Monthly Archives: June 2014

Spirit or Spirits? What Kundalini Yoga is & certainly is NOT

A set of practical tools that help one re-connect with one’s deepest self, permit one to function gracefully and with grit under pressure & get an experience of the immensity of the Infinite within each is not to be confused with psychic jumble-mumble used to define you and/or your supposed future.

Upon returning from a recent trip abroad to a very special place where everything I experienced exuded authenticity, I was party to the strangest meeting, inspiring the current reflection.
A colleague and I were hosting a meeting of students of Kundalini Yoga. One of the students had brought a guest with her, a friend from abroad. The woman was sitting in the kitchen when I entered the place and at first glance, she appeared to be distressed: she would utter words under her breath and balance back and forth. I introduced myself. She replied that spirits were talking to her and added something that gave me the understanding she was unavailable for regular “mundane” conversation, so I gladly let her be.

As the meeting started, the woman came to sit as if she were part of the group, without stopping her muttered incantations and dialogue with “spirits & guides”, leading to several moments of uneasy silence among the group. As the participants would present themselves in turn and share their experience of the last few weeks, as part of the usual process, the woman would interject and spurt out what the “spirits” were telling her about each person. She never asked for permission, never checked whether the person was ready to receive the “information” she delivered, she just blurted it out with a self-assured tone, in front of everyone, even scolding one person who dared to chuckle at her display of antics: “the spirits say you are not to laugh when they speak”. When he commented later on that she was in turn chuckling at what he was saying, she simply replied: “they are allowing me to laugh because YOU are speaking, not them”. No comment… up to a point.  I would let it go and laugh the whole thing off if I hadn’t noticed a fascination from at least one of the students whom the “medium” had singled out as special, and if we as a group had not been too stunned to enforce the laws of common courtesy and ask the lady – and her spirit friends – to kindly wait outside as she was not part of the meeting.

Reflecting on it later, I realized how many of us are still attached to the idea that someone, somewhere can have or see or hear all the answers that pertain to us.  How we are ready to give up our wits and our center & thus ultimately our own power for a comforting comment about how “special and unique” we are.

The truth is, the path to spirituality is one of discipline. It is not necessarily harsh or stern but it is work, daily work, on your self. If you find a teacher who inspires you, great, that’s part of the way there! But ultimately, you will only grow by doing the work. You will only get insights that allow you to navigate through life with more ease and lead to incredible synchronicity – regardless of circumstances – when you learn to attune yourself to your own center and your own connection to the Infinite.
Anyone who sells us instant spirituality is out to fill their own void using our weaknesses and vulnerability. Any “master” who cuts into our space without being invited, either directly by our request or because you may be in immediate danger is only a master in manipulation and nothing else.
Some people may have a gift of sensitivity. That does not mean they know how to use it and are using it well, even with good intentions. One can have good intentions and be deluded. Using the gift of sensitivity to reduce someone to a definable future or personality traits is not showing much of a gift to begin with.

What I love about Kundalini Yoga, is that it gives me tools to be my own person and expand. I would not be teaching it in turn if it just conferred me a few party tricks to allow me to “see through people”. In fact, it is just the opposite. I teach it – and will remain an eternal student of it  – so that each individual becomes so connected to their infinite soul that to be able to measure the full scope of their infinite potential becomes impossible. Because then, in each moment, each person can co-create their own destiny with the universe, redefining themselves without limits. And then how can any human ability be able to “see” what is constantly evolving and has no bounds? Let our personal connection to God/the Infinite tell us who we are and what our tomorrow is to be made of, and no one else.  Sat Nam.