How
to Receive
the
Greatest Gift of Reality
In
this text, I will discuss mahasiddha
bhumis,
lit. grounds of great accomplishment, and their importance in yogic
practice. I have written a book entitled What's
Next? On Post-Awakening Practice that I recommend for new
readers.
Biographical
Note: First Glimpses
As
a little boy, growing up in a family that was shadowed by my father's
alcoholism, I began to pray and meditate spontaneously. I often went
to my room, sat down on the bedside, and suddenly the room would be
filled with immense peace and light, that entirely dispersed any
anxiety I had. At the time I had no idea what happened but since they
gave me great relief, I kept doing it. In retrospect, I have learned
that I experienced both visitations of past mahasiddhas, masters of
great accomplishment, as well as a descent of grace from my own
mahasiddha bhumis, as they are called in Open Heart. I have discussed
these experiences in some detail in
this interview.
After
4 years of arduous training in Zen Buddhism in Japan and Finland, my
health forced me to find a different path. As a young
samurai-spirited fool who was
desperately in love with zen, I would never have thought I would
leave zen but I needed to and within few months my path took an
unexpected turn towards sanatana dharma, or more commonly,
hinduism, and its tantric methods, kriya yoga in particular.
In December of 2006, I received my first empowerment of kriya yoga
and I am not exaggerating when saying that after the first practice
session of kriya pranayama spiced with strong guru devotion,
my life wasn't the same anymore. I am neither exaggerating when
saying that the clarity and depth of mind after 30 minutes kriya yoga
practice, equaled a weeklong zen retreat where one sits in quiet
meditation for over 12 hours a day. For those 4 years that I trained
in zen, I had sat for 8 or more hours everyday without exceptions,
following instructions of my teachers to the letter, so it wasn't
like I hadn't tried.
Kriya
Yoga and Paravastha
Nowadays
there are many kinds of kriya yoga and not all of them have to do
with Babaji, the modern time founder of kriya yoga, who is mentioned
in Paramahamsa Yogananda's autobiography. I started kriya yoga in a
lineage that had been passed from Babaji to Lahiri Mahasaya in
1860's, to Swami Sriyukteswar (d. 1936) and Paramahamsa Hariharananda
(d. 2002), and finally to the yogi who initiated me, Paramahamsa
Prajnanananda. In kriya yoga, I learned something called paravastha,
which is short for turiyavastha or paraturiyavastha. Paravastha
literally means state beyond mind.
In kriya yoga this is done after magnetisation of the central channel
with deep breathing, equipped with the emotion of loving devotion. To
go into paravastha, the practitioner catapults her or his attention
high above one's head. I do not recall what they told beginners about
the energetic principles behind this exercise but nevertheless this
exercise together with sweet devotion changed my life overnight.
After finding kriya yoga, I still kept practicing 8 or more hours a
day.
 |
| Tibetan buddhist monk visualises tantric deity, Vajrasattva, above his head. |
Sivakami
I
followed that lineage for about a year until I found Sivakami Om
Anandi's website. We started emailing and I received initiation from
her. Over time and many emails, she became my teacher and very dear
dharma friend for 3 years until she passed away in late 2010. Before
she passed, she asked me to continue her lineage.
Sivakami
was unusual among teachers. She was an American grandmother who had
retired some years before from a lifelong career breeding dogs. By
the time I got in touch with her, she had moved to the island of
Kauai, which is one of the main islands of Hawaii, due to very severe
form of arthritis. She never allowed any of her students to meet her
in person, so I never met her in person. Back then I couldn't
understand or appreciate her choice but now I do. All communication
was done through email or telephone calls. My emails with her add up
to 600 pages.
Sivakami
was a mystic and a bhakta, not a yogi. She had excellent
karmic connections with nonphysical masters who taught her during her
countless night time astral travels (sleep yoga) and meditation. She
also met and learned many physical teachers but never clicked with
them enough to become a student, which now that I think of it, is
exactly how I have come to feel. When one gets a hang of tantric guru
yoga with a mahasiddha, it is not an option to settle for less.
That's how I feel, anyway.
One
of the nonphysical teachers Sivakami met was Lama Thubten Yeshe, who
at the time (1984-1985) was in between two reincarnations. Lama Yeshe
offered her his teachings but she kindly refused because she was
never attracted by the buddhist vibe. She had immense devotion
towards Yogananda in whose organisation she started practicing in
1976. Later she got connected with widely known masters, Babaji and
Thirumular, who I also worked closely with for several years.
Thirumular
and Sivakami had been together in previous lives, so their connection
was unique. I, by the way, never believed a word of any of the
mystical stories she told me, until I checked them through my own
meditation. I verified the brief connection with Lama Yeshe and her
connection with Thirumular, for example, through my own meditation,
and that I did, made her satisfied because I wasn't blindly accepting
whatever she told me.
Riding
the Mahasiddha Bhumis
I
had been visited by nonphysical mahasiddhas since I was a boy and in
2007, they started to make themselves known to me in a more personal
than before. I began to receive teachings, visit subtle planes and
had many mystical visions. Sivakami's guidance in understanding them
was immensely helpful and now I believe that not many people in the
whole world would have been capable of providing such advice based on
their own first hand experience.
She
also taught paravastha or what in Amrita Mandala are called mahasiddha
bhumis. Connecting with these subtle centers had a central role
in her teaching. In 13 Bhumi Model, which is one of the
teachings I have received and taught, there are 7 centers above the
head. These 7 can be split into two main groups: bhumis 7-10 and
bhumis 11-13. That's how she taught them and called them 8th
and 9th centers above the 7 chakras within the subtle
system inside the body, from root center (skt. muladhara chakra) to
crown center (skt. sahasrara chakra). She also called mahasiddha
bhumis by the names of High Self and Oversoul, which I also used
until 2013 when Amrita Mandala switched from Sundara Kriya Yoga to
buddhist tantra.
”There
are two chakras beyond the crown of the head.
The
8th is that part of one's soul that never
incarnates.
The
9th is our connection to the Oversoul,
wisdom and love.
These
are not spoken about, and yet they are very important
at
this time in humanity's spiritual unfoldment.”
-
Sivakami Om Anandi (27.6.2008)
”I
believe in the next 30 years, there is going to be a push
by
these Siddhas to bring back High Self... 8th and 9th chakra
understanding among disciples that are ready for it.”
-
Sivakami Om Anandi, (3.3.2009)
What
she says in the latter quote about mahasiddhas pushing to bring
mahasiddha bhumis back is interesting. As far as I know, they are
taught in some forms of kriya yoga (not all) and hindu tantra, few
forms of Taoism, few forms of reiki and new age healing. In
Tibetan buddhist phowa, which is the technique of exiting the
body at death and aiming for Amitabha Buddha's Pure Land Sukhavati
(tib. dewachen), and some other visualisations where one visualises
buddhas or gurus above one's head, it is taught although I have never
seen it explained why exactly they are imagined above one's head. In Rainbow Body Yoga mahasiddha bhumis are exercised a lot, through
pillars above and below the body. In a simple form, this is taught
already in the Introductory
Practice, under Jewel Visualisation.
Getting
Back to Basic Principles
In Rainbow Body Yoga connection between the reincarnated bodymind and
one's mahasiddha bhumis is done extensively because this is the most
direct way in which our pure nature and its energy can be brought to
the tainted mind. In RBY this is further fortified with breathing
exercises, deity mantras and mudras. This is a highly efficient way
to generate purification of mind, in our terminology, opening and
perfection of bhumis.
Mahasiddha
bhumis can be accessed within one's body and aura as well, through
certain channels and secret centers, such as those taught in
Vimalamitra's Wisdom
Meditations. With specific instructions from a tantric lama this
can be taken as a valid path but it is my observation that
practitioners of various sutrayana paths do not systematically access
this inner potential, the ground of being. Mahasiddha bhumis are also
cultivated through common buddhist practices such as Refuge,
Bodhicitta and Lineage Prayers but since the energetic charge
accompanied with prayers almost always goes unnoticed and is not
pointed out by lamas, I think it can be said that the students are
not learning a correct way of practice. This is very unfortunate, of
course.
”These
are not spoken about, and yet they are very important at this time in
humanity's spiritual unfoldment”, Sivakami said. I think the reason
why she said that these centers are very important at this time,
is because we are in the midst of the most destructive period
according to the yuga-theory. Our time in the history of
mankind is marked by technological advancement but because ethics,
clarity of mind, and love and compassion for others are missing, a
lot of technological advancement turns against us and as a matter of
fact, against the whole planet we are living on. Since the illness of
mankind is strong, humanity needs strong medicine to heal. I really
wish more people would be ready for the medicine I discuss here.
From
what I have witnessed in my own practice and that of my students, I
can say that this type of yogic exercise, connecting directly to
one's own buddhanature, emulating the grounds of these attainments in
one's daily practice, is undoubtedly the greatest gift there is.
There is no way to remain crooked with this medicine, nor there are
side effects.
Thank
you for reading,
A
BA HU MANI PEME HUNG HRI*,
- Baba, 21.5.2019
Amrita Mandala
*A
- Seed syllable of 11th bhumi
BA
- Seed syllable of 12th bhumi
HU
- Seed syllable of 13th bhumi
MANI
PEME – Mantric formula of the Buddha of Compassion, Avalokiteshvara/Chenresig
HUNG
- Seed syllable of the karmic body, i.e. bhumis 1-10
HRI
- Seed syllable of enlightened heart
