The “Inner Revolution" Occurs When the Discursive Mind Gives up its Role of “Supreme Ruler”
During our meditations for the revelation of the Spiritual Heart, we also expect to achieve mind clarity and purification. This is an effect of our increasingly profound intuitions regarding the essential divine reality of our being. Ultimately, there will be a point where the mind will understands that there is "Something" which cannot be thought, something ineffable which does not enter the scope of the dual relation “inquiring subject” -“object of knowledge”. Thus, the mind will understand its own limits. When the mind, seen as a primary instrument of discursive knowledge of ourselves and of the surrounding world, gives up the role of the "supreme ruler" of our own existence, a genuine inner revolution occurs because we are no longer conditioned by any theory, dogma, philosophy or exterior pattern of understanding the Reality. In this respect, the meditation becomes an exceptional spiritual tool to enter the nature of the Reality, the "What There Is" or, in other words, a means of communion with God.
From Where Does the Joy of Meditation Radiates?
The meditation for the revelation of the Spiritual Heart creates the "space" where the Heart finds itself as absolute freedom and pure love. In these conditions, the consciousness goes back to its own source. The essence of this happiness is the Sacred Tremor, the spanda. This approach, based on Ramana Maharshii’s method, teaches us the joy of meditating.
Indeed, the real meditation brings happiness, because there is no struggle in it, no rejection of our thoughts, or our emotions, sensations, or of our body. There is only an acceptance, an openness which integrates the Totality.
This essential form of meditation is a permanent movement of the Heart towards Itself. Through this meditation, the Heart is starting to be for us, during every single moment of our life, our way, our intimate path, and in the same time the destination where our happiness lies.
The Relationship between Trust and Surrender
The consciousness of oneness is the same as being one with the present moment, with the Pure Existence. This direct understanding is possible only by surrender; and the surrender is possible only if we have faith. Evidently, we do not have to have faith in someone or something external.
The true faith is without object, it is faith in the Heart, in the Self, in the Reality, in God.
The essence of this attitude lies in accepting or embracing who you are. This acceptance matures spontaneously through faith and yields the surrender.
Also, there is no need to accept anything external. We are the acceptance, the surrender. The Spiritual Heart is revealed in this attitude of total surrender.
On Vulnerability and Inner Strength
The current ordinary meaning of the concept of “surrender” may suggest giving up, passivity and lack of strength. People make efforts to maintain the outer appearance of power and thus they build up separating walls among themselves, just because they wish to hide their vulnerability. On the contrary, in the Yoga of the Spiritual Heart we foster the expression of what one is, rather then repressing weaknesses.
Those who are not afraid of their weaknesses achieve true inner strength.
Also, in the Yoga of the Spiritual Heart we do not suggest or foster the myths about achieving invulnerability or a perfect health of the body as a result of some practices which would supposedly be allowing the energy to be accumulated or absorbed from some “external sources”.
On the other hand, we believe in the eternity and the beauty that radiate from the spirit, from the Spiritual Heart.
In general, by virtue of cultural patterns and education, people have the tendency to “blame” weaknesses, and to not look for a way to improve, to get over them. Only by fostering an attitude of faith in the Spiritual Heart and of unconditional surrender without object (there is no person or specific thing to which we should surrender) can truly empower us.
At some point in life, most people have followed advice from external authority figures who have, more or less, imposed on them their artificial behaviors. In their turn, those behaviors rendered culpable their natural tendencies. These artificial behaviors become implicit justifications for engaging in repression of what is natural. And it is this very pattern that prevents us from becoming who we really are.
This is the reason why, in the Yoga of the Spiritual Heart we do not rely on any external authority, but on the “blossoming” of our own being through the real knowledge of the Heart, Jnana.
The Sacred Tremor of the Heart guides us to our own Freedom, to an authentic Spiritual autonomy.
Non-Reactivity Appears by Maintaining the Awareness of the Spiritual Heart
In his book, "Stillness speaks," Eckhart Tolle stated:
"When you perceive nature only through the mind, through thinking, you cannot sense its aliveness, its beingness. You see the form only and are unaware of the life within the form–the sacred mystery[…]”p.81 (Eckart Tolle, Stillness Speaks, Namaste Publishing, 2003, p 81)
“When you perceive nature, let there be spaces of no thought, no mind[…]”(ibid.p.81)
“The moment you look beyond mental labels, you feel that ineffable dimension of nature that cannot be understood by thought or perceived through the senses. It is a harmony, a sacredness that permeates not only the whole of nature but is also within you." (Eckhart Tolle, Stillness Speaks, Namaste Publishing, 2003, p.82-83)
These attitudes express the Open Attention. In the Yoga of the Spiritual Heart, we encourage students to relate to their inner world in a way similar to the way in which they are advised to perceive the nature, the trees, the flowers, the mountains, the sunset: without thoughts, without the usual rational filters, while there is only silence in the mind. Thus, not during the meditation only, but during the performance of an asana as well, the body is not only a form, a mere body of matter, but it is a fountain of life, a rainbow of energies.
This occurs naturally, when we perceive with the “Heart”, not with the mind. Naturally, the mind will continue to function in many situations, but the identification with the mind disappears, just as the tendency to interpret the experiences based on our old pre-established patterns of mental filters.
The ordinary students are reactive while the wise students are actively learning and applying the lessons, transfiguring, converting the energy in spirit, thus bringing the sacred in their life or existence.
Any and all reactivity is reflecting the subject-object relation. By reactivity, the ego attempts / has the tendency to defend a territory over which it (the ego) claims ownership. From this point of view, the life span is nothing else but a continuous sequence of conflicts and corresponding reactivity. When the Witness Consciousness stops being oriented outwards and it is instead focused on our inner reactivity towards them and the subtle impulses which caused them, the mind immerses into stillness. That peace is no longer affected by the old patterns of reactivity.
Chapter 2. Hatha Yoga
In Yoga of the Spiritual Heart, during the practice of Hatha Yoga, the physical asanas combine with advaita, the vision based on non-duality. The asanas are performed while holding the inner spiritual attitudes recommended in traditional texts of Tantra and Shaivism including Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, Spanda Karika, Shiva Sutra, etc.
The practice of hatha yoga is geared towards getting intimate inner knowledge of the physical body and of its bio-energies and, therefore, the state of meditation and contemplation is necessary and indispensable.
In the Yoga of the Spiritual Heart, the role of the hatha yoga is to create conditions for relaxation and for opening up to realize the "transfiguration" of the body itself. The hatha yoga practice should always bring relaxation and happiness, rather than effort or strain. Even if, by itself, it cannot help us accede to the ultimate spiritual “realization” (moksha), hatha yoga can give us a more adequate “starting point".
Hatha yoga – The Music of Life
The physical body is a complex instrument capable of expressing our existence in the physical world. By our asanas practice, we make it vibrate in various ways, the same way we would use a musical instrument.
Practicing hatha yoga is comparable to creating music and harmony out of life’s energies.
It is important, in the Yoga of the Spiritual Heart, to express this harmony in our daily life as well. This is how we learn to bring grace, awareness and simplicity to our gestures. Thus, the Pure Presence, the Heart is expressed naturally and free of limitations through who we are.
Natural Yoga of the Heart
The Yoga of the Spiritual Heart is a natural yoga, a free expression of energies, while everything is done "straight from the heart", “with all our heart”.
The difference between the natural yoga based on the free flow of energies and the yoga practiced mechanically while the only goal is to push the energy in certain directions is similar to the difference between Heart and mind. When yoga is practiced mechanically, our starting point is based in the individual will and mind. That is why, during our courses, we do not "teach the asanas”. We learn together meditative attitudes meant to develop our inner sense of freedom. These attitudes are supported and favored by the body postures, mudras, bandhas, etc.
However, the awareness of the Spiritual Heart, of the ultimate underlying background of Stillness and the attitude of surrender, as well, do enhance our ability to harmoniously express our personality in our daily life. Other effects are the improvement of the ability to focus, of discernment and even of our dynamism.
Sacredness and Devotion through Hatha Yoga
The asana is a samyama - an intimate identification, while the mind’s filters are off, with the body, the energies, the sensations, the breath, the mind. By sublimating of energies (of sensations and emotions in particular), in the spanda, we discover again the sacred and devotional aspects of hatha yoga. The asana has a devotional aspect as well, because it opens us up to our inner guide that is exactly this tremor - vibration, the spanda. It leads us to who we really are.
The happiness of practicing Hridaya Yoga
As far as the work with energies goes, there is an intimate relation between our being and the universe. Our being:
- a) receives energies
- b) transforms energies
- c) gives off energy.
We are not only the physical body and the body does not belong to us ultimately. In the Yoga of the Spiritual Heart, we learn to be aware and to amplify the joy resulting from the energy exchanges refined by our centering into the Heart and by the presence of our spiritual aspiration and of the Sacred Tremor of the Heart.
We cannot find your ultimate happiness by moving or pushing the energy through the body, nadis or chakras. We do find it though by perceiving our true nature. This deep understanding can be expressed by the physical body when we allow the energies to freely flow through it.
Joy, Relaxation, Openness and Surrender are to Be Developed during Asanas Practice
The Spiritual Heart expresses its radiant power of love and happiness in every asana.
We do not focus our attention on performing a spectacular or an artistic pose, but rather on awakening and expressing the inner happiness of the Heart and we use our bodies to allow this happiness to radiate through it. This removes our tensions, strains, the stress, etc.
When the physical body is positioned in an asana and there are no tensions or unnecessary muscle contractions, we perceive a real "blossoming" of the free flow of energies. The adequate conditions are thus set up for experiencing the Spiritual Heart’s pure vibration, the spanda.
There is an essential difference between a sensorial, emotional or mental stimulus and the spiritual fervor, the Sacred Tremor. But the Open Attention, the attention free of judgments will ultimately sublimate our emotions.
The process does not necessarily occur instantly, but if we dwell in the void, in non-reactivity, the sublimation occurs. Then it is no longer an individualized energy, but the pure happiness of the existence, ecstasy, ananda.
Yoga - Celebration and Surrender
The postures in the Yoga of the Spiritual Heart reflect a positive life affirming attitude. They allow us to entirely open our Hearts and celebrate life.
The asana becomes a process of transformation and of spiritual healing, a process of the revelation of the divine nature, not just an "energizing and healthy" exercise.
We start and end the yoga practice reminding ourselves that yoga is ultimately a spiritual art, and that the revelations which we may experience, cannot derive only from our personal effort alone, but primarily from that capacity of surrender or letting go of our individual limitations.
While practicing asanas, we need to remember our divine nature and the reason for our yoga practice.
The Witness Consciousness in Hatha Yoga
This type of hatha yoga introduced the attitude of Witness Consciousness. However, there is a hidden secret about that attitude. The harmony of the asana spontaneously induces an intuition of the consciousness of the divine self. And mutually, our own intuitive knowledge of our divine nature, the detachment from the physical body, makes the energy flow more freely, so that the spiritual effervescence, the Sacred Tremor of the Heart may awake more easily. Through hatha yoga we aspire toward that complete freedom and happiness of the Pure Existence, of the “I am”.
In essence, hatha yoga creates a greater fluidity of the energies in our being. If the attitude is correct, in addition to flexibility and relaxation, we will feel more balanced and free. In general, the energy, the prana, can be increased a lot through yoga practice. Pranayama, the breath control, is another method of increasing the awareness of our energies.
However, even if the vital energy is very strong, it is also essential to have the discernment to express it in an adequate manner. Therefore, in the Yoga of the Spiritual Heart, the practice also aims at a wise usage of this energy. In this case, the amplification of the energy is accompanied by the development of the capacity of witnessing these energies, of the Open Attention. It results in increased clarity and capacity of Centering into the Spiritual Heart. This attitude favors creativity, the ability to get closer, with all our heart, to life areas that inspire us. The life force contains our beauty and creativity.
The Hatha yoga session is seen as a whole, as a unique dance, as a communion with the life itself, as an expression of a unique impetus for celebration and revelation of our divine nature, of the Spiritual Heart.
Technical Rigor - a Simple Framework for Expressing of the Spiritual Art which is Hridaya Yoga
By performing various asanas, we glorify the spirit, our divine nature. We consider therefore that, more important than the flexibility of the student, is his ability to attune to the essential vibration, to the Sacred Tremor of the Heart, the spanda. That is why, the role of the yoga teacher is primarily to awaken the love, the beauty, the confidence, the freedom, the creativity in the students, instead of focusing on their limitations and mistakes.
While practicing almost any asana, we eventually feel that we reached our physical limits of our flexibility, duration of performance, etc. If we let these limits stop us, if we focus mainly on them, we will forget the omnipotence and the infinite quality of our divine nature. An exaggerated critical attitude causes contraction, fear, it prevents the student from opening up towards the infinite.
By amplifying the creativity and the freedom, we intend to make a true spiritual art out of practicing the Yoga of the Spiritual Heart. The technical rigor and the precision of our methods form just the framework, the starting base through which we allow the free expression of our spiritual inspirations.
When it is practiced correctly, the practice of Hridaya Yoga opens us towards life, towards the spirit and thus it eliminates our fears, conflicts, and repressions. Each of us has something unique and valuable to offer. Both during the meditation and the asanas, the most profound dimensions of our being, are offered to Spirit, to the Spiritual Heart, to the Infinite.
The Way in Which our Personality is Reflected in Hatha Yoga
There are countless activities and attitudes through which our personality reflects itself. The way we eat, dress or talk reveals dimensions of our personality. This principle is even more obvious when it comes to the yoga practice.
It is therefore important to understand and to be aware of the way in which we “reflect” ourselves in asanas or in the meditation posture.
Our transformation begins with the very attitude we have when we start a posture. On the other hand, if we infuse elegance, harmony, surrender, refinement into the practice, Yoga becomes a way of generating such qualities in our whole life.
The Role of the Physical Body
In the Yoga of the Spiritual Heart the physical body is seen as a divine instrument designed to be used for enabling us to experience the ecstasy of recognizing and glorifying the Infinite One, of the advaita, in the domain of multiplicity, in samsara. The physical body is a majestic manifestation of the spirit, not just a mass of dense matter. And in a similar manner, our thoughts, desires, passions and emotions are not obstacles in the way of spiritual awakening, to be repressed or eliminated. Rather than that, they are tools for expanding the individual consciousness and even for transcending it.
Our physical body and subtle energies represent divine gifts meant to help us discover the most profound sense of our freedom.
As students of the Yoga of the Spiritual Heart, we aspire with all our soul to develop and refine, in the most profound sense, all aspects of our being: the body, the mind, the intuition, the mental clarity, the purity of emotions, our most profound virtues inclusively.
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