Sunday, July 5, 2015

Receiving Amrit as the Spiritual Warrior : Amrit Sanchar/Sikh Baptism Ceremony

My Beloved,
I stand transparent before you. All my holiness, ugliness, worthiness, selfishness is set upon the altar. The energy of your word crawls up my body from my feet like a serpent. In an instant I recognize the immeasurable totality of your strength. My hands begin to shake. The ego has lost once again. Yet it stirs and flounders helplessly in one last attempt to survive and protect it's existence. I stay steady as your words continue to seduce me while they are echoed by each of the five guardians. My eyes are fixated upon the steal sword as it methodically cuts through water. However, I feel like I am drowning in the thick tar of darkness. I have waited lifetimes for this sweet agony. Then I remember, you are here waiting for me in this abyss. I was never lost. I was never needing to be saved because you were always there waiting. You are so intertwined with me I forgot to see the beauty. Your will is so infused within me I forgot that my will is also yours. 

I continue to watch the blade cut me up into pieces. I witness my death like a movie being played out before me. I am the witness to taking my last breath and my first breath at the same time. I have no choice but to surrender to you. If I could only close my eyes in these final moments and complete this earthly journey. I am so close to you. Yet you smile and tell me to stay a little longer. There is work to be done. Somewhere in the trance the water transformed into your nectar like Christ turning water into wine. It happened so fast I was unaware. Your nectar was placed in my open palms. How forever grateful I am for you being so patient with me to pry these prideful hands open. I taste your sublime sweetness even before it reaches my lips. In this moment you transform into all human senses as one. In this moment I become wed with my Beloved, a romance that started long ago. You are the Lover of lovers.

 Then the battle cry is released from the depths of my belly. Fear is transcended through the sound current of my voice as I call to you, “Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa, Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh." Lifetimes of wars I've fought are revealed in an instant. An unknown strength is born and the warrior emerges into the light as my eyes continue to be fixated on you. My voice is so loud, fierce, and powerful it startles me. Meanwhile I can feel the support of my fellow warrior saints in the room with each victorious cry. 

 The next phase begins as each of the five forcefully throw a handful of your nectar into my opened eyes. If anything in my being was not awakened from the dream it is now. I feel the full force of the Miracle take place. The instant you hit my eyes it stuck there for what seemed forever, as if you were making sure I was paying attention. Then each drop of water cascades down my eyes and I feel the curtain of illusion drop. The dream is literally being swept away while I am simultaneously given new sight. In that point of timelessness I stared at you and there was nothing but you and I merged into one. I was both the Creator and the creation. I was the Forgiver and the forgiven. There was no right, wrong, blame, shame, guilt- the only thing that remained in this empty space was the purest form of joy. It is the joy that I felt right before the time of separation from you that never truly occurred. With this joy came an even more powerful battle cry of compassion, victory, liberation, peace, freedom of not just myself but for all. It was the battle cry for Love.

 Finally, the Amrit was placed on my crown. I could feel each droplet take it's time as it seeped slowly through my coiled hair. Each drop meticulously took it's place through every hair follicle until it reached the bones of my skull and then dispersed throughout every cell of my body. I can only smile.

 Once it has been completed and the final commands have been given, I am presented to the Sangat. Without words I lock eyes with them not as strangers or friends, but as family. The longing to belong is relinquished. After this re-birthing you do not waste time to send me out into the world to shine amidst adversity. At once I am tested to utilize this gift as an opportunity of expression of your love. For how can we truly appreciate light without the companion of it's shadow. 

 From here I commit every breath as a meditation, every moment as an opportunity to see grace in graceless moments, security in the unstable, and strength in the weakness. For you are in all. None can exist without the other. 
 May I set aside my worries, insecurities, and fears only to place them in your care. No worry is too big or small for they are the same in your eyes.

 May my seva be not limited to the physical, but more so a state of being embodied through presence and with ease.

 May I embrace the darkness more fully so I can be grounded into the Light.

 May I trust you. May I trust myself. May I be given the discernment to know what to trust. 

 May I be practical and realistic rather than dogmatic. 

May I embody the gifts of my soul.

 May I be flexible yet steady and strong as steal. 

 May I live with simplicity and yet with prosperity. 

May I laugh often. 

 May I embrace the perfection of my imperfections. 

 May I be courage. 

 Lastly, If I am to stumble may I be kind to myself and simply turn my gaze back to you.
 Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh

If you would like to learn more about receiving Amrit please click here: 
Sikh Dharma International


Monday, April 27, 2015

1000 Day Meditation for the Negative Mind: Aspect 2 (Manager)

This is my first 1000 day meditation. I have completed 529 days so far. This meditation is found in "The Mind: It's Projections and Multiple Facets" written by Yogi Bhajan (p.160). There are three functional minds: Positive, Negative, Neutral with each of these minds  having 3 aspects that correlate with them. Then there are 3 controlling projections within each of those aspects that act with each functional mind making a total of 81 facets of the mind. This particular meditation works on the  Aspect 2 * Manager. So you may ask how I chose this one particular aspect?  Well, it was by pure intuition. I was turning through the book and saw the meditation and caught my eye. It had all the qualities that I really wanted to work on. I found out after I started that two experienced yogis of my Kundalini family were doing the same meditation. I had no idea the depth that this meditation offered, So I kept on going, even after they completed their 1000 days. This meditation has been incredibly useful in helping me to find a better sense of identity  and  understanding of the following qualities

 1) Managing time: This meditation is slowly but surely allowing me to manage my time better. This has been very helpful in all aspects from managing my time at work, to managing time with friends vs taking time for myself. For me, this meditation starts with managing my time with routine routine routine. When I have routine everything fits right into place. I've even explored different times on when I wake up, do sadhana, etc. However, it's now starting to become so apparent if I don't have my routine then I can't have the freedom and spaciousness to accept other things that pop up in my life. I feel less overwhelmed with life in general, and therefore I am able to do more at once.
 I have a job where I am constantly on the go. I drive at least 50 miles/day going from one patient's home to another. Yet now I don't get bent of shape when I feel like I am running "late", because I am never really late since I adjust my schedule accordingly. I stop when I need to rest and take a 11 min nap in my car, I eat when I need to eat. I say 'no' when I need to and 'yes' when I can. Most often my day ends differently then I scheduled it out to be (the life of a home health PTA), but I try not to get bent out of shape about it. When I feel like I'm on the edge...I breathe..and chant..a lot. Yogi Bhajan states that in this meditation when, "Balanced and fully developed, you can reduce conflicts, keep towards the main tasks and mission you took on, and protect your own interests.....redirecting impulses in order to reach what is more important to you."

2) Boundaries: This meditation helps me to deal with being insecure about myself and others. It helps me to set healthy boundaries with friends, community members, coworkers without being so rigid as I once was. I'm more willing for them to be them and me to be me. Yogi Bhajan states, "Too strong and you act rigid in a desperate search for the rules to make order out of everything....To Weak, you can feel overwhelmed, lose track of the rules, feel the world ignores your priorities, and you become very self critical and sad." Yogi Bhajan also states to compensate one might think too much or shift to please others. I still definitely think a lot, but perhaps I am more aware of it before I go down into the rabbit hole of darkness or overwhelmed feelings. This gives me choice to choose how I can think now. Do I really want to obsess with how that presentation or yoga class was imperfect? Do I want to obsess with how I took longer than I anticipated with that patient or focus on the fact that patient felt heard and received healing?
When I was in a romantic relationship I would often put my own needs/desires aside so I could be with the other person and care for him. When I did that I not only fell behind on important tasks/long term projects, but I also neglected committing to my own hobbies like archery/swimming/yoga. Now I know that I am more capable to be in a relationship and also be willing to put my needs first without guilt, even if that means less time with the person. This relates to all relationships I encounter.

3) Identity: This is the theme for me in this last year or so...who am I? We have roles that we play day in/day out in order to make sense of the world. This meditation has given me the opportunity to question which roles I am willing to continue to play and how I can live more purposefully/authentically to fulfill my destiny. This meditation is helping me develop a better sense of who I am.

As always, this is an ongoing process..trusting the processing..and growing every day with this process of learning.
So here are the instructions...

Part 1 (3 to 11 min) **I do this for 11 min**
Right hand over left, palms face down at heart level. thumb tips touch and point toward chest. Chant "Har" at a steady pace. With each Har pull the navel point and lift the chest up/forward. Then release the navel and allow the lower spine to rock back slightly.
I do this at a slightly slower "tantric har" pace. Sometimes I pick up the pace if the energy is lagging.

Part 2 (11 to 31 min) **I do this for 20 min**
Hands in prayer pose, inhale chop hands while chanting Har 12x to the left, 12 x to the center, 12 x to the right, 12 x to the center on one breath. Inhale again and repeat.
You will have to chant at a rapid pace in order to do this cycle in one breath.

To end inhale and continue with the chopping motion for one more full cycle silently (12 left, 12 center, 12 right, 12 center) while pressing the back molars together. Exhale and relax.
***For some reason I didn't include this end sequence in the video even though I do it every day. I have no idea why this happened. So just keep in mind the ending**