Today I would like to talk a little about one of the oldest forms: Kriya Yoga. There are no records to tell us exactly when the ancient tradition began because it is a technique that has been practiced by saints, seers, sages, and masters since long before recorded history.

“The Kriya technique will bring you to the source of inspiration and will give you answers, clear the brain and stimulate it, strengthen the medulla, and open the spiritual eye, as well as greatly magnetize the body.”

— Paramahansa Yogananda

Yoga is a powerful tool that can be used by seekers of all religions to quicken spiritual development. The non-sectarian nature of Kriya Yoga and its simple technique is not complicated or demanding and suits people from all walks of life just as well as monks.

From the principles of Karma Yoga, Kriya teaches that all action, (Kri), is done by the indwelling soul, (Ya). Thus, the word Kriya means internal action. This kind of inner action is neither physical nor mental because both the body and the mind are exteriors to the true self. So, Kriya yoga is the pursuit of an energetic mastery and a higher state of being.

While the pursuit of higher states of being through external action can be loosely grouped under the banner of Karma Yoga, the pursuit of higher states through inner action can be called Kriya Yoga.

There is a certain yin-yang to these two ideas because they reside within each other in certain ways, but generally, Karma is that which binds while Kriya is that which releases.

Kriya encompasses all eight limbs of the classical yoga system, as presented by Patanjali in The Yoga Sutras—a text that codified what was already an oral tradition for thousands of years before it was committed to writing over 2500 years ago.

Kriya is a system which deals directly with the mind, its structure and dynamics. Embodied within it is mystical psychology which offers a profound recognition of how we create, sustain and dissolve the circumstances of our life.

Its unique approach is rooted in its focus on karma, the laws of causation, and how karma develops, activates and can be softened and modified. Kriya is a way of self-study and meditative attunement which induces a direct perception or insight into the nature of consciousness, the pattern of the mind and of life itself.

“The process of moving into higher states of being begins with dissonance. During dissonance, our life becomes challenged. The more we deny our challenge, the greater the dissonance becomes. We must seek change and seek resolutions from a higher perspective!”

– John Beaulieu, N.D., Ph.D.

The benefits of sound as a form of therapy are myriad. It is simple and cost effective, it’s completely non invasive, and it can relax the mind, body and spirit into a state of balance and harmony. Through the use of vocal toning, tuning forks, tibetan or crystal bowls, gongs, drums, rattles and many other instruments, sound healing can deliver a nuanced experience of revitalizing states of being.

All things at the atomic and sub atomic level are pulsing and vibrating with their own specific frequency, and that includes every cell and molecule in the human body.

When parts of the body are unwell it sets the entire instrument off key like a violin with a badly tuned string. We can retune these energies using sympathetic vibrations and resonance.

A well established principle that underpins much of the research in sound healing is called entrainment. Entrainment was discovered in 1665 by the Dutch scientist who invented the pendulum clock, Christian Huygens. He discovered that pendulums hanging together on the same wall for several hours will eventually synchronize and begin swinging at the same speed. Because it takes less energy for the two objects to pulse in cooperation, the less powerful vibration eventually locks itself into the more powerful vibration and they begin swinging at the same speed. This is called entrainment.

Sound healing utilizes entrainment and resonance to balance the body, mind and soul. Weakened or chaotic vibrations are entrained with steady and powerful sounds that are tone targeted for specific parts of the anatomy, psychology or spirit.

We are intuitively aware of the structure of sound and harmonics when we are in a good, resonant, acoustic space, such as a church or amphitheater. In these spaces, harmonics are accentuated and a richer sound is produced. When we hear music rich in harmonics, like Gregorian or Tibetan chanting, classical Indian sitar and vocals or classical Baroque, they induce an altered state of consciousness; the harmonic entrainment of high quality sound can actually shift our brainwaves into a more relaxed psychological and physiological state.

Modern sound healers often also employ specific tones called solfeggio frequencies and their harmonics. Solfeggio frequencies make up the 6-tone scale thought to have been used in sacred music, including the beautiful and well known Gregorian Chants. The chants and their special tones were believed to impart spiritual blessings when sung in harmony. Each Solfeggio tone is comprised of a frequency required to balance your energy and keep your body, mind and spirit in perfect harmony.

Another powerful technique is the skillful application of Intervals. We feel and work with the energies of dissonance and consonance constantly throughout our lives. Our feelings thoughts and perceptions about the world we live in are either consonant with truth or in a state of dissonance. Sound healers playing two or more frequencies simultaneously create what are called intervals. The tone of the interval depends on the distance between frequencies and when different harmonics are created they can be either dissonant or consonant to our senses and our being.

Sound healing uses different scales and intervals to move energy and unblock imbalances that we may have in the mind or body. Dissonant intervals may be used to stir up emotions or break through blocks, and consonant intervals restructure the energy, salving the wounds of the soul.

By using the different states created by different intervals, we can help integrate mind, body and emotion to connect with our true being. The infinite range of intervals is what makes up the tapestry of life. It is from our dissonant experiences that we learn and grow as human beings and we need them to develop our fullest potential. It is from our consonant experience that we find the meaning and depth of goodness in existence and we need that stability to continue playing the game.

Michael Sunspirit

Generally people have some awareness that it has some spiritual meaning that is used in the east the way we use ‘amen’ in the west. We might have heard that it is the “sound of the universe” or “it represents the timeless oneness” or something equally vague, but if you are like me, those kinds of answers just don’t cut it. I want the juicy stuff!

The truth is that, Om is a cultural symbol so rich and full of meaning, a syllable that carries so much weight, that it is hard to sum up it’s meaning in a convenient sound bite. Nonetheless there are real answers, and I will attempt to offer you a real and more complete answer here.

Our answers begin in the Mandukya Upanishad, an ancient yoga text written 800-500 years before Christ. Within it we find explanations of both the concepts behind the sound and the shape of the symbol itself.

The first paragraph of the Mandukya tells us:

“The syllable OM, which is the imperishable Brahman, is the universe. Whatsoever has existed, whatsoever exists, and whatsoever shall exist hereafter, is OM. And whatsoever transcends past, present, and future, that also is OM.”

Brahman is the name for the Hindu concept of ultimate divinity – the essence of reality existing in and as all things. If you are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the label “Brahman” it can be replaced with whatever label you associate with the highest reality. It can be God, Jesus, Buddha, Mother Nature or any other label that you can comfortably refer to as the divine.

The Om sound represents this higher power and its connection to each of us.

Further reading in the Mandukya helps to clarify:

“All this that we see without is Brahman. This Self that is within is Brahman. This Self, which is one with OM, has three aspects, and beyond these three, different from them and indefinable – The Fourth.”

Did I say “clarify”?

Ok, lets take that piece by piece. “All this that we see without is Brahman” means that everything that surrounds us in the physical world is an expression of the divine.

“This Self that it within is Brahman” tells us that we are not the exception to the rule, we are also an expression of the divine.

So far that is straightforward enough but then we get hit with, “This Self, which is one with OM, has three aspects, and beyond these three, different from them and indefinable – The Fourth.”

OM: A Symbol of Divinity

The Om sound represents and affirms our connection to the highest form of divinity by whatever name, because it serves to remind us that this very same divinity resides all around us, within us and even as us, though we may not know or understand it.

However, Om also represents different states of human consciousness. The Mandukya mentions three aspects of the self or states of consciousness – plus the indescribable Fourth.

The first state of consciousness is known as Vaishvanara. Despite the name which sounds quite exotic to western ears, this is a state of consciousness that we are all very familiar with. Vaishvanara is simply your normal waking state which is focused outward and intent upon the world around you. In the symbol, the waking state is represented by the lower curve of the “3”. This state is also represented in the sound (remember the phonetic A-U-M). Vaishvanara is the state is represented by the A sound, “Ah”.

The second state of consciousness is called Taijasa. This is another common state that we are generally familiar with. Taijasa is the state which is focused inward and in which we dream. This state witnesses the endless stream of thoughts, mental images and emotions. Taijasa, the dreaming state is represented by the curl that loops out from the back of the “3.” and the sound that represents Taijasa is the U sound.

The third state of consciousness, called Prajna, is the state of deep dreamless sleep or deep formless meditation. As stated in the Mandukya, “…the veil of unconsciousness envelopes his thought and knowledge, and the subtle impressions of his mind apparently vanish.” The dreamless state, Prajna, is represented by the top curve of the “3” and by the M sound.

The indescribable Fourth state is called Turiya, and as implied it is not easy to describe. Some would say this is the non-dual state and there are many attempts at labeling this but it must be noted that no label or description is really accurate. With that in mind I shall use the words of the great Non-Dual Sage Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi:

“. . .That Awareness which alone remains – that I am.”

The Fourth state is represented by the crescent and dot in the upper right, but the sound of Turiya is actually the silence after the AUM. These four states of consciousness are the composite of human nature. They exist in all of us at all times.

So as you can see the Om symbol and sound are packed with meaning that simply can’t be reduced to a concise description. Saying that it is the sound of the universe may be a little easier, but understanding the powerful philosophy and culture that the symbol comes from is more helpful to growth and development.

When understood properly, Om becomes a reminder of the omnipotence and omnipresence of Divinity as well as a reminder of our own place within and connection to that Divinity.

OM~

Michael Sunspirit

“Beginners mind” is a term used to describe the flexibility of an advanced meditator’s mental state, constantly open to freshness and the newness of the truth as it appears in this moment. Perhaps Socrates is best known in the west for this because he maintained:

“As for me, all I know is that I know nothing.”
— Socrates

Personally, I find that this is a great way to approach meditation. I sit each day for 10-30 minutes in the morning with no real expectations about what I am supposed to be getting out of it, or what is supposed to be happening.

It’s true that I am aware of several different schools of thought regarding meditation, like various visualization methods, breathing strategies, concentration techniques, relaxation techniques and self inquiry or whatever else, but when I sit down to meditate, I don’t think about them.

What The Meditative Mind is not

We are used to our minds being engaged with something all the time. Pick up the kids, get the shopping done before the traffic picks up, make food,
do taxes, pay bills and when there is nothing pressing down on us. . . watch TV, check facebook, snap a selfie for Instagram, read an article,
read a book? maybe?

Awareness is never tired. The constant mental chatter can make you tired, but your thoughts can continue to bubble up driving you from one distraction to the next without ever tiring. This relentless mechanism can send you stumbling around the world ad infinitum, forever and ever amen. . . Unless you decide otherwise.

Meditation is one way to decide otherwise, and it has become very popular in the modern west, even sparking a resurgence of traditional forms of Christian Mysticism with contemplative practices like centering prayer and lectio divina, leading to mystical states like Unio Mystica.

Many people are meditating these days and that is a great thing, but if you ‘meditate’ at random stoplights and while you are waiting for your coffee at Starbucks, and you don’t have a more substantial daily practice, you are probably not getting the full benefit of meditation in much the same way that walking to the refrigerator and back to my computer doesn’t really grant me the full benefit of exercising.

Meditation starts as a practice

It continues as a practice as well, but if you want to develop a new habit you have to do something every day for 100 days. By the time you get to 100 days, your new habit just feels normal. This is true with our bad habits as well as our good habits which means that consistency and determination give us great power over our lives.

Sit for 10 minutes each morning for 100 days and you will absolutely change your life. Set an alarm so you don’t get distracted trying to figure out how long you’ve been sitting for and just sit. While you are cultivating this habit, don’t do anything. Don’t try new techniques or blaze new trails, don’t even think if you can help it, and certainly don’t try to get good at meditating.

If you need something to do because your gears just wont stop turning, then breathe. Breathe on purpose. If you need to be accomplishing something or getting better at something, then breathe. Become an accomplished breather.

Also, if breathing gets too boring, just stop breathing until it seems like a pretty cool thing again, and then you are ready to breathe some more.

Eventually the longest 10 minutes in all of human history will be over and the alarm will sound. As this becomes more and more of a habit, 10 minutes will fly past and you may even want to add some time to your alarm to get a deeper stretch, as they say in Yoga.

In the beginning, (and it’s always the beginning) your mind will try to figure out meditation. Every time you sit you will take a few deep breaths and then start gathering up all of the data you have about meditation and what you are supposed to do. Next you will probably start thinking about the right things to think about or how not to think at all. When you realize that you have gotten lost in a daydream you will take another deep breath and get really serious about solving this meditation thing.

That’s okay. As your practice deepens and your sense of identity slowly separates from your psychology, you will begin to watch this happening in your mind and laugh. It’s like watching a dog chase it’s own tail, and when you laugh at the silliness of the mind it generally gets quiet really quick. Suddenly the dog stops chasing it’s tail and hides behind the couch.

Now you are ready to meditate.

The chill breeze rattles through the dead leaves on the lawn. The sweet warmth of the autumn sun denies the portents of the lengthening shadows and lingers like a departing lover.

A cup of coffee, a comfy sweater, but still barefoot on the porch, I take deep, gluttonous breaths, as if I could imbibe and somehow store these twilight days within my heart.

The hours are growing shorter and the wind rises from the north tearing at sparse branches and daring golden leaves to cling to hope in the face of the coming night.

The keening of a hawk pierces the cold blue sky.

The wind settles and the sun touches my skin softly like a kiss that feels too short, and somehow it both quiets my soul and agitates me towards restless action.

Deep breaths like these are important in Autumn.

Twilight is upon us, and we must prepare for the cold night ahead.

In the North we know this cycle in our bones. It makes us practical, determined, and hardworking. The labor of our living is driven by more than just superficial circumstance. We are not rushing around in this harvest season without good reason. . .

There is much to hurry about, and the wind won’t let us forget, but as we prepare for winter and reminisce about long summer nights, let’s not miss the beauty of Autumn as it is.

This season of maturing and gathering. The strength and agility of spirit that comes with change and flux.

This is a season of power and passion.

Driven by lifetimes of harvest and hibernation, our souls know this is a time for great deeds. This is a time to shine. The trees in crimson, gold and purple shout to be bold with our time, but they also remind us to know when to let go.

Autumn teaches us the dance of control and release. It trains us to gather our power and strength and to let them flow back out as naturally as breathing. Autumn reminds us to work hard and rest well; to push when we must and rest when we can. . .

Like a mother to her newborn child, the exhausted smile of Autumn is the promise of fulfillment and a fruitful life.

After the the labor, let the leaves fall. . .

Wishing you a fruitful harvest.
Michael SunSpirit.

Just as Right View is said to be the foundation of the 8 Noble Truths, Humility is possibly the very foundation of Christian spiritual practice.

Many people who have felt trapped in a rigid Christian theology will recognize something like “knowing our place in relation to God” as the definition of Humility, and the patriarchal connotations of subjugation may easily offend.

However, while Humility may carry with it a connotation of submission, it is not the connotation, but the true meaning which we seek to understand. Humility is not a submission to an all powerful “Other” as much as it is a disidentification with the ego through the practiced recognition of its true and accurate relationship to all things.

I’ll say that again, “Humility is a disidentification with the ego through the practiced recognition of its true and accurate relationship to all things.”

Our naked ego, exposed in the light of the fullness of Truth can be a very ‘humiliating’ or ‘humbling’ experience. . . But only as long as our illusory identification with ego persists. The process of being humbled hurts, but simply being humble is pure peace.

However, Humility is not simply an awareness of our smallness either, because our true place includes not only our insignificance but our singular uniqueness of unfolding fullness and depth. Because of our absolute uniqueness we are, each of us, infinitely valuable and infinitely Loved.

Because of this, Humility also compels us to rise to challenges and improve our lives.

When the universe places an opportunity before us, we have the choice to either trust in the judgement of the organizing principle of all creation, or we can pretend that we understand our capabilities better than God. We can say, “This is too grand of an opportunity for me. . .” In short, we can refuse to dance with God because we deem ourselves unworthy (in spite of an invitation from Absolute Perfection).

But this is a false humility.

This is a pretense of humility that we use to hide from greatness. In this pretense we arrogantly deny the perfection of our unique relationship with the Divine.

To put it succinctly, true Humility simply recognizes our smallness and insignificance as well as our uniqueness and importance, at the same time.

This is very similar to the Buddhist practice of Right View which asks us to see the simple, yet paradoxical truth of our situation.

From this recognition flows great compassion because, you can see others as incredibly fragile and absolutely precious, just as you have uncovered in the true nature of your own soul.

From this right view of Humility we also become capable of great forgiveness. When we know our own place we see clearly the illusions of our brothers and sisters who would be our enemies and we wish only to free them from their bondage.

Because understanding our true place with Humility dissolves the ego, we take no offense in the first place.

We forgive them for they know not what they do.

In Humility, our proper purpose (right livelihood) rolls out before us with each step, like a red carpet of opportunities and callings, as we wander more deeply into the mystery of our existence.

When we walk through life with a humble heart, we are open and trusting and full of faith.

Humility, not self flagellation or false pretense, but a raw and powerful Humility, that is unafraid to look directly into the infinite void of Truth and see ourselves with those Truthful eyes; this is the Key. This is the practice. This is the Way.

May Right View and Humility infuse your life with unimaginable Grace,

Michael SunSpirit

– Leonard Cohen

In this simple yet poignant line Leonard states the truth with the elegant simplicity befitting the poet he is.

Every single thing in the world of form is incomplete. There is a perfect imperfection in any object or concept. The delightful and dynamic potential of $100, for example, is collapsed into a single object or service when you spend it. You can not have the freedom of the money and the stability of that which it buys at the same time.

Our lives in the realm of duality are steeped in paradox like this. Self and Other. Objects and the space between them. Manifest reality and the potential from whence it flows. This fundamental duality gives rise to the “crack” in all things that Cohen is Talking about.

The fracture and the friction:

There is a discrepancy between what we perceive and what is True. Our individual perceptions are limited by our culture, education, family life, experiences, social norms and a slew of other variables. Each human being is a highly specialized, carefully crafted and completely unique lens, through which consciousness studies itself in unimaginable detail. But as a consequence of being completely unique, we are also unfathomably limited.

After all, to be singularly unique is (in some ways) to be the pinnacle of limitation. You are limited to your single perspective in the infinite ocean of consciousness throughout time and space. The individual perspective in that sense is less than a pinhole in a blanket to look through.

The Truth on the other hand, is radically unlimited. The Truth is unconstrained by social conditioning and other fundamental human forces because these things exist within The Truth. All constraints on The Truth including our perspectives, our very existence and our inevitable search for meaning and order, is merely an attempt to approximate and give structure to that ultimate perspective. The truth will set you free because the truth itself is radically so.

And so we always have a limited perspective into an unlimited field of possibility. We see and express some of the truth, but our concepts are eternally incomplete. That incomplete-ness, that failure to come full circle around the absolute Truth, is where the Truth streams into our experience. That is where the light gets in.

And it’s uncomfortable.

This crack in everything, this perceived imperfection, is simply the gap between what we think is true and the Truth as it actually is. The Gap never closes because the infinite wouldn’t be infinite if you could wrap your mind around it. In fact, the more we look into that gap, the wider it seems to become. Thus the widely known paraphrase of Socrates, “All I know is that I know nothing.”

We can look away from that gap for a while and in most cases the consequences are not severe. Generally our labels and understandings are true enough for our given place and circumstance. We don’t need to see the ultimate reality of an apple to dip it in some peanut butter and eat it. But politics, family relationships, gender roles, religion, cultural intersections and a number of other things can constantly challenge our concept of reality and force us to look into the light of the Truth streaming in through the gap in our understanding.

We are all aware of this uncomfortable feeling. Each of us has stumbled and struggled as we attempted to learn something new. Each of us has deflected this kind of discomfort by belittling the person or thing that challenges us. We all know the fear of being exposed and naked.

With this in mind I ask that we all work to be more compassionate to ourselves and others in those scary moments when we are vulnerable. In those moments when we are less than graceful or when we are met by others with less than graceful acceptance.

But know that in those moments you are growing. God is injecting your perspective with little bits of truth and you are meant to inquire. You are supposed to look into that light.

As far as we can tell, human beings are the only creature with the capacity for this kind of advanced spiritual stargazing and truth seeking. There is plenty of room for debate of course, but certainly we are the only ones writing books about it and trying to convey spiritual truths from generation to generation.

Each and every one of you is a delicate expression of the one consciousness. You are a strange and wonderful package wrapped around the Truth as it wonders at it’s own magnificence. Standing naked you are the glove of God’s hand; the monocle of God’s eye.

You are both the Truth and the one seeking it, and if you can find the gap between who you think you are and who you really are, you can follow the light that streams in, all the way to the source of all paradox.

Let your heart be radically open to love, let your mind be radically open to truth and let your eyes be radically open to beauty.

Let the light shine in and dissolve all illusions, and shine that light for all to see.

Peace and Love,
Michael Sunspirit

How many times have we heard the immortal words of Joseph Campbell? His encouragement echoes loudly through the New Age community and it’s simple wisdom undergirds so many of our day to day conversations, goals and methods.

We use this advice to seek our life’s purpose and sometimes even give it the same exalted status as the Buddhist concept of Right Livelihood. As mistaken as that might be, the idea that following your bliss is the path to happiness is almost universal in the new age community, and it’s easy to see why.

It makes sense, after all, that if you are NOT happy and you wish to BE happy you must follow the scent of happiness to it’s source.

Following your bliss is also an idea that fits nicely into the modern western concept of reality. Happiness is out there somewhere. And if it’s out there we can hunt it down and subdue it. We can harness it’s energy into some efficient and productive expression, like a career.

Because happiness is something we do, not something we are. . . right?

We accept this without the realization that happiness can never be “out there”.

If it was out there somewhere, who would ever experience it? Where does the experience of happiness occur? You can not experience happiness anywhere outside of your own being.

Slightly more subtle is the fact that happiness is not something we can consume.

Most people recognize that happiness is something that they feel within themselves, but we tend to think that the happiness we feel is the product of some external circumstance; that by creating a particular set of conditions we can consume the experience of happiness, like making cookies and eating them.

The problem with this line of thinking is that it is partially true, and because of that partiality people can get confused and take it too far.

We CAN create conditions in which it is easier for happiness to flourish.

Deep and lasting happiness is harder to achieve in a state of abject poverty where food and shelter, the basic needs of the body, are not adequately met. Happiness is further supported by caring and kind people who we can relate to and be in relationship with. Loneliness is not supportive of happiness (even though intentional solitude can be).

But however we may seek to structure our lives so that they are more conducive to happiness, happiness itself is never held away from us by our circumstance.

We are never more than an easy breath from happiness.

Your bliss is within you and it may be harder to find in some situations than others, but it is always and eternally present. It is always flowing from the core of your being, where your soul converses with the Divine.

In every breath God speaks bliss into your heart and it wells up within you.

It may not always seem like that because we have found ways of suppressing and restraining this current so as not to be completely insane with Joy all the time. We have spent most of our lives gathering this current of love into particular shapes and structures; Guiding it into rational expressions of ever deepening meaning and ever widening perspective.

We call these shapes and structures “who we are” and “what we stand for”.

In this way we anchor ourselves in the vastness of potential.

We gather light in the void, and with the contraction, the bliss of simple being bursts forth from our souls in fits and starts that we call lifetimes; our deepest being eternally singing praise and wondering at the actuality of existence itself.

What I call “me” is but a leaf on a branch of my being. What I call stress is but a breeze in the spring. What I call sickness, the vibrant colors of the fall. And what I call death, the beautiful stillness and clarity of a moonlit winter night.

You are grander than you can possibly know.

When you seek happiness and comfort, don’t chase after it as if it was out there in the world somewhere; as if you are trying to catch up to it!

Happiness is right now. Bliss is with you right here.

You never have to be away from that bliss if you recognize it’s source, and so I’d like to offer you one simple adjustment to Campbell’s iconic words.

Follow your Bliss. . .
but follow it inward.

Michael Sunspirit