SHAKTI DHAARANA🔗

An unspeakably beautiful meditation. It is more like a prayer than meditation.

This meditation is a direct way of putting you in touch with the energy of all of Existence. It is best practised at night, just before you go to sleep. If you do it during the day, be sure to rest for fifteen minutes afterwards to assimilate the energy, or you will be in a daze for hours afterwards!

Choose a cool, dark room with enough ventilation.

If you choose, you can practise in a private space outdoors.

Kneel on the ground. Use a mat if it helps you feel more comfortable. Raise yourself up on your knees, and raise both your arms towards the sky. Turn your face skyward and wait.

In a moment, you will feel the energy of Existence flowing into you. Be unresisting. Let the energy enter into you.

You will feel a trembling in your arms; then slowly your whole body will begin to tremble and sway with the energy. Allow the movements.

When you feel completely saturated, bend down and kiss the earth. Place your hands, palms downward, on the earth. Give all your love to the earth. Feel it flow out from your lips and your palms. Simply become an instrument carrying the divine energy into the earth.

Repeat this seven times. Each time, each of the seven major chakras is energized. If you repeat it more than seven times, you may feel over-energized and restless.

When you have finished your prayer, go to sleep in that prayerful state. Fall into the energy, sleep in it. When you wake up, you will feel refreshed and revitalized.

SHAKTI STAMBHA

An ancient and powerful technique, drawn from Sufism, a branch of Islam.

This is as simple as a technique can get. All you have to do is whirl, turn round and round and round — the way you used to do as a child.

Whirling is a powerful centering technique.

The beautiful thing about this technique is that your body will be whirling, going round and round — but your inner Being is right at the center, unmoving – like the unmoving center of a moving wheel.

No food and drink, at least three hours before the meditation

The meditation has 2 phases: whirling and resting

Whirling

Whirling can be practiced for hours – for as long as you feel comfortable. But you will need to whirl for at least one hour to experience the 'energy whirlpool'

Start with whirling slowly, let your whole body be soft and unresisting.

As you whirl, the passing images will become blurred. Let them flow past. Don't try to focus on anything – it will make you dizzy or nauseous.

For the first 15 minutes, go really slow. Then build up speed over the next 30 minutes. After 45 minutes or so, you will feel as if the whirling has taken you completely over.

There will be action and movement on the periphery of the circle, but at the center will be a certain stillness. You will feel as if you are a witness to all this action, not a participant in it.

Resting

When you are whirling so fast that you can't stay upright, your body will fall by itself. Don't plan the fall. If your body is soft and pliable, you will not get hurt.

Keep your eyes closed. Remain in the same position, passive and silent, for at least 15 minutes.

After this meditation, remain silent and meditative for a few hours.

Some people may experience a sense of nausea during this meditation. This will disappear in a few days. If it persists, discontinue the meditation.

This method is a way of becoming aware of your own etheric presence. It will be easier for you to practise this meditation if you are used to Palming.

We all have seven bodies, and every body can be used as a door into the Divine. After the physical body, the etheric body is the easiest to realize because it is closest to the physical body, it is just outside the physical body.

The etheric body interpenetrates your physical body and extends beyond it like a shell.

When you have practised palming, you will sometimes feel as if you are weightless, as if you are ready to fly. This feeling may come to you at other times as well, when you are practising some other meditation.

Become aware of your form. With closed eyes, feel the form of every part of your body, moving from part to part. Feel the form of your fingers, of your hand, of your arm. Feel your legs, your trunk, your head. Become aware of the form of your whole body.

When you try to feel your form, it will appear before you. Gradually, you will notice that around your body is a bluish light. This light will go on spreading, an increasing aura around your physical form.

Initially, practise this with your eyes closed. When you are able to see your aura well, you can try it with your eyes open.

Choose a totally dark room. Preferably, practise at night. When you start seeing the aura with your eyes closed, slowly open your eyes.

You will see the same bluish aura around your physical form! For the first time, you will be able to see your etheric body.

We experience this body many times in our life, but we are unaware of it. When you enter a room full of strangers or a room full of friends, you can easily tell the difference, even if you are blindfolded. When a person is feeling hostile towards you, his etheric body shrinks away from yours. When you are feeling angry, anxious or sad, you get a shrinking feeling. This is your etheric body shrinking. When you meet a beloved person, both of you may feel as if you are flowing towards each other. This is your etheric body expanding. Without being aware of it, we use the signals of our etheric body to evaluate a situation or to communicate with each other.

When you see your aura, don’t do anything. Just sit and watch. Even as you watch, the aura will begin to spread. It will become bigger and bigger. When you are not doing anything, your energy does not move outward. It accumulates in your etheric body.

As your aura grows stronger, you will begin to feel a deep sense of peace. You will experience a silence. When you practise this meditation frequently, this sense of peace becomes a permanent experience.