Mindfulness, Meditation and Visualization
Dear IFSU DK teachers,
Jytte has asked me to elaborate on the above 3 concepts in relation to the fact that we are teachers for IFSU DK. What exactly are we teaching?
I want to come here with my understanding, which can then be the beginning of a reflection and a quest to understand what the techniques are. It is also written to help with the teaching.
When we teach meditation in IFSU DK, the teaching is organized so that everyone can benefit, depending on what the individual wants to get out of meditating, and their sincerity to achieve what they want. The techniques are designed so that everyone can benefit from the techniques. These are children, young people, the elderly and pregnant women. Some have the desire to get better materially, others physically or mentally, and then there are those who seek the meaning of life. Gururaj is the Guru of all desires from the material to oneness with God - Samadhi. We fill a form as we learn to meditate, describing our innermost desire for what we want the meditation techniques to help us do.
The techniques are for ALL, sincere and sincere. Some drop out during the course itself, but you are later told that it had nevertheless made an impression and a significant difference in their lives. Gururaj says we are spiritually activated.
To write this explanation, I once again listened to Raja Yoga 1 and Raja Yoga 2 and read From Dark to Light. I would recommend that these two batch songs be given to all teachers in IFSU DK. There are 8 branches in Raja Yoga, which have been called astanga yoga - asta = 8 and anga = branches. Raja Yoga is the royal way to achieve union with God. Raja contains all the yoga. It is this meditation that we are part of. Gururaj eventually says he has taken the best of 5000 years of methods and wisdom. Specifically, Gururaj refers to the 5000-year-old Patanjali yoga when he speaks of the 8 branches. Patanjali yoga is said to be the original oldest written yoga form. Gururaj says that this one fit well back 2000-5000 years, but not to the world we live in now. Gururaj recently told the Raja yoga 2 band that he has taken the essence of all the yoga of Patanjali yoga, Sangha yoga, Vedanta yoga, Christian teaching, Buddhist teaching and Taoist teachings). Gururaj has given us the essence to suit our time and will be adapted to man for the next 2000 years.
Therefore, when we teach and tell about our symbol, we have something to do with it. Gururaj himself had sacrificed his life and attained the unity consciousness, God, as he tells about Raja yoga 2. He speaks from experience, which he says is the hardest way in the world to go if longing calls us to the "full package." Becoming love itself is the goal, so we no longer have to say, "I love you," but that we are the love itself that flows freely. This love we experience in the Guru-Chela relationship when we open and become vigilant. In Satsangs we get the essence of the sacred scriptures of the world in such a way that they are practical and touch our hearts. Gururaj says that knowledge for the sake of knowledge is a waste of time. Knowledge that opens our hearts, on the other hand, is the essence of why we need to learn and understand. Some meditators do not seek this knowledge, but may want community. The community during courses greatly opens our hearts. Gururaj says that Satsangs is an offer and not a compulsion. You can learn how to meditate without singing.
In our meditation exercises, Satsangs and courses, we have the full package that includes both mindfulness, visualization training, meditation and wisdom, all of which have a bearing on the deep satisfaction and love we all seek. Over time, our quest becomes less “I” centered, and more love and longing come to create joy in and around us. We reach deeper realization and experience that we are not alone in the spiritual, mental, physical and material journey of life. It gives us peace of mind, to feel togetherness and to understand the joy of being able to let go little by little and to surrender our little self to the divine common. We rejoice when visualization and the ability to calm our minds show material, physical and mental positive results. It is the first step and the reason why most people begin to meditate, visualize or cultivate mindfulness.
Mindfulness means attention with thoughtfulness. These are exercises that help us to stop and enjoy the moment and feel our senses. These techniques are the beginnings of meditation and develop into a desire to meditate. For many, mindfulness becomes a meditation. It reduces stress, develops persistence, focus, well-being, understanding, patience and much more. Gururaj also taught Mindfulness during courses when he taught painting, looking at the flower, enjoying the flame under the roof, and so on. Focusing the senses lowers the level of the stress hormone Cortisol. When you cultivate life with care, it is an important part of spiritual development. Meditation, when cultivated as a technique without thought, will only benefit to a limited extent. Gururaj also teaches visualization, and our Tratak helps sharpen the mind and more. It is not only Tratak that Gururaj has taught, but also visualization. He used visualization in his daily work for the benefit of others.
We all need a spiritual teacher who has gone all the way if we ourselves want to benefit from the wisdom that is in the world. Gururajs' consciousness and love are there despite the transition to death, just as Christ consciousness is still there after Jesus. We want harmony. This harmony can be destroyed if we are too much in the senses, emotions or focus memory. Mentalization and mindset are techniques and understandings that benefit a positive approach. They are not the path to gratification and inner joy in themselves, but a tool for understanding the law of Karma. According to Gururaj, to work with Karma and refine our samskaras, mindset and mentalization is not enough. The mental is only a small part of the energy and power that we are. With regular meditation, we acquire finer energies that make visualization and mindfulness exercises extra effective. Without meditation, one risks staying in the coarser energies that do not lead to spiritual expression and harmony, since the conscious and subconscious mind functions within its own framework. It is also part of what we teach our students. Our spiritual being, the heart, must not be forgotten. Here is meant not the physical, emotional heart, but precisely our spiritual heart; the finer energies that are boundless. Gururaj distinguishes between the physical, mental and spiritual heart, all connected and yet different in energy level."
In our meditation techniques, we have the entire package of the 8 Yoga branches, so with patience and effort we develop harmoniously. The meditation techniques are for people who live a normal everyday life, and who may at the same time have a sincere desire for spiritual expression through the actions of everyday life. We have been given this as a gift, accessible and just to pass on, without having to know everything, be enlightened or special. However, we ourselves should be sincere practitioners of the techniques and seek greater understanding and insight. We have expanded techniques, mandala techniques, if one is regular in performing the techniques for one year, and thereby ready to further push the spiritual unfolding. As we teach, we learn along the way and get so much extra honed. One is filled with gratitude by being allowed to teach. We should not deal so much with where we are on our way, but we are faithful and humble to the techniques when teaching others. We need Satsangs to constantly gain deeper understanding.
The techniques explain how we take care of ourselves and live contentedly and joyfully despite the dilemmas, challenges and accidents we face in everyday life. Gururaj has also created a community so we have each other. Each time we meditate together, we experience an exponential energy. We are in the process of finding depth beyond the conscious and subconscious mind, in the super-conscious where devotion and love are just.
The mind, the conscious mind, cannot help us to this depth. The mind is always in a conflict situation. The driving force of creation, creation, is known in Sanskrit as the three Guna: Tamas, sattva and rajas; the power of darkness, light and the initiation. The mind feels that time is moving because the various atomic and molecular structures that matter is made of must always be moving in order for the substance to exist. The mind creates its own experiences. Meditation leads our minds from the coarser energies to the finer energies where samskaras (mind impressions) are expanded. It is the energies that move. (The book - from dark to light)
We are led from the conscious mind, gently through the layers to the subconscious to the unconscious mind. As the mind begins to move, it finds a direction. This direction is what we call will, the divine will. Everything we see and hear, including our individual will, has arisen because the divine will is there. This is true, from both a theological and a philosophical point of view. (book - from dark to light)
The divine will is explained under the Raja yoga 1 band, which makes most of us think of the 10 commandments as they are more familiar to us. Many try to solve their problems on the basis of the limited conscious mind and personal will that may not always harmonize with devotion, love, the 10 commandments, and so on. and the laws of nature. As we teach others meditation, others are given the opportunity to use the techniques to solve their challenges and feel the depth beyond the superficial mind. Joy and gratitude become part of everyday life. On the one hand, the mind is sharpened so that we are more attentively present in our actions, and at the same time we practice letting go of the mind and being vigilant to the mindset, after which we are led beyond this with the help of the Gurushakti, the breath. and the mantra for the finer layers of energy. During Vedanta Yoga, the four yogas are spoken of: Karma, Jnana, Bhakti and Raja Yoga, which support each other. Gururaj teaches us Raja yoga, which has all the other elements included The fact that we teach for free is a technique for us in bhakti and Karma yoga. It is an added gift in our meditation techniques where we all feel supported and uplifted. We notice how Karma and bhakti yoga do us good. We experience the value of these yogis.
The reason behind this writing is a concern that we forget, do not allow ourselves to understand the breadth of the techniques Gururaj has left behind. We must practice the exercises ourselves regularly to feel the depth and to be sincere in our teaching. The Gurushakti technique, says Gururaj, is 70% of our techniques. It is an exercise that should remind us that we have direct access to the divine energy that, through devotion and love, supports us in thick and thin. We need not fear anything, worry or lack confidence. We have direct access to complete devotion and love in the Gurushakti technique. It starts with a scepticism, then maybe a performance and then we experience the love of our everyday lives. Gururaj reminds us of that in his signature on the Gurushakti photo, which says: "All love and blessings, Gururaj." It is literally sincerely meant from Gururaj. The Guru- chela relationship is the strongest process of change in the heart, where trust and devotion change shape from the focus of our "little self" to the "big self", God, or what we now imagine. The Guru-chela relationship tells Gururaj about when he talks about his own spiritual journey, where he was also in this relationship. When we cheat ourselves from meditating, or opting out of techniques, it is our little will that has difficulty understanding the divine will, the laws of nature. The little I want to decide for myself and not waste time. Therefore, it is beneficial to regularly listen to Satsangs that explain to our mind and heart how valuable meditation and all the techniques really are. We need to immerse ourselves in "why." It is not natural in our society to devote 2x30 minutes to meditation and understand that it corresponds to 2x4 hours of rest and opportunity for security, greater health, joy of life and fellowship with the outside world. It requires conscious acquisition, understanding and practice, just as physical activity does for many. We get help when we listen to Satsangs.
Be regular in your practices.
Life, Love and Laughter
Gururaj Ananda
Although we were superficial in our desires to begin with as we filled out our form in its time, Gururaj introduces the possibilities of the small everyday desires to fully find our core, God, or whatever we call it. It has always shocked me a little that in introductory singing, which we use in the first teaching, he introduces the unity with God. Fortunately, he softened the phrase by saying that we must call God what we ourselves think makes the best sense. To many, God is a tough judging figure. I myself have had a hard time with the concept of "God" as I have feared all sorts of questions and objections. Gururaj opens our horizons in the first teaching, and transforms judgmental thinking into emotion and a deeper understanding that we pass on as teachers of IFSU DK. Me = We
Many loving greetings,
Karin Jònsson