The Power of Now

I just finished reading The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle and found it to be quite good. I even developed a new practice based on it, which is simply to keep my mental voice quiet as much as possible throughout the day. This is the main teaching given in the book, but near the end he talks about surrender and briefly mentions the Apocalypse which I've quoted below.

How do you equate surrender with finding God?

Since resistance is inseparable from the mind, relinquishment of resistance - surrender - is the end of the mind as your master, the impostor pretending to be "you," the false god. All judgment and all negativity dissolve. The realm of Being, which had been obscured by the mind, then opens up. Suddenly, a great stillness arises within you, an unfathomable sense of peace. And within that peace, there is great joy. And within that joy, there is love. And at the innermost core, there is the sacred, the immeasurable, That which cannot be named.

I don't call it finding God, because how can you find that which was never lost, the very life that you are? The word God is limiting not only because of thousands of years of misperception and misuse, but also because it implies an entity other than you. God is Being itself, not a being. There can be no subject-object relationship here, no duality, no you and God. God-realization is the most natural thing there is. The amazing and incomprehensible fact is not that you can become conscious of God but that you are not conscious of God.

The way of the cross that you mentioned is the old way to enlightenment, and until recently it was the only way. But don't dismiss it or underestimate its efficacy. It still works.

The way of the cross is a complete reversal. It means that the worst thing in your life, your cross, turns into the best thing that ever happened to you, by forcing you into surrender, into "death," forcing you to become as nothing, to become as God - because God, too, is no-thing.

At this time, as far as the unconscious majority of humans is concerned, the way of the cross is still the only way. They will only awaken through further suffering, and enlightenment as a collective phenomenon will be predictably preceded by vast upheavals. This process reflects the workings of certain universal laws that govern the growth of consciousness and thus was foreseen by some seers. It is described, among other places, in the Book of Revelation or Apocalypse, though cloaked in obscure and sometimes impenetrable symbology. This suffering is inflicted not by God but by humans on themselves and on each other as well as by certain defensive measures that the Earth, which is a living, intelligent organism, is going to take to protect herself from the onslaught of human madness.

However, there is a growing number of humans alive today whose consciousness is sufficiently evolved not to need any more suffering before the realization of enlightenment. You may be one of them.

Enlightenment through suffering - the way of the cross - means to be forced into the kingdom of heaven kicking and screaming. You finally surrender because you can' t stand the pain anymore, but the pain could go on for a long time until this happens. Enlightenment consciously chosen means to relinquish your attachment to past and future and to make the Now the main focus of your life. It means choosing to dwell in the state of presence rather than in time. It means saying yes to what is. You then don't need pain anymore. How much more time do you think you will need before you are able to say "I will create no more pain, no more suffering?" How much more pain do you need before you can make that choice?

If you think that you need more time, you will get more time - and more pain. Time and pain are inseparable.

This past Christmas I saw a beautiful animated special with the underlying theme of surrender that the whole family can enjoy. It is called the Toy Story That Time Forgot. I've watched it with my kids three or four times already.

Hatha Yoga Pradipika

I just finished reading the Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Shailendra Sharma. It is a quick and easy read, but unfortunately lacks detail for many of the practices. However, when detail is provided it is of the sort that is hard to find elsewhere. As an example, here is the first shloka on nadi shodhana.

nadi shodhan

Sitting in Baddha Padmasana, the yogi should inhale through the left nostril, drink the vayu and hold the breath to full capacity, and then exhale through the right nostril. Then, inhaling through the right nostril, gradually drinking the vayu and retaining it, he should perform kumbhaka as before and then exhale completely through the left nostril.

Sit in Baddha Padmasana and do Khechari. Put your chin down. Now close your right nostril from inside the nasal cavity with the tongue and inhale from the left nostril. Then close your left nostril from inside with your tongue and exhale from the right nostril. When you are doing Baddha Padmasana it sort of squeezes your Sushumna, especially near Anahata Chakra. Without Baddha Padmasana and Khechari, Nadi Shodhan is not possible. It also opens your lungs and your abdomen in a certain way to start a very special reaction of intestines. Opening the lungs enables you to use its full capacity while breathing, so you can fill up your lungs as well as abdomen with vayu and are able to do Nadi Shodhan.

In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Swami Muktibodhananda of the Bihar School of Yoga, the sitting posture is translated as Baddha Padmasana, but then it is recommended to not even attempt to sit in Padmasana let alone Baddha Padmasana. Of course, his book is for the general public, while Shailendra's book is for "very senior yogis" only as he says in the Forward.

Vishwa Amara on 2015

Back in 2010 I posted material from numerous channeled sources, but over time many proved to be very unreliable. On the contrary, the Sapta Rishis (channeled at Vishwa Amara) have been better than most. In 2010 they indicated that nothing significant would happen in 2012 because the major events had been postponed to 2015. Well, 2015 has started and they have confirmed in their January 2015 post that a major crisis will hit by the end of the year. Below is an excerpt.

The New batch of Rishis and the Saptarishis have made many plans for the year ahead. Instead of having two large phases like the last year, they want to divide the year into five phases, each of about two to three months. Each phase would have a certain objective.

In the first phase, the Earth will experience the intensity of the Pralaya energies. The aim of this phase is to help every individual see the merit in choosing righteousness. The more we adopt Light, love and peace into our lives, and outgrow anger, bitterness and pessimism, the easier it will be to sail through. Those who resist will be the ones to face more difficulties. Our humility and surrender to God are essential.

The second phase will be a little relaxed. It will help every individual to assimilate the changes and strengthen their progress. During this phase, many new energies will be anchored on our Earth.

During the third phase, experimentation on freewill will be conducted by the Higher Intelligence. It will be easier to embrace the positive changes and adopt Light. We can also witness many changes all over the Earth. This phase is an important preparatory phase towards the Light Age.

In the fourth phase is when the battles between the Light and the dark will be at their peak. At the global level, the Individuals who spoil the lives of others, corrupt businesses and falsity will be exposed. This battle will also occur within each individual. At each juncture, we have to choose, let go of the unwanted, embrace Light and move on.

The last phase would be chaotic. There will be panic, confusion and a struggle for survival. For those who are connected to Light and have their basics in place, it should be a smooth phase. The Rishis expect Lord Kalki, to begin his work at the physical level during this period.

These are roughly the way the Rishis want to carry out their work during this year. But there will naturally be revisions and improvements based on their observations of how humanity responds to their initiatives.

So while they don't predict what form the crisis will take, Sal and the Founders provide all the details. In this first post they indicate that the $US and all global currencies will lose most of their value, while in this second post they provide instructions for how to prepare for it. Even some financial analysts agree that the world is poised for a Global Currency Crisis and to buy gold in preparation.

The Fountainhead

I recently finished reading The Fountainhead and found it to be very well written and quite an interesting book. Ayn Rand built quite a following from it and her other work Atlas Shrugged.

The hero of The Fountainhead, Howard Roark, has mastered divine co-creation in architecture, and her presentation of that is quite inspired and makes the book well worth reading just for this. Unfortunately though, all of her characters have no understanding of unconditional love, so it is quite awful from that point of view. Here, the villain, Ellsworth Toohey, explains how spirituality has been used to control and exploit humanity through the ages.

Don’t allow men to be happy. Happiness is self-contained and self-sufficient. Happy men have no time and no use for you. Happy men are free men. So kill their joy in living. Take away from them whatever is dear or important to them. Never let them have what they want. Make them feel that the mere fact of a personal desire is evil. Bring them to a state where saying 'I want’ is no longer a natural right, but a shameful admission. Altruism is of great help in this. Unhappy men will come to you. They’ll need you. They’ll come for consolation, for support, for escape. Nature allows no vacuum. Empty man’s soul--and the space is yours to fill. I don’t see why you should look so shocked, Peter. This is the oldest one of all. Look back at history. Look at any great system of ethics, from the Orient up. Didn’t they all preach the sacrifice of personal joy? Under all the complications of verbiage, haven’t they all had a single leitmotif: sacrifice, renunciation, self-denial? Haven’t you been able to catch their theme song--’Give up, give up, give up, give up’? Look at the moral atmosphere of today. Everything enjoyable, from cigarettes to sex to ambition to the profit motive, is considered depraved or sinful. Just prove that a thing makes men happy--and you’ve damned it. That’s how far we’ve come. We’ve tied happiness to guilt. And we’ve got mankind by the throat. Throw your first-born into a sacrificial furnace--lie on a bed of nails--go into the desert to mortify the flesh--don’t dance--don’t go to the movies on Sunday--don’t try to get rich--don’t smoke--don’t drink. It’s all the same line. The great line. Fools think that taboos of this nature are just nonsense. Something left over, old-fashioned. But there’s always a purpose in nonsense. Don’t bother to examine a folly--ask yourself only what it accomplishes. Every system of ethics that preached sacrifice grew into a world power and ruled millions of men. Of course, you must dress it up. You must tell people that they’ll achieve a superior kind of happiness by giving up everything that makes them happy. You don’t have to be too clear about it. Use big vague words. ’Universal Harmony’--’Eternal Spirit’--’Divine Purpose’--’Nirvana’--’Paradise’--’Racial Supremacy’--’The Dictatorship of the Proletariat.’ Internal corruption, Peter. That’s the oldest one of all. The farce has been going on for centuries and men still fall for it. Yet the test should be so simple: just listen to any prophet and if you hear him speak of sacrifice--run. Run faster than from a plague. It stands to reason that where there’s sacrifice, there’s someone collecting sacrificial offerings. Where there’s service, there’s someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the master. But if ever you hear a man telling you that you must be happy, that it’s your natural right, that your first duty is to yourself--that will be the man who’s not after your soul. That will be the man who has nothing to gain from you. But let him come and you’ll scream your empty heads off, howling that he’s a selfish monster. So the racket is safe for many, many centuries. But here you might have noticed something. I said, ’It stands to reason.’ Do you see? Men have a weapon against you. Reason. So you must be very sure to take it away from them. Cut the props from under it. But be careful. Don’t deny outright. Never deny anything outright, you give your hand away. Don’t say reason is evil--though some have gone that far and with astonishing success. Just say that reason is limited. That there’s something above it. What? You don’t have to be too clear about it either. The field’s inexhaustible. ’Instinct’--’Feeling’--’Revelation’--’Divine Intuition’--’Dialectic Materialism.’ If you get caught at some crucial point and somebody tells you that your doctrine doesn’t make sense--you’re ready for him. You tell him that there’s something above sense. That here he must not try to think, he must feel. He must believe. Suspend reason and you play it deuces wild. Anything goes in any manner you wish whenever you need it. You’ve got him. Can you rule a thinking man? We don’t want any thinking men."

Unfortunately, this is how spirituality is taught by many. You must practice yamas, niyamas, selfless service, sacrifice, renunciation and self-denial all day every day to achieve that superior kind of happiness. Well, this is simply not true, but you do need to devote about an hour each day with the mind turned inward. This can be done at any time while engaged in any activity that allows for an inward focus, from meditating to exercising, to eating food to having sex. Then in a few months or even weeks, you'll suddenly discover that superior kind of happiness that really does exist.

Of course, once you've realized that this inner happiness is far greater than any external happiness, you may desire to prolong your periods of inner focus, which to the casual observer may appear to be sacrifice, renunciation and self-denial but is in fact the exact opposite.

Ayn Rand on the other hand knew very little about happiness, as can be seen in this excerpt from an article on her at nymag.com.

Rand approached her. “Would you tell me what is the most important thing in life to you?” she asked, showing once again her flair for smooth opening lines. “My mother,” the girl answered. Rand turned away, disgusted. As an adult, she called this exchange “the first most important event in my life socially” and analyzed it as follows: “I had thought she was a serious girl and that she was after serious things, but she was just conventional and ordinary, a mediocrity, and she didn’t mean anything as a person.”

The happiness that girl knew, which most people know, was beyond Ayn Rand's understanding. It's too bad that Ayn Rand died before the book Love You Forever was published, for if she had the opportunity to read that book, she might finally have understood what that girl was talking about.

Validating the Galactic Shift

It has been almost two years since the Precessional Alignment of December 21, 2012 and starting in 2015 the peak period of the Galactic Shift begins. It coincides with the Mass Ascension as discussed in my post on the Divine Dispensations.

The Mass Ascension Dispensation was issued in 1950 and removes the requirement of needing to have most of your soul fragments reassembled in order to activate the Ascension transformation. If you remember from part 2, the Galactic Shift also began in 1950, so looking at the combined view we see that prior to 1950, the Earth was conducive to the 3D/4D human form, but during the Galactic Shift transformation it will gradually cease to support 3D human life. After 2100 it will only support the 4D physical human form as well as the new 5D etheric human form. Of course, as before, higher density beings will still be able to incarnate on Earth, but 3D humans will no longer be able to survive. The peak of this transition occurs between the years 2015 and 2035, when most humans will either evolve to 4D/5D or leave the Earth and incarnate on another planet still suitable for 3D human life. As discussed in part 1, the primary distinguishing characteristic between a 4D human and a 3D human is Love. The only emotion felt and expressed by a 4D human is Love. This is all that is required for you to move with the Earth into the Golden Age, and the way to purify your emotions is with a daily spiritual practice.

I was thinking about the best way to validate that the Galactic Shift is actually happening. Of course the final validation happens in 2035 when most of the world has arrived at the Golden Age, but what can we measure in the mean time to see if we are progressing in the right direction? For the Precessional Alignment, I looked at the magnetic field fluctuations on that day and determined that the prediction had failed. For the Galactic Shift we could also look at magnetic field fluctuations, or stock market fluctuations, weather fluctuations, but I think the statistic with the most impact will be world population fluctuations.

The chart below is from worldometers, and shows the current projected world population growth up to the year 2100. I've highlighted at the top that on July 1, 2024 the population is expected to be 8.01 billion.

The Black Death of the 1300's wiped out 30% to 60% of Europe's population, and the Galactic Shift is expected to do the same, except on a worldwide basis. In my post on the coming medical crisis, the Founders list the primary means of exit for 3D souls.

...an increased rate of allergies, chemical reactions, debilitating viruses, sensitivities to bacteria, molds, fungi, and other "environmental illnesses," as well as long-term cancers, heart and lung conditions. So-called "exotic bugs" will surface, which are really just hybrid viruses and bacteria that are able to penetrate the weakening immune system of humans.

The Founders predict that the population will stop growing in the early part of the shift and then go into decline. So in the coming years the slope of the curve on the above chart should flatten such that the predicted date for reaching 8 billion continues to get pushed out. Since 2024 is approximately half way through the shift, the population should already be in decline by then, so my criteria for the prediction failing will be if the population doesn't decline and instead crosses 8 billion as currently predicted by worldometers.

Yogani on Kechari Mudra

Yogani at AYP site has written the most complete description of Kechari Mudra that I've seen. An excerpt follows, but I highly recommend reading the full lesson.

Lesson 108 - Kechari mudra – A giant leap for humankind

What is kechari mudra? Let's put it in terms that we can easily relate to. A centimeter or two above the roof of our mouth is located one of the most ecstatically sensitive organs in our whole body. It can be reached relatively easily with our tongue. It is located on the back edge of our nasal septum, and when the nervous system is purified enough through advanced yoga practices, our tongue will roll back and go up into the cavity of our nasal pharynx to find the sensitive edge of our septum. When this happens, it is like a master switch is closed in our nervous system, and all of our advanced yoga practices and experiences begin to function on a much higher level. When kechari is entered naturally, we come on to the fast track of yoga. It is the major league of yoga, if you will.

Ramakrishna said, "When the divine goddess comes up, the tongue rolls back."

Many have experienced this natural phenomenon at times in their yoga practices. When the nervous system is ready, it just happens. The tongue wants to go back. But few are able to follow though, and this is just a matter of education. If strong bhakti is there and the tongue is rolling back, it is a short trip to make the connection in the pharynx to a higher level of spiritual experience.

Not many people on earth today have made this important transition in yoga. However, it is likely that the number of people entering kechari will increase dramatically in the coming years. As this happens, it will be a giant leap forward for humankind, for it will mark humanity's shift to a predominantly spiritual mode of functioning of the nervous system. This will bring with it the many benefits of rising enlightenment spreading out through our modern society. Kechari is that significant, that powerful, and that indicative of where the human race is heading. Only a few yogis and yoginis in kechari can have a huge affect on the spiritual energies in everyone. They radiate energy that quickens the rise of the enlightenment process in all. So, while kechari is an individual phenomenon on the road to human spiritual transformation, it has global implications, as do all of our advanced yoga practices. As Jesus said, "You are the light of the world."

Advanced yogis and yoginis use kechari continuously throughout their sitting practices, and often during the day when not engaged in conversation. In other words, kechari is home for the advanced yogi and yogini. We do not even know that they are in kechari. Only the subtle glow of divine light gives them away. Inside, they are in the constant play of divine lovemaking.

We will cover four stages of kechari here (see Image above), all pertaining to the location of the tip of the tongue:

Stage 1 – To the point on the roof of the mouth where the hard and soft palates meet. This is the line of demarcation that must be crossed before stage 2 can be entertained.

Stage 2 – Behind the soft palate and up to the nasal septum. It is a short trip, but a momentous one. Initially this is done with help from a finger pushing back under the tongue, going to the left or right side of the soft palate where entry is easiest. This may require "breaking the hymen" of the membrane under the tongue. See below for more on this.

Stage 3 – Gradually working to the top of the nasal pharynx and septum. This takes us to the bony structure containing the pituitary gland.

Stage 4 – Entering the nasal passages from inside and moving upward beyond the top of the pharynx toward the point between the eyebrows. It is not as far for the tongue to go as it seems. Put your thumb on the hinge of your jaw and put your index finger at the tip of your tongue extended straight out. Then pivot the fixed length to your index finger up on your thumb to the point between your eyebrows. See? It is not so far for the tongue to go straight up from its root.

In these lessons we view the frenum as a tether to be trimmed back when the time is right. It keeps us out of kechari until we are ready. When we are ready, and each of us knows when that is, the frenum can be trimmed. It is like a "hymen." When a woman is ready for sexual intercourse, the hymen goes. Until then it serves to provide protection. This breaking of the hymen can be a stressful and painful event if it is forced. Sooner or later the frenum will be forced open too, because going into kechari is as natural as going into sexual intercourse. It is biologically preordained. It happens when the nervous system is mature enough. Advanced yoga practices bring us closer to the transition with each day of daily practices.

In terms of my own timeline, I started with stage 1 in 2003 but had no interest in moving to stage 2 until 2012, then after about a month of Talabya Kriya I was able to push my tongue with my fingers into stage 2, and I did not have to trim my frenum as Yogani describes. In 2013 I achieved stage 3 and this year (2014) I achieved stage 4 and have begun practicing Nadi Shodhana by using my tongue to block each nasal passage in turn. I generally use stage 3 for the Kundalini Kriyas and Golden Age Kriya.

Kriya Yoga Freedom Fighters

I'm often told that I have violated Kriya Yoga secrecy by publishing my videos on YouTube. The reason for the secrecy is based on the idea that a student must attain the right level of advancement before a particular technique would offer them any value, and more importantly, be safe for them to practice. This sounds reasonable, but who is qualified to judge that a student has reached the appropriate level? Upon reading Ennio's book and the experiences of many others, it is clear that this judgement has been lacking in many organizations.

It should also be clear that a person keeping a secret has power and control over any person wishing to learn that secret, essentially robbing them of their freedom and making them a slave. Does this sound like the behavior of an enlightened person? People wonder why God allows humans to torture and kill each other, and they ask, "Is this the act of a loving God?" Well, yes it is, because any intervention would turn those humans into slaves, and God is not a slave master, God is a freedom fighter. Freedom is love, and control is slavery. Ennio, and the other Kriya Yoga Freedom Fighters that have joined him, understand this.

For many years, Ennio stood alone in the fight, but now more and more people are joining the cause. Of particular significance is Swami Nityananda Giri, in the lineage of Swami Shriyukteswar Giri, and the first Swami to fully reveal almost all of the techniques in his book Kriya Yoga: Science of Life-force. Below is an excerpt where he shares his thoughts on Kriya Yoga secrecy.

Kriya-yoga has now become a household name among westerners and urban elites of India though people still do not have a clear-cut understanding of it. Though we find many books on Kriya-yoga the lack of clear exposition on its philosophy and practice is still felt very much. So many myths and mis­understandings are gaining ground regarding name and techniques. One of the reasons may be that present day masters of the tradition are more interested in teaching this in the west rather than in India. Though humanity is one and seekers from the west have equal rights, then in the same logic the seekers from India must not be neglected. A true master belongs to the cosmos.

The second reason is the secrecy involved in the techniques. The secrecy was introduced with a view that a precious gem cannot be sold in the open market thereby bringing the suspicion of genuineness and the danger of having fallen into the hands of undesirable and not-so-serious people. Again secrecy developed interest among the masses to learn and practice it. So the purpose of secrecy was not to hide but rather to give to the public. Another aspect we learn from history is that in the name of secrecy, the teachers of yoga and tantra have only helped in the extinction of the precious techniques for knowledge. This sometimes brings additions and alterations that are not in accordance with the spirit of the scriptures though additions and alterations, which facilitate progress and adhere to the teachings of scriptures, are always welcome.

Over the ages it has been seen that due to hiding the techniques distorted variations appeared and, particularly in the name of tantra, many practices diametrically opposed to spirituality were introduced and are still in practice giving a bad name to a system that has nothing to do with those things. But we have to see that we are now in a completely revolutionary age of information and technology, which was not even thought of twenty years back. Now due to the development of technologies and various other factors the techniques are no more hidden and it is not even possible to keep them hidden. Moreover the scriptures have already described these techniques. A reader will find how the scriptures describe these techniques in this book in general and on the fourth chapter of the book in particular. So question arises since the scriptures do not hide the techniques then why should a book written on the subject does not describe the techniques. Hence it is time to discuss rather than hide and a middle way is to be accepted to keep the balance. I know many masters and organizations will not agree with me but I tried to act according to my conscience. Readers are always advised to learn them not from books but from a master and those who do so from a book it is at their personal risk. The book is only to clarify and help.

I also discovered that Swami Nityananda Giri has recently created a YouTube channel, and I would like to wish him a warm welcome! Below is his video on Kechari Mudra.