Invitation to Open Heart
Hello folks.
I would like to invite you
all to join Open Heart Yoga Level 1 Empowerment and Online Course, on
2nd of December 2018. You can find all the necessary info from links
in the Facebook event, including fee information, so I won't describe
the practice itself, but as suggested, I'd like to offer some
information and statistics of how this practice, Open Heart Yoga
(OHY) works.
Introduction
If some of you don't know
who I am, I am Kim Katami, the founder and head teacher of Open Heart
Sangha. I mainly teach tantric practices as a way to full liberation,
traditionally known as buddhahood or perfect enlightenment. If the
word tantric is foreign to you, you can replace it with ”energywork”
as in tantric yoga one works with energybody in different ways such
as breathwork, visualisation and mantra sounds. I have done training
all my life with many different teachers and masters. Some of my work
that you might know already are the so called Two-Part Formula (2PF)
for awakening and Open Heart Bhumi Model (OHBM), that is used as a
path map.
In Open Heart, we measure
one's progress, from pre-awakening stage to medium stage to advanced
stage to full attainment, with OHBM. We discuss bhumi openings and
bhumi perfections because it is a solid way to measure where one's
at, or where someone else is. This means that with sufficient
training and skills one can learn to sense anyone's stage of
attainment. Bhumi openings and perfections are commonly called with
terms such as sudden and gradual enlightenment. I have written two
books (Awake! and What's Next?) about these topics so if you haven't
read them, I recommend going to the Open Heart-website where the
books are available for free.
Bhumi Openings
Openings of bhumis are
important because each opening directly correlates and increases
one's sense of freedom, openness, and mental and emotional clarity. I
have explained this in great detail in my books, so this is a
nutshell description.
The core matter that all
spiritual, yoga or dharma systems are concerned, is how one's mind
can be illuminated or freed. All schools of buddhism say that the
sense of self, or me-ness, is what causes us to believe in illusion
and makes us deluded. For this reason, we experience existential
confusion and feel that we are lost. In consequence, we seek a way
out.
The sense of self is made
like Matryushka, Russian doll, that has a certain amount of layers,
where the sense of self is stored or imprinted. All systems aim to
erase these imprints with varying results. It is not that easy to
accomplish because the mind is not only organic but also abstract,
not something we can see or hold in our hands. It is like removing
spoiled parts from meat. Without sufficient knowledge, it is close to
impossible to do. This is where OHBM and energy work (tantric
practice) comes into the picture. Tantric meditation is very
effective in clearing up the mind, without us needing to become
masters of mindfulness/concentration-based meditation (which requires
full time training).
Practice that is based on
mindfulness and observation, only carries so far in the process of
self-deconstruction. It is very useful in the beginning but
apparently comes to a halt at some point, usually before or around
6th bhumi, at latest. This is my observation from hundreds of
practitioners and teachers of theravada, zen, vipassana, TM and so
on. In fact, they rarely get to open 6 bhumis. Tantrics, however, if
they are able to open the 1st bhumi, advance to higher bhumis (6-10),
if they keep practicing. On the other hand, buddhist tantrics, very
rarely get to open the 11th bhumi. 11th bhumi is a major turning
point because when that opens, natural awareness becomes one's
default mode. In all traditional schools those with 11 bhumis open
are almost non-existent. I say this based on few thousand bhumi
analyses of all kinds of practitioners.
Buddhist tantrics from
Tibet, specifically mahamudra and dzogchen practitioners, are the
ones who most consistently produce fully attained (buddhahood)
adepts. In Tibetan buddhism, this wealth of knowledge and practices,
are shrouded by secrecy, rules and religious hindrances, so
unfortunately if one wants to follow a traditional tantric path, one
has to go through the traditional system, which is far from being
suitable for modern laypeople, with jobs and families, as it was
formulated in time and culture far removed from ours. Here Open Heart
is different, even thought the goal is the same. Our method is
suitable for ordinary laypeople who have the motivation to go deep or
all the way. We don't have taboos or silly religious rules, and the
teachings are available to all, with or without money. We are a
buddhist community, without religious dogma or medieval views.
Open Heart Sangha is a
community of 70 people worldwide. Everyone in our group is awakened,
thanks to Two-Part Formula, or more. 32 people, almost half of us,
have opened 6 or more bhumis. 16 of us have all 13 bhumis open, who
have stabilized their natural state and therefore are in the process
of perfecting their practice. Those who opened all of their bhumis,
and had 13 consecutive openings, practiced from 2½ months to few
years, which if you study traditional accounts, is unheard of. For a
while now I have verified 5-10 bhumi openings every month. Bhumi
analyses of traditional practitioners and teachers from existent
schools of buddhism, or other religions indicate that, despite of
great efforts, this does not happen widely. It is important to
understand that this is not a claim or boasting but an analytical
fact. This also does not mean that Open Heart would be a short cut,
for if one aims for the highest attainment, commitment, effort,
perseverance, correct motivation are needed.
Practices Unique to Open
Heart
All tantric practices are
based on the same principles. They have empowerments, mantras,
visualisations and breathing practices, that are practiced on regular
basis, while remembering the futility of life and common ethics. This
is also the case in Open Heart Yoga. Anyone is free to look into what
we do. What you will find is a lot of similarities with traditional
approaches, both scriptures and tantric practices. We haven't
invented anything new (!) but we have put together bits and pieces,
useful techniques, that otherwise have been scattered around the
world, to come up with this practice.
The biggest difference
between Open Heart and other forms of yoga and dharma, are:
1. Have a clearly
explained technique for generating awakening (2PF),
2. Have tantric
empowerments that supports the student without needing him or her to
do all the heavy lifting,
3. Use of mantras and
other techniques for washing up the energy system, and most
importantly,
4. Use of dynamic
concentration, which means shouting of mantric syllables.
When empowerment mantras
and dynamic concentration are combined, it literally breaks the
delusion into pieces, and the natural state is effectively revealed.
This is the reason why Open Heart practitioners open and perfect
bhumis so fast.
So, I would like to invite
everyone to try it out. If you are already awake, join the
empowerment, learn Open Heart Yoga level 1, and in a short while you
know whether it works or not. If you don't like it, you are perfectly
free to leave the practice, and you are in no way tied to the method
or the teacher, (your truly). Give it a go and see for yourself.
The next online
empowerment of Open Heart Yoga will be held on 2nd of December. The
sessions lasts 1-2 hours, after which the students will be provided
with online learning materials of the techniques.
Facebook event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1418875584910274/
Thank you for reading.
- Kim Katami, Head
teacher,
Open Heart Sangha.
www.en.openheart.fi
