Muthukumar Rajamani : Interaction Designer/Manager, Bangalore

Cooool I also have tried the Simplified Kundalini Yoga and I loved it. I have not been doing yoga for long but I am totally hooked now. I tried the bikram yoga but was not so impressed with that. The pranayama has changed my life though

Hey Rohit,

Great to know about your interests in Yoga.

Pranayama really cools a person down.

You woud have known that Vethathri Maharishi, the original founder of Simplified Kundalini Yoga ( SKY) just passed away a few weeks back. He was over 96 years old.

I realized that i am more comfortable with Asasas than meditation. Occassional chanting does really help.

Whats with your website?

Noticed coupla links on your site on Yoga Instructor Certifications. Guess these certifications are a legal need in the west.

Hi Muthu,

Yes I did indeed hear of the passing of Sri Vethathri Maharishi but I didn’t know he was 96. I hope I live that long

The website actually belongs to a friend of mine and is simply some information about getting certified as a yoga teacher. As you say, it is a requirement now here in the west

hi.. you people.. i do kundalini yoga.. i’ve got initiated in all my centres in my body.. now presently i’m practising the heart chakra.. i’m trying dhwadhasangam too… it’s rockin peoplee.. you’l start loving everyone whoever you see by realising god is all. love is thriving in me.. to melt with the divine.. check this website..http://www.geocities.com/soulawakeningcentre


















































À‘ò ̱€œÆ‘î¹°Ñ

hey sasi,
great to know that you’ve got initiated totally. does this mean that you quaifiy to teach yoga?
you do have an interesting website. KIT

hi

i learned SKY too two yrs back and have been practsing it ever since.yesterday a person asked me how somethn so powerful like kundalini shakti can be simplified.he asked me if i visitied various lokas during meditation and all…
what do u people think this guy is syn?
thanku.am lookn fwd to hearn from u all.
engee

Folks,
I am usually not a blogger though would like to do some here and there. As some folks might be interested here I though I will post a note.
I have been doing isha yoga meditations for the past 5 years. Have been doing Shakthi Chalana Kriya, Shambhavi Mahamudra, Surya Namaskar, Hatha Yoga, Shoonya meditation and dozens of other mind boggling meditations and sadhanas…extremely fortunate to go to the Himalayas….and to top it recently received Samyama(Hard to get ancient practice in earlier days) from my Guru.
If you want more out of your life and beyond, experience a million roller coasters within you, a zillion volts of energy in your body, cross physical and sensual boundaries, be a dimension traveller then isha yoga is the way. The limits are just what you draw. I can write pages about my experiences and what yoga can do for you.
Check out http://www.ishayoga.com or http://www.ishafoundation.org for programs and also the only only temple of its kind in the world. http://www.dhyanalinga.com

Great discussion! You’ve got a good blog going here.

SADHGURU IS A WOLF IN SHEEPS CLOTHING, I AM A NEW TEACHER OF KUNDALINI YOGA, BUT I AM ALSO A WARRIOR FROM PAST AND IN PRESENT, MY GUIDES HAD DRAWN ME TO SEE WHAT THIS ISHA YOGA WAS ALL ABOUT, THERE GROUP DID NOT SCREEN ME AND WERE VERY SLOPPY TRYING TO GAIN MORE ENERGY FROM FREE WILLED SOULS. I TOOK THE ONE WEEK CLASS AND HAD DEVELOPED HEMROIDS FROM THE BEGINING, BUT LIKE A BAD RELATIONSHIP I CONTINUED TO SEE IF THERE WAS ANYTHING THAT COULD BENEFIT ME. THE DAY BEFORE I STARTED THE CLASS A TAROT READING WAS DONE ON ME AND VERBATIM WAS READ FROM THE CARDS WHERE THE TEACHER SAID YOU MUST FORGET ABOUT EVERYTHING YOU HAVE LEARNED OR EXPERIENCED. I WANTED TO QUIT ON THE FIFTH DAY AFTER I FAILED TO BOW TO SADHGURU’S PICTURE AFTER THE INITIATION THAT HE ATTEMPTS TO GET FOLLOWERS THROUGH HYPNOSIS, BUT ANOTHER STUDENT  WHO CAME TO ME BECAUSE SHE ALSO PRACTICED KUNDALINI ASKED ME TO STAY TO KEEP HER COMPANY SINCE SHE WAS FROM OUT OF TOWN, SO I FINISHED IT WITH HER FOR HER PROTECTION. TWO DAYS LATER I CALLED THEM AND TOLD THEM I KNOW WHAT THEY ARE ALL ABOUT AND THAT I WOULD LET EVERYONE KNOW THAT THEY ARE A CULT AND TO SEND MY MONEY BACK OR TAKE THE KARMA. THE NEXT MORNING I HAD AWAKENED WITH A THIRD OF MY GOLD CHAIN WITH A CRYSTAL ON IT TIGHTENED UP WITH ONE OF THE LINKS INSERTED INTO A SOLDERED HOOP ON THE CLASP. I SHOWED IT TO A WOMAN I KNOW WHO DOES READINGS AND SHE SAID SOME ONE TRIED TO CHOKE YOU, DO YOU KNOW ANY BLACK WHITCHES? I THEN TOLD HER WHAT HAPPENED TO ME AND MY FRIEND WHO DID THE TAROT READING ALSO CONFIRMED IT IS THE TEACHER OF THE ISHA YOGA WHO IS A BLACK WHITCH. THE NEXT DAY MY NEW FRIEND FROM OUT OF STATE WHO I WAS TRYING TO PROTECT CALLED ME TO TELL ME THAT A FRIEND OF HERS WHO IS WITH THE GROUP CALLED HER TO SAY THE TEACHER SAID TO TELL ME THAT THE MAN YOU ARE FRIENDS WITH IS A CRIMINAL AND NOT TO LISTEN TO HIM, I SAID TO HER NOW YOU KNOW WHO YOUR FRIENDS ARE AND SHE SAID SHE WOULD NEVER DO ANYTHING WITH HER AGAIN. MY NEW FRIEND ALSO TOLD ME SHE HAS BEEN FEELING SICK SINCE SHE WAS DOING THE KRIYA, I SAID YOU ARE STILL DOING IT? DONT DO IT AGAIN AND YOU WILL FEEL BETTER, THE NEXT DAY SHE CALLED ME TO SAY SHE FELT BETTER BUT EVERYTHING ELSE WAS GOING WRONG, I TOLD HER TO BE STRONG AND ASK FOR HELP AT THE ASHRAM BUT I DID NOT TELL HER WHAT HAPPENED TO ME THE NIGHT BEFORE BECAUSE I DID NOT WANT HER TO BE SCARED. THE MORNING OF THIS DAY I FELT A SORE ON MY TONGUE AND SPIT SOME BLOOD FROM MY THROAT  SO I LOOKED AT MY TONGUE IN THE MIRROR AND SAW IT WAS SLIT AT THE TIP LIKE A SNAKE SO LATER I WENT TO MY FRIEND WHO DOES READINGS AND SHE TOLD ME THESE PEOPLE WANT TO MURDER YOU AND FOR ME TO SEAL EVERY DRAIN AND OPENING IN MY HOUSE BECAUSE THEY CAN GET IN LIKE ROACHES. IT LOOKES LIKE I AM IN A SPIRITUAL WAR AND NEED ALL THE HELP I CAN GET. SADHGURU IS SUCKING PEOPLE IN EVERY DAY THRIVING ON PEOPLE LOOKING FOR HELP AND THEN MAKING THEM FEEL THEY BELONG TO SOMETHING, HE IS GETTING THERE ENERGY THROUGH THERE FREE WILL, WHAT IS HE DOING WITH ALL THIS ENERGY?

AMRITDEV SINGH


P.S AFTER GOING THROUGH ALL THIS I WENT ONTO GOOGLE AND ENTERED ISHA YOGA CULT AND IT BROUGHT ME TO A SITE CALLED “THE HUB” WITH SOMEONE ASKING ABOUT ISHA YOGA. IT WAS ANSWERED BY “BKS IYENGAR” THERE IS NO SPECIAL TYPE OF YOGA CALLLED “ISHA YOGA”, IT IS JUST A CULT

I think AMRITDEV is so disturbed with something.
I’m posting a answer given by sadhguru for a skeptic’s question:

QUESTION : If you would review your interview you may realize the overall ‘feel good’ nature of Sadhguru’s responses. Appeal to one’s logic and reason while diverting attention away from substantive issues. Thus Shiva becomes an embodiment of Universality, and not worshipped as part of the Hindu trinity. The Dhyanalinga (a representation of Shiva in the form of a phallus), the Sanskrit slokas, the bija mantras, invoking Sadhguru’s presence by chanting the hymn to Lord Vasudevaya – all these are non-religious!

Also note that Sadhguru glossed over the screening process. My conscience alone knows the dedication and fervor with which I pursued this path. I wish I had paid attention to what was happening around me – I would have pulled out sooner. This response again is typical of a cult. The blame is always the individual and the person’s lack of faith. My experience has shown that the process is geared towards enslaving a person’s mind, and as such rises to the level of a cult. I give below some of the signs typical of a cult leader that I gleaned from the net:

1. Extreme obsessiveness regarding the leader resulting in the exclusion of almost every practical consideration.

2. Individual identity, the group, the leader and/or God as distinct and separate categories of existence become increasingly blurred. Instead, in the follower’s mind these identities become substantially and increasingly fused–as that person’s involvement with the group/leader continues and deepens.

3. Uncharacteristically stilted and seemingly programmed conversation and mannerisms, cloning of the group/leader in personal behavior.

4. Dependency upon the group/leader for problem solving, solutions, and definitions without meaningful reflective thought. A seeming inability to think independently, analyze situations, independent of the group/leader’s involvement.

5. Hyperactivity centered on the group/leader agenda, which seems to supersede any personal goals or individual interests.

6. A dramatic loss of spontaneity and sense of humor.

7. Increasing isolation from family and old friends unless they demonstrate an interest in the group/leader.

8. Anything the group/leader does can be justified no matter how harsh or harmful.

The crux of the organization is the offer of ‘liberation’. This liberation is exemplified by altered states of consciousness brought on by sleep deprivation, meditation, constant chanting, yelling, screaming etc., I am now suspect of any group that requires that one suspend one’s logic. Since this ‘knowledge’ is ‘beyond’ logic.

In any scientific study the results are open to scrutiny. The results ought to be both reliable and repeatable. A pharmaceutical company cannot claim that the randomness in the efficacy of their drug is due to the doubting nature and short attention span of the patients. But this is precisely what these organizations get away with. Could the Sadhguru tell us how many else became enlightened through his process besides himself. Why then the claim that the ‘inner possibility’ is as open to Shyam as it was to the Buddha or Sadhguru himself. With regard to the altered states of consciousness itself: it is not limited to Yoga or Hinduism – we can find it in the sects of Christian Pentacosts, Islamic Sufism, Dervishes, Sri Sri Sri Ravishankar etc., To lay out a process that brings about these states and then use it to convince people that they have found THE way is both disingenuous and duplicitous.

Do not be a follower, but be a prophet unto thy own. During my days in Isha there was this Jewish doctor who was sought by Sadhguru as well as a competitor to serve in their ashram. Sadhguru preaches about his yoga hospital in the ashram where people are treated in holistic methods. This doctor who visited the ashram reported that she was shocked to find that there was no such hospital in existence. We collectively reasoned this away by convincing ourselves that it is his intention to bring the yogic hospital to fruition in the future. Alas such is the power of mindless delusion!”

– end of question —

sadhguru:

Spiritual science is about inner well being. To create the inner well being we use every possible method that life allows. Modern science has proved that the whole existence is just a reverberation of energy. Where there is a vibration there is bound to be a sound. So the whole existence is seen as yoga of complex amalgamation of sound. What you call the cosmos is a complex web of sound called nadabrahma. In it are some key sounds. These key sounds when applied to the right door can open a whole dimension for you. This is how a mantra works. You cannot look at everything also from a religious perspective. The reason you do that is because of the culture you were brought up on and the tools that were used to create that inner well being in you. May be some religions have staked a claim on these mantras or these tools but that doesn’t make it religious.

In India we light a lamp in the evening. It may look like a religious ritual-“ before sunset light a lamp before God”, but when there was no electricity then lighting a lamp was basic common sense, isn’t it?

So there is an elaborate science of mantras behind the process of using sounds for inner well being. Today people say music has a healing quality, cows are giving more milk , hens are laying more eggs and plants are thriving when certain music is played. Here you arrived at a certain healing or productive procedure through accident but in effect there is a whole elaborate science of mantras and how to use these sounds for inner as well as outer well being.

Just because someone says Vasudevayah does not make it my name. I would advice Mr. anonymous to look at IT closely and see what impact it has on the people rather than being focused on finding faults behind a hidden name. If he has some scientific background, I invite him to come with his instruments so I can show him that just by uttering the word vasudevayah what kind of activity it’ll create in the brain, because today we measure all these things scientifically.

The Jewish doctor he is talking about had heart and other problems that prevented her from undertaking anything strenuous, or even flying. When she came here she was expecting a hospital with drips and sick patients lying in bed. When she didn’t see that she came and asked me where was the yogic temple and I told her –look at the people around you-the ones in the kitchen, those mopping the floors-these are all sick people but we put them to work. Seventy percent of all illnesses are self created. Today that doctor is still with us and she walked about 60 kms with us in the Himalayas and she has talked about her experiences on a video.

There are thousands of people who come and go from here and I’m sure some of them are disgruntled like this man because someone rubbed them the wrong way. There are no super human beings here These are people who are imperfect and are striving to grow. If they were perfect they would not need me or anyone else.

I must say this man’s understanding of enlightenment seems very rudimentary, especially if he has to go to the internet and describe what is a cult. He couldn’t even come up with his own interpretation.

Now what is a cult? Today whatever is considered religion was called a cult yesterday. That is why when Jesus was alive he was called a cultist and crucified. Anyone who did not follow the established religion was punished. I guess people may want to do the same to me but today(laughter) the law doesn’t permit it. Frankly that cult was more meaningful than the existing religion right now because people experienced it then-today its only belief and this man’s interpretation of cult is also based on western interpretation.

If he is so concerned, disappointed and disturbed then I invite him to come and do both the basic and the next course and rip it in front of me, and make me look like a fool if he can. He should have the courage to stop his fellow humans from suffering and I would like to know myself because I’m also concerned. If he is afraid he need not reveal his name but I invite him to come and demolish the program if he can show that it doesn’t work. Why is he letting such wrong things happen to others?

If he is just there to sit and criticize or find faults without proving it scientifically then we won’t waste our time with him.

Yeah, I did Isha yoga too….3 years later and i finally realized its more of a religious cult than a spiritual ’science’ as sadhguru claims. Its a Hindu based religion with linga worship, god/goddess mantra chanting, hypnotic processes and a few breathing exercises thrown in. Don’t listen to people who say “isha really changed my life”. Its nothing more than self-delusion and you won’t find a single ‘enlightened’ person among the thousands of starry-eyed groupies who faint when sadhguru raises his arms (I’m serious!). The isha-ites are so swept up in their smooth talking guru, they exhibit classic cult behavior. You can not question anything in isha or the isha-ites will turn their back on you or make every excuse that you are the one with a problem. They simply ACCEPT, without question, sadhguru’s claim of self-enlightenment. And believe me, he pats himself on the back a lot. Sure, yoga and meditation can make a difference in someone’s life. But question, and beware of, all authorities that claim they have the BEST way to reach god. Thats the same claim made by all the cult leaders (Jim Jones, David Kouresh, Joseph Smith, L Ron Hubbard, etc…)

Hi all,

To be quite honest, when I first tried the introduction course at Isha, I thought to myself damn, these guys are using different conversational techniques that do induce you in a trance. (I studied various forms of hypnosis / NLP).

For the first 3 days, I was resisting. You can resist hypnosis if you want by simply being conscious.

After 3 days of listening and “participating”, it hit me that everything they were talking about were actually things I was trying to apply to my life, and actually preaching to friends around.

At that point, I decided “You know what, might as well play the game, I’d like to have these things stuck in my conscious and subconscious”.

At that point, I put my ego aside and played the game all the way. The result was unbelievable. I had one of the most mind blowing experience in my life. Talking about Zillions of volts of electricity going through the body? That’s what I got.

I’ve been practicing since, my meditation keeps on getting deeper and deeper. I just smile most of the time. My breathing has greatly improved. My body is toning up very nicely. I do impress myself with how I am turning out these days And as for the fluff, it just seems to be faaading away a bit more everyday.

In some of the advanced programs, I had different kinds of mind blowing experiences.

Personally, I don’t really care whether Isha is a cult, or simply a group of people with the best intentions in the world. They offered me a tool that is helping me in my quest. This tool is one amongst many.

So hypnotize me all the way in that direction, it definitely beats the mind numbing hypnosis we get from the daily news, from the image of how our lives are supposed to be, from our great education system.

If you are happy with the status quo, grow up, go to school, get a job, work your life away, get married, get kids, and die, well good for you.

To me, this is definitely the biggest lie / hypnosis we are facing today. We are fed this nonsense from the first day of school. Talk about a cult.

At the end of the day, if you are looking for enlightenment, know that it really is in YOUR hands, and not anyone elses. You chose which paths you need to take, which tools (yoga, meditation, prayer, silence, golfing, working…) works best for you.

A guru, priest, spiritual leader.. can help clear the way or blur the way. Either way, it’s all part of the path. Just be present.

There are a ton of other yoga / meditation courses that really, really look very appealing out there.

God is all around, it’s simply a matter of tuning in to God’s frequency.

So quit stressing, the control at the end of the day is in YOUR hands. And make sure you know it.

Whew, that was fun