Lesson 11 - Infinite Experiences
An Introductory Course, Designed and Written by Guru Rattana, Ph.D.
The practice of Kundalini Yoga will open you up to lots of new experiences. You may feel tingling in your body. You may have experiences related to cleansing of your physical body and subconscious mind. Your awareness will expand and you will be aware of more thoughts, insights, feelings and sensations.
I get letters asking my opinion about what someone has experienced. I do not give my opinion or interpretation of what someone else has experienced. My advice is to be with your experiences. They are yours for that moment and they will change. Kundalini Yoga is about self discovery. Enjoy and savor your own journey.
My generic answer to "What's happening?" is one or more of the following:
- movement of energy,
- energetic alignments and adjustments,
- releasing of old programs and clearing of the subconscious mind,
- physical and emotional cleansing,
- expansion of conscious awareness of your true identity, and
- establishing connection with the divine.
Stay Tuned In and Listen
My general advice is to be present to what you are experiencing without analysis. Many people write that they had this wonderful experience and then when they tried to process it in their mind, it went away. They were so disappointed. You will notice that as soon as you try to figure out what is happening the experience disappears. Notice that when you stay present to the sensations in your body your experiences last longer. You want to savor these precious moments. Insights come later.
As many spiritual writings tell us, "Understanding is the booby prize."
The truth is that everyone knows what they need to do, receives answers to their own questions and is internally guided. Practicing Kundalini Yoga opens us up to this awareness. Yogi Bhajan used to tell us, "Go sit in your bedroom and be your own counselor." If we listen to our own intuition, it is easy to tune in enough to receive answers to your own questions. This is what I do. I ask and then I wait until the answers come through. They always do. Could be during meditation, could be while I am walking, driving or sleeping.
It could come sooner or later. But the answers are there if I pay attention.
Your most important job is to stay present. Our soul speaks to us through our intuition, emotions, and instincts. Answers will come if you stay tuned and listen. Healing will happen as you release your resistance to change. Gifts will appear as you align with your soul. The energy will teach you. The experience will awaken you. Enjoy your unfoldment. Kundalini Yoga allows you to savor your life and live to the fullest. What a gift!
Opening Up to Experiences
Here are a few more comments on experiences.
- Everyone has his or her own experiences. The more we acknowledge and appreciate our own experiences, the more we develop our own sensory awareness system. Sensory awareness is what Kundalini Yoga is all about. One of the principal goals of this training is to guide you in expanding your awareness.
- Change and variety are the norm in meditation. Our individual experiences vary according to our current stage of growth, what we are going through at a particular time, our moods, the stars, who else is in the house, if we are meditating in a group, and on and on. There are so many factors that influence us at each point in time, which eventually leads us to realize that the best thing to do is to tune into the moment and be present to ourselves, our feelings and our reactions. There are so many ways we get reminded to "Be Here Now." In the now, the infinite is available to us.
- What we experience can range from pain and anguish to joy and bliss. There is a myth that meditation is the mindless experience of bliss. Well, eventually we hope to have these experiences. Sometimes we do. Most of the time we don't. A lot of students wonder what is the matter with them when they don't automatically pop into a state of ecstasy. Nothing is the matter. It takes time to clear our subconscious and conscious minds of garbage accumulated for eons of time and added to daily. I always laugh when I read meditation exercises that start out with "first clear your mind." Actually I used to get mad when I read these words. If I knew how to clear my mind I wouldn't even need this silly book! Tell me how please! The technology of Kundalini Yoga is devoted to teaching you how.
- What needs to be cleansed, must be released. As one student shared in her experience of chanting Kirtan Kriya (SA TA NA MA) Meditation for 120 days, we may have to consciously remember and reencounter our fears and past traumas. The good news is that as we process our negative emotions with the cleansing power of a divine mantra, they get cleared out. We can free ourselves by going through the pain. Better some days of anguish, than a deep ennui controlling your whole life.
- We also become aware of how our subconscious fears create our reality. This is why we need meditation and mantras. Mantras penetrate to the subconscious mind and clear the programs that we cannot consciously access. If we could, our naive affirmations would work. How many of us have repeated some form of "I attract the perfect partner into my life", and then actually met our Romeo or Juliet? Or repeated prosperity affirmations and won the lottery? Life is not that simple. Life is a complex, rich and elegant game and hard work. Fortunately if we have the effective tools like Kundalini Yoga and meditation, life can also be fun, rewarding and empowering.
- The possibilities of what we can experience are infinite. One time a friend had a very powerful and blissful experience during meditation. He was so pleased. He went to Yogi Bhajan and recounted the whole thing, expecting to receive some positive response. Yogi Bhajan simply looked at him and said, "Son, there's more." Even when our experiences are pleasurable and "far out," there is still more to experience. There is always more. Our experiences are always changing. Don't try to repeat the same experience. Just be with the current one and enjoy it while it lasts.
- The gift of infinity is that there are no boundaries. The more we free ourselves of expectations and stop trying to recreate the same thing, the more we open ourselves up to unlimited inner and outer possibilities.
- Tuning into different qualities of energy is fun and useful. Experiment with feeling the presence of both white and gold light. They have very different effects. This is fun. I wouldn't want to take away your experience. This could be one of the most important pieces of information you receive.
- Visualization is manipulation. Feeling is knowing. We may have visions, but they are spontaneous, not contrived by our minds. The less we try to control reality, the more we can tune into reality.
- One way to measure the effectiveness of your meditation practice is the changes and quality of your life. Can you sleep better? Are you happier? Are you less afraid? If so, you are making progress. One student reports that he got a job and can now support his family. His meditation is working for him.
- Someone mentioned in a letter that her sensitivity to soul connections was starting to open up. When she talked to me on the phone an awareness of knowing me before was very strong. This is also a result of meditation. We get beyond our mind chatter about our daily routines and tune into how we are connected to each other. Many of us were probably in monasteries together in past lifetimes. I know that everyone I work with I have met and interacted with before.
- We are connected to each other on so many levels. When we start to do Kundalini Yoga, we become aware of these connections. Many of them are non-verbal. It is exhilarating to experience these feelings and awarenesses. Healing is taking place. And many things are being communicated at the soul level. The more we allow these experiences into our consciousness, the richer and more fulfilling our lives become.
- Be present to and get into what you are experiencing. The vastness and the richness are gifts from the universe. Bring them into your body and they will be yours for this precious moment on Planet Earth.