Connecting

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone!

 

I am having some difficulty connecting with the spiritual aspect of my life,

and was hoping to get some advice.

 

By nature, I am a very logical, scientific person who doesn't generally put a

lot of faith in things that are not proven. I had an experience not long ago

which absolutely convinced me that I was being looked after by a higher

power. The fact that I asked for it to happen made it even more

convincing. :-)

 

In spite of that experience, I have trouble connecting to this higher power.

I still don't feel as though it's pervasive in my life, even though I

desperately want it to be. Is there a specific meditation or kriya I should

work on to establish a stronger connection with my spiritual side? I do

practice Sat Kriya every morning (just recently started doing it), and have

an asana practice which has been part of my daily schedule for three

years now. It's made a world of difference! Only recently have I become

interested in Kundalini Yoga. I already love what little I've learned of it.

 

I just want to add how glad I was to find this list. I've been around for

some time (don't think I've ever posted though), absorbing all the love and

knowledge that is passed along. I learn so much just by reading the

conversations, and am very grateful to be part of such a nurturing group.

Thank you all for being here!

 

Sat Nam!

David

 

______________

Get your own "800" number

Voicemail, fax, email, and a lot more

http://www.ureach.com/reg/tag

[Guest guest]

Dear David,

 

> In spite of that experience, I have trouble connecting to this higher

power.

> I still don't feel as though it's pervasive in my life, even though I

> desperately want it to be. Is there a specific meditation or kriya I

should

> work on to establish a stronger connection with my spiritual side?

 

A warm welcome to the list! Glad you decided to post. You will be glad to

know that many scientifically-inclined people do share your newly found

spiritual inclination. Swami Vivekananda, one of the greatest yogic masters

of the 20th century, was a very scientifically minded atheist until he

discovered something else. Ram Tirth, the well known mathematician, also

became an accomplished yoga master and ardent devotional poet. If you are

looking for experience as opposed to belief, you are in the right place. KY

is as much a science as it is an art. The only difference from the other

sciences is that here the observer needs to be himself part of the

experiment. The proof will come with practice. A personal proof, but proof

nonetheless.

 

There are many people who are wary of getting into yoga because they think

it either requires them to believe in something without proof, or because it

may contradict their existing beliefs. Not true. Yoga requires you simply to

have the willingness to do the exercises and believe that you can be more

than you think you are. In fact, it requires you what science does: to keep

yourself open to possibilities. Not believe in anything, but keep the door

open. Most scientists during history have been open minded - to the

possibility that the Earth orbits the sun and not the other way around, to

the possibility that space is curved and matter is really energy. The same

open-mindedness will serve you well here as well. "The proof is in the

pudding" as they say, but you have to be willing to make and try the pudding

for that : )!

 

You don't recognize the higher power as being all-pervasive in your life not

because it is too far from you, or you from it, but because it is too close

to you. You don't spend all your time paying attention to your breath or

heartbeat. They are too close for you to notice them most of the time. But

you wouldn't be alive if they weren't there. And you wouldn't exist at all

if the higher power didn't sustain you. So we know from physics that matter

= energy. Yoga has said this since thousands of years ago. This, and a

further step: matter = energy = consciousness. And it is this universal

consciousness that is the higher power.

 

You don't feel it is pervasive because you expect it to be separate from you

and you are looking for that separate essence. Guess what - you are made of

it. It is not separate from you. You live and breathe in this essence, as

part of it. "Sat Nam" - you are the truth, and there is nothing beyond that.

Ah yes, people with scientific curiosity will certainly get intrigued by

this idea : ). Which is very good, because you can in fact prove it to

yourself. KY is not an end in itself. It is a means to take you there. It is

the path to the proof.

 

There are many ways to keep yourself open to this awareness. The funny thing

is that there is nothing you have to attain or become - you aready are the

essence of truth. You just aren't aware of it. A few things that would help

would be:

 

1. try repeating the mantra "Sat Nam" (Sat on the inhale, Nam on the exhale)

as often as you can during the day. Most of us have spent much of our lives

repeating a different sort of mantras - "I am small", "I am lonely", or

worse, "I am a sinner, I am unworthy". It is time to change that and start

repeating that which KY practice will prove to you: "I am the truth".

 

2. do any variant of the eagle pose (mentioned today in an earlier post) for

a few minutes in the morning to start your day well and also when you start

feeling tired or down. It will bring you back up. Visualize streams of light

entering your body through the extended arms and filling your body. Welcome

this light. This is not an easy pose to do for more than a few minutes -

make a point to go a little bit more than you think you can. End by slowly

bringing the hands up overhead until the thumbs meet, then gently brig them

down in a wide arc. Actually, all the exercises in KY are meant to reconnect

you to that which was never far away from you. Especially the ones for the

upper chakras will make a big difference (such as eagle pose), but you need

to work on the lower chakras as well to give you a good foundation

(skyscrapers are build from the base too!).

 

Another powerful exercise for the tenth gate (or the thousand

petalled-lotus, as the topmost chakra is also called) is this: sit

cross-legged, interlace your fingers and raise your arms above your head,

making a circle with your arms. Close your eyes and turn them up and in,

trying to look through the skull and see your hands (yes, I know it sounds

weird. The weirdest thing will be though that at some point you will

actually be able to see with your eyes closed). You can do long deep

breathing with this exercise.

 

3. during the day, look around and consider the possibility that everything

and everyone you see is an expression of the universal consciousness. You

don't have to believe that is true. Just consider the possibility that on a

deep level, everything you see is like grapes on the same vine, or waves on

the same ocean. Try to see the things that unite, not the things that

separate. Mystics and nuclear physicists will find that easy ; ). Try to see

with their eyes.

 

4. try to continue your spiritual practices regularly. You mentioned you

have been doing asanas for three years. That is wonderful. Try to do

something everyday.

 

You asked a wonderful question, and many books can be written trying to

answer it. You will find though that practice will give you all the answers

you are looking for.

 

Many blessings,

Satsang Kaur

[Guest guest]

Thank you for the kind and encouraging welcome! I will keep it

for inspiration as I continue my practice. I very much like the

sound of the tenth-gate exercise you mentioned. I look forward

to trying it tonight during my "yoga time". :-)

 

To make my day even more special, I received my spiritual name

from Yogi Bhajan! I have been blessed to be Deva Singh,

lion-angel. It was a perfect end to my day to find it in my

mailbox when I got home.

 

Sat Nam!

David

 

--- Satsang Kaur <satsang wrote:

 

>A warm welcome to the list! Glad you decided to post.

>You will be glad to know that many scientifically-inclined

>people do share your newly found spiritual inclination.

 

 

 

Get personalized email addresses from Mail - only $35

a year! http://personal.mail./

[Guest guest]

Hello,

 

I realize this is an old post but I feel compelled to respond..add... offer

my own experience to this.

I understand what it is like to feel that there is a difficulty in

connecting with the spiritual. There are moments of true understanding at

times, but it seems that they pass and then I am left feeling as though I

have forgotten what it was that I felt and "knew" at that moment. Perhaps

it is a bit of an environmental thing for me, but I do feel that when I am

away from the city, I can connect far easier and feel much more at peace

with myself and with others. When I return back to the concrete jungle that

I live in, I find that any spirituality that I may have gained get's

stifled. Lost. So many distractions here...

 

I have been studying Kundalini off and on for 10 months now. My teacher is

not here for the summer and I had to cut my classes short over the spring

due to the demands of my boss making me work odd hours. Any Kundalini I do

is on my own, as well as other forms such as Ashtanga and Hatha. I have

been wanting to pursue a teaching position in yoga for some time, as well as

studying Ayurvedic Healing. It's so hard to do this living in Canada! I am

limited to correspondence courses and only one place that offers any yoga

teacher training and it is only once a year, and not the style of yoga that

I have been training in.

 

Oh..... okay..... maybe it's just me being frustrated. I do know that this

is my path that I have to take, it just seems that I keep getting knocked

off it. This list is wonderful, however, and I have gained much insight

since being here.

 

Can anyone tell me how they found and stayed on their path? Does anyone

have any advice for a Canadian ) who wants to study ayurveda?? I'm open

to all suggestions at this point.

 

And if I can quote from David... I, too, thank you all for being here. )

 

Sat Nam,

Kelly

[Guest guest]

Hi Kelly:

 

> it is a bit of an environmental thing for me, but I do feel that

> when I am away from the city, I can connect far easier and feel

>much more at peace with myself and with others. When I return back

>to the concrete jungle that I live in, I find that any spirituality

>that I may have gained get's

 

I think many of us share that experience. As someone wise (or some

wise guy) once said, anyone can meditate in a quiet room with no

distractions. But that isn't when we need it - it is when the boss

is steaming mad, or traffic is blocked for two hours, or (fill in the

blank) - that is when we need it.

 

This is why regular, daily practice (sadhana) is the key to this kind

of work. It gives us good habits to fall back on. It clears the

garbage from the subconscious mind so we aren't so easily distracted

and upset. It continually enhances our ability to find peace and joy

in every moment.

 

> Can anyone tell me how they found and stayed on their path? Does

 

As far as finding a path, there is a parable I heard or read a while

ago that is very appropriate for me. The writer compared finding a

spiritual path to digging a well. You don't just go out and sink a

well. You dig test holes in different places. You try out the water

that comes from each one (that is, we experiment with different

practices and teaching to see what works best). When we find the

right water and the right location, then we put in the well (commit

to practicing a particular path).

 

As far as staying on a path, the answer is always sadhana. First we

find something we are capable of doing every day and find a time of

day we can always do it. This doesn't have to be much. I always ask

my beginning classes if they are willing to take 10 minutes every day

to change their lives, and everyone agrees that this is possible.

 

So I suggest something simple, like 3 minutes of long deep breathing,

3 minutes of spinal flex, and 3 minutes of chanting long Sat Nam's,

and 1 minutes to just sit quietly and experience the change.

 

Once we see that simple, minimal amount of effort making a real

change in how we feel every day, we might consider doing a bit more,

and then you are hooked for life!!!

 

 

Love & blessings,

Sadhant

[Guest guest]

Dear DAvid,

 

> In spite of that experience, I have trouble connecting to this higher

power.

> I still don't feel as though it's pervasive in my life, even though I

> desperately want it to be. Is there a specific meditation or kriya I

should

> work on to establish a stronger connection with my spiritual side?

 

Have you read my lesson Surrendering to the Zone? it gives ways to train

yourself to connect with the Divine that you can use with any meditatioin.

Also the Brainwave meditation in another lesson will produced a Divine

Connection effect. Alot is training yourself to tune into subtle energies

and staying present.

 

Sat Nam,

 

Gururattan Kaur