattwa’ in the psychic energy is represented physically through the poorly known ‘parasympathetic nervous system’.

It must be stressed once again that when we state that some aspect of the psyche has its physical representation in a concrete part of the nervous system, we do not mean to say that there is a hypothetical psychic energy ‘flowing’ through its nerves. The psyche is not determinable on the physical plane. Its ‘substance’ can be described as energy which exists at different planes of density, yet which is invisible in any of its forms. As we have said earlier, it is important to avoid trying to situate everything according to spatial coordinates. The physical plane is only a manifestation of this other plane, this other concept which we are discussing. It might be said that the psyche ’emerges’ on the physical plane in the form of nerves, and in other physical expressions such as a series of accompanying energies.

The reader will recall that when referring to the structure of psychic energy, we mentioned a discontinuity in the ‘sattwa’ aspect which impeded the passage of the ‘Kundalini’ energy (the energy of consciousness) up to the level of the awareness. This discontinuity can be understood, on the physical plane, as the distribution of the bundles of nerves of the parasympathetic system. Some nerve fibres stem from the cranial nerves above the medulla and others originate in the sacral nerves at the end of the medulla. For this reason, this chain is also known as the ‘craniosacral’ chain. The space between these two groups of nerves corresponds to what we called, when we were referring to the psyche, ‘the void’.

Meditating through Sahaja Yoga allows this ‘void’ to be crossed, so that a bridge is made between the two separate extremes of the path of ‘sattwa’ within the psyche. Naturally, no anatomic modification is produced in the parasympathetic system, so that this ‘subtle bridge’ is relatively unstable and must be consolidated by working on oneself in a ‘sahaja’ way. The ‘chakras’, ‘vortexes’ which modulate the subtle energy and create psychic qualities, correspond in the physical body to the ‘nervous plexuses’. From there they hook up with and influence the corresponding endocrine glands and other organs. The most important references are the following :

The Mooladhara chakra corresponds to the pelvic plexus and controls the prostate gland, cervix of the uterus, the elimination ducts, Fallopian tubes, etc.

The Swadistan chakra corresponds to the aortic plexus and is related to a part of the pancreas, liver, spleen, uterus and kidneys.

The Nabhi chakra corresponds to the coeliac plexus and influences the glands above the kidneys, the rest of the liver and spleen, pancreas, kidneys and part of the uterus.

The Anahata chakra corresponds to the cardiac plexus and is related to the lungs, pleura, pericardium and heart.

The Vishuddhi chakra corresponds to the cervical plexus and controls the thyroid, parathyroid, neck, ears, nose, throat, teeth, face, tongue, palate, and the front of the eyes. It also controls the arms and hands.

The Agnya chakra is expressed through the optic chiasma and controls the pituitary and pineal glands, hypothalamus, retina and optic lobes.

The Sahasrara chakra is related to the limbic area.

In the poetic language of classical Indian texts, the ‘chakras’ (literally meaning ‘wheels’) are described as lotus flowers, each of which has a different number of petals which in turn correspond to different functions of the ‘chakras’. In a physiological analysis every nervous plexus can be broken down into subplexuses whose number is the equivalent of the petals described in the traditional texts. For example, the six ‘petals’ of the ‘swadistan chakra’ correspond to the six subplexuses of the aortic plexus : spermatic, left colon, sigma, superior hemorroidal, inferior mesentric, and hypogastric.

The Kundalini energy does not have a direct physical expression, but it is assumed to be located at the base of the spinal column in conjunction with the triangular bone denominated ‘sacrum’ (sacred).

As we have said, the ‘chakras’ and all the aspects of the energy which we have described belong to the psychic plane, but it is not possible in reality to make a radical separation between the psychic and the physical. We have mentioned the possibility of ‘understanding’ the physical body as an aspect of the psyche, since from the point of view of its perception, sensation, and evaluation (the meaning of the body and its signals), whatever the process may be, it has to go through the psyche, which is what the consciousness is in contact with. But it is also true that the psyche has to have some kind of bodily form, in other words, it has to exist as something material, even if it is at a very subtle level. In reality, when we speak about matter or the physical world, we tend to limit it conceptually to an aspect of this plane which can be captured by one of our senses. We now know that matter and energy are the same thing and also that our senses only capture a tiny part of that conglomerate of matter and energy that surrounds us. By amplifying our senses through scientific instruments, we have discovered the existence of other much subtler planes, and thus can infer the invisible presence of other worlds which we may discover some day. One of these, or, let us permit ourselves the hypothesis, all of these, may be the seat of the psyche.

In any case, whether we see the physical world as contained in the psyche or as a subtle aspect of the physical plane, only the point of view changes.

As for living things, research with kirlian cameras has demonstrated the existence of ‘auras’ of energy that remain in an organism (and can be photographed) even if the dense part of the organism from which the aura originates disappears. For example, the energy outline of a leaf remains unaltered, even if a piece of the leaf is broken off.

These ‘auras’ also exists in the human body and indicate the existence of ‘subtle bodies’ of energy in close relation with the physical body perceived by the senses. Diagrams from the Indian yoga tradition, like the chart presented in this chapter, show the ‘chakras’, the energy channels, the Kundalini, etc., situated on one of these subtle planes, and in correspondence with the physical body that we know. There therefore exists a ‘psychosomatic’ and ‘somatopsychic’ relationship, where the chakras act as general transmitters and intermediaries.

This means that psychic problems, which, as we have remarked, are blockages in the ‘chakras’ due to pressure from the ‘rajas’ and ‘tamas’ aspects, and darkening that hinders the expression of the ‘plane of truth’, affect the physical body because it is also regulated through the chakras (via the autonomic nervous system). A chakra which is blocked by the psyche will also function badly for the body.

The opposite also occurs. Abusing the physical organs, taking drugs, toxins, etc. into the organism, produces an ‘irritation’ in the ‘chakras’ which is perceived in the psyche.

When someone first practises Sahaja Yoga, the Kundalini energy ascends to the awareness through the ‘sattwa’ channel, closing the ‘breach’ which originally existed in this channel, and the state of the ‘chakras’ becomes evident, that is, conscious. In physical terms, what happens at the beginning is that at a subtle level the autonomous nervous system becomes connected to the central nervous system (voluntary system), which is the one which is accessible to the awareness. Thus there is a new perception, of the subtle plane where the chakras and energy channels exist. This perception takes place through the physical body in which signals are received which have to be decoded.

If the Kundalini energy is able to ascend up to the last chakra (Sahasrara) and cross it, thus indicating that there are no excessive blockages or imbalances, the sensation which is produced is as if a cool breeze were blowing gently over the palms of the hands and coming out of the top of the head. In general there is a feeling of peace and relaxation.

If there are blockages and imbalances in the direction of ‘rajas’ or ‘tamas’, we feel heat in the right or left hand, respectively. If a chakra is blocked, heat or a prickling sensation can be felt in a particular finger of the hand because there are nerve endings on the fingertips which correspond to each chakra.

In this way the fingers give information on the state of the subtle centres and thus on the state of the entire psychosomatic organism. We can recognize for ourselves what is not working properly in our own organism and can thus take measures to correct it. Since we are not talking only about the physical organism but also the subtlest organism, that is, the one which leads us along the path of evolution, it can be said that we become our own master.

In the theoretical teachings of Shri Mataji there is further information on the way in which the chakras work, the physical and psychic systems involved, and possible solutions in the case of blockages and imbalances. These alternatives will be commented upon in a general way later on in the book.

We should stress, in any case, the importance of obtaining the ‘connection’ of the ‘sattwa’ channel and the ascent of the Kundalini energy beyond the Sahasrara chakra, because it is this ascent of the energy which provides the awareness of the subtle system through the fingers and in general through the physical body. These physical sensations, whether cool breeze or heat, have a ‘vibratory’4 nature. They can be felt as a light tingling (cool, hot or stabbing) in the fingers or in other parts of the body in which corresponding chakras can be recognized. Because of this, this new awareness can be called ‘vibratory awareness’, with the understanding that this has to do with ‘objective’ signals perceived within the central nervous system, not with vague sensations of an intuitive nature.

To end this chapter, we should like to make some observations about the use of the body as far as sensuality is concerned. In the accompanying diagram the reader will note that the Kundalini energy is located immediately above the Mooladhara chakra. This symbolizes the fact that in the psyche, the Kundalini is supported by this chakra in its progress towards our consciousness. This chakra acts as a kind of ‘force’ which protects the ascent of the Kundalini. If this chakra is damaged, the Kundalini will have difficulty in rising, and may perhaps be unable to rise at all. The Mooladhara chakra modulates the quality of ‘innocence’ on the psychic plane, and on the physical plane it is related to the functioning of the sexual organs. The ‘non-innocent’ use of sexuality thus damages and blocks this chakra. It is probably for this reason that all the religions have tried to provide inhibiting norms with regard to sexuality, which in the end have become systems of repression against which other ideological currents have fought. Repression does not make the situation any better because it does not increase our ‘innocence’; however, sexual behaviour which is oriented to the exploitation of the sensation produced by these organs is an ‘egoistic’ conduct which blocks one of the most important energetic centres of the psyche. And of course, the use of and manipulation of sexuality with supposedly spiritual ends is a contradiction which endangers one’s very evolution.

Expression in the “physical body” of the chakras and types of energy which make up the “energetic whole”.

1.- Mooladhara (within the triangle, Kundalini energy). 2.- Swadishthan.
3.- Nabhi.
4.- Anahata (Heart)
5.- Vishuddhi.
6.- Agnya.
7.- Sahasrara.

I.- Sattwa (the dotted line within the “void” area denotes the breach in the channel).
II.- Rajas.
III.- Tamas.

8. The Outside World (The Environment)

In conventional scientific thought, there is a tendency to consider human beings as basically isolated entities, with a certain network of relationships and dependencies with others and with the environment, but which are basically little different from the relationships that exist between any other kinds of ‘objects’.

The ‘environment’ is presented as a ‘fact’, which produces certain responses in human beings according to their personality (or one could also say according to their ‘programming’). Changes in personality (in the programming) are made in order to respond more effectively to the environment. A ‘good response’ is understood to be one which produces the maximum physical (or other) gratification for the subject.

Naturally, this sketch is a simplification, but some ‘scientific’ points of view, such as ‘behaviourist’ psychology , are not too far from this model.

With such a mechanistic attitude, in which what is ‘real’ is what is ‘outside’ (in other words, objects, that which can be touched), it is not surprising that the idea that human life is ‘psychic’, in the sense that the psyche is real and the ‘outside world’ is a psychic construction, even though it is based on sensory stimuli, is considered a fantasy and impossible to accept.

When Jung postulated the existence of the ‘collective psyche’ (which he called the collective unconsciousness since very little of it surfaces in the consciousness), he encountered very strong resistance from the medical/psychiatric profession of his day, and this resistance has hardly diminished since. Nevertheless, Jung’s proof could not be refuted. It was based on the appearance of similar symbols in the psyches of subjects belonging to very different cultures, with no means of conventional transmission of information between them.

In other words, Jung supposes that a ‘psychic fabric’ exists in which all of humanity participates, and of which every individual human being is a representation on a smaller scale and in whose contents every human being participates. An appropriate simile might be a holographic reproduction in which every dot contains all the information of the whole (of the whole painting), but with less energy, that is, less definition.

In 1991 the British biologist Rupert Sheldrake published a book in which he defends the idea of the existence of a collective memory. This scientist claims that DNA alone cannot explain the form an organism takes. As an illustration, he points out that an individual’s arm and leg have identical cell types ‘with identical proteins and identical DNA. So the differences between the arm and the leg cannot be ascribed to DNA per se.’ Sheldrake offers the following explanation for the mystery of how an earthworm or a whale develops from a simple fertilized cell : ‘The developing organism would be within the morphogenetic field, and the field would guide and control the form of the organism’s development.’ Needless to say, Sheldrake’s hypothesis has been just as severely criticized by ‘orthodox science’ as Jung’s work.

We include these references here to show how in western thought reflections upon ‘the outside world’ can give rise to logical and coherent solutions along the same lines as the traditional ideas of the Vedanta which underpin Sahaja Yoga.

For Sahaja Yoga a collective psyche really does exist. As we have stated throughout this book, the individual psyche is one aspect of this whole (as in the image of the holograph). It is the ‘ego’ that is in charge of establishing the illusion of separation and fragmentation.

In accord with this, the consciousness is also collective. The concept of consciousness is complex and subject to many different interpretations. Some philosophers and psychologists talk about the ‘contents of the consciousness’, according to which the consciousness appears to be a kind of ‘recipient’ which ‘things’ enter and leave. However, it may be preferable to consider the consciousness as ‘the witness’ or the ‘realization’ of something. In fact, language is unable to give us a more complete description, because the consciousness is a function which has its roots in the ‘plane of truth’, and as we already know, any reference to this plane is impossible. It is the ‘attention’ which is in charge of bringing into the consciousness specific aspects of the psychoenergetic framework. All psychoenergetic material which at a given moment is not within reach of the attention can be referred to as ‘unconscious’ at that moment.

Thus, if the human being is not just another product of the ‘outside world’, or an object which an ‘interior world’ has developed by a chance transformation, but is rather a psychic entity which is changing and evolving, and is doing so (like the holograph) through the collective coming together of innumerable parts (individual psyches) in which each psyche reflects the structure of the whole; if this is a true definition of the human being, it would seem to be sensible to ask the question about the relationship between the individual psyche and the outside environment from the opposite point of view. In other words, rather than wondering how the psyche faces the environment, we could examine the role which the environment plays in the evolution and transformation of the psyche. It is essentially the same question looked at from a different perspective. All we are suggesting is that we look at the other side of the coin for a change, not that this viewpoint is the only valid one. What we want to focus on in this book is not the possible structure of the universe, but human beings as they experience themselves, their inner conflict and their search for meaning.

Thus, starting from the fact that something exists which irritates our sense organs, and that that something is perceived by us (we must stress once more that it is perceived by the psyche) as our ‘external environment’, we might remark that this external environment in its relationship to the psyche (the way in which it acts upon it) has two basic characteristics:

– It is a ‘mirror’ of the state of the psyche .

– It has a ‘plasmatic’, crystallizing and concretizing effect on psychic states.

The ‘mirror-like’ quality is expressed in the way in which the outside world reacts to behaviour and in the way in which behaviour is a consequence of mental processes.

The process could be outlined as follows :

– We generate a system of attitudes from a ‘self-concept’ that we want to try out and experience in the outside world.

-Whese attitudes mobilize thoughts which become motivating structures and create ‘needs’.

– These needs are supported emotionally. Emotion is the energy for action.

– This emotional energy gives rise to certain conduct.

– The conduct receives a response from the environment.

-The response from the environment is perceived, evaluated by the subject and serves to modify the ‘self-concept.’

This is essentially nothing more than the expansion of the old saying that ‘the face is the mirror of the soul.’ What is in our psyche is expressed externally as conduct (our ‘face’). The outside world reacts to our face and lets us know whether it is necessary to change it. The advice of the Greek sages, ‘Know thyself,’ is easier if we observe the result of our own behaviour rather than simply limiting ourselves to accepting our own opinion of ourselves.

The ‘concretizing ‘or ‘plasmatic’ quality proceeds from a law which is valid for both the physical and psychic aspects, that ‘every action produces an equivalent reaction in the opposite direction’. The reaction becomes more intense according to the strength and concreteness of the action. For example: we become angry with someone and feel like attacking them. Our interior attention moves in the ‘rajas’ direction and the Vishuddhi chakra (as well as other chakras) is oppressed. Thoughts of aggression are generated and the phenomenon becomes more acute. If we feed these thoughts, internal deterioration is intensified as well. Finally, aggression is unleashed, perhaps in the form of words to begin with, and later with all the violence that we are capable of. In our psychic energy an equivalent aggression is produced, except that we ourselves are the victims. In reality, the concept of ‘sin’ must have its origin in this phenomenon even though it has since been used with manipulative ends by ignorant or careless religious leaders.

This movement and perception of the energy of the physical or sensory plane has an effect on the psyche which in a previous chapter we called ‘symbolic’ because it acts at the deep level of the meaning and sense of ourselves in the universe.

To summarize, we are trying to demonstrate the tremendous importance of conduct and behaviour in relation to other people and the whole environment. We are not now referring to the moral or socially committed aspect (which is another valid point of view in its own context), but rather to the psychological and psychotherapeutic aspect. Inappropriate, ignorant, and destructive behaviour tends to darken the psyche, pushing it away from the ‘plane of truth’ and retarding its evolution. Understanding, adapting to a situation, even when it means sacrificing the values of one’s ego in order to accept universal values, tends to ‘clear’ psychic energy, increasing the participation of ‘sattwa’ and thus the reflection of the ‘plane of Truth’. In other words, it acts in the sense of ‘spiritualizing’ psychic energy.

But how can one know what behaviour is appropriate? Normally we proceed from the values of the ‘ego’ which in general have little psychic clarity. How can we obtain clarity from behaviour which comes from darkness? The situation appears to be an insoluble paradox. The solution proceeds in part from the fact that the real situation is not as linear and one-dimensional as we have described it. Apart from the ‘ego’s values’, we have a constant, although sometimes distant, intuition of other values, which are invitations to change. If we systematically reject these invitations, we generate such a distorted conduct that at any moment it could explode in our face, producing such a shock that it may ‘wake us up’ from the dream of the ego in order to rectify our ‘self-concept’ and our behaviour.

These ‘distant intuitions’ are also supported by the true masters and prophets who have guided humanity. The authentic masters (there have also been many false ones) bring energy from the pure field of ‘sattwa’, which, as we know, reflects the ‘plane of truth’ in the psyche, through their teachings, in their words and in their own behaviour. For a master to be a true master, ‘sattwa’ must predominate in his or her ‘individual psychic space’ so that the ‘plane of truth’ or the ‘divine plane’ can express itself properly. When the teachings of a master are transformed into norms, that is, when his words are taken literally and are followed in a rigid way, the common outcome is the creation of authoritarian and inquisitorial doctrines with usually negative results. What starts out as flexible advice accompanied by a loving example becomes an ‘unquestionable law.’ Limitations which were originally set as sensible guidelines to prevent human beings from diverging too far from the ‘evolutionary path’, become dogmatic repression which restricts all liberty and autonomy. What was valid at one particular moment and for a particular situation becomes a ‘universal principle’ that must be followed in all situations and places, with the ‘severest punishments’ for transgression. In matters of the psyche, there is a very fine line between ‘reason’ and ‘superstition’, between ‘faith’ and ‘fanaticism’, between ‘common sense’ and ‘academic dogmatism’.

Sahaja yogis have access to a system of decision making about correct behaviour that with the necessary attention can be very accurate. It is based on the fact that everything that exists exists on different, more or less subtle, energy levels. We have already remarked that the difference between ‘ material world’ and ‘spiritual (or psychic, to use our term) world’, is just a matter of terminology. We can only maintain this distinction if we call what is ‘visible’ ‘material’ and what is ‘invisible’ ‘spiritual’ (as in the primitive original meaning of these concepts). However, in the wider sense of contemporary physics today, in which the concept of matter includes energy of all kinds, and where nothing is perceived to be ‘really and truly solid’, practically everything which exists is material. Nevertheless, it can be said that there is a hierarchy as far as the level of ‘solidity’ or ‘subtlety’ is concerned. Only the grossest level is perceived by the senses and is what we call physical, but there are other levels coexisting with it. These subtle levels of matter, in reality, are energy, and some affect the chakras directly. In other words, they are of a ‘psychic’ nature. It is at this subtle level that the most important part of the ‘action-reaction’ system of behaviour is played out.

As we have said, we say that conduct is ‘erroneous’ when it produces an obstruction in the chakras as a reaction of the ‘psyche’. It is thus the reaction of the chakras to our behaviour which measures how ‘good’ it is.

A sahaja yogi perceives the state of the chakras of his or her own psychic organism in his or her hands; however, the proximity of any energy that can affect them can also be felt. For example, reading a book written by a ‘false guru’ one would feel heat in the palms of the hands (which corresponds to the Void); entering a place where sexuality is degraded or sold can produce needle-like tingling in the heel of the hand (Mooladhara), etc.

Contact with other people has similar effects. The chakras of another person or group of people are felt in one’s own chakras. A sahaja yogi can thus make a diagnosis about the state of someone else’s chakras. As this is a matter of a subtle plane, the other person need not be present physically; the same sensations can be felt in front of a photograph of the person or on naming or thinking about that person. Naturally, the intensity of the perceptions varies, as does the capacity of perception from one Sahaja Yogis to another, or even for the same Sahaja Yogi from one day to another. To achieve this perception entails training one’s sensitivity and ‘clearing’ one’s own subtle system.

Finally, the ‘Sahaja connection’ allows one not only to diagnose a situation but also to intervene in it by acting directly on the subtle plane. A sahaja yogi can, for example, help to unblock a chakra by moving the energy with his or her own hands. In the same way he or she can give Sahaja self-realization to another person, that is, can close the breach which exists in the sattwa channel of the other person’s psyche, allowing the the Kundalini energy to rise spontaneously. We shall return to this important point later on, but meanwhile let us draw two conclusions from this chapter: A sahaja yogi can be his or her own master because he or she is aware of how all conduct and every situation affects the chakras. A sahaja yogi acquires the power to transmit this ‘connection’ to others, ‘like a candle lighting another candle’, as Shri Mataji says.

9. Gods And Demons

As we commented at the beginning of this book, it is not our intention to demonstrate here the existence of spiritual beings to which a divine nature can be attributed, or indeed the existence of the ‘outside world’. We should however like to show the effects that concepts like these have on the psyche, or rather, what the ‘outside world’ and ‘deities’ mean in terms of psychic energy.

We have referred several times to the ‘plane of truth’ or the ‘divine plane’ as something about which we can only say that it is outside the psyche and is the final objective of evolution. Any idea of the ‘absolute’, both in the sense of ‘what is true’ and in the sense of ‘being’, of ‘awareness’ or of ‘freedom’, must be situated on this plane, since it is clear that its existence on the plane of understanding ruled by the psyche is not possible.

Whatever the ‘absolute plane of truth’ may be, it is reflected onto the psyche, and some part of this reflection reaches the consciousness through the aspect of psychic energy we have called ‘sattwa’. Any ‘experience’ of the divine can only be an experience of this reflection, since it will always be a psychic experience.

In the Vedanta one can read that all creation is made up of the three aspects of energy (rajas, tamas and sattwa) which have already been mentioned in relation to the psyche, and that the differences between the different realms and objects which are created come from the different proportion of each of these energies in their make-up. And so, it is said that in ‘nature’ there is a predominance of ‘tamas’, in ‘man’ a predominance of ‘rajas’ and in the ‘gods’ a predominance of ‘sattwa’.

According to C. G. Jung, the ‘gods’ are archetypal energies of the collective unconscious. In other words, they are real differentiated entities, since the human psyche perceives them as differences and that the concept of archetype supposes a structure and a ‘form’. These ‘divine’ archetypes and their recurring appearance in the psyche of subjects and societies all over the world were the origin of the concept of ‘collective unconscious’ in Jung’s analytical psychology. These archetypes appear in the human consciousness, from unknown parts of the unconscious, in different forms and through different means, according to the cultural environment and the type of person who acts as receiver.

Let us leave aside for the moment the question of whether these archetypal energies are really divine (from the ‘plane of truth’) or whether they come from other subtle psychic planes with a non- evolutionary nature (in other words, they are ‘diabolical’). First of all, we shall examine the common aspects of the two types as far as their ‘form’ and their ‘means’ of appearance are concerned.

These ‘forms’ always have a strong symbolic nature, that is, they carry energies which are capable of producing strong impressions (transformation) in the psyche of the subject who enters in contact with the ‘divine archetype’. Sometimes the symbols can be directly associated with phenomena, personalities, or concepts with which there is an everyday relationship, such as fire, storms, the woods.

Sometimes the concepts are more abstract, like ‘the innocence of a child’, or the ‘mother’, which expresses all the sense of maternal protection and care in its widest and most generic aspects, (which can be attributed not only to one’s natural mother, but also to ‘mother nature’, ‘mother earth’, ‘mother moon’, etc.) Nevertheless, these symbols can acquire the ‘status’ of an idea by association with everyday figures, such as ‘a child’, or a woman with maternal characteristics.

In some cases the ‘symbol’ requires a strong transformation of existing natural forms, in order to express the psychic configuration generated by the archetype. This is the case of the unicorn, the dragon or the sphinx. Finally, the type of ‘knowledge’ which underlies the archetype may be unable to find any correspondence in the world of earthly forms, and thus be obliged to adopt, at the level of ideas, a very abstract form like the triangle or the circumference (the serpent ‘auroboros’ biting its own tail), etc. All of these symbols come from the collective unconscious, are produced by archetypal figures which human beings have described as ‘gods’, and, on entering folk culture, have given rise to all kinds of mythologies and religions.

Regarding the ‘means’ of transmission there have also been differences between the cases we know of. The common ‘means’ of apparition of these divine energies has been through dreams. Everyone has at some time or another experienced a dream full of power and meaning which, even after waking, has left a sensation of something ‘special’, something that cannot be ignored. The Bible and sacred texts of all religions are full of references to these forms of communication of the divine.

On other occasions the communication takes place when the subject finds himself in an altered state of awareness. In some cases it is a matter of psychic or organic anomalies which affect the consciousness; epilepsy, for example, has been looked upon as a divine illness by many primitive people – the pharaoh possessed by a god, etc. Sometimes it is a question of mental states which are induced through bodily exercises (dance and rhythmical movements with hyperventilation) or through drugs (hallucinogenic mushrooms, datura, etc.) All of these cases are based on breaking the protective control of the ego which maintains the subject firmly anchored in a reality whose stability is ensured by a determined logic. In dreams and in these kinds of altered states the circumstances place the subject at a relatively high degree of openness to unknown forces of the unconscious.

It is much rarer for the archetype to become present while the subject is in a wakeful state, precisely because of the strong projection of ‘rajas’ reality controlled by the ego which we have referred to in other chapters. In these cases the archetype, in order to manifest itself, needs to ‘break’ the logic of ‘reality’ which probably requires much more energy from the archetype and much more sensitivity from the subject. The most common phenomenon is of ‘hearing voices’ which speak from within us. The case of voices which speak from the outside is rarer. An example would be an animal or plant that speaks or a voice from the clouds or the sky. Supernatural ‘visions’ belong to this less common order of manifestations of archetypal forces, especially in cases of ‘collective visions’. Individual ‘visions’ or ‘apparitions’ are more frequent, for example, the ‘burning bush’, apparitions of ‘angels’, representations of the Virgin Mary or other deities, etc.

All of these phenomena can and do occur with a certain frequency. There are cases scattered throughout history which have influenced not only the formation of myths and religions, but also the political history of humanity. We may recall, for example, the ancient oracles, or, to choose an example nearer the present, the dependence of many rulers on phenomena of this type, produced by them or someone else (Hitler, Khomeini, etc.) The problem here is how to know when these paranormal or supernatural phenomena come from ‘sattwa’ energy (and are thus ‘divine’, in that they reflect the ‘plane of truth’) or whether they come from the ‘rajas – tamas’ energies, which, as we know, produce distortion and imbalance. This is a matter of great importance because everything that appears to be ‘extraordinary’ tends to be considered as a ‘good experience’.

Naturally, for conventional ‘orthodox’ scientific thought, according to which all postulates of reality come from what is indicated by the senses, all of the above would be considered as ‘fantastic nonsense’, ‘hallucinations’, or ‘pathological processes’. Fortunately, not all scientific attitudes are like this, because this stance allows no room for debate; it is as narrow-minded and fanatical in questions of ‘science’ as the Spanish Inquisition was in matters of religion. But, if the reader has followed the thread of this explanation without too much prejudgement, he or she will see that it has a meaningful underlying structure, not merely because it was said by a thinker with the authority and prestige of Jung, but because our own common sense perceives that it can be accepted. A vitally important, albeit not the most spectacular, ‘means’ of manifesting a divine (or diabolical) archetype, is ‘incarnation’.

The idea of beings from another ‘level’ different from the human one, appearing in bodily form and normally with a human body is something that arouses great controversy. This may well be due to the repression and atrophy with which the concept of ‘what is natural’ is regarded, and, similarly, to the fantastical, hallucinatory exaggeration which is attributed to the ‘supernatural’.

The first aspect, the atrophy of what is natural, comes from the problem or habit of confusing the ‘natural’ with the ‘sensory’, which is what is physical, real, normal and living, etc. The second aspect, the exaggeration of the supernatural, is based on the naive attempt to attribute to the supernatural the character of objects and concepts which really belong to the sensory projected into infinity. Thus, for example, just as the power of a human being is measured in terms of ‘ego’, the power of an (omnipotent) god is assumed to be that of an ‘infinitely large ego’. The same thing occurs with the other attributes, so that the appearance of a divine incarnation on earth must be accompanied by extraordinary phenomena (flashes of lightning, floating through the air, performing miracles, walking on water, etc.) Furthermore, in Christian culture (and thus in Western culture in general), the concept of ‘spiritual’, that is, what is produced by the ‘supernatural’, is strongly associated with ‘after death’, with the idea that there is no room in life for any experiences except the common sensory ones, and that, although there is a spiritual world with other attributes, it is separated from the normal world by the barrier of death.

This idea of two worlds (that of the living and that of the dead, where there are also gods who reward and devils who torture) is truly naive and primitive and it is no wonder that it has aroused so many controversies as well as leading to militant atheism (which is like amputating a part of one’s own psychic energies).

What we are affirming here is that everything is natural, including gods and devils, because everything lies within the same psychoenergetic field. In theory, the entire psychoenergetic field could be accessible to the consciousness, but obviously this is not so because of the evident limitations of the latter. Jung described an area of the unconscious as something which could never reach the consciousness : “It consists of those contents which arise immediately from the centre of our unconscious, the deepest and darkest part, which never reaches the consciousness, and which, like foreign bodies, are never comprehended or wholly assimilated by the ego. They have an autonomous character and make up the content not only of neuroses and psychoses but also sometimes of visions of creative spirits. It is very difficult to differentiate the different zones. Usually they form combinations, in a kind of a mixture, because in reality it is not that the conscious is here and the unconscious is there. Rather, the psyche represents a ‘conscious-unconscious’ whole.

In other words the “psychoenergetic whole”, with all its contents, is always potentially there; both heaven and hell (which are aspects of the “rajas”, “sattwa”, and “tamas” energies) are already influencing our “personal psyche”; we do not have to die to be in contact with them.

A “prophet” is thus a human being whose personal psyche has very great transparency – the “sattwa” energy’s presence has revealed itself clearly in it – and whose Kundalini energy has been able to feed his or her consciousness to raise it to a level where it can bear the presence of a divine archetype (which is simply the “plane of truth” acting through a certain configuration of the “sattwa” energy). It has already been mentioned in previous chapters that the “chakras” contain configurations of this type within their essence.

We shall return to this point below, but first let us consider for a moment the term ‘human being’ which we used at the beginning of this paragraph. What does it mean to be a “human being”? From the physical point of view it is very clear; there is such a great difference between human beings (even the most primitive) and our nearest relations (anthropoids of any kind), that establishing a demarcation line is quite easy. But what about the psychic plane? Things are less clear there. The materialist assumption is that all psyches are the same (because they are a product of the body) and that any differences are due to upbringing.

In our opinion it is in the psyche that the differences between one human being and another are to be found. Various beings with the same human physical aspect can be very different from one another. Some can be “prophets” or “saints” (on a higher evolutionary rung) and others can be “degenerate” (on a lower rung going backwards.)

One of these “prophets” could come very near (from a psychic point of view) to being a “god” or could even be one, given that this has to do with the “transparency” of his or her psyche within the “plane of truth”. What we call a “normal” (in the statistical sense of the term) human being would be someone who moves within an area of intermediate “transparency” in an oscillating process, using all the freedom that he is capable of absorbing from the “plane of truth” to move in one direction or the other. Thus he is pushed in an “evolutionary” direction by the force of the “plane of truth” (the Kundalini energy itself acts in this way) insofar as he is the receiver of this energy, but he is also attracted by other, negative forces. Humanity, as a whole, probably has a positive balance and is constantly ascending; however individual beings certainly produce transformations in their own personal psychic framework in all directions; some ascend and others descend.

The “incarnation” of a “deity” (or a devil) sounds like something from a fairy tale or archaic mythology, but what is it that we find so strange about it? It is the incarnation of an energy structure , which we call an “archetype” when it acts in the psyche. But that is precisely what we ourselves are. The “ego” (or what we believe ourselves to be) is also “an archetype”. A human being is the incarnation of a psychic structure with some degree of transparency; it is certainly very inferior to what a “deity” might have, but the process or phenomenon is the same. To simplify, we might say that the difference is more quantitative than qualitative. Indian culture refers to the incarnation of “deities” who did not know who they were (they believed they were “normal” human beings) until a certain moment in their lives when they had already reached a certain level of maturity. The most typical and well-known case is that of Rama, about whom a story with the features of a myth is told in the Ramayana, but who is believed to be a real historical character. Buddha himself was a prince, feeling anguish like any other sensitive human being at the “conflict” of life to which we have referred in this book. When he decided to devote his life to seeking the solution, and when at last, after great efforts, he attained “enlightenment”, what happened in fact was that he became aware of his divine quality. The case of Jesus Christ is different because, according to the Gospels, he was aware from a very early age that he had been ‘sent’ from the Absolute (the “plane of truth”). Mohammed’s case seems to have been more similar to Buddha’s than Christ’s.

Let us take this opportunity to add that each of us comes into this world with a certain “quality” or “transparency” in our personal psychic structure and that this is the starting point for any progress we might be able to attain in this lifetime. There are people who believe that if they do the same things as Buddha did, they will become Buddha, that is, they will reach the same level of “psychic transparency”. Confused by the cultural climate of stubborn materialism that surrounds us, they do not realize that Buddha achieved this high level because the qualities of his psychic structure were already very high. It is like believing that anyone who studies the same subjects as Einstein can become an Einstein, or that anybody who trains for the same amount of time as an Olympic champion will also become an Olympic champion.

Another question is : why does someone with such a “transparent” psychic structure as Buddha or Christ, for example, find himself living during a historical period or human generation which is much less evolved? A being of such psychic magnitude (we might use the term ‘spiritual’, since the presence of the “plane of truth” is almost complete), whether we call him “deity”, “superman”, or a “highly evolved human being”, seems to be an incongruence among human beings of a much lower level. What we know about such figures who have demonstrated such a high degree of ‘inner’ calibre refers only to those who have made themselves publicly known. In general, they have been great social reformers and founders of important religions. It is not known whether there were other ‘incarnations’ of the same ‘inner’ level who went unnoticed or unrecognized. As far as the well-known cases are concerned, their basic common characteristic seems to have been (as viewed from the outside), the transformation of the ideological trends by which society had been guided up until that point. This can be deduced from their impact on history, and cannot be doubted. But let us ask what happened from the inner point of view of the “psychoenergetic whole”.

Nothing can be proven about this aspect, and any conclusion we may reach can only be reasonable hypotheses. According to the teachings of Shri Mataji, the “deities” are related to the “chakras”. In other words, the psychic quality which each chakra expresses is an autonomous energy which we call “deity” because it is simply a certain qualitative modulation in the psyche, animated by the “plane of truth”. Up to this point there is little difference from Jungian theory, because Jung’s “archetypes” also fulfil similar conditions. They are energetic entities with autonomy within the psyche, which are more or less evident to the conscious mind, according to the individual case.

When a “chakra” is blocked and the quality it expresses cannot reveal itself in its pure form from “sattwa”, it is said that the “deity is asleep” in the chakra, while attempting to unblock the chakra is like trying to “awaken the deity”. These are simply ways of speaking, but note that the energy of the chakra is granted an autonomy which can be “personified” in terms of “deity”.

The “chakras” of an individual are just the expression, the reflection or the consequence of the “chakras” which exist in the “psychoenergetic whole”, in other words, the “collective human being” (Humanity) or the collective psyche or unconscious. As we said above, an individual human being is like a unit in a holographic picture, in which each individual contains the information of the whole picture but in a less intense, more diluted form. The average human being participates psychically and is at the level of the collective psyche. It is like an organism in which every individual psyche is a cell, although the idea which this image suggests of a whole divided into spatially separated parts may not be the most accurate one. However, what we are trying to convey here, in essence, is this close correspondence between the parts (the individuals) and the whole (collective psyche).

In the “collective being”, these modulating centres (chakras) exist in their primordial archetype form. With the development and evolution of the psyche, the chakras have gradually appeared or, rather, been activated, as the evolutionary process continued. In some cases it has been necessary for the quality activated in the “chakra” to ‘materialize’ in the physical and social plane (given that it is something collective).

The reader will recall the correspondence between the ‘inner world” and the “outer world”, discussed in previous chapters. In relation to the “opening” or “activation” of the “chakras”, a phenomenon takes place in the collective psyche which can be observed simultaneously on different planes:

– On the plane of the collective psyche there appears a new “qualitative modulation” (corresponding to the chakra that is being activated).

– On the plane of the individual psyche this new quality becomes available for the ascent of each specific subject. In other words, a particular human being can now reach an awareness of this quality in his or her personal psyche and include it in the evolutionary process of the consciousness. Whether he achieves this or not depends on his personal circumstances, but it is “potentially” at his disposal, which would not have been the case if the “chakra” had not been activated on the collective plane.

– On the physical plane a human being appears, who inwardly embodies the energy of the chakra which is being activated, that is, who is the incarnation of the psychic “archetype” or deity of the chakra. This person reveals the quality which is being activated in the human world through his or her example and through its expression in his or her actions (in other words, through the “symbol” of the new quality). Thus, it could be stated, that the “quality” incarnates, acquires a body in the dense energy of the physical plane, and becomes a “reality” in the “outer world”.

– On the social plane, a doctrine or a new system of values develops, which takes root in the human collectivity simultaneously with its establishment in the collective psyche. Let us try to clarify this through the example of Jesus Christ. According to Sahaja Yoga, Jesus Christ is the “deity” of the “Agnya Chakra”. In Indian scriptures, his coming is prophesied and he is described quite accurately. He is referred to by the name “Mahavishnu”. The “quality” of this chakra as we have said, is “forgiveness”. It is clear that the major difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament lies in this concept. The premise of the Old Testament was “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, whereas that of the New Testament is “forgive even your enemies”. The opening of this “chakra” involved particular problems because it was necessary to produce a great transformation in the collective psychic energy (according to Shri Mataji’s teachings). This meant taking on a great “penance” on the physical plane. The psychic archetype of Mahavishnu thus incarnates as Jesus Christ, the ‘sacrificial lamb’, to create through his actions and his presence the gigantic symbol which had to transform the collective psyche, offering humanity a new evolutionary rung. His ending on the cross also symbolizes the cross that is produced in the central nervous system at the height of the “Agnya Chakra” when the chain of the sympathetic nervous system on each side joins the cerebral hemisphere of the opposite side.

On the social plane his teachings are propagated as a doctrine which creates a new cultural focus.

These “divine archetypes” are mentioned in all religions, appearing in the psyches of subjects from very distant cultures and eras, supporting the theory of a common psychic fabric. The religious “pantheons” change with the times, as does the collective psyche in the places where they are adopted. But, without a doubt, it is in Hinduism that the most rigorous and well-founded codification of these archetypal psychic energies exists. In Sahaja Yoga the names of the deities of the Hindu religion are used to designate the “divine energy” which presides in each “chakra”

This subject of mythology and religion is very interesting and requires much more space than is available here. But what we should certainly mention here is that a “sahaja yogi” (someone who has established within him or herself the connection between the Kundalini energy and the awareness) can directly invoke the deities of the “chakras”.

There are certain formulas of invocation (mantras) and their working which can be checked through the vibrations in the hands. When an obstruction of a chakra is perceived, and heat or tingling is felt in the finger of the corresponding hand, this means in terms of energy that the presence of the “deity” is darkened in the psyche. If one accepts the “objective” perception of vibrations as a real, credible indicator, then this by extension would be a way to test the truth of other affirmations which we have made here. For example, if one accepts that cool vibrations indicate more “clarity” in the chakras and heat in a finger indicates a blockage in a determined chakra, and if by saying a “mantra” of the corresponding deity, the heat of the finger diminishes and the vibrations increase, then what conclusions can we draw? Principally, that there is a relationship between the mantra and the finger, but what might explain this relationship? Thus, starting from the structure we have proposed, and taking it as a hypothesis, proofs and partial verifications can be obtained which gradually affirm the truth of the whole.

The names of the “divine archetypes” which correspond to each chakra are the following:

– Mooladhara. The archetype of innocence is symbolized in the deity called Shri Ganesha who is represented by the child with an elephant’s head. There are innumerable allusions to psychic qualities and phenomena in this symbol, which we shall not enter into here. Another symbol of Shri Ganesha is the ‘Swastika’ with its arms turning towards the right.

This ancient cross has also been used as a symbol of “white magic”. When the arms are turned anticlockwise, it is a symbol of black magic (anti-innocence) which was the form used originally by Hitler’s “national socialism.”

– Swadistan. The deity is Brahmadeva, Brahma, the creator god. Note that “creativity” is the quality generated in the psyche by this “chakra”.

– Nabhi. As we know, the quality produced through this chakra is concerned with the “preservation” of the physical and psychic organism. It is related to well-being and satisfaction on a psychic and physical level (organs of nutrition and assimilation, etc.). The archetype which symbolizes these qualities is named Shri Vishnu in Hinduism.

– The Void. It is in this area of the psyche that the gap or “breach” in the “sattwa” channel which impedes the spontaneous passage of the Kundalini is found. It also receives the name of the “ocean of illusion”, since crossing it is essential in order to achieve salvation. Help to make this crossing (in the absence of the Kundalini) is found in the “master principle” (Guru Tattwa) which incarnates in the outside world. In Sahaja Yoga when the breach in “sattwa” is closed and the Kundalini begins to ascend, the “master principle” is activated in the individual, who becomes “his own master,” able to know the state of his chakras through vibrations.

According to Shri Mataji there have been ten great incarnations of this archetype of the collective psyche in the outer world. The generic name which is used in invocations is Shri Dattatreya, which is a mythological name, but the historical characters in whom this principle has incarnated throughout time are well-known, and some of them form an important part of western culture, for example, Abraham, Moses, Socrates, Zoroaster and Mohammed. Others are Lao-Tse, Confucius, Guru Nanak and Raja Janaka. This is a “divine archetype” which has incarnated several times, or, to express it in a way which may be more accessible to the western mind and way of thinking, these are people who are so transparent in their psychic interior that the reflection of the “plane of truth” was able to reach their consciousness with great clarity and power, so that they became prophets or messengers of “the truth” in human society. Their own psychic structure “modulated” this reflection (it translated it qualitatively) in the way that the “master principle” does in the “void.” In reality these are just different ways of saying the same thing. When someone has reached or is ready to reach the point where he or she is a reflection of the “divine plane of truth” at this level, it is because he or she possesses such a degree of inner transparency that we can all him or her a “deity”.

– Anahata. Shri Jagadamba is the symbol of a goddess seated on a lion. She is the ‘protective deity’ whose “active state” conveys a deep inner sense of security – the lion represents the “guardian of the individual psychic territory”.

It is also in this area of the personal psyche, according to Shri Mataji, that the “self” can be found. The ‘self’ is our own personal reflection of the “Plane of Truth”, in other words the “seed” of “ourselves as deity”. The symbolic name is Shri Shiva.

– Vishuddhi. The deity who incarnates the quality of “detachment from the result of one’s actions, one’s image”, which, as we explained earlier, is the quality of this chakra, is Shri Krishna. He is a mythological character, although he is believed to have existed many years before the coming of Christ. There are many sacred works in India which speak of this personality and in Hinduism he is one of the principal figures within a pantheon of many gods and goddesses. Perhaps the most significant work where the psychic quality of this archetypal deity is most clearly revealed is in the Bhagavad Gita (The Song of the Lord). This is a narrative in which Krishna teaches Arjuna the Karma Yoga (yoga of disinterested or “detached” action). The reading of this book is recommended because it can help one to get closer to (and to “open” oneself up to) the energy of this “deity”, which reduces psychic pressure on this chakra (and thus “awakens” the deity). However, a “clear” edition must be found, which is clear from tendentious commentaries. There are several versions with commentaries by “pseudo masters” which have the property of obstructing the chakra even more.

– Agnya. As we have said, the quality which shines in the purity of this chakra is “forgiveness”. The deity who performed on Earth the drama (the symbol) necessary to open this quality in the collective psyche for all humanity was Jesus Christ. He is the one who waits silently in every individual, hidden in the depths of the unconscious and lightly pulsating in the consciousness on the rare occasions that we mobilize his energy in our actions.

However, the tremendous miracle that Jesus Christ performed in human society and in the collective psyche required a certain preparation, that is, the gigantic symbol etched out by Jesus Christ was founded on other preparatory symbols. Those who produced these symbols were also gigantic “incarnations” who made their journeys through the “physical plane” in parallel ways. They were Buddha and Mahavira. Both were founders of important religions. Buddha is associated in the psychic plane with the concept of “compassion” and Mahavira with that of “non-violence”, both of which are later synthesized in the concept of “forgiveness”, realized in the figure of Jesus Christ.

– Sahasrara. As we know, it is in this chakra that all the properties of the psyche, which we have called “qualities” and which colour our “taste of ourselves” and of the universe we perceive, become integrated. This situation may be illustrated by the formation of the colours of the rainbow through the refraction of white light. There are seven basic colours in the rainbow or seven fundamental qualities, but white light is the ‘integration’ of all of them.

We now have to propose the following brief theory of an ontological nature:

The ‘plane of truth’, which represents the Absolute, the Divine, and the Unnameable distorts itself (or so it seems) in order to form the “psychic plane”, of which one aspect is the “physical plane”, known through the senses. But, at some point in this process, and prior to the “psychic plane”, which we have also referred to as the “psychoenergetic whole”, and which we could also call “the created” or “the manifest”, a “ternary” formation seems to have been produced. This would be “something” that is very close to the “plane of truth” but which entails a certain “unfolding” of the “plane”. It would consist in the genetic at a spiritual level, which we might symbolize as the “Father-Mother” couple. We could say that this primordial quality is at the base of any other quality imaginable. In Hinduism, this “spiritual couple” is called “Shiva-Shakti”, thus indicating the absolute awareness which is present in contemplation of the universe (Shiva), but which is impossible to separate from the energy framework which is the universe itself (Shakti). The concept of Shakti is equivalent to the “primordial energy”, but it also represents the “Supreme Mother”. In the Judaeo-Christian tradition these two concepts are explained as “Father-Holy Spirit”. In Taoism, it is expressed poetically: “One makes two, two makes three, and three makes ten thousand things”. This, in reality, is the same thing, although the concept of mother is not alluded to directly in the quality of procreator (the one that “makes” the two, etc.).

In countries with a Christian educational and religious background, the concept of Primordial Mother has a badly structured position. Perhaps it is due to the strong “patriarchal” stamp of the Judaic culture of the Old Testament, from which the New Testament (true Christianity) was unable to free itself. In this Christian culture, the personality who is closest to the “incarnation” of the concept of Primordial Mother is the Virgin Mary. However, if we cast a glance at the structure of the Christian Pantheon, it immediately becomes apparent that the conceptual place the Virgin has been assigned is not symmetrical with that of the Divine Father. The Virgin Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ (son of God), but the way in which she is presented in the Scriptures and the role which she has been given in the different Christian churches is clearly inferior to that of her son, and thus even more clearly inferior to that of God Almighty (the Father).

On the other hand, the concept of Holy Spirit has been given a masculine connotation, and is one of the figures of the “Trinity” which is most difficult to understand.

“How could a Spiritual Father have a Son without a Mother?” Shri Mataji sometimes asks in public programmes.

Let us not forget that we are talking about concepts, in other words, about structures of meaning which are actually energies in our psyche. We have no idea about what all this may be like on the Divine plane, or about what makes sense or does not make sense ‘there’. Our discussion must limit itself to concepts that our mind and imagination can manage. At this more humble level, it seems much more sensible to accept the symmetrical concept of Father-Mother in which the Father represents the creative quality (the consciousness) and the Mother the “substance” (the energy). From a psychological viewpoint we also know that the archetype of the Mother is of vital importance and appears, moved by its “numinous” energy, with more strength than that of the Father.

The Sahasrara chakra, which is the integration of all the other chakras is presided over by the energy of the Primordial Mother whose name in Sanskrit is Adi Shakti. The founder of Sahaja Yoga, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi incarnates this energy in herself, and it is precisely this circumstance which has allowed the breach in the “sattwa” channel to be joined up, so that the Kundalini energy can reach and pass through the Sahasrara chakra. The opening of this chakra, to enable humanity to take on and establish this integrating quality in the consciousness, has been Shri Mataji’s mission. Sahaja Yoga is the practical consequence, allowing the greatest benefit to be reaped from this phenomenon.

Shri Mataji describes herself and her work in this way and it is this fact which constitutes one of the great stumbling blocks for the western mind to accept Her teachings. For the western mentality, accustomed to objectification, where only what can be perceived through the senses is real, to say that someone incarnates the essence of the power (Shakti) of God does not make sense unless it is proved through sensory wonders like walking on water, turning water into wine or flying through the air.

It is not easy to accept that the “supernatural” is also natural and that the divine is shining all around us and inside us. However, it is above all inside us that each person’s universe is created. This is not mysticism but elementary psychology.

What is truly “Divine” can only be postulated outside the psyche. We have referred to it as the “Plane of Truth”, and with the level of awareness at which we now operate, we can only perceive reflections of this plane when the “sattwa” aspect of psychic energy appears within us, even if it is just a glimmer.

Whether or not Shri Mataji is speaking the truth could only be known if there were some way to make an x-ray of the interior of her psyche to find out her degree of transparency. Sahaja yogis possess an x-ray instrument of this kind; they can perceive the “vibrations” on a subtle level. As we have said, in the presence of something which reflects the “Plane of Truth”, a light “cool breeze” can be felt on the palms of the hands. The only other method to know the truth of Shri Mataji’s words is through observation, through analyzing her teachings, conduct, and so on.

Nevertheless, we must recognize that the suspiciousness which comes from this type of objectifying mentality which predominates in western culture is quite justified. The maxim “all that glitters is not gold” is more applicable to this field of the psyche (or spiritual, if the reader prefers the term) than any other. The fact that there is no possibility of objective proof allows numerous deceptions of different calibre, some even classifiable as “diabolical”, to be presented as “the truth”. And here we are not just referring to the so-called spiritual masters, saints and priests of strange cults, but also to psychologists, therapists, and other people who clothe their teachings in scientific dignity.

The fact is that the psyche does not only house gods but also devils, or, to give them a less pejorative denomination, “opposing forces”. The entire universe is full of energies that move in opposite directions. Bacteria, viruses, and other microscopically sized beings besiege our organism. There are areas of equilibrium in which these forces appear to act in our favour (and are even essential), but when they go beyond a certain limit, they become destructive enemies. Perhaps nature needs permanent confrontation.

Humanity has trembled before “evil spirits” in all places and at all times in history. That there exists something that could be called “evil” is unquestionable. The fact that a sceptic prefers to call the phenomena in which these forces appear “fantasies”, “hysteria”, or “psychoses” does not eliminate the problem; all it does is change the label. There are studies carried out by doctors, psychiatrists, and other scientists on phenomena of “possession” and other manifestations of a “dark” or “sinister” nature, which conventional society prefers to remain ignorant of. However, it is not necessary to turn to these extreme cases. Energies of every type are bubbling inside every human being, and just as there exists the possibility that some exceptional being may possess such an interior transparency, reflecting the “plane of the truth” and such a high level of awareness on this human plane that he or she could properly be called a “divine incarnation”, so there are also beings whose opaqueness to the “plane of truth” turns them into a “negation of this plane” and they could be considered “diabolic incarnations”.

As we have observed, the “opponent” (opponent of the evolutionary direction, so favouring involution) is produced in the psychoenergetic whole in the “rajas” aspect or in the “tamas” aspect of the psychic energy. Thus, we can talk about “two kinds of devils”. The “rajas devil”, because of the nature of “rajas” energy, must have a Mephistophelian character, deceptive and deviating, less interested in involution as such, than in leading us along mistaken lines of development. This would be the “seducer from artificial paradises”. The character of “Lucifer” in the Bible, can clearly be associated with this luminous but “dazzling” concept of “rajas” energy. On the other hand, the “tamas devil” comes closer conceptually to the idea we have of “Satan”: a truly dark, sinister power, coming from levels of the unconscious already conquered by human consciousness.

These forces of the “universal unconscious” are incarnated in personalities who reproduce them to some degree of fidelity in the physical world, in society, and who sometimes present themselves as masters or social leaders. They can also be founders of cults or spiritual guides.

Identifying them is not easy because they use a language similar to the “true prophets and teachers”. Their teachings are usually seductive because they are usually in line with the social fashions of the times. Some are capable of carrying out “paranormal” acts, and they possess a great capacity of persuasion. In the presence of one of these masters (or of their work or a picture of them, for example) a Sahaja yogi would feel heat in the chakras. However, even from an external point of view, if we observe where their actual lives, or teachings, or behaviour leads, we soon encounter obvious “cracks” and “contradictions”. It is dangerous to one’s evolution to fall into the “nets” of these false prophets, but it is equally dangerous for our evolution to maintain ourselves in a sceptical and rigid position, denying and rejecting everything.

Let us end this chapter with some verses by Rumi, a famous Sufi poet and philosopher of the Middle Ages, which may throw light on what we have just said:

Falseness comes from its similarity to the truth.

It is the desire for truth that makes men buy what is false.

They let the poison be mixed with sugar and then they swallow it immediately.

– Do not say then that all these beliefs are false.

– The false ones entrap hearts with the perfume of truth.

– Do not say that they are all mistaken fancies.

– There is no chimera in the universe without an element of truth.

– The truth is the night of power hidden among other nights.

– Among the people who dress in rags there is only one Fakir.

– Seek well and find the true one.

-Tell the prudent and discerning believer how to distinguish the king from the beggar.

– If there were no bad goods in the world, any fool could be an able merchant.

– Because then, the difficult art of judging goods would be easy. – If all wood were common, there would be no aloes.

– He who accepts everything as true is a fool.

– But he who says that everything is false is a rogue.

10. Evolution On The Psychic Plane

As far as the physical body is concerned, no one nowadays doubts that it was formed through a long evolutionary process, starting with a unicellular entity and passing through many stages. These stages, modern science assumes, include invertebrate marine, amphibious and finally mammalian states, leading to the form and characteristics we have today. The Bible myth of Genesis where God creates man in his own image can only be an allegory, like the descriptions of many other creation myths associated with various religions and beliefs.

It seems to be generally accepted that ontological development, that is, the developmental process followed by the human embryo from fertilized egg to the full-term foetus, reproduces the evolutionary stages and transformations which our species has gone through.

But if the physical body has evolved, why should the psyche not have done so also? In the epistemological attitude of conventional science (the ‘external’ serves as foundation for the ‘internal’) the psyche appears and develops from the body (especially the nervous system and endocrine glands), so that the transformations of the body logically imply concomitant transformations in the psyche and the consciousness. The point of view which we have preferred to adopt here is, to a certain extent, the reverse view, that the ‘external’ (the body) is only a ‘visible symptom’ of the energetic whole (rather like the tip of an iceberg), so that the evolution of the body justifies the idea that there is a similar evolution of the human psyche at an individual level, just as the evolution of the ‘social body’ (the culture, belief systems, relationships, etc.) is a symptom of an evolution in the collective psyche.

On the physiological level a stratification of the neuronal masses of the brain has been described, suggesting an evolution in its functions. Thus, the cortex areas are mentioned as the latest acquisition of the brain. Beneath this layer is the limbic system, responsible for affectivity, and, at a lower, much more primitive stratum, the reptile brain which is mainly concerned with adaptation and survival.

From a strictly psychological point of view, some renowned researchers such as Gebser, Neumann and Whitmont have looked at the evolutionary issue taking the consciousness as ‘protagonist’ of evolution. As we have commented above, to deal with the consciousness alone or with the physical body (nervous system, etc.) alone is to look at only one side of the coin.

What we are suggesting here is that the ‘witness consciousness’ is one aspect of the psyche, while on the other side (that which the consciousness is witness of) is the psychic energy itself. What evolves is thus the binomial consciousness-energy. In the evolution of the consciousness aspect the change might be called quantitative (the potency, level or subtlety increases), while in the psychic energy the transformation is of a more qualitative nature. We have already referred to the activation of the different ‘chakras’ or vortices of the collective psyche associated with the different basic stages of evolution.

According to Sahaja Yoga the meaning of all existence is evolution. Evolution is transformation of the individual “consciousness-energy” until the energy is so subtle that only “sattwa” is prevalent, and the “Plane of Truth” (which is also the plane of freedom and joy) is reflected in the consciousness in all its reality and divinity. In addition, the consciousness has to achieve the capacity and ability to be a witness of this splendour.

All of this takes place as part of an evolutionary spiral which is expressed, in the first instance, through the “collective psyche” as a potentiality, and which is then reproduced and acknowledged by each individual in his or her own psychic energy and consciousness.

When looking at the development of the human embryo we can see how each individual starts from nothing, but within a few months has gone through the whole process of transformation which took our species millions of years. We can imagine that the same thing occurs with the psyche. A new-born or about to be born human being experiences the psychoenergetic climate that humanity went through long ago, but then, during the first few years of his or her existence, goes through and transforms that climate very rapidly, so that he would be “up-to-date” halfway through his life, where (according to

Those studying the evolution of the psyche broadly agree on its basic stages and how to interpret them. In outlining the perspective of Sahaja Yoga, we will use as a reference from the intellectual and scientific domain of western culture the work of two authors already mentioned in previous chapters. The first is Edward C. Whitmont, a therapist and professor of the Jungian school of thought, and director of the C.G. Jung Training Center in New York. The other is Ken Wilber, a specialist in transpersonal psychology. These authors can be taken to represent a wide spread of the most avant garde thinkers of current psychology. We shall begin by outlining three hypotheses discussed in great depth in their work :

In Sahaja Yoga the idea of evolution is of great importance. We have already seen that the notions of “good” and “bad”, although relative in their nature, take on an absolute character in relation to a supposed final objective of evolution. Thus, “good” is whatever helps to reach that objective and “bad” is whatever hinders it or leads to a transformation in the opposite direction (towards involution). That there exists a final objective for evolution, that is a “pre-fixed place” (Teilhard de Chardin’s “omega” point), is not something that can be demonstrated beyond hypotheses which can be postulated with a greater or lesser basis in fact. Jung postulates the existence of the “Self” (Selbst) as an objective towards which consciousness tends. In the Eastern tradition a similar concept is known as the “Atman”. Sahaja Yoga proposes a hypothesis of this sort. The “consciousness- energy” unit (that is, the psyche of each individual) evolves, gaining more “transparency”, or in other words the consciousness acquires more power and the energy moves from a predominantly “tamas” to a predominantly “sattwa” level. When the predominance of “sattwa” grows, so does the presence of the “Plane of Truth” in the consciousness, since “sattwa” reflects it without distorting it. At its limit, the “reflection of the Plane of Truth” in “sattwa” will be scarcely distinguishable from the “Plane of Truth” itself. For Hinduism this is the point at which “Atman” is “Brahman” (the illuminated consciousness is identified with the Absolute itself).

The engine behind this transformation is the “power of desire” latent within the “tamas” energy. The executor, which makes all the necessary movements for the transformation to occur, can be found in “rajas” where the capacity for action lies.

The great harmony of the whole mechanism is derived from the fact that the energy which moves towards evolution is perceived as desire. That is, one wants to travel in that direction and one makes the necessary effort (through “rajas”). These apparent efforts are never experienced as a sacrifice because they are “wanted”, just as a mountain climber has to make a great effort, but the desire to reach the summit makes the effort pleasurable. With “involution” the same occurs, (although in the opposite direction); involution occurs because desire is extinguished and the subject falls to levels of “tamas” more in line with his or her desire.

For this reason, everything that happens in a spontaneous or “natural” way is pleasurable. There are people who want to achieve inner growth and who do whatever is necessary to achieve it, in the same way that someone who is hungry looks for food. A tension appears in our organism (which we experience as desire) and its resolution produces pleasure. Others do not feel that tension and do nothing (or almost nothing) to grow, which is the best they can do.

A problem can also arise at this point, as usual caused by the interference of the “ego”, as a result of the appearance of “pseudo- desires” in the mind. As a result of social conditioning (from one’s socio-cultural and educational background, which begins with the parents), the mind, that is, the plane of ideas, mental concepts, etc., can generate the sensation of a desire which is experienced as genuine, but which in fact does not come from the depths of spontaneity, but is a mental construction of an artificial nature. The energy which moves to satisfy it is also mental. For example, the desire for inner growth or any other (to be religious, to be brave, to be successful, etc.) appears as something that is real, but soon leads to a contradiction because the effort necessary to realise the desire is not experienced as a pleasure, but as a “sacrifice”. The apparent desire becomes a “moral obligation” or a “duty” which is always frustrating and repressive.

The evolution of the individual psyche is produced in dialectical relation to the evolution of the collective psyche. The “potential possibilities” for evolution, that is, the energy materials, like the already built rungs of the ladder, are to be found in the collective psyche (the “psychoenergetic whole”). For Sahaja Yoga these ‘rungs’ are the chakras, and as we have seen, some of them have needed the appearance of a special being on the ‘physical plane’ to allow them to be prepared in the collective psyche. When in Christian doctrine it is said that Jesus Christ is the saviour of all humanity, and not only of his followers, it is this fact which is being alluded to. As we have commented Jesus Christ opened the Agnya chakra in the collective psyche. In other words, He enabled the quality of unconditional forgiveness to emerge in the collective psyche, thus allowing all individuals to have access to this quality within their own consciousness. The verbal teachings of Christ are techniques that allow us to experience the existence of this quality on the inner plane of the psyche. The quality can be ‘glimpsed’ there, like the next rung on the ladder.

Each individual also carries out the “movements” and “tasks” which are necessary to reach the rung he is faced with. When a large number of subjects have acted in the same way, the ‘rung’ acquires consistency in the collective psyche and the following ‘rung’ appears. For this reason, salvation cannot be “individual”. Each rung must be crystallised in the collective psyche before each individual can go up to the next one.

The different stages through which the “consciousness-energy” passes during its evolution have been given different names and have certain differences for different authors. However, there are many common areas and reasonable correspondences can be established between the major ones. In The Atman Project, Ken Wilber lists up to twenty-four different classification systems from psychoanalysts, specialists in evolutionary psychology, sociologists, mystics and occult systems. We shall now outline his own description, which may serve as a basis for the subsequent commentaries.

The following diagram shows the stages of evolution of the consciousness according to the author. Note that the time distances between one stage and another are not equivalent even though they

THE EVOLUTIONARY CYCLE ACCORDING TO WILBER

appear to be in the diagram. As in all living evolution, they probably have an exponential character, very slow in the early stages but speeding up as the process continues.

All of the early stages are subconscious, that is, there is as yet no consciousness of the self. The beginning, as we know, is found in the Mooladhara chakra, with the appearance of the “collective subconscious”, that is, “tamas” which sets evolution in motion. Its qualitative expression in the psyche, as we have already seen, is “pure innocence” and it is the first manifestation of the “Son” which comes directly from the Great Mother, Holy Spirit or Power of God. Hindu mythology describes how Shri Ganesha (the archetypal deity of this first chakra who we referred to earlier) was created by his mother, the goddess Parvati, from a red paste which she extracted from her own body.

The following chakra, the Swadishthan, was generated at the same time as the appearance of the physical universe. With it the fluid of “rajas” energy, which will later serve in forming the “consciousness of the self” and the activity for evolution, comes into play.

All these stages are preparatory, and from a philogenetic point of view are prior to the appearance of the human being as we know it today. However, they form part of the unconscious heritage of humanity and they continue to influence our consciousness from the unreachable depths.

Wilber uses this chart to explain the evolution of consciousness from the birth of a child onwards. But, as we have said, this evolution must reproduce (at great speed, in a few months or years) the evolution of the collective consciousness of the species, which would span thousands or even millions of years. and is expressed in the nature of the chakras.

The Mooladhara chakra which was already an aspect of the psyche and therefore of the consciousness (as a potentiality), thus appeared long before any body or nervous system, however rudimentary.

In Wilber’s chart, where, as we have said, the evolution of the “consciousness-energy” begins at birth, the existence of a hypothetical “I” is considered from the beginning and is referred to as “pleromatic I”. We have preferred to refer to this here as the “consciousness of being”. In the pleromatic stage there is no duality and the child and the universe are one and the same thing. The emotional environment is described as totally oceanic and of unconditional omnipotence.

The “uruboric” stage begins with sustenance and involves an early differentiation between “subject-object”. The Great Mother appears as something “internal-external” and not as the being itself. There probably exist sentiments of “oceanic” euphoria but also a seed of “primordial fear”.

The following stage is named by Wilber the “typhonic I”, and signals the emergence of the organic and bodily self. The name “typhonic” comes from the mythological “Typhon”, who was half man, half serpent, to express the passage from “aurobos” (the primordial serpent biting its tail of the previous non-dualist stages) to the mental ego (consciousness of being a body).

Wilber describes the meaning and hypothetical situation of the consciousness-energy of these stages with great detail and erudition. We shall simply note them here and shall attempt to relate them to Whitmont’s hypotheses which take a more strictly Jungian approach and provide a sociological or anthropological analysis.

Thus, we can observe that human society has also gone through a stage which could be considered equivalent to those described by Wilber in the individual psyche of a child. Whitmont calls this the “magic stage” of society and culture.

This stage goes from before the Stone Age and well into the Bronze Age. Societies of this period had an evidently gynolatric orientation, of feminine pre-eminence, which does not mean that social power was held by women, in the way that we would understand it, but rather that the universe was a myth with feminine attributes and that there was a total consciousness of identity with it. Social organisation was of a matriarchal nature and the relationship with the world was magical. The “object-subject” relationship was more a function than an interchange between separate identities.

The Great Goddess rules and protects the world. Everything comes from Her and everything returns to Her. A practical representation of this can be see in funeral mounds from this era which suggest the form of a reclining woman (the Great Goddess) with an opening in her abdominal area through which the dead body was introduced (the return to the Goddess).

Shortly after this phase of non-differentiation, where an “organic self” has just begun to emerge in the individual evolution of the child, a new growth stage is reached which Wilber calls the “verbal-social self”.

Wilber summarizes the cognitive style of this phase as having autistic language, pre-logical and mythical thought and social cognition. The control and structuring of past and future time begins, the roots of “willpower”.

On the protohistorical social plane the magical stage gives way to another which Whitmont calls “mythological-imaginary”, and which corresponds to this “verbal-social self” in the child. At this stage the world begins to lose its feminine qualities and to take on masculine values. There is a dawning of the sense of the interior and of personal differentiation from the objective external world, although the opposites are not yet mutually exclusive. With the appearance of myth, the magical world is codified and moved towards the rational mind. With the loss of the magical identity, there is a split between the “self” and the “world” and the sense of continuity of life and death is lost.

A first social consciousness emerges and imposes an order and ethics which are expressed in collective religious and magical rituals, dances and celebrations. Stories and myths of a feminine nature were probably made masculine in this period. Whitmont locates this stage between the Neolithic era and the blossoming of the Bronze Age.

Everything is still a manifestation of the sacred and the Great Goddess continues to be the source of life and the nourishing mother but also the “cruel destroyer”. Sacrifice appears as a central theme in the majority of mythological cosmogonies (for life to continue and be renewed it must also be destroyed.) All conscious effort evokes an unconscious opposing force, everything which we call good demands a compensating evil (we continue to cite Whitmont), the evil that has been endured can bring good. The rites of sacrifice are a “technology of the psyche”. We sacrifice fuel to get heat, and psychologically we can sacrifice one activity to gain energy for another. In primitive societies at this time the king and his court periodically had to die as offerings to the powers of death and renewal.

From the “mythological stage” the human species moves on to the “mental stage” (Whitmont), and the child begins to acquire the “mental-egoical self” (Wilber).

This area of Wilber’s diagram presided over by the ‘consciousness of the self’, is the part of “consciousness-energy” which psychologists have best been able to study. It is the area we are immersed in at present both as a collective and as individuals.

This stage seems to appear in the child between the ages of 4 and 7 and the predominant cognitive style is described as “syntactic- social”, verbal-dialogue thought, concrete and formal operational thought, etc.

On the social plane (Whitmont) the “mental stage” begins towards the end of the Bronze Age and the start of the Iron Age. The “birth of the hero” takes place, and this phenomenon impregnates the mythology and beliefs of the time.

The transition from the stage of mythological consciousness to the mental stage involves the transition from animism to the three- dimensionality of the external spatial world which is perceived by the five senses and considered “real” and “objective”. Social organisation becomes clearly patriarchal and it is the patriarchal myths which colour the vision of the world.

The “outer world” is separated from the “inner world”, thought is separated from feeling, and sensory perception from intuition and imagination. The outer world (and all that is cognizable) is “reified”. The word ‘reality’ derives from the Latin “res” which means “thing”. Reality is “thingness”.

The “outer world” and everything which is ‘real’ (reified) belongs to the realm of the King (or Divine King), who is masculine in form and character, and is repressive and inculpatory. We are at the time of Yahveh (Shri Krishna in Hindu mythology) and have reached the Vishuddhi chakra where we presented with the choice between “detachment from the image of the self” (the sacrifice of the pride of the ego) and “ego/arrogance” accompanied by “guilt”.

We should observe that the awakening of the chakras in the psyche is now taking place at a time when the human being has evolved a body similar to that which we know now. The hypothetical appearance of Shri Krishna on Earth and the awakening of the Vishuddhi Chakra happened a few thousand years before Christ.

Whitmont describes three great patriarchal myths which illustrate the nature of what colours our psyche. They are the myth of the “Divine King”, the “Scapegoat” and the “repression of the feminine”.

The “Divine King” brings rules and “Thou shalt” and “Thou shalt not”. It brings the spirit of conquest and competitiveness; hence the appearance of the hero who fights and conquers within the outer and inner world (Perseus, Heracles, St. George, etc.). But it also brings guilt and contradiction. Whitmont quotes a poem by William Blake:

“All Bibles or sacred codes have been the cause of the following errors: That God will torment man for eternity for following his Energies”.

It is impossible to live constantly in the presence of a contradictory authority without trying to overthrow it. This is the mission of science which has become the new religion, because the religious archetype in itself is indestructible (Whitmont).

The myth of the “Scapegoat” (for example, the sacrificing of a male goat to Yahweh) symbolises the fact that that desire, spontaneity and the “desires of the flesh” are to be subdued in favour of the light. Again a paradox is produced. The suffering which is proof of “evil” is also shame and guilt. Suffering itself is the consequence of failure and has to be suppressed. Given that pain leads to self-condemnation it cannot be accepted as a normal part of life. To avoid possible pain all desire is sacrificed. But as this is not possible, what is blocked is feeling, leading to rigidity. In compensation, we fill ourselves with alcohol, drugs and violence (Whitmont).

The “feminine and its repression” is a logical consequence of the above. The repression of the gynolatric energies of the psyche require a rational justification, so that a system of beliefs is generated which devalues that energy, and leads to discrimination against the female sex in society. This discriminatory repression of these “feminine” energies is well-known and we will not dwell on it here. Perhaps, however, we should note that this devaluation and repression occurs in the psyche of both men and women.

The coming of Jesus Christ and the awakening of the Agnya chakra marks the beginning of a transformation. Against the “battering ram” of Abraham, Christ represents the “lamb of God”. Against guilt and punishment, forgiveness, against repression, the tolerance of love. However, the strong inertia of the patriarchal energy manages, partly, to take control of the words of Christ and to give it the nature of the previous myth. The Christian churches, with Paul at their head, insist on hindering evolution and thus an even greater intolerance and an emasculating and terrible dogmatism are born.

But what remains after that stage which we could call “Christian”, which marks a point of inflexion, for the retraction of the patriarchal energies of the ego and the appearance of compensations in the form of more feminine energy?

For Wilber this is the progression along the “internal arc” which is, in fact, a return to the origins (the Great Mother) but with the consciousness-energy in other conditions than those which existed at the beginning of the process. He calls one of the first stages of this “regression” the “Centauric self”, because of the symbolism of the centaur (half man, half horse), alluding to the conscious acquisition of the presence of the ‘body’, the sensorial, which is now integrated as the spontaneous will and as a synthesis of primary and secondary processes. In the diagram it appears in symmetry with the “Typhonic self” which is “an outward bound” situation where it is the consciousness of the self which is lacking and emerging. The following stages are hypotheses born from Wilber’s experience of Zen and his knowledge of diverse religions and techniques for inner growth. At the higher levels (“lower causal self”) he mentions, as a “mode of the self”, God as “source of all archetypal Forms” which is what is described in Sahaja Yoga as the quality of the Sahasrara chakra, that is, the integration of the qualities of all the chakras and the realm of the Adi Shakti, Primordial Mother or Holy Spirit.

Whitmont, who concentrates on the sociological domain with therapeutic intentions, proposes the “return of the goddess” as a contemporary myth, and as an archetype which must bloom in the psyche and which must be assimilated as the symbol of the necessary transformation to reach the final archetype of the “Self”. This symbol turns this period into one of searching and liberation. Whitmont says:

“(The faces of the Great Goddess) reconcile the terrifying face of the Gorgon and the saving face of Athene. Life has to be lived and savoured for life itself, in a sensitive interrelationship with the earth and the cosmos as living organisms, and not as dead objects to be exploited for technological or economic progress.”

To take the integrating archetype of the Great Goddess to the “consciousness-energy” is the proposal of Sahaja Yoga. For this, it has been necessary to open the Sahasrara chakra in the collective psyche. Shri Mataji relates how she was witness to this phenomenon which in reality has been produced through her, that is the energy which is embodied in her present physical personality. But Shri Mataji says that this has been possible because we are at an appropriate level of evolution. It is time to take a new step.

It is the opening of the Sahasrara chakra in the psychoenergetic whole which allows the spontaneous ascent of the Kundalini. It offers seekers the closing of the “breach” in the “sattwa” channel, and thus the possibility of a process of individual psychic transformation which through the Goddess (Adi Shakti) will lead to the consciousness of the “Plane of Truth”, Reality and Freedom which is also the Plane of Love and Joy.

The energy mechanism for evolution is described by Wilber in a simple and ingenious way, based on the psychoanalytical concept of “incest-castration” which Wilber himself prefers to call “identification with a maternal archetype” and “death threat”.  In fact, the “ego” at each stage is identified with an aspect of the maternal “image”. Separating from that image is experienced unconsciously as death (annihilation), but not separating is also subject to a threat which seems to come from “outside” and produces fear. The “ego” must wish to “die” in order to reach a higher level. Pathological states occur when one more or less important part of the ego clings to the unconquered identification with “lower” levels of the maternal “image”.

In the words of Sahaja Yoga this process is equivalent to the evolution in the “consciousness energy” of the presence of the “Shakti” (Mother energy) which accompanies the growth process. The energy of the “Shakti” is present in all the chakras as an energy “substance” of the qualities expressed by each chakra. As we have said, the final stage is to achieve identification with the Adi Shakti or Primordial Mother who presides over the Sahasrara and is equivalent to the integration of all the psychic energies.

We have tried throughout this book to show how Sahaja Yoga and the very existence of Sri Mataji links in as one more piece in the vast evolutionary process which begins lost in the depths of creation and culminates in the connection of the consciousness with the divine plane of truth and reality beyond the psyche.

The last rung is now before us. The “terrain” in the collective psyche has been prepared (by the opening of the collective Sahasrara chakra). The “realization” of Sahaja Yoga allows us to “glimpse” the next rung through the experience of the “cool breeze”, of peace and inner silence. The practical teachings of Shri Mataji lay down the basis for the seed to sprout and give fruit in the consciousness, although they have to be followed according to the desire which springs up within each individual.

We can therefore see how Sahaja Yoga is not just another more or less interesting technique for a few individuals to develop their spiritual capabilities or to free themselves from their own physical or psychic conflicts, but rather the expression of a stage within the appropriate time and place for the evolution of human beings, a gift of one’s own destiny.

11. Sahaja Yoga And Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

As we have explained throughout these pages, the essence of Sahaja Yoga, and what differentiates it from the spiritual proposals offered at previous stages of evolution, is the following:

– The opening of the Sahasrara chakra at the level of the collective psyche, a phenomenon which affects the whole of humanity, and which is what will enable each individual to climb up the last steps of evolution.

– The “Self-realisation” represented by the spontaneous rising of the Kundalini, which connects the “operational consciousness” (the central nervous system) to the plane of the Universal Consciousness where the root of all truth and knowledge lies.

“Self-realisation” and the “opening of the Sahasrara” are two phenomena which are interrelated in such a way that the former (which takes place at an individual level) could not have been possible without the opening of the chakra on the collective plane. In any case, for an individual, it is through “self-realisation” that the “Sahaja” transformation process is set in motion.

But both “self-realisation” and the subsequent process are closely linked to Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, which represents a stumbling block for the rationalist thought of the West to accept the “Sahaja way”.

Shri Mataji comes from what we might call a “normal” background. She does not introduce Sahaja Yoga from a forest or from a secluded monastery or from a sumptuous palace. Her lifestyle has that appropriate to the wife of a high civil servant, with a family background which could be described as traditional to families of relatively high social status in India.

The early years of her life are coloured with anecdotes and situations which denote the presence of a very special personality, and aroused the amazement and admiration, and also the respect and affection, of those who surrounded her. (Such admirers included

Mahatma Gandhi, in whose ashram she lived as a girl, her teachers at school and university, and the important political figures and artists who often visited her parents. Her father was a notable politician and one of the leaders of the revolution against British rule.)

She herself, while still very young, took an active part in the struggle for independence, and suffered imprisonment, torture and persecution, in addition to many years of deprivation of the material well-being to which she had been accustomed as a child.

She later married a man who was to become one of the most brilliant and highly respected individuals in the United Nations Organisation. He was knighted for his great diplomatic work and his personality by Queen Elizabeth II, and was granted the “Encomienda de Isabel la Católica” by Spain in October 1994.

lthough she has commented that she was always aware of her true nature and of her mission (Shri Mataji has not had spiritual teachers), it was not until 1970, when she was 47 years old, that she announced that she incarnated the energy of the Adi Shakti (the Power of God or Holy Spirit), that the Sahasrara chakra had been opened in the collective psyche, and that the Kundalini energy could now rise spontaneously through the “self-realisation” of Sahaja Yoga, a process that can be passed on from one realised person to another for the “total emancipation of humanity”.

A claim of this sort at the time in which we live provokes, at the least, surprise and perplexity in those more well-disposed towards Shri Mataji, and mistrust in those who have not had any personal links with her, because similar declarations have been made by a multitude of present day false masters, who Shri Mataji denounces openly in her public programmes and appearances in the media. But also, for a rationalist mind, particularly in Western culture (of clear “rajas” predominance) a declaration like this may sound “primitive” and “superstitious”, “suspiciously religious”, outside the positivistic logic which lies at the base of our contemporary educational system (our “scientific culture”) and it is perhaps not surprising that it should provoke contemptuous or sarcastic comments or even openly aggressive attacks (paradoxically irrational and paranoid).

But if we were to accept as a hypothesis that what Shri Mataji says is true, what exactly would it mean to say that she is the incarnation of the Adi Shakti?

What it evidently does not mean, is that the Adi Shakti (the Spirit or Absolute Power) is “enclosed” within the body of Shri Mataji. This would be the point of view of a positivist mind, educated to believe that what is “real” is the outside (the body or objects). We have already seen that the Adi Shakti is an aspect of the first qualification of what we can conceptualize as “unity/duality”, “consciousness-energy”, which is born from the “Plane of Truth”. The “energy” aspect (Adi Shakti) also has the character of Magna Mater or Great Goddess but in reality it is the very substance of the psychoenergetic whole. To incarnate the Adi Shakti would mean that all the energy materials which that body uses for its functioning (both the denser physiological planes of the body and the subtler planes of the psyche), which are, obviously, a part of the energetic whole of the universe, are of such transparency that the “Plane of Truth” can be reflected through them without any distortion. It would also be expressed in the form of that primordial “qualification” which we have called Primordial Mother or Adi Shakti.

The physical body, which is what we perceive first, would adapt itself to the tasks required by other more subtle planes. Evidently it would be subject to the laws of physics like any other body unless the requirements from other planes were different. In any case, the physical body, which is the outer expression of the reality of the interior, would be in harmony with what is expressed by other planes as far as “radiation of energy” is concerned.

All physical bodies emit certain energetic radiation in accordance with what they represent on more subtle planes. We have already said that a Sahaja Yogi can sense that radiation on his or her hands in the form of “vibrations”, because this radiation has an effect on the chakras and subtle energy, and Sahaja Yogis have connected their central nervous system to that level. When something promotes an imbalance, or there is a lack of harmony, or an involutional process taking place, heat is felt, and when the opposite occurs, a “cool breeze” is felt flowing through the hands.

Shri Mataji’s physical organism produces a strong radiation which can be felt even by those who are not Sahaja Yogis. A Sahaja Yogi would feel a cool breeze, or his or her obstructions in the form of warmth. What happens on the psychic plane is that the presence of the “Plane of Truth” reflected by Shri Mataji in the quality of “Adi Shakti” (the Great Mother) invites the Kundalini energy in each person to ascend through the “sattwa” channel up to the consciousness. We should remember that the Kundalini energy is the individual expression of the Adi Shakti in the psychic space of each individual. Thus, through a phenomenon of “sympathy”, a stronger energy moves others of the same nature in the same direction.

This “sympathy” of energies occurs not only in relation to the energy of other people but also to that of any object. The contact with Shri Mataji “polarises” the internal energy of the object, which is expressed through its own irradiation in a more “sattwa” (evolutionary, harmonious) way. We use the expression “vibrate” to describe this phenomenon of giving an object an energy in tune (or more in tune) with the “Plane of Truth”.

This quality of positive, balanced and harmonizing irradiation can also be observed in a photograph of Shri Mataji. Just as people all have some kind of irradiation, depending on their degree of inner transparency, so do their photographs. The photograph of Shri Mataji has properties similar to those of her physical organism, although expressed less intensely.

The harmonising irradiation of Shri Mataji or of her photograph can be used to practical ends in the fields of biology and medicine, which have both seen many successful experiments carried out. Agricultural experiments, carried out following the most rigorous scientific methods, in which the irrigation of crops such as maize or sunflowers with “vibrated water” (water which has in contact with a photograph of Shri Mataji) resulted in faster growth with higher and better quality yields. Similar experiments have also been carried out in animal farming and milk production. Shri Mataji has also achieved amazing cures in the field of medicine of which there is objective proof; but then the practice of Sahaja Yoga in itself cures illness, as all illnesses are related to imbalances in the energy centres (chakras), and the practice of Sahaja Yoga is geared towards freeing those chakras from any obstructions.

Curiously, the irradiation of energy which can be perceived through its effects but cannot usually be seen, can sometimes be captured by the camera. In effect, the vibratory properties possessed by photographs of Shri Mataji lead Sahaja yogis to take many pictures of her, in which strange phenomena of the energy sometimes appear: luminous spheres in her hands, rays of light falling upon her from above, lights outlining the position of chakras; all inexplicable from the point of view of photographic techniques.

Manifestations and phenomena of this kind show that Shri Mataji possesses unusual qualities and powers, but other spiritual teachers of a dubious nature also sometimes display surprising abilities and powers. If we have achieved “self-realisation”, and a sufficient perception of vibrations, the feeling on our hands of “cool breeze” or “heat” is a good indication of whether we are in the presence of an expression of the “Plane of Truth” or of an involutional force. This should be the definitive proof, but even here we can have doubts or uncertainties, and the best way is to accept as a hypothesis the idea of Shri Mataji as a representation of the “Plane of Truth”, and to experiment, to observe her teachings, her own attitudes and behaviour and to be aware of any transformations that occur within us. The conclusions and recognition will come by themselves.

We are speaking of “vibrations”, “irradiation of energy” and “sensations” because we are at present dealing with the practical and “external” aspect of Sahaja Yoga, but we must not forget that it is on the internal psychic plane that the transformation must take place. This transformation should culminate in the structuring of the integrating archetype of the psychic whole, the archetype of the Great Goddess, Supreme Mother. Let us recall the process, explained earlier :

Matriarchy (Primordial Mother)

Patriarchy (ego)

Goddess (Holy Spirit)

The acceptance of Shri Mataji thus entails being open to the influence of the living symbol that she represents. When the “vibrations” are felt, doubts or the rejection of this symbol is perceived as heat in the centre of the palm of the hand, which indicates a blockage in the Sahasrara chakra (the chakra which is a synthesis of all the others, presided over by the Adi Shakti).

To accept Shri Mataji is a difficult task for the ego. But this rejection occurs when we do not perceive the “symbol”, but evaluate Shri Mataji as an “ego”. Each person experiences him or herself as an “ego”, that is, as someone moved by ambitions, attachments, concern for one’s self-image, etc. It is normal to project similar qualities onto any human being. Acceptance of soemone with the “role” we are suggesting here is then experienced as submission to that someone. The idea that an “ego” should submit to other “egos” falls outside the functional possibilities of any “egoic” structure. But that is not the case here.

We are not going to discuss here what role may be played by an “ego” structure in Shri Mataji’s psychic structure, or whether or not such a structure exists. What is obvious is that any symbolic expression and influence coming from an “egoic” structure will not fulfil the conditions of transparency to the “Plane of Truth” which are necessary for the evolutionary effects we have described to take place, both in the collective and the individual psyche. This is what we should be fully aware of. We are talking of such an inner transparency that the “Plane of Truth” is reflected and expressed in all its purity and reality.

Acceptance, then, does not mean “submission” but rather “surrender”. “Surrender” is a natural phenomenon, equivalent to “accepting what is” and “love”. We surrender to sleep at night without questioning or objecting to what we are doing; children surrender to their mothers and we all surrender to the light and warmth of the sun without which we could not live. It does not occur to us to feel that our surrender makes us inferior or enslaved.

Sahaja Yoga should be approached in a similar way. It is not a question of Shri Mataji having “to do something to us”, but of our own evolutionary activity, our own desire for change and transparency in which we are the only ones responsible. This transformation has to take place in the “inner space”, in our psyche, which is an aspect of the “psychoenergetic whole”, which is simply the body of the Supreme Mother, who in the form of a structure with a thousand faces has been present throughout our evolution.

Shri Mataji helps us by reflecting that Primordial instance. But to do so she has to place her organism, her energy, her presence and her whole life at the service of evolution to crystallize the necessary Symbol here, on the physical plane, and so that the message can also crystallize in those individuals who understand it and who want to accept her offering, which is her own “surrender”.

12. The Practice Of Sahaja Yoga

When we refer to the practice of something which has the word “yoga” in its name or description, the western mind immediately thinks of a repertoire of techniques or procedures to follow, which, if they work, can solve something which bothers us.

The “cognitive attitude” of the western mentality, and what impregnates its whole culture, is the dualism between the manipulating ego (which is identified as “I myself”, “what I am”, etc.) and the “outside world” which is the object of manipulation. The instrument used in this manipulation is “technology”, which western cultures have developed in all areas with great enthusiasm and efficiency, achieving truly spectacular results in many fields.

We can observe that this manipulative technology is most effective in those fields where it is apparently easiest to isolate the intervening variables, such as the field of inanimate matter, of minerals. In other fields, however, where there is a great interconnection between several dimensions, and the variables cannot be isolated (they often are not even observed or recognised), the technology is much less effective, or has negative side effects which outweigh the benefits of its action. This is clear in areas where life forms are involved, and where human manipulation has had disastrous effects on the well-being of our planet. We shall not even mention other areas, such as the psyche or spirit, where manipulation takes place from almost complete ignorance and confusion.

Nevertheless, the western mind clings to its belief that “anything is possible with a new technique”, and that if it fails in an attempt it is because the technique was not good enough, and another one needs to be found. Thus, for example, we try to solve the problem of atmospheric pollution by fighting the effects of our aggressive system, rather than by trying to change the system into one which is more harmonious and more appropriate for the environment. That is, we try to attack the aggression itself, in a spiral of increasingly disastrous effects.

The same thing occurs with allopathic medicine. A symptom appears, as a consequence of an lifestyle which in some way is hindering the natural development or evolution of our organism, and doctors will try to find a manipulatory tool which will enable the symptom to be reduced. In most cases, this involves reaching a kind of compromise with the illness, and generating unpredictable side effects.

The spiritual field is no exception. A westerner who sets out on a spiritual path thinks first of “what he or she must do” and not of “what he or she must stop doing”. We thus superimpose one tension on another, without realising that all tensions, as products of the “manipulating ego”, are always one-dimensional, and can never act on a reality which has infinite dimensions and unimaginable interconnections.

Solutions always involve “letting go”, relaxing, which is what the Kundalini energy does when it activates the parasympathetic system during its ascent.

In Sahaja Yoga, once we have received our self-realisation and the Kundalini has risen (even slightly) and passed through the Sahasrara chakra, there is only one thing left to do (which involves not doing), which is to surrender unconditionally to that energy which is the Mother of our spirit, the expression within us of the Mother of the Universe or Adi Shakti. To return to the simile of sleep, we have to let go, to relax, for sleep to come. No one goes to sleep by “wanting” to go to sleep. We sleep because the wish for sleep appears within us, a spontaneous signal from nature, and we simply accept it and surrender to it. Thus, sleep places us in the hands of the great wisdom of nature, which can repair us and restore our equilibrium.

But, naturally, in the case of Sahaja Yoga, such surrender is difficult; it is hindered by all the contradictions and imbalances which have accumulated in our organism and prevent us from surrendering to the repair work of the spiritual energy. It thus becomes necessary for us to use techniques which help us to “let go” and “accept” what is there, which wants to take us where we have to go.

Let us not forget that the objective of Sahaja Yoga is the objective of evolution, that is, to develop the consciousness which corresponds to the human condition. To use the terminology introduced in previous pages, this means allowing the psychic energy to achieve a maximum level of transparency, so that it can reflect the “Plane of Truth” with the utmost clarity. The Plane of Truth, as we have explained earlier, is an instance “outside” the psyche which we

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could call Divine or Absolute. In Hinduism it is called “satchitananda”, absolute truth and wisdom and absolute joy. The level of consciousness has to rise in a parallel way, fed by the Kundalini energy in all its power and purity. It is the combination of consciousness and energy which is transformed until it reaches the level of maturity which corresponds to it.

The evolutionary level of the collective psyche and the fact that the last rung of the ladder is in place (because the Sahasrara chakra has been activated in the collective psyche), allows this individual development and growth to occur in a special way, the “Sahaja way”.

Shaja means “born with oneself”, that is, it refers to something that was already inside us, but it also means “spontaneously” or “effortlessly”, although we must qualify the latter expression. In comparison with other methods, valid for earlier evolutionary stages (we are referring to licit methods taught by the true great masters, and not to those of the false prophets who have existed in all eras), we find in Sahaja Yoga a reversing of terms, which makes the “spontaneity” possible. Previously, the awakening of the Kundalini (the energy which finally illuminates the consciousness) was only possible after the psychic energy (that is, the rajas-tamas and sattwa matter) had reached the necessary degree of purity and transparency, in other words, when the rajas-tamas balance was perfect and the chakras were free from blockages. To use one of Shri Mataji’s similes, it was like “having to clean the room in the dark before turning the light on”. To do this, it was necessary to follow the instructions of a qualified master and to submit to rigorous discipline. Only then was it possible to obtain “self-realisation”, which was instantaneous and was produced by a “last symbol” incorporated into the psyche. Writings on Zen Buddhism illustrate this final situation, where the “last symbol” might be an insult or a blow from the master’s stick. As the “room of the psyche” was already clean, the “realisation”, that is, the passage of the energy of the consciousness (Kundalini) coincided with “illumination” (connection with the “Plane of Truth”).

In the “Sahaja way” “realisation” (the ascent of the Kundalini) occurs at the beginning of the process, and is something that any Sahaja Yogi can communicate to any interested person.

We can summarize the steps on the Sahaja way as follows:

1. Receiving one’s “realisation”
This is the beginning of the process and without it Sahaja Yoga is meaningless. “Realisation” can be communicated by any Sahaja Yogi in a very simple way. It is recommendable, if not essential, to receive “realisation” through this personal intervention. All that is necessary is a sincere desire and an attitude we might call “innocent”. A frivolous, self-interested or manipulative motivation will prevent “realisation” taking place.

If the connection is achieved, if realisation occurs, a cool breeze is felt on the palms of the hands or from the top of the head. The breeze may be hot if there are many blockages. Heat or prickly sensations may also be felt in the fingers, corresponding to blocked chakras.

2. Consolidating one’s “realisation”.

This is achieved by lighting a candle (as a purifying element) in front of a photograph of Shri Mataji and meditating.

3. Learning the theoretical aspects.

To understand the new signals which appear through the vibrations (vibratory consciousness), it is necessary to learn about the subtle organism, the role of each chakra, and so on.

4. Purifying the subtle organism.

Our psychological conditioning, physical problems, behavioural conflicts, etc., are expressed in the chakras as blockages and imbalances. This must all be corrected so that the Kundalini energy can rise with greater force until the final state of consciousness on a higher plane is established.

Our vibratory consciousness tells us what needs to be corrected. There are various techniques and procedures which can be used, working with Sahaja Yogis and also in our daily life, which is where the real trials and transformation take place.

5. Introducing the necessary lifestyle changes.

Conflicts in our subtle system are also expressed in our way of life, our habits, the places we frequent, our relationships, etc. In reality it is the “life” we have led which has darkened our subtle organism and consciousness, and it is through the right (Dharmic) behaviour that we can transform ourselves.

6. Reaching the state of thoughtless awareness.

This state comes spontaneously during meditation when the pressure on the chakras diminishes and we become “centred” on the

“sattwa” energy of the central channel.

It is in this thoughtless state that inspirations from the “plane of truth” beyond the mind appear.

Apart from the above steps, we can be helped by other elaborate symbols with great power such as Pujas and Havans, which are ceremonies of offering and purification. In the former the purifying medium is water, and in the latter it is fire.

Living in collectivity, music, and correct behaviour are other aspects of the practical life in the “Sahaja way”, which can only be learnt through direct experience. These subjects fall outside the scope of this book, which intends simply to give a theoretical perspective and to examine different points of view.

Finally, one must listen to oneself, but hear the voice of one’s heart, not of one’s head. In the end, all reasoning and logical argument serves simply to pacify the grumbling voracity of the mind, and prevent it from bothering us while we try to listen to the answer which is beating deep within our heart. If the proposal reaches the Self which is hidden there, it may respond with the indestructible vigour and force of what is true. If not, what else can we do?