It was almost three years ago, on September 2006, that by chance I heard a talk given by Swami Paramahamsa Nithyananda at a Hindu cultural program held in Cupertino, CA. It was in a relatively small auditorium and he – although obviously well-respected and revered – showed up with not much more fanfare than any of the other speakers scheduled to appear during that segment of the program.

This month I had another opportunity to listen to him speak, and this time the reverence and venue were kicked up a notch. Yes, this young enlightened master’s recognition had clearly spread in both intensity as well as numbers.

Who is Paramahamsa Nithyanda? The following was gleaned from various sources, including his website Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam:

He was born in India as Rajasekaran. Practically from birth his life has been centered around spiritual events and pursuits. Shortly after his birth, an astrologer cast his horoscope and, based on the unique configuration of planets in his birth chart, declared that he would grow up to be a Raja Sannyasi (King among Swamis). Since a young age, Rajasekaran would show interest in spiritual things – when he was a young child he would make idols out of mud, clay, and soap stone, decorate them and worship them. And from the age of three he was under the tutelage of various spiritual teachers. Upon graduating from high school, he studied mechanical engineering, but then decided to pursue the life of a wandering sadhu at the age of seventeen. This he did for nine years.

In 2003, Nithyananda founded a meditation ashram in Bidadi, India as the headquarters for his social activities around the world. He also founded the Life Bliss Foundation in Los Angeles, USA, to serve as the headquarters in the West. His mission statement is the “Transformation of humanity through transforming the individual, and spreading global peace and inner bliss”. In his own words, “Enlightenment flowers when individual consciousness disappears into Universal Consciousness. When you start living enlightenment, you automatically raise the human consciousness around you. Living enlightenment holds the key to global peace and inner bliss. Every individual should be a pioneer in the transition of human consciousness to divine consciousness.”

And so it was only six years after he started his work that he appeared at a Hindu cultural event held at a community college in Cupertino, California. What was his recent visit like, three years after that?

Another Darshan Experience

In 2009, he came to Milpitas, California as part of his Yogam 2009:North American tour for teaching the principles of yoga as created by Patanjali, the Father of Yoga. Accompanied by my son, I attended one of the free public talks that he gave. As we arrived at the Indian Community Center, the place was already filled – mostly with members of the Indian community! We made our way through the crowded lobby area, signed in at one of the side tables and received our token for the darshan, then went directly into the main auditorium and found a seat a few rows from the front. Yes, there were definitely more people to see him at this event than there were three years ago.

At the scheduled time, a devotee welcomed the audience, made some miscellaneous announcements, and then announced that after the talk there would be a darshan. OK, now this was getting serious. The only darshans I had ever attended were the ones that Amma gave. Nithyananda’s spiritual stature had now developed to the point where people would not only listen to him speak, but would also wait in a line to receive his blessing – to be close to an enlightened being and have an audience, however brief.

I have to say that I enjoyed the talk, based on Patanjali’s 22nd Yoga Sutra, which discussed how making intensity your focus is more important than pursuing enlightenment. More on that in another post. He definitely knows what he’s talking about and doesn’t claim to be presenting anything new – at least as far as world knowledge is concerned. This is how I evaluate the legitimacy of any self-proclaimed spiritual teacher. The information must harmonize with and build upon the core spiritual teachings underlying all religions. This was true of his talk, which he presented in a very personable way, yet with authority. As when I heard him in Cupertino, I was impressed by this event.

Afterward he finished his talk, the welcomer started to announce who could get in line for the darshan, based on the color and number of the tokens handed out. My son and I waited for our turn, which didn’t take long at all – especially since we were used to having to wait hours for Amma. This was a less involved process. Slowly we made our way up the stage to finally come face to face with the young guru.

I’m still not completely at ease at these things, so things kind of went by in a blur. I remember kneeling at his feet and bowing my head in reverence as he touched my forehead. My son stood behind me and actually held out his hand, which the guru took for a moment to bestow his blessing. They exchanged smiles, but when I looked up at Nithyananda to establish eye contact the time had passed and the next people in line were already approaching as the attendants guided us away from the platform. Still, to be that close to one whom I do believe is that spiritually evolved was not something I would have wanted to miss. Even my son, who has very little experience with these things, later exclaimed “that was awesome!”

So what’s the big deal?

I do understand that “belief” plays a role in the whole experience. Without some degree of belief, it would be hard to see any value in kneeling before another human being only to receive a token gesture in return. But even without believing in the exchange of spiritual energy that accompanies a darshan, I also feel there is more to be learned here.

The teachings such as those passed on by Nithyananda represent years of study in the human consciousness, carried out by through a system of reflection, and trial and error by wise men thousands of years ago. There have been those who have refined the teachings, such as Gautama Buddha, but even his teachings represent a discovery of truths already in existence – that there is a way to realize our human potential, a way to transcend suffering, and way to achieve peace in any situation. Seeing someone who has accomplished that to a significant degree in our day and age serves to remind us of that, and inspires hope that such a path is not futile.

See my related posts:

• Are there really enlightened beings?
• Journey into Spirit Time with the Hugging Saint

He is risen in our minds, our hearts, our souls – there is no separation between him and us. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

Christianity is not the only spiritual tradition that finds meaning in Easter and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And I’m not referring to the pre-Christian celebrations that form the basis of many practices observed today – from the fertility egg and rabbit to the rites of Spring. No, I’m referring to the beliefs of yogis past and present, one being the Paramahansa Yogananda, who brought yogic teachings as well as the practice of Kriya yoga to the west.

And he had a few things to say about Easter and its importance to humanity.

Paramahansa Yogananda took the Biblical account of the story of Jesus quite literally, but his interpretation was not what you’d hear in a church. To many students of eastern philosophies, Jesus was an advanced yogi whose life provided an example of what lies ahead for all of humanity. Through the Biblical account, we see the progression that must be followed in order to achieve true freedom and salvation from the trappings of a life of illusion.

In his book, The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You , Yogananda describes a complex process by which Jesus withdrew his soul from the three bodies – physical, astral, and causal – in order to achieve a permanent resurrection from death, karma, and illusion. The process even continued after the day of his resurrection, and explains why he told Mary, “do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father”. He still had residual karma that needed to be shed, such as the karmic debt incurred in his moment of forgetfulness while on the cross as he exclaimed “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Is this accurate? One thing that Yogananda says in his book is that so much of his understanding of Jesus’ resurrection process came through intuitive insight gained during his own meditations.

It is impossible with mere intellect to comprehend fully the intricacies of the astral and causal passageways to liberation and their correlation with the spiritual eye. They are gradually revealed to intuitive perception by the practice of Kriya Yoga.

I do believe that spiritual insight has to be experienced first hand. You cannot benefit from blindly believing in the say-so of someone else. And based on my own meditative experiences, I do know that it’s possible to gain insights into all sorts of matters through meditation. Unfortunately, I must admit that this is a practice I’ve neglected for a number of months now. Perhaps the possibility of understanding the awakening process can be another motivation for me to rekindle this practice.

We each have our own unique experiences and spiritual perspectives. That said, we can all gain something from considering Christ’s resurrection on Easter day. If it moves us to grow in our connection with the spirit, then that’s what really matters.

As you consider Christ’s resurrection this Easter, may you grow closer to the Spirit, in whatever form that takes.
May your faith in your salvation be strengthened.
May you be strengthened in the hope that all things will be renewed.
And may you consider your own awakening.

Amen

Peace

“Where is the one born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east …”

Is it possible to see the star of Bethlehem today? To this day, there is no definite explanation for the star of Bethlehem. According to mainstream Christianity, this star was God’s way of identifying the birth of His son. Jehovah’s Witnesses might tell you that it was Satan’s attempt to kill the child Jesus.

Was the star of Bethlehem a comet? A constellation? A conjunction of planets? There are plenty of theories and claims – one group has a website where they claim to have figured out scientifically what the star was. You can check it out at The Star of Bethlehem. It’s actually pretty fascinating. See also a report from John Mosley, program supervisor for the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, which contains similar information.

But are these viewpoints based on too literal an interpretation? Could there be something much more profound contained within this story – something with more universal lessons? Something which opens up the possibility of seeing the star of Bethlehem today?

There are several reasons to believe that there is much to the story that cannot be taken literally.

One vital clue lies in the identity of the Magi.

Who were the Magi?

The consensus among researchers is that they were Persian astrologers. However, the archeologist and historian Henry Heras, in his book The story of the Magi: The first Indians at the feet of Our Lady (Studies in Indian history of the Indian Historical Research Institute, St. Xavier’s College, Bombay ; no. 21), makes the case for another identity of the magi:

• If the word magi truly indicated the well-known Persian Magi, then Persia would have been identified as their home. Yet tradition, and the scriptures, only state that these magi came “from the east”.
• There are centuries-old traditions in India that claim that the Magi were “Wise Men”, or rishis (patriarchal sages), who came from India.
• The gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, were from ancient times traditional gifts offered to parents of the newly born in India. As far as we know, there has never been that tradition in Persia.

So there is good reason to believe that the magi were sages from India, known for their intense search for spiritual truth.

Let’s examine what the scriptures say about the star itself.

The Star in the East

The magi said they saw the star “in the east”. The magi came from the east and later saw the star over Bethlehem, so eventually the star had to be seen in another areas of the sky other than “in the east”. What kind of star exhibits that kind of movement?

Of all the celestial theories, the most plausible ones involve a conjunction of planets. And even those theories describe the planets taking different positions in the sky and eventually being seen in the western skies. Yet nowhere is the term “west” used in the scriptural account. Instead, all we read are references to the east – the account emphasizes the fact that the star was “in the east”, as if being in the east was a fundamental feature of the star.

Why is that? And why is it never described in any other way? Never “in the west”, or even south, where Bethlehem is in relation to Jerusalem.

The Significance of “East”

A clue might be found in the Jewish word for east – “kedem” – which also means “front” or “fore”. Could there be a special meaning behind the use of the word “east”, a meaning that includes the concept of the “front” or “fore”?

“But the New Testament was written in Greek”, I can hear some people say. And that is true – for the most part. However, there is testimony from Christian writers that indicates that Matthew wrote a Gospel, or some portion of it, in Hebrew or Aramaic. And coincidentally, out of all four gospels, it is only the Gospel of Matthew that contains the story of the star of Bethlehem.

Another “Star” Seen in the “East”

Experienced meditators in certain yoga traditions are quite familiar with a phenomenon that occurs during meditation, when eyes are closed and raised upward, toward the forehead. There, in your mental field of vision, appears a disc of purple or dark blue surrounded by a band of yellow. With continued focus there also appears a point of light in the center – a star.

This isn’t just a metaphysical theory. I see something similar to it during my own meditations, although it appears as more of an amorphous blob of dark blue surrounded by yellow. The yellow repeatedly collapses into a point in the center of the blue.

According to the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, this is the spiritual eye, a reflection of spiritual energy entering the body. By focusing on the spiritual eye, the meditator’s consciousness rises until it reaches a state of superconsciousness, and the heart is filled with peace.

“On seeing the star they rejoiced.”

This leads us to the following interpretation of the story of the magi and the star of Bethlehem:

The magi, sages from India who were practiced in the art of achieving superconscious states and heightened intuition through meditation and yoga, perceived that the one who would embody spiritual enlightenment was being born somewhere in Judea. Familiar with the Jewish prophecies, they went to the capital city, Jerusalem, and asked King Herod “Where is the one born king of the Jews?” He then consulted the chief priests and scribes for an answer, who told him “in Bethlehem”. After he provided this information to the magi, they then traveled to Bethlehem, relying on their intuition as revealed in meditation to guide them to the exact location of the child.

“When they had heard the king, they went their way; and look! the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them, until it came to a stop above where the young child was.”

They recognized the Christ child within the spiritual eye that they saw in their meditations, and their superconscious insight guided them to where the child was.

Seeing the Star Today

With practice, anyone can see the star during meditation. But seeing the star, or light in the forehead, is only the beginning stages of an ongoing process of experiencing increased intuition and deeper levels of consciousness through meditation.

As we celebrate the birth of Jesus during this holiday season, may we recognize the potential within all of us for achieving Christ-consciousness; and in doing so, the realized promise of peace on earth.

Notes:

“kedem” means “east” as well as “front” or “fore”
“shemal” means north as well as left.
“teyman” means south as well as “to the right”.

Yogis and mystics spend years meditating and performing rituals and exercises in order to gain spiritual insights and achieve enlightenment. People have seen the effects of these practices, causing scientific researchers to try to explain spiritual phenomena through experiments and measurements. One interesting concept is the understanding of binaural beats and its effect on the human brain. Some even think that binaural beats can train the brain to automatically enter a state that’s identical to that achieved by experienced meditators. Is there anything to it?

What are Binaural Beats?

The phenomenon was actually discovered in 1839 and is basically a mechanism for getting the human brain to perceive frequencies below the typical threshold of 20 Hz. If two different tones of sufficiently low frequency (below 1 – 1.5 kHz) are presented to each ear and the difference between the tones are no more than 30 Hz, then the brain perceives the difference as a separate beat. In this way you can get the brain to perceive frequencies well below 20 Hz. So to get the brain to perceive, say, a 5 Hz tone, the two tones must be 5 Hz apart in frequency – for example, one 500 Hz tone presented to one ear and one 505 Hz tone presented to the other ear.

So what’s the point? Well, this has some interesting applications in the matter of brain entrainment.

Brain Entrainment, or Brainwave Synchronization

Brain entrainment is the process of changing the brain’s dominant frequency by exposing it to an external frequency. Over time the brain’s frequency will match that of the external stimulus, especially if there is not too much difference between the two.

This isn’t far fetched. The entrainment phenomenon occurs in all kinds of physical systems. Check out this video that shows the effect that metronomes have on each other:

So why would we want to do that with our brain? Well, consider some interesting brainwave frequencies and their implications:

Now brain activity doesn’t consist of only one frequency – there are always many frequencies being generated at any time. But during certain mental states there will be a predominant frequency, and this is what is meant by the list in the previous table.

So imagine being able to enter certain states, such as deep meditation, just by entraining your brain to produce that corresponding frequency as the predominant one. This is the idea behind listening to binaural beat recordings using stereo headphones.

Does it work?

Many such recordings are available online. Because a pure sine wave is not pleasant or relaxing for most people, the beats are generated within a background of white noise. Here is an example for download:

Binaural Beat Sample

This recording was created using a freeware program, and gradually moves from theta waves to delta waves. When I listen to it, I immediately start to feel a tingly energy across my back and shoulders.

There are several companies that produce CDs of various binaural beat recordings. The advantage to these is that they are produced with more sophisticated sound equipment and many of the nuances are fine-tuned. For example, I’ve had the opportunity to try one of them, Immrama’s Insight CD. They’ve created a relaxing soundscape of falling rain within which they embedded the binaural beats. Instead of including only one beat, the Immrama Institute’s recordings incorporate a set of harmonically layered beats to more closely mimic the activity of the human brain.

The CD consists of three tracks, each designed to guide your brain into different levels. I haven’t listened to all three tracks for extended periods of time, but only focused on listening to the first track.

My experience with Immrama’s Insight CD

The falling rain is very soothing and I thought that it would be best to listen to it before I went to bed. Within a few minutes of putting on the headphones the sounds lulled me into a very relaxed state and it was easy to lay there for the 25 minutes or so it took for the track to complete, at which point it gradually – almost imperceptively – trails off into silence. By the time it finished I was definitely in an altered mental state, and as I took off the headphones and went to bed I was able to drift easily to sleep.

At the very least, listening to the Insight CD is a very effective way to achieve quick physical relaxation. I would even compare it to the level of relaxation achievable after having practiced meditation for some time. But is that all there is? One strange effect that it has on me leads me to conclude that there is more to it.

After several days of this routine I began to notice a reaction that I have not heard associated with listening to binaural beats. I started to experience symptoms of restless leg syndrome (RLS). This is something that I’ve felt in recent years which occasionally manifests itself in the evening, especially if I’m inactive such as when watching a movie or TV. For some reason, the extremely relaxed physical state that listening to the binaural beats induced also brought to the surface the sensations associated with RLS. The feeling is difficult to describe, but it feels like a build-up of energy in my legs that eventually needs to be released. I can either shake or twitch my leg to release it, or remain motionless and allow the feeling to naturally move my leg on its own – although that is also accompanied by a strange “sour” sensation which is difficult to describe any other way.

But the sensation became more pronounced after several days of listening to the CD – to the point of affecting my whole body. For that reason I had to stop listening to it in the evenings, but I intend to experiment with listening to the CD in the mornings, when I’m active physically. Hopefully, I can then focus on the mental effects of the binaural beats instead of the physical.

The Kundalini Mystery

Why would listening to the CD affect me in this way? Well, it might not be a coincidence that some believe that restless leg syndrome is often a misdiagnosis for kundalini syndrome. Without going into too long of an explanation, many Eastern spiritual traditions teach of a spiritual energy (kundalini) that is coiled at the base of everyone’s spine. Many exercises and practices are designed to awaken this energy so that it flows up the spine and eventually reach the top of the head, at which point there is often a mind-exploding experience that some say is the ultimate in spiritual awakening. (I’ll save my views of that for another post.)

There are many reports of people experiencing “spontaneous kundalini awakening”, or a spontaneous movement of this energy. For some reason, this is sometimes accompanied by such sensations as

• Energy rushes or immense electricity circulating the body
• Itching, vibrating, prickling, tingling, stinging or crawling sensations
• Intense heat or cold
• Involuntary bodily movements which occur more often during meditation, rest or sleep, and which may be misdiagnosed as epilepsy, restless legs syndrome (RLS), or periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD).

These and other symptoms can occur as the result of meditation, yoga, or other intense spiritual practices, and are manifestations of an accelerated release or burning up of karma. Could my RLS be related to Kundalini syndrome? And could listening to certain binaural beats be affecting me in the same way as other practices?

More than a relaxation method?

I’ve definitely experienced how brain entrainment using binaural beats can quickly induce relaxation. But are binaural beats, through brain entrainment, doing more than just inducing relaxed states? I have reason to believe that they do produce many of the same effects as meditation or yoga beyond just the physical relaxation. While I have yet to experience them, the Immrama Institute claims that other benefits include increased learning ability and creativity, reduced stress, and better personal insight. For myself, it may be simply a matter of listening to the CD earlier in the day in order to give these results a chance. If I notice anything, I’ll be sure to post another article.

Listening to good music – relaxing – chanting – laughing – singing – practicing a few yogic breathing exercises – sharing with others an experience of peace … I experienced all these in one evening a few weekends ago at a concert performed by Snatam Kaur.

And it was awesome!

Snatam Kaur came to Palo Alto as part of her Celebrate Peace tour, “a global effort to bring peace to the hearts and minds of individuals everywhere” according to the Celebrate Peace web site. I’ve written about how much I enjoy some of her music in this post and this post, so I was prepared for an enjoyable evening. I wasn’t disappointed.

She walked to the stage with the other performers, dressed in pure white Sikh garb, and after seating herself by her harmonium, right away conveyed a connection with the audience – a sincere desire for all to experience peace that evening. I’m sure the high-tech sound system as well as the good acoustics in the church didn’t hurt any, but from the moment she opened her mouth to sing, her – dare I say angelic – voice seemed to pierce the air and directly enter the hearts of everyone there.

She was accompanied by some excellent musicians. On guitar was GuruGanesha Singh, Snatam Kaur’s producer and founder of Spirit Voyage Music, Manish Vyas, renown musician and master of the tabla, and Ram Dass Khalsa on keyboards and clarinet, an inspiring example of a young person developing his talents and spiritual devotion.

The Music

Like other kirtans that I have participated in, this one involved a lot of audience participation. That’s all part of the experience for the audience as well as the performer. But whereas traditional kirtans primarily involve call and response chanting, in this concert she had everyone singing/chanting along with her. It deeply contributed to the sense of union between everyone there in the church. There were a few English songs as well, and though not quite as repetitive, the words were still easy to pick up and follow along with.

Cool Breathing Exercises

At one point, she had the audience participate in a few Kundalini Yoga breathing exercises. You might imagine that this would have involved a break from the concert experience – a sort of time-out for some mechanical activity before getting back to the music. At least that’s what I expected – but I was wrong.

With tabla and guitar keeping a steady rhythm, Snatam demonstrated the first technique and had the audience follow along. The first exercise involved holding your hands up by your shoulders, palms facing up, and then twisting your wrists while breathing out. OK, this is easy, I thought. But once everyone understood what to do, she would say “Now catch the breath” – which meant that the breathing would take off in earnest at about twice the pace! Whoaah. And all the while GuruGanesh kept playing this jazzy-Indian guitar riff to keep everyone on track.

She repeated the process for the other exercises – the demonstration and audience follow-along, then “catch the breath” and off we went. Each exercise lasted awhile, and the ironic thing was that, instead of this being a break from the rhythm of the concert, the breathing exercise actually fell into the natural flow of the evening. And the end of it I was even more energized than I was just from the music alone.

Sikh-based, Yet Universal

No surprising, there were several people of the Sikh tradition there. To be honest, I don’t remember seeing any Sikhs at any other kirtan that I’ve attended. How could I tell? Well, for those unfamiliar with this spiritual tradition, Sikh men wear the turbans and usually have long beards. These are Sikhs – not Arabs, and not Muslims. The turban and beard are worn as a reminder to live according to the spiritual principles to which they are dedicated.

But even with this background, the concert was actually a very interfaith-type experience. All were made to feel welcome, regardless of religious beliefs. One thing that she did that made me feel more connected was to explain the meaning of the chants. It emphasized ideas that are universal across all faiths. The following are a sample of common phrases that were incorporated in several of the chants/songs.

Ek Ong Kar: The Creator is one
Sat Nam: Truth is God’s Name
Siri: Great (used as a title)
Waheguru: Praise to the Divine here and now, which brings you from darkness to light

The Audience Experiences Peace

This concert touched me emotionally more than any other that I had been to. You could feel the love radiating from the stage, vibrating within the music, and filling everyone as they chanted in unison. There are many avenues to take to pursue peace in this world, and Snatam Kaur is definitely pursuing an effective route by sharing her music in a way that allows everyone to experience a taste of the peace and unity that can transcend cultural differences. At the end of the concert, it was difficult not to feel motivated to pursue peace in our hearts, in our homes, and in the world.

While no recording can really do justice to the live experience, here are a couple of videos (available for download from Snatam Kaur’s website) from her Celebrate Peace tours in Barcelona and Vancouver.

In the video from Barcelona the song is Aahkan Jor from her CD Shanti.
In the video from Vancouver is a song from GuruGanesha’s CD Pure Ganesh, called Ma.