Yogacharini Maitreyi is an International speaker and trainer living in Vancouver Canada. She has trained over 80 companies in self-mastery, The Magic of Mindfulness, Emotional Resilience, enlightened leadership and other Holistic development programs.
The topic Awaken, Arise, Align appealed to me. It reminded me of Swami Vivekananda’s Arise, Awake and stop not till you reach the goal.
AWAKEN
“Awaken” was the first word here instead of Arise. What are we awakening to and what are we awakening from, is the question? As is the promise of many realised masters, we are awakening to more consciousness, joy, bliss and freedom from limitations. I prefer to call these Masters and Rishis, the ancient researchers. They researched human existence and life to its very depth.
Thousands of years ago these ancient researchers asked the question: what do I need to awaken from?
We awaken from the conditioning that keeps us bound to unhealthy ways of being and relating.
We awaken from programming that creates chaos instead of clarity. We awaken from how we have been hypnotised by the media, parents or any other influence into enacting dysfunctionalities and believing it to be us. A dysfunctionality will cause harm. Some are hidden under the guise of something seemingly good. We identify with the pattern or dysfunctionality and re-enact it all our lives. For example, we become an angry or short-tempered person or we are so mild-mannered that we can never say, “No!” This identity makes us think, “This is how I am”—instead of—“This is how I am programmed.” Therefore, I can also change this programming if needed. I can reprogram myself into being kinder to myself, others, and the earth. Much of the programming is useful as we do not have to re-learn how to tie our shoelaces each time or re-learn how to brush our teeth. However, in areas where it causes unnecessary pain and harm to oneself or another, it is worth exploring and looking into.
When human babies were either lost or abandoned in the forest and discovered many years later, they took on the conditioning, programming or patterning of the animal that raised them. They did not speak human language or walk on two feet. They emulated and imitated the parent that raised them. For example, human babies raised by wolves walked on all fours and howled.
The wild humans found it difficult to integrate into normal human civilization and needed a lot of support for simple tasks like using the toilet. Some learnt to walk upright if they were integrated early at 6 years and those found when they were 14 refused to wear clothes or eat cooked food.
If we were to see a feral child (wild, abandoned children), we will look at them as limited in their behaviour as well as perception of life.
The rishis see us as feral children
Similarly the rishis or the ancient researchers see that we are limited in perception as well as realisation. By realisation they mean that even if one intellectually understands concepts, it is not our reality or it is not embodied or it does not translate as behaviour. The body does not get it through the mind might. It is not real: it is just a concept, an idea though that is a starting point. Hence to make it real or have the realisation, one studies with a guide to decondition us from the programming of the media, parents and society to a better vision for life. One also does practice to integrate it into the cellular and energy body and, therefore, our behavioural and being system.
The ancient researchers also asked the question, what do we need to awaken to?
We are awakening to our Multidimensional Nature. We awaken to knowing we are not just the body or mind. We awaken to knowing we have the support of the universe, come to us.
The right person, at the right time, can come to us to give us the guidance we need if we are truly searching, listening and are well connected.
Yoga provides us the tools for this connection to the cosmic internet of wisdom and support. If I had told someone 40 to 50 years ago that there were going to be data centres with servers that stored information to the tune of over 44 zettabytes (44 trillion gigabytes) and within seconds I could get the internet to download all of this information, most would have looked at me like I were a mad woman. However, that is the reality now, not just an intellectual concept. It is so real that we take it for granted and grumble if the internet is not fast enough.
The rishis were speaking of the cosmic wisdom internet, where we downloaded not just information but embodied wisdom to live our lives in harmony and to our full potential.
ALIGN to access the Cosmic wisdom internet
When we awaken to the fact that there is a cosmic internet, then we want to get the internet connection. We see how easy day-to-day things become if we have a connection.
To get the cosmic internet connection, we need to not only understand the different bodies, fields or dimensions that we exist in but also know how to align them, so they work as a team with each other and not against each other.
The five bodies or dimensions – Pancha Kosha
Pancha = five. Kosha = field, sheath, dimension.
- Annamaya Kosha – Anu = cell, Maya = composed of. This is the cellular body
- Pranamaya Kosha – Energy field or dimension
- Manomaya Kosha – Mind field or dimension
- Vigyanamaya Kosha – Great wisdom field
- Ananda Maya Kosha – Bliss field
When we align our thoughts, words and actions or the first three fields mentioned above, we can achieve much in this material world. If we want to lose weight, but the body is not cooperating—we continue eating sugary, high calorie foods and not exercising—then there is no team work within and, therefore, the goal is not reached.
Or we see the Hitlers of the world where the first three koshas are aligned and they achieve what they set out to do, yet they are not aligned with the wisdom field or bliss field and hence cause destruction and misery in the long run. Both the Jyothi mudra and Jyothi kriya support in aligning the koshas and you can find the practice in the video. Jyothi means light but mainly inner illumination. It illuminates the dark corners and crevices of our unconsciousness that cause misalignment, failure and dysfunction.
ARISE
When we are aligned then we look at win-win-win outcomes.
In management we speak of win-win outcomes where two people are benefited in a situation. Two corrupt people can benefit from a deal as well. In Spirituality, Holistic or Systems thinking, we also see if it benefits the greater good of all. This is often left out in common thinking. That is why when a friend who lives in Bangalore mentioned how it went from a city of over 1,000 lakes to a city of just over 200 lakes we see only win-win outcomes where the third win is missing. Historic lakes were drained to build the city’s infrastructure, including the Ashok Nagar Football Stadium over the Shoolay tank. This happens when there is no alignment with vignyanmaya or great wisdom and short sightedness causes more damage. So we need to be mindful of reinforcing this alignment.
When this alignment happens then we rise together with ease, grace and joy into true freedom.
This expresses as freedom from reactiveness in simple issues to rising to our full potential.
Please refer to the video for practices of sukha (comfortable) bhastrika (bellows) or cleansing breath as well as bhujangini (female cobra) pranayama. They support us in releasing the sense of overwhelm or suppressed irritants that make us react instead of acting consciously. They also support in releasing the restlessness of trauma and heal into stillness.
Let us awaken to change patterns and systems, align and harmonise with our highest and arise into the beauty of being.
