Rushen, Part 1: Spontaneous Origins of Yoga, Tantra and Art

Rushen, Part 1:

Spontaneous Origins of Yoga,

Tantra and Art

First watch this fine presentation by Mr. Igor Kufayev, where he discusses Spontaneous Origins of Yoga.

This phenomena of spontaneous physical movement is known by names such as kundalini kriya, kriya or Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE). It is very common and happens to many people, whether they know what it is or not. In Open Heart, as well as in traditional dzogchen, it is called rushen. Rushen means to separate between confusion (samsara) and liberation (nirvana). This basically means to recognise one's true nature.

Traditionally, rushen is taught in the following way: Think of various kinds of beings of the six realms, as taught in buddhism, and then in a spontaneous and playful fashion, without planning it, start acting out these beings. You might begin to act like a scared animal or angry demon, for example, and by doing so shed a lot of psychological and physical tensions.

In Open Heart we basically do the same thing. I encourage students to let it all come out spontaneously, without any planning. When they are new to the exercise, they usually start with small and shy movements but when they get out of their heads, the natural stress release mechanism takes over and they start shaking, trembling and moving in dramatic ways, often combined with moaning, grunting, laughing or yelling sounds. Rushen movements expand to different areas of the body or encompass the whole body, several muscle groups, at once. In the beginning it is chaotic, just like samsara, but eventually it starts to sort itself out.

In the short video, Mr. Kufayev discusses how spontaneous movements can develop to yogic postures and breathing exercises, which are known as pranayama.

To add to this, rushen can develop into tai chi, chi gong, dances of different kinds, including temple dance, as practiced in buddhism, hinduism and shintoism. Also, if the student is a tantric practitioner, mudras (hand gestures) and mantras (sacred sounds and vocalisations) can come out. From there visions of oneself as a guru or as a specific deity, any of those one is familiar with or others, can take place. All of this can happen spontaneously, without no planning or conscious effort whatsoever.

This indicates how thorough this exercise is. One can sort out one's confusion through rushen, reveal the sacred aspects of one's own mind (deities), while expressing it externally through dance and song. This is what it rushen means, to go beyond the six realms and actualize one's wakeful nature. 

- Kim Katami, 15.1.2019

Open Heart Sangha