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I just saw an excellent interview with Gopi Krishna on his Kundalini experience. When he is asked what path one should lead in order to have a Kundalini awakening, he says to follow "the sermon on the mount." When I heard that, it struck a chord with me. Of all the teachings in my Christian formation, I think the sermon on the mount was central. It directed me toward non-violent love and simple living. I did not think of beatitude as a goal to strive for, but much to my surprise, it has come. See the interview at: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xwrgp_the-last-interview-with-gopi-krishn
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That's a great reference, Ryan. Thanks for pointing it out, here. I've watched part of it and will watch the rest shortly. Good for people to hear Gopi Krishna's story and even see/hear the man. He is most credible!
The point about a certain lifestyle being required to awaken then integrate the K is so very true. The more wilfully one lives, the less likely one will come to know this state or to integrate it if it emerges. A simple lifestyle emphasizing love is required, and for that, the Sermon on the Mount points the way.
-------------------- "The Light shines on in darkness . . ." - John 1: 3 - Posts: 7539 | From: Wichita, KS | Registered: Aug 2001
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A fine lecture from a very believable man. I watched part of the video this morning and look forward to seeing the rest soon. Thanks for pointing it out, Ryan!
His message of simplicity and love is a timeless one, completely in accord with the core teaching of Jesus.
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"The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." From the sermon on the mount. Matthew 6:22
I have known for some time, that yogis say that this "single" eye is the "third eye." I noted this in the past without particularly agreeing or disagreeing. But recently, I have come to a partial agreement.
Lately, I have had a heightened experience of gently, with eye-lids closed, turning my eyes upward and toward my eyebrow center: It ignites a sense of light. The light is in my eyebrow center, but not only there. It flows down my spine to my root and from that central channel, flows out to my whole body. It is so exhilarating I am reminded of the film clips of girls screaming and fainting at Beetles concerts. Not that I literally scream. But I feel such excitement that it reminds me of such. Or of angels around the throne of God.
It does seem to fit the biblical notion of an "eye" that is "single;" an eye that is a lamp; a lamp-light that fills the whole body; a light that is good and not evil. I don't claim to be sure what Jesus intended, but the correlation is impressive. And when I meditated that way today, and then also spent time reading and reflecting on the sermon on the mount as a whole, all the teaching seem illuminated and supported.
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Ryan, That is truly a beautiful Jesus quote! I had almost forgotten.
I also get an association with samyama. Some "definitions" of this term, however, are not in accord with my own experience. Samyama is true sight - the light of knowledge. Words are difficult...
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Yes, that is an under-appreciated saying. Today, I was consulting the book, "the sermon on the mount: the modern quest for its meaning" by Clarence Bauman. Bauman is a Mennonite and a teacher at the seminary where I studied and when I was doing lap-swimming at the Y, I often used to see him there. Anyway, according to his thematic index, that saying is only mentioned in the book twice. When I looked up the references, one reference mentioned the saying purely in passing. The other, I could not even find.
In sanskrit, the practice of lifting the eyes to the point between the eyebrows is called the "Sambhavi Mudra."
Maybe by your definition of samyama, I'm doing some of that when I'm doing sambahavi. It so happens that I have a samyama practice too. But I'm familiar with a different definition of samyama:
"Samyama – A practice which utilizes the characteristics of the last three limbs of the eight limbs of yoga in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali – dharana (focus), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (absorption in inner silence). Through the initiation of sutras (particular words and phrases with meaning), in the quietest levels of awareness, consciousness is moved through the nervous system with great purifying effects." http://www.aypsite.org/glossary.html
In my samyama practice, my "sutra" is Paul's "fruits of the spirit" list. The list begins with "love" and ends with "self-control" As I'm hearing it lately, all the other virtues are aspects of the marriage of love/live energy and self-control/inner silence. I find Paul's sutra very powerful and purifying during samyama.
quote:Originally posted by Ryan: "The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." From the sermon on the mount. Matthew 6:22
This one little piece of scripture would, for whatever reason, become a most central piece of my belief system after first reading it when an adolescent.
My experiences of light, sound and divine majesty come in mediation are beautiful - and I am exceedingly thankful for them. But as we all know, it is one thing to be given insight, understanding and heavenly beauty in meditative practices - and quite another to carry that into the world in our everyday life.
I like to think that here Jesus was referring to being undivided and whole, the body and mind and heart in equanimity, the inside the same as the outside, the personal unconscious and conscious, one - the entrie focus of our being stayed on the law of love - so that we may exemplifly that in the world. Something like that.
. Shalom Place
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