Meditation techniques by Swami Nityananda Maharaj

[Guest guest]

Shankaram Shiva Shankaram

 

Hi All,

 

Some of you might have attended the inspiring lectures by Swami Nityananda with

His deep insight into the fundamental problems faced by humanity and the

practical explanations provided by Him in the most simple way possible.

 

He also explains how we can apply it in our day-to-day lives.

 

This is an elaborate writeup by one of the attendees of Ananda Spurana Program

/ Nithyananda Spurana Program. I am sure you all will enjoy it.

 

Regards,

Srinivas.

---

 

Since several of you have hotmail accounts, I am unable to send attachment. I

have copied the articles from word documents. Sorry for the redundant e-mails

to those who can open my attachments.

 

Siva

 

Dear Friends,

February 24, 2004

 

 

 

I want to tell you about the wonderful weekend I just spent with Swamiji

(Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda Swamigal), a fun, funny, joyful, compassionate,

healing, and very high energy enlightened master from India. He celebrates and

embraces life fully, and I really felt this intense joy and sense of

possibility in his presence. There is no drudgery, solemnity, nor stifling

shoulds imposed on you.

It is all fun, laughter, and awakening possibility. But this doesnt mean a lack

of discipline or that anything goes. Its just that once you have a solid

experience of the basic energy of the universe, you can trust that, follow the

deep intelligence within you, and youll do the right thing without needing

external rules imposed on you. You just trust God/the Universe/Energy (however

you want to call it), and it will guide you in your own growth and service to

others.

 

 

 

I have gone to numerous events with spiritual teachers and healers, and many

have had valuable advice and techniques, but I have never met anyone quite like

Swamiji. This vigorous young master (he is 26 years old) is so practical and in

tune with the realities and challenges of life right now, and his teachings are

so universal (not religious but spiritual), that everyone can benefit greatly.

It doesnt matter what your religion or other beliefs are, the energy of total

bliss (Nithyananda) that Swamiji embodies and shares will enhance your life.

Swamiji does not ask you to believe anythingin fact, he invites you to doubt

everything, to verify anything he says and the techniques he conveys by how

they work in your life. Swamiji always tells you to put your total attention

and effort into all you do and then experience what thereby happens within.

Your inner experience is your proof.

 

 

 

Therefore, you dont have to believe anything; instead, you actually know what

is and isnt a good activity for you by the practical results it produces.

Swamiji

respects everyones freedom and invites you to learn from everyone and

everything. He welcomes all questions, insights, and other contributions. He

seems to be the living embody of his conviction that we should never have a

closed idea and should learn from everyone. He is NOT forming a cult. His

worldwide movement for meditationDhyana Peetamis designed to awaken the

divinity that lies within us, not to make converts to any one path or way of

doing things.

 

 

 

Upon Swamijis birth, a prominent astrologer recognized that hed be a great

spiritual master but advised his parents not to mention this to him so that he

could have a normal childhood. Nevertheless, by the age of two the boy was

already hanging out in the local temples and learning by heart the stories and

songs there. After giving up all possessions at age 17, Swamiji traveled alone

all over India and Nepal, with only the clothes on his back and a water pitcher

(trusting the Universe/God/Energy to provide for him), studying with great

masters and spending countless hours in meditation and performing intense tapas

(rigors to purify and overcome our usual subservience to the body and mind)

until he reached Enlightenment on his 22nd birthday (January 1, 2000). That is,

he succeeded in totally merging his consciousness with that of Universal

Consciousness/Energy/God. Now that energy runs through him strongly on an

ongoing basis. Enlightenment is possible for everyone. It totally frees the

mind, body, emotions, and spirit for the life we are intended to lead: the pure

bliss and wisdom that makes every act one of joy and benefit to ourselves while

also of service to others. (After Enlightenment, Swamiji was in a state of

incredible bliss for 9 months, with no internal chatter (mostly, we are slaves

to our minds), then his mind again returned but no longer as master but as

servant of his being. Since then, Swamiji has been blissfully engaging with

people everywhere, teaching and healing all who flock to him.)

 

 

 

I know talk of enlightenment sounds abstract, but if you meet Swamiji, youll

see that its really the most practical and joyful way to be. I had always

thought that it would be nice to be enlightened and that, of course, it would

bring benefits, but I dont think I really understood in a very concrete way

until my time with Swamiji that its the way of being thats freest, happiest,

and most useful to yourself and others. You can be free from all worries,

fears, depressions, conflict, wasted effort, illusions, etc. and replace them

with bliss. Even if, like me, you are not enlightened, you can get a lot of

these benefits through practicing the meditations.

 

 

 

I highly recommend that you arrange to meet Swamiji and take his Ananda Spurana

Program (ASP) when hes in your area (his schedule is at www.swamisworld.com) or

that you travel to his ashram in India to take this two-day course of study

that energetically conveys to you fundamental meditation techniques for each of

the

seven chakras (Ananda Spurana means Flowering of Bliss). I am planning to go to

India to take his more advanced courses. You can find out more about him at

www.dhyanapeetam.org

 

 

 

After the weekend, I did Swamijis basic Ananda Healing initiation (to open my

Ananda Gandha chakra so that healing energy can move through me to others) and

am now dedicating one room of my home as a healing center where anyone can

come, free of charge, and get Ananda Healing. You or anyone you know is welcome

to come; just give me a call (360-563-0865). Let me emphasize, however, that I

myself will not be healing anyone. I will simply be a channel for the energy to

move through to help people in whatever way is appropriate for them at that

time. None of it is from me or in any way a credit to me.

 

 

 

Below are my notes from my weekend with Swamiji, though this will NOT in any

way convey to you the experience of being there with him; it will just give you

a little more intellectual information. Also, please do NOT attempt to practice

any of the meditations from these notes. I have not been able to write down the

most essential part, which is the energetic direction and attunement that

Swamiji gives you when he teaches you these techniques. I may even have made

mistakes in what I was able to write down. I am absolutely not qualified to

teach any of the material, and I would not presume to do so. The below is

simply to whet your appetite to take the class. Also, the class was full not

only of Swamijis huge, blissful energy, but also his jokes, laughter,

insightful stories, music, dancing, etc.none of which is even mentioned below.

Being in this blissful energy field was the main benefit of the weekend, and

you can experience it only if you go to Swamiji in person.

 

 

 

Be well and be blissful!

 

Your friend,

 

Trisha

 

 

 

Swamijis Ananda Spurana Program (ASP)February 21-22, 2004

 

Trisha Howell (Trisha) notes

 

 

 

While there are thousands of chakras (energy centers) in our bodies, there are

seven that are key to managing our physical, mental, and emotional activities.

Due to stress, negative emotions, and other events, our chakras can become

disturbed, creating disease and disharmony, which blocks us from functioning at

our most vibrant and joyful level. Swamiji (Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda

Swamigal) will show us how to activate and energize the chakras with a

practical meditation technique for each of the seven. Cleansing and

revitalizing the chakras takes us to a higher energy level where disease

dissolves and where we can be in touch with the eternal bliss (Nithyananda)

that is the true source and substance of our being. We have the power inside to

cure ourselves and to be always in a space of joy and peace when we keep our

chakras energized. Universal meditation techniques learned in the presence of a

master and then practiced on an ongoing basis keep our energy high so that we

lead healthy, fulfilling, and blissful lives. Thats why Swamiji not only heals

the sick and blesses all who ask but also shows us how to create ongoing high

energy, health, and blessing in our own lives through practicing meditation.

 

 

 

Anahata (Heart) Chakra

 

The heart is the seat of love, which expresses itself as giving and receiving

attention freely. Giving expands the heart chakra, shows caring, produces

affinity, etc. Attention and focus produce endless results. The main cause of

low energy is waiting for others attention and approval. Mostly we build our

personalities from others views and expectations of us. We allow others

approval and disapproval to determine the value of our being and action. This

is not a solid/strong basis for our identity and is in fact an illusion. To be

free, you must face your aloneness. Emotional dependence on others is

psychological slavery. Instead, center your personality and values within

yourself, based on what your intuition and higher experiences of energy reveal,

regardless of what others think. (Make a list of who and what can depress and

upset youthat reveals who and what actually controls you. Hang this list where

you can see it and realize: you are a slave to these people and things.)

Consciousness is freedom. If you can bring to consciousness your unproductive

patterns, negative habits, and other self-imposed limitations, then you can be

free of them. Collect all your energy and center it within yourself (dont

disperse it by centering it on other people, things, beliefs, and intellectual

ideas). Meditation means centering yourself in yourself, in your heart.

Meditation leads to understanding, which leads to more meditation, etc.its an

ever deepening process.

 

Heart Centering Technique (from Tibetan Buddhism)

 

20 minutes: While blindfolded, sit with a straight spine, close your eyes,

attempt to shut off your mental chatter, hum loudly and deeply (your whole body

should melt into the humming)you should feel like a hollow bamboo (an empty

vessel) that is filled completely with the sound vibration. This will create

tremendous energy.

 

10 minutes: While blindfolded, silently focus all consciousness on your heart

center, being fully present there.

 

About the beloved

 

Swamiji talked about how we dont really know those nearest to us. Early in a

relationship, we create within ourselves an image of the other person, and from

then on relate to the image (an object) rather than to the person in present

time (a changing, multi-faceted center of consciousness). Its very useful

(leads to peace and bliss) to instead drop all preconceptions and re-meet the

person, as if for the first time, and from then on to stay open to whomever

s/he may be at that time, fully engaging with him/her in the present moment

alone. Always look for the higher self in the other person, recognizing (and

thus helping to bring out) the best in them. We must focus on/see the best in

ourselves and in others to bring true healing into our lives. This

heart-centering meditation will help us to do this. Welcome the other as s/he

isonly then can the relationship flower. Then the energy that was chiseling and

wounding the other (in trying to make him/her over into the image we have or

want) can be used for healing the wounds and celebrating the other. (See also

the Muladhara chakra for more about this.)

 

 

 

Manipuraka (Navel) Chakra

 

Suffocating words/chattering start in the navel center and continuously repeat.

Suppressions of worry, anger, and violence sit in the navel center and fester.

The navel center is the seat of worry, which eats away at you like a cancer,

sapping your energy and taking you out of the total awareness and thus bliss of

the present. 99% of worries never happen, and those that do end up being good

for you. Worry is a terrible waste of time, thought, and energy. There is a

difference between chronological tomorrow (constructive planningwhich is a

beautiful and energizing creation that produces solutions) and psychological

tomorrow (worry that spins your wheels, creating confusion and the inability to

act, solving nothing). Worry is a poison that drains and destroys your life

energy. You may think it involves caring for others, but you cannot truly take

care of others unless your energy is high, and worry makes it plummet. Worry is

a tree rooted in the navel centerit must be eradicated by its roots. You have

the inborn intelligence to do things properly without worry. Drop all tension

and extra thought this is a useless impediment. Relax, trust, and drop the ego:

the universe will provide for you. Many stomach problems, skin diseases, and

pain are related to the navel center (worries). Obesity is the by product of

worry and depression: you feel empty so try to fill that emptiness with food,

smoking, drinking, TV, etc. 20 days in a row of the following meditation will

resolve these issues.

 

Navel Meditation Technique to release worry, concern, and depression (from

ChristianitySt. Thomas)

 

1 minute or more: While blindfolded and seated, focus with your total effort on

the navel; your suppressions of worry, anger, etc. will start to gush into your

consciousness.

 

20 minutes: While blindfolded, act out these suppressions freely and

continuously in unintelligible sound and random bodily movement. (Dont say

wordsthis brings up internal chatteringjust make expressive sounds.) This

acting our enables you to vomit up the toxins/negativities caused by your

suppressions. (If you have no suppressions, you are enlightened.) Reliving is

relieving.

 

10 minutes: While blindfolded, focus your full attention on your navel. You may

feel a lightness and joy in this area for an hour or more afterwards. (Im

feeling a permanent release in my diaphragm area, just above the navel, where I

think I was holding a lot of worries.)

 

 

 

Swadhistana (Spleen) Chakra

 

The so-called spleen chakra is not at the spleen but about 2 below the navel:

this is where you enter and leave your body. It is also where fear attacks you.

The average person has 6-12 fear strokes every 24 hours, while both awake and

sleeping. This is like shooting your immune systemit leads to depression,

illness, and aging. Fear falls primarily into 4 categories: Fear of loss of

status, wealth, comfort; Fear of disease or loss of a bodily part; Fear of the

loss of family and friends; Fear of death. Fear always comes from and settles

into your sub-naval area and attacks it. Fearlessness is not the absence of

fear but really feeling the fear and having the courage to face it. If you can

truly enter into the space of fear, it can never so deeply affect you again.

 

Spleen chakra strengthening technique (from Hinduism?)

 

First: Do joyful things to prepare yourself for the meditation, like relaxing,

singing, and dancing. (We danced, including Swamiji, and I felt incredible!

Such

bliss and connection with all that it moved me to tears. As Swamiji says, true

spirituality is fun and joyful, a great and blissful adventure.) Divine dance

grows out of inner ecstasy; there are no formal steps or rules. When you

concentrate/meditate on divine dance, song, art, etc., then you get the same

divine energy that created them (they are thus energy stations)this is the

function of the photos of gurus: use them to grab energy.

 

Next: Swamiji talked us through deeply feeling in our sub-naval area each of

the four fears so that we could clear them.

 

Muladhara (Root) Chakra

 

The root chakra is the sex center. Sex is the root or base of the whole cosmos

from which everything is created. (Mula=root; adhara=base) When this energy

stays in the root chakra, it gives birth to physical beings. When it ascends to

the heart center, it gives birth to artistic masterpieces (from meditating in

the heart center on a great concept). When it ascends to the crown chakra, it

gives birth to your true self: you are transformed and eventually reach

Enlightenment. The root chakra often dwells in the imagination. When it opens

to reality, it flowers.

 

Bringing children up is really bringing them down

 

We are all both male and female in our energies (aggression and compassion,

etc.). But society doesnt allow us to express both; we must be either one or

the other. Mostly, society represses the feminine energy: the left side of the

body and the right side of the brain (the home of beauty, grace, stillness,

poetry, and other art). Until age 7, your energy is total (both yin and yang).

Notice how children are beautiful and graceful in their beings. Even in dreams,

they are just themselvesneither male nor female or, rather, both. But then

children are not brought up but are brought down, being forced to suppress

their other side and thus wounding their consciousness. They search for their

other half; girls adore their fathers, boys their mothers. Between ages 7 and

14, the wound can be healed if the parents are closely present most of the

time. But if the parents arent there, the children look in vain in the outside

world for that feminine and masculine energy. Between the ages of 14 and 21,

children are ready to engage with the opposite sexto marrybut they are rarely

allowed. So they collect and cherish imaginations (over 60% of the thoughts of

people in this age group are imaginations and dreams about the opposite sex).

Manufacturers exploit this by selling dreams and sex appeal through their

products.

 

Falling in love feels fine until you hit the ground

 

Falling in love means that you meet someone who significantly matches your

imaginations and dreams. There is a period of floating, of lightness: the world

is more colorful, more intense, and you create poetry, art, etc. because of

this. Then you hit the ground (reality)you see that your dreams and

imaginations of this person are not real. (They never can be, in fact, because

they are your creations while your real husband/wife is Gods creation.) The

honeymoon is over. You think that your lover has cheated you, but s/he hasnt:

the reality is always different from the dream. But if you dont realize this,

you embark on trying to chisel the other into the image you desire. You also

collect evidence and arguments to support your imaginations, and especially

your negative judgments. The root chakra is a continuous fountain of positive

energywhile your judgments, imaginations, and expectations are like a huge

stone blocking this marvelous energy fountain. The root chakra opens when you

accept all others as they are. To burn chitta (unwanted imaginations and

memories), use the following technique.

 

Root chakra strengthening technique (from Tantra)

 

10 minutes: Hammer the root chakra (its kundalini energy) with deep (through

the nose) breathing. While blindfolded and standing up, raise your shoulders on

the inhale and drop the shoulders, bending your knees a little, on the exhale,

hitting the root chakra energetically with your breath. Tantra says that you

have 72,000 energy centers, but you have active or using only 14,000.

 

10 minutes: While blindfolded and standing up, tense your whole body until it

trembles, spreading the energy to all your centers.

 

10 minutes: While blindfolded and sitting down, concentrate on the root chakra,

imagining the mantra Hoo-OO coming out of your root chakra and ascending up

through the other chakras. (Afterwards I could feel the energy continuing to

vibrate in my root and other chakras, and I felt very clear and creative.)

 

 

 

Visuddhi (Throat) Chakra

 

Suddhi= purity; Asuddhi=impurity; Visuddhi=beyond purity and impurity. Three

layers of energy merge in the throat chakra. You usually use only the ordinary

energy and forget that there are two more levels behind it that are available.

You must reclaim these, breaking the wall of your mind, so that you can rejoin

the ocean of being you belong to and which belongs to you. There are no

miracles. All miracles are scientificthey are simply using the other two energy

bodies. Get rid of both of your egos: Active (Im better than others) and

Passive (Im worse than others). Comparison, jealousy, and ego lock this chakra.

When you run in the rat race, the Visuddhi closes. Understanding and

appreciating your own uniqueness and infinity opens it. You usually create an

idea about yourself and compare it to others, which is senseless. If you live

your life, you will have profound satisfactionwhether or not you have money,

fame, etc. When you feel tired in your body, you can say no! and go into the

next layer of energy, which will provide you with all the energy and vitality

that you need.

 

Releasing the blocked throat energy (from Zen Buddhism)

 

20 minutes: Jog in place continuously, with your eyes closed/blindfolded,

slowly increasing your pace, expanding the boundary of what you believe you can

do. During this time, concentrate on the throat and draw energy from it. When

your body/mind says youre too tired, say No! and keep going.

 

10 minutes: Sit quietly with your eyes closed and absorb the energy youve

released. (Gold, diamonds, and silk hold energy well. You can wear these around

your throat after generating energy to help hold it there if you want.)

 

Quick energy

 

10 minutes: To overcome tiredness, to rejuvenate, and to feel that youve slept

several hours: Roll your eyes in large circles in both directions while they

are

closed. Once your eyes are very tired, stop rolling, cover them with your hands

and/or sit with them closed, being silent as you rest.

 

 

 

Ajna (Brow) Chakra

 

Ajna means will or willpower. We have two types of energy: usually you spend

80% of your effort on your energy to desire and only 20% on your energy to

create.

These percentages reverse when this chakra is openedyoull have fewer desires

but more power to create them so that all your desires can become reality. 3rd

eye

closed=man; 3rd eye open=God. This chakra is so powerful that when its open,

all ego and conditioning drop away. Ego, conditioning, labeling, and judgments

contaminate this chakra. All judgments are prejudiced; they draw conclusions

from a few observationsobservations contaminated by conditioned ideas of what

we will see. We have conditioning and pride in every layer of our minds; it

must be dropped. I am this, you are that, life is thisits all ego. There are so

many things around you that you cannot see nor enjoy because they are blocked

out by your conditioning. Relate directly to a person or thingdont miss the

experience by reducing it to words. To live spontaneously, to relate to the

world with joy and ecstasy, you must drop all blinders of social conditioning.

Deal with every person and situation without a script. Only then will you do

your best. If you trust your being, you will have a effortless leap of growth

through this spontaneous interacting with the world. Dont live according to

evolution but according to revolutionSwamiji is the jet-age Swami: fly to

higher consciousness; dont take a bullock cart. Live without a script; you know

much more than you imagine. For example, Swamiji started learning English only

a year ago and has picked up so many words by trusting his 3rd eyenot by study

(he has no time to read books or study) but by living without a script. Every

one of us is God, whether we believe it or not, and thus can do anything. Face

life without a script, and God will move through you like a revolution.

 

Opening the brow chakra (from Swamiji)

 

Each of us went up individually to Swamiji, sat as close to him as possible,

and he channeled energy through his thumbs to open our brow chakra, flooding

our 3rd eyes with as much energy as we could grab. (Some people can see all

their centers being flooded with energy during this process.). At the same

time, we could ask Swamiji to energize an object (I had him energize my mala:

the cell phone to Swamiji so that the energy he channels will always be there

for me), to heal us (I asked for help with my huge belly and with draining all

the toxins, parasites, and fungi from my body), and to energize a specific

positive desire(s) we think on so that it can be fulfilled. (I asked to have

highly developed children and to write uplifting books that positively

transform people everywhere.) (Whenever your thoughts are flooded with energy,

they become reality.) Swamiji also gave each of us a bead (a large seed from a

tree in India) which acts as an energy station. When we get low, we can

recharge ourselves with this bead. Carry it all the time for constant

happiness. Sleep with it for deep, dreamless sleep. Once the bead is used, it

gets customized energetically to the user and cannot be given to another. The

beads are living beings to respect. Do not place them on the ground (this

drains their energy). Wear them all the time or, when not, place them on a

cloth.

 

Initiation

 

Some things, like these beads and this (or any) initiation, are too sacred to

be soldthey can only be given out of love. Money cannot equate with a service

you

getit is a poor substitute for the blessings you receive from a parent,

teacher, doctor, etc. Be grateful to such people, whether or not money has

exchanged hands. And never charge money for healing others (though a donation

may be accepted).

 

 

 

Sahasrara (Crown) Chakra

 

Sahasrara means thousand-petalled lotus. When this chakra opens, you are

flooded with ecstasy, with eternal bliss (Nithyananda). Deep discontent and

negativity

toward life lock this chakra. Gratitude for life and all that God has given us

opens this chakra, allowing it to blossom like a lotus. So many blessings are

showeredfloodedupon us, and we take them for granted. Our very life and our

body is an amazing gift from Godabsolutely incredible! Deep discontentment

shows huge disrespect for existence and for the divine. Living out of great

joy/ecstasy/bliss is simply showing gratitude to and respect for the divine.

Loving the whole world is easy; loving your neighbor is difficult: it requires

action, the showing of love through acts of gratitude, respect, generosity,

compassion, affection, etc. If you follow the divine through a living (rather

than dead) master, s/he requires you to change your life, to act out of the

highest possibilities within you. The crown chakra becomes like a wound when

you remember the bad. When you feel true gratitude for all the good, the crown

chakra is healed. Feel gratitude for every small thing in life. Gratitude is

the greatest attitude. Gods cell phone number is gratitude.

 

Crown chakra meditation (from Sufism)

 

First: Close your eyes and meditate on your crown chakra, feeling its energy

moving.

 

Second: Be conscious of and feel gratitude toward everyone and everything that

has made your life what it is todayit is all for the good. Remember your

parents, the doctor who delivered and cared for you, all your relatives, your

teachers, your beloved, your friends, your enemies, every person you meet every

daythey have all served you. Also remember those youve never met, who have

grown/made/transported/sold your food, clothing, shelter, and all the public

and private facilities you ever have or will use. Dont forget those who have

had insights, invented, manufactured, and cared for everything and everyone

everywhere. They too have made a contribution to your life. Your life has

benefited from every person and every thing that has gone before you. Youll be

flooded with gratitude when you really start to focus on and realize the

magnitude of this.

 

 

 

 

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