Open Heart Blog

lauantai 11. kesäkuuta 2016

T's awakening

T's awakening

maanantai 30. toukokuuta 2016

Testing the Mind of Meditation

Testing the Mind of Meditation

Mind of meditation is expressed and embodied by the physical body. State of mind and awareness (dual/nondual) can be demonstrated, verified and tested with simple physical contact. Please watch the video below for introduction.

Four modes of mind

Dualistic frame of mind, embodying negative thought or emotion
Nondualistic frame of mind, embodying positive thought or emotion such as loving-kindness, compassion, joy or peacefulness*, sutra-style
Nondualistic frame of mind, tantric guru yoga, tantra-style
Nondualistic frame of mind, open awareness/ati-meditation, ati yoga-style

*brahmavihara

Ways of testing

Gentle touch with soft pressure. Chest, shoulder, back, free variations. A way for beginners to see how their state of mind affects their bodies and how both negative and positive frames of mind can actually be concretized. Tester is there to give support for the tested.
Adding emotional negativity to the way of testing. Making physical contact in more aggressive manner, like poking to simulate conflict situations from everyday life. A way to test our frame of mind and attainment in an artificial conflict situation to see how our mind training might do in real life. Returing nondual frame of mind is one gets lost in dualistic mind content.
Very aggressive testing, poking and shoving by one or several testers. An artificially created situation where one's mind is tested in very aggressive conflict situation, as if bullied by one or several people.

sunnuntai 29. toukokuuta 2016

Cutting through Samsara and entering Nirvana, Part 3: Twist and Shout!

Cutting through Samsara

and entering Nirvana, Part 3:

Twist and Shout!

Check also:

Cutting through Samsara and entering Nirvana, Part 1: Cutting through-text and video
Cutting through Samsara and entering Nirvana, Part 2: Cessation/Nirodha-text and video
Cutting through Samsara and entering Nirvana, Part 3: Twist and Shout!-text

Jigme Lingpa, talks about distinguishing between samsara and nirvana in his famous book, Yeshe Lama. Rushen or korde rushen has the meaning of separating or distinguishing samsara and nirvana. This is the basic training of natural perfection, also known as dzogchen. Jigme Lingpa quoted in italics.

Rushen of body

How to do the rushen of body is explained in the root tantra:

With the body, in motion or reclining,

Or twisting and turning, perform yoga postures,

Stretch and bend the limbs

And put the body through its paces.

Just as you conceive it, physically enact

The behaviour of the six kinds of mythic beings.

Accordingly, in order to revert the physical, vocal and mental activity initiated by karma and natural propensity, and in the future to halt it entirely, go to a place where it is certain that no one will intrude and where you cannot be seen or heard... Then say to yourself, ”I am here for the sake of all sentient beings to separate, distinguish and define samsara and nirvana physically, energetically and mentally, so that in the future I need not return to samsara.”

After generating bodhi-mind in that way, strip naked and... Then, run and jump, twist and turn, stretch and bend and, in brief, move your body in whatever way comes to mind – but without purpose or design.

Rushen of Speech

Then, similarly, in order to pull apart and define samsara and nirvana in speech... Chatter, nonsensically to yourself and speak various languages randomly.

Twist and Shout!

First a reminder: Please remember that yours truly is not an adept of the orthodox dzogchen-tradition.

What we have in the previous quotes is something very interesting when done in action. My interpretation of distinguishing samsara and nirvana by bodily and verbal means is as follows.

Basically, what the great master Jigme Lingpa is saying here is for one to allow the samsaric tensions be released, shaked, vibrated, shouted or voiced by physical means. When this is done, samsara is automatically released and nirvana, open natural awareness reveals itself.

What the master suggests here, in effect is no different than what ancient tribes have done when singing and dancing around the fire. The effect is the same when people of today sing and dance to different rhythmical music at concerts. Recently I witnessed a growd dancing to a wonderful Korean electronic dance group. The thoughtless and clear minds of both these, dancers and musicians were noticeable. The drummer spent long times in the thoughtless state, fervently beating his drums! All these people surely experienced the effect of this, whether they knew to call it with the proper technical term known in dzogchen or other schools.

Kriya

Several years ago I came to spontaneously think that shaking the body briskly is a wonderful way to release tensions, both physical and mental. When one begins to shake the body, soon the shaking takes on it's own and there is no need to continue it anymore as it does itself. This is a natural mechanism of the human nervous system, animals have it and use it too.

In yoga, spontaneous physical shaking, trembling, jumping, moving, shouting and voicing in a non-rhythmical non-composed manner, is called by the term ”spontaneous kundalini kriya” or just ”physical kriya”. To some people this begins by itself, often to their surprise, while to others this doesn't start spontaneously at all. However, the nervous systems of all men have this ability to shake off what doesn't belong there. It's just spontaneous shaking and voicing which naturally covers areas of physical and psychic blocks in the bodymind that seek for a release.

This mechanism may be consciously stopped at anytime. This has nothing to do with going into a hypnosis or a trance. One is perfectly aware and conscious of this happening.

TRE

Dr. David Berceli, founder of the TRE-system has done wonderful scientific research and fieldwork with this principle. TRE refers to ”trauma releasing exercises”. In TRE some simple exercises and stretches are used to get the natural trauma releasing mechanism working which then takes on on it's own. His organisation has educated hundreds of TRE-instructors worldwide. What they do is no different to what Jigme Lingpa is suggesting or what is done by those with physical kriyas. However, the theoretical explanation and the meaning of it varies.

Rushen-practice in the Open Heart-style

In the beginning of a Rushen-session, sit quietly for a moment, let your breath calm down and relax. After a moment, chant Machig Labdron's guru mantra 4 or 8 times aloud. After this initial contact with the master, stand up, lie on your back or take a position that you feel like taking. Allow physical shaking and/or spontaneous voicing to begin. Let it happen naturally on it's own. Don't manipulate the natural chaotic pattern of the shaking or shouting. Don't try to release tensions, the inbuilt mechanism takes care of this on its own. Allow it to happen. When the body wishes to take a new position, allow it to happen. You will see that the natural stress releasing mechanism goes through all the tensions in logical manner. Just observe this, as you would observe thoughts or emotions come up and go by in open awareness meditation (ati yoga).

Continue for 20-30-40 minutes in one session. After a shaking session, lie down and rest for 5-10 minutes. You might feel very tired after the first couple of sessions but this tiredness goes away eventually. Then sit up and practice Ati-meditation. This Rushen-practice may also be done as a preparation for Tibetan Heart Yoga-session.

The way how the body shakes goes in periods. It may be very slow and calm while on the other hand it might be very fast, aggressive and uptempo. Allow it to be as it comes, don't change it. Yet know that it can be stopped at any time.

What is very important is to be able to observe objectively. This is a basic skill of meditators. However, if you are a beginner, know that sometimes strong emotions can come up. If this happens your body might shake aggressively, you might shout in fear, you might start crying and so on. Something like this that you didn't expect to happen, might happen. It's totally OK. It's subconscious tensions, stresses and traumas, samsaric bodymind content releasing itself. However, if you feel it's too much, you can stop the session at any time. If you feel uncomfortable to return to Rushen-practice, do it in a group or with a friend. You can also do this eyes open which will help you to stay ”here”, instead of getting lost in emotions or memories. In general, one can have eyes open or closed whichever is preferred.

The main reason why this is done is to shake off samsaric mindstuff from our bodymind in order to recognise our natural knowing awareness. It's that simple. Doing this has other benefits as well. Your physical fitness can become better, your sleep becomes deeper and more restful, your overall vitality becomes enhanced and of course you'll just feel fresh and clear after doing these sessions, both physically and mentally. This is because the knots of your dualistic mind are loosened or untied. Rushen (outer) combined with tantric practice, such as Tibetan Heart Yoga, which is called ”inner rushen” by Jigme Lingpa, does the same thing, emphasizing more the inner aspects of our dualistic conditioning. The general purpose of all of this is to cut through samsara and enter nirvana. Use it and enjoy it!

Sources

TRE-introduction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPFbXdSGSkc

TRE-beginner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyMxQH_39FQ

Kim: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1e1zVwX78g

Jerry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfBLJxl9QJQ

Pau: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6gZfKGVsw8

Pau doing yoga: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq0IE0ntbks

Spontaneous movements may develop to ”deity embodiment” as demonstrated in several videos by Pauliina:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrY43Y5iGeI

Thank you for reading,

- Kim Katami, 29.5.2016

Open Heart

www.openheart.fi

keskiviikko 11. toukokuuta 2016

Cutting through Samsara and entering Nirvana, Part 2: Cessation/Nirodha

Cutting through Samsara

and entering Nirvana, Part 2:

Cessation/Nirodha

Cutting through Samsara and entering Nirvana, Part 2 - speech and guided practice.

Check also:

Cutting through Samsara and entering Nirvana, Part 1: Cutting through-text and video
Cutting through Samsara and entering Nirvana, Part 2: Cessation/Nirodha-text and video
Cutting through Samsara and entering Nirvana, Part 3: Twist and Shout!-text

Feedback from Cutting through Samsara and entering Nirvana, Part 1:

S: ”After watching your latest video about the chanting, and doing it, something shifted and there was a clear seeing completely through thought, to the empty nature that is it, which has remained open.”

J: ”After 2 hours after the shouting session, my mind and perception kept flickering off and on. It was similar to lights being turned off and on, off and on, again and again, in a quick rhythm. These cessations lasted for a few seconds at a time. It kept happening again and again. Afterwards I felt very tired”.

You describe going "unconscious without going unconscious", awareness shifting and going through something that is new to you. This is called cessation or nirodha. It is like turning off the lights and electricity of the house but not becoming unconscious. These moments are like big leaps, in spiritual sense. This is so because cessation resets the mind momentarily. It's like if you have a big, noisy and messy engine going on and on, making noise, creating fumes, like the dualistic mind does. But when you take electricity plug out for a moment... The engine stops for a moment. This is a glimpse to the natural mind, natural awake awareness. There is nothing and no one there. Literally. This is the permanent mind state of a fully enlightened one, mind of a buddha. That's the mind of no-self. No self in any shape or form. In other words, That's emptiness.

When cessations start happening they might feel dramatic at first. When the lights come back on and the usual mind state resumes, you might feel, ”What was that!? Am I going insane?” Mind reacts like this, with fear and confusion, because it tries to figure out what happened. But it can't because cessation is non-conceptual and conceptual understanding only goes so far. So for some period of time cessation feels like a dramatic drop into the unknown and coming out of it also feels as dramatic, like a jump or something like that. There is this big threshold. If cessations are long, say minutes or hours, which are very rare, one is not able to be active and do things during cessation. Usually cessations are just a few seconds long, at a beginner stage. Later they can be for minuts and hours. People who wake up, have a short cessation and it has enough power to take the charge out of the subject-self.

In hindu dharma, this dramatic leap is called kevala nirvikalpa samadhi. It's a beginning stage of cessation. But with time and practice the drop into and jump back from cessation wears off. With practice, it becomes natural, it transforms. In hindu yoga this mature stage of cessation is called sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi. Sahaja means natural. This means that one's conditioned dualistic mind becomes permeated by no-self realisation. Here the dramaticity of it, is gone and one can do things in cessation. Eventually, cessation is not interrupted, it becomes natural. It grows on you and at some point you don't even notice it happening. Mahasiddhas and buddhas are in the state of natural cessation all the time, bodhisattvas aren't yet.

At first when you sit down and start meditating without doing anything, Ati-meditation, you might be self-aware, aware of sitting somehow, aware of the breath, aware of being there. But at some point a shift happens, a cessation takes place and knowing also disappears. In cessation there is no knowing at all. Nirodha is a stateless state of no body, no mind, no God, no buddha, no wisdom, no compassion. It is non-conceptual and without self-awareness. It is a complete stop, a full stop, complete disappearance. Cessation is a peak of meditative experience. And there is a good reason why all meditative traditions and texts have mentioned cessation as something very important. Cessation is sort of like a reset button of a meter, like there used to be in old video or tape players. Everything returns back to zero in cessation and therefore it has a significant impact on the mind and our psychological being.

In case you are wondering what sometimes happens in your meditation and especially Ati-meditation with open eyes, this is it. There is surely a relation between cessation and progress in bhumis as well.

Have a nice day,

- Kim Katami, 11.5.2016

torstai 5. toukokuuta 2016

Cutting through Samsara and entering Nirvana, Part 1: Cutting through

Cutting through Samsara

and entering Nirvana,

Part 1:

Cutting through

Check also:

Cutting through Samsara and entering Nirvana, Part 1: Cutting through-text and video
Cutting through Samsara and entering Nirvana, Part 2: Cessation/Nirodha-text and video
Cutting through Samsara and entering Nirvana, Part 3: Twist and Shout!-text

Cutting through Samsara and entering Nirvana, Part 1-guided practice

Samsara means being caught up by a mind that goes around in cycles. Samsaric mind refers to thoughts, feelings and subtle energy where thoughts and feelings are born from. This includes the sense of separate self or the sense of ”I” or ”me”. Actually all thoughts and feelings are charged with some sense of me-ness.

When the samsaric mind is too busy and makes one go crazy because the mind is so scattered, there is a need to cut this cyclical function of the mind that thinks and feels.

This cutting has to be thorough, a thorough cut through all levels of the samsaric mind. The talkative mind can be silenced simply by relaxing the jaws and the surface of the subconscious mind can be calmed down by relaxing the belly and the physical body but to cut through through all levels of the samsaric mind, we also have to cut through the subtle energy that is beyond the form of thought and emotion. This subtle energy is dormant and has no form. That is why it is not easy for meditators to perceive. However, this is a way to cut through through that as well. And when this is achieved, a stateless state of open awareness, where the mind has been completely blown out, is entered. The meaning of nirvana is literally ”blown out” as in candle's flame that is blown out.

Tsoknyi Rinpoche says in his book Ground, Path and Fruition:

The practice of the Thorough Cut is like taking a great big knife and just cutting the snake of solidified confusion. You take a machete to all the thoughts of the past and the future, to the whole complex of confusion about what is real and what is not, and just hack them down in one fell swoop. There is no visualization. Do not think about it. Just cut it. Drop it. It is very energetic. It is not like having a nice meditation.

There are many methods to help with this and one whole class of those methods is the one called Parting Samsara and Nirvana. In it, you get your body moving-active, walking, anything-and then stop and look, immediately, and in that moment completely cut through all of the thoughts-conceptual, intellectual, gross, subtle, whatever.

You can shake your body violently or you can shout or whatever; just work for four or five minutes and suddenly drop everything.

In terms of the traditional methods of parting samsara and nirvana, practitioners would go to the jungle, take off all their clothes, and just jump, jump, jump, shout, shout, shout, and do crazy things to cause a real breakdown. Or they would jump into icy water. By these methods you can intoxicate all the small states of mind and really stay in rigpa.

torstai 28. huhtikuuta 2016

Four Gears of Open Awareness

Four Gears of Open Awareness

Four Gears of Open Awareness-guided practice

Open awareness, related to the primary sensory organ*

Disengaging one's attention from internal objects such as thought and emotion, as well as from external objects perceived through the senses (eyes) and
Resting as non-three-dimensional open space
Awareness being aware of itself, without a self-entity

Leads to:

Recognition of oneself as conscious awareness, both through sudden awakening (cessation, nirodha) and mind purification (vipashyana, also known as gradual enlightenment) =>
Cuts down all sense of localisation as a self located in space and time, deconstruction of the self =>
Calming of the mind (shamatha) =>
Experiential understanding of both mindfulness (intention) and open awareness (attention)

This can be called the first gear, the first and foremost step, of awareness training.

*Eyes are the primary sensory organ of man. This practice is known as ati yoga, Ati-meditation, Space Gazing or open awareness meditation in Open Heart-teachings and by same or similar names in other advanced teachings.

Open awareness centered at the heart

Open awareness recognised through the primary sense organ (eyes) is connected with the heart/chest area of man. This connection is revealed through training in open awareness meditation. This is subtle connection of the energy body (skt. amrita nadi, tib. kati, engl. chrystal channel), not related to common human emotions, although open awareness centered at the heart gives self-cognisant awareness a flavour of warm heartfulness. In the heart open awareness becomes embodied as love and compassion.

This can be called the second gear of awareness training.

Open awareness embodied by the whole bodymind

When the recognition of the natural state takes place properly and one trains in it, open awareness not only comes to encompass the abstract mind and it's various aspects, but also penetrates the flesh of the body. The self-created mind of man becomes replaced with the ”spirit of God” which is free and open but also free of freedom, openness and divinity.

This can be called the third gear of awareness training.

Open awareness in action

Here, open awareness is fully embodied and presented through action, speech and thought, and also through non-action, non-speech and non-thought. Here further training of awareness looses it's meaning. Compassionate action, both in it's peaceful and wrathful forms, is naturally delivered. This is the stage of the mahasiddhas* or buddhas. When open awareness is embodied in full bloom like this, all beings in all forms reap subtle nondual benefits from it as the presence of a mahasiddha reverberates through all realms** simultaneously. The wow to become a buddha, a fully enlightened being for the sake of all beings has been fulfilled and hence is forgotten.

This can be called the fourth gear and final stage of awareness training.

*Open Heart Bhumi Model, bhumis 11.-13.

**All realms refer to 21 main realms related to the subtle body of man, that is, chakras. See a diagram of these centers here.

Comments

The above mapping is one way to explain the aspects and stages of the path of awareness training. This training can be pursued by anyone. It is recommended to be conducted in the guidance of a master (here referring to a mahasiddha) or at least with a person who has attained the level of a bodhisattva.

All should remember that open awareness is the enlightened mind of all beings. Potentially this can be attained by all men who receive valid instruction and who have correct compassionate motivation.

This instruction should not be kept from sincere, honest and open hearted seekers who wish to blow out the flame of their dualistic ignorance and embody their natural, truthful, original mind among men and other beings. This is their right.

It should be kept in mind that this knowledge is not the property of any person, any sect or a group. In case a known dishonest or a morally corrupt person seeks to receive instruction from a teacher, the teacher should make sure that the relationship is based on honesty and mutual trust. If this requirement is not met the teacher is allowed to refrain from giving guidance to such person.

May all beings realise their freedom.

Thank you for reading.

- Baba Kim Katami, 4/2016

Open Heart,

www.openheart.fi

maanantai 11. huhtikuuta 2016

Amma, The Hugging Saint Explained

Amma, The Hugging Saint

Explained

"The power of Love is infinite. In true Love, one goes beyond the body, mind and all fears. Love is the breath of the soul. It is our life force. Pure, innocent Love makes everything possible. When your heart is filled with the pure energy of Love, even the most impossible task becomes as easy as picking up a flower. The more Love you give, the more divinity is expressed within you. Just as water from a perennial spring never dries up no matter how much water we draw from it, the more Love we give, the more it increases. Life and Love are not two. Pure Love can accomplish anything. Love is the ambrosia of life. If there is True Love, nothing else is needed." - Amma, the Hugging Saint

About this text

This text is my personal explanation about Amma, the Hugging Saint, based on my experiences with her. The text contains both appreciation and criticism towards her. I have tried to express my criticism in a constructive way for the common benefit of all readers.

Despite of my criticism, I have a lot of respect and appreciation to Amma. I wish to thank and bow to her in deep respect.

Note: The term "awakening" in this text has been used to describe a specific event on the spiritual path. Here awakening refers to the first irreversible spiritual insight. After this attainment, there are several other stages. See links below this text for sources on this.

Association

I met Amma for the first time in 2003. Since then I have met her many times in darshan (about several dozen times), have joined her programs in Finland and Germany, and have spent 2½ months altogether in her ashram in Kerala India, on two separate occasions in 2009 and 2015. I've spent roughly 100-200 hours in her physical presence during this time, have heard her giving speeches, giving darshans (hugs), blessing food and seen her meditating. I've also received a mantra from her back in 2006 and have learned IAM-meditation taught by her organisation. I have also ordered a couple of pujas (fire rituals) from her organisation's services to help me solve some specific problems a few years ago.

To me Ammachi has sort of been like a spiritual aunt who has been there to guide and support me, along with my own parents (masters) that I've worked with during the last decade and many lives before this one. I've received many blessings from her and seen visions of her and other masters together in meditation. I have also asked her questions in person during darshan. I have at times wondered if I should follow her as my guru and even though I sometimes really wanted to, it never happened. I felt that she always welcomed me to meet her but encouraged me to follow my own path and karmic links with other masters and their teachings instead. My association with her has lasted for over 12 years, pretty much the same time I have pursued the spiritual path.

Amma's status and her actions

Ammachi is the only spiritual master, or a mahasiddha, that I have physically met. And I have met quite a few teachers and masters from many traditions. To me she is a living buddha who has no arising of feeling and no cessation of perception. I have spent quite a bit of time with other mahasiddhas in non-physical form, practicing tantric guru yoga with them, so I feel I have a pretty clear idea what makes or what doesn't make one a living buddha.

Amma's actions speak for themselves. Last November in 2015 she sat down giving hugs continuously for 26 hours. This was reported at the Facebook group of her ashram. An ordinary person or even a very experienced yogi would not be able to do this because the energetic charge would be too great to handle. Meeting, hugging and conversing with perhaps a few thousand people one-by-one during one day is extra-ordinary. This is something that she does on regular basis all over the world. To me this is a clear sign of her being a master. This is completely different than speaking to large crowds which is what many popular gurus do. Also charity work, even of great scale, would not solely indicate the mastership of a teacher. But charity work on vast scale is something that Amma has initiated in addition to her meeting over 35 million people one by one. This is something that hasn't been achieved by ordinary people or by charlatans.

There are many miraculous stories of Amma but since I have personally never seen her do any supernatural miracles I do not wish to narrate these here. On the other hand, I have never seen anyone leave her arms looking as fearful or confused as they came, so again to me this, transforming the minds of people in just a few short seconds, is a greater miracle than demonstrating siddhis, special powers.

Criticism

One of the things I have critisized about hindu gurus and their teachings in general, is that usually their verbal teachings are vague and non-specific. Hindu gurus speak about "enlightenment", "awakening", "samadhi" and many such things but do not clarify these things in a way that would be understandable for their followers and the world society. This is also the case with Amma's verbal teachings.

"Dharma" or nondual spirituality has many definitions but if we are talking about what "spirituality" actually is, there is no other way to define it than as experience-based nondualism. Nondualism means seeing through the dualistic delusion of one's sense of self. This takes place in the mind.

It has been said that Amma's mission is in reinstating moral values, in addition to being an example of selflessness and love herself. I do not know if Amma would agree to this definition of her mission but in case she would, it should be questioned whether her mission of reinstating moral values is actually the sort of nondualistic spirituality and enlightenment that she often talks about. Being honest, sincere, kind and loving is of course better than being deceitful and hateful. Also doing good actions and charity is much better than doing bad things or just thinking of oneself over others. However, one can do good actions and be sort of loving while being deluded by one's sense of self. These things get easily mixed up.

It is the sense of self in the mind of man which creates dualistic positioning between "me and them" or between "me and my guru". As teachings of Amma do not clarify this point and do not clearly point to the self-delusion imprinted in the mind of her many followers, which would help this illusion to vaporize, her followers stay bound by this dualistic chain. Considering how devoted many are to her, this is very unfortunate, I feel. Because of this simple flaw, people can never really understand her. As people stay fixed in the idea that they exist as separate entities, they can never really "get" Amma, who is without a self.

I once asked Ammachi in person, that in case me and my family moved to her ashram, could I as my volunteer work, guide people to awaken from their self-delusion through self-inquiry (skt. atma vichara). "We don't do such practices here" was her reply. I didn't know what to expect but still after time this seems strange to me.

It has been said by her that her devotees are "rusty steel" meaning perhaps something along the lines that they are not ready or fit to see through their self-delusion and should stick with the very basics. It has also been said by buddhist lamas that all people are not ready for emptiness teachings which in other words means seeing through the illusion of self. I agree with this to the extent that I don't think everyone is fit to awaken. But many are. So mostly I disagree on this point.

Seeing through the illusion of self and becoming awakened are the very basics of nondual spirituality. How could awakening possibly be something wrong, dangerous or undesired because the selfless nature is our true nature?

Based on my experience as a direct pointing teacher, I'd say that there are many people out there who are ready and fit for aiming directly at the central spoke of self-delusion. It makes no sense to decline this instruction from people, whether they are Amma's followers or others. The same problem is found in vajrayana buddhism. I have heard Amma speak of the "mistaken identity" and "awakening" but regarding this point, her direct pointing instructions are so scattered among long talks of Indian folklore, hindu classics and jokes that it is close to impossible for people to apply them in practice and actually get awakened.

Amma teaches tantric practices, like mantras, breathing practices and visualisation. These practices aim specifically for purification of mind. This is often called "gradual enlightenment". These practices are not meant to generate awakening and only rarely and by chance they generate "sudden awakening". The great majority of people who do mind purification practices, don't get awakened because the practices are not designed to do that. The problem with this is that it is not possible to finish purification of the mind (gradual enlightenment) without sudden awakening. This is because the mind and it's mechanisms are the same with all men. This is a flaw in Amma's teachings, as well as most other hindu gurus. This problem is found in most hindu teachings and to an extent also in tantric buddhism which is very unfortunate.

So, with Amma, it is a strange mixture. The greatest master I've ever (physically) met surrounded by a huge mass of followers who constantly cultivate the selfless state of awareness through devotional practice but do not have the simplest instructions in consciously recognising their natural state. For this reason people keep seeking. It is the self or "me" who seeks so the situation is problematic.

I admit my inability to understand this. I can only assume that she knows what she is doing but at the same time I cannot help seeing these fundamental flaws in her teaching, as anyone with some understaning of jnana yoga or buddhist vipashyana meditation would. Fortunately, it has also been told by many people that Amma has somehow guided them to more fitting teachers and teachings.

Years with Amma

In Amma's presence, it is common for people to say things like, "Her energy is huge!", "I am embraced by her love!", "She is my Mother!" or something like that. People are very impressed by her. And I was too because I've kept going back to see her. I've heard buddhist practitioners tell about the same wow-factor of their own lamas.

This wow-factor happens both because of the powerful spiritual energy of the teacher but mainly because of the messy-ness of the mind (which translates to the energy body) of the person himself. It is because of the karmic grooves installed in the mind of a person why the presence of a particular teacher or a guru is felt to be powerful. The guru's energy of utmost spiritual clarity keeps meeting with the karmic knots while creating powerful sensations. Guru Yoga was like that for me for several years. But this changes when karmic patterns become purified. When one works with a guru for years the experience of his or her presence changes and neutralises because your own mind changes, becomes clearer.

For some time now, Amma's darshans have not had that powerful/energy/love/wow!-effect to me anymore. Instead what happens is that if one is in connection with a master like Amma or some other, the change happens in the clarity of the conscious experience and not in the energies of the bodymind. This is the change between the higher bhumis or grounds which are momentarily experienced because of the uplifting effect of the master's presence.

All in all

All in all, despite of the problems that I see in Amma's teaching, I have great respect for her. In this time there is no other physical guru whose work is as vast, as Amma's. She has offered her arms to a huge number of people and has helped them, encouraging those who are sick, abused, abandoned and so on. She surely embodies love and clarity that we all can draw inspiration from.

Thank you for reading,

- Kim Katami, 4/2016.

Open Heart
www.openheart.fi

Links and sources

Guidance to Awakening: http://www.en.openheart.fi/101
Here is how to become awakened: http://www.en.openheart.fi/113
Awake! - freee ebook: http://www.en.openheart.fi/114
Bhumi Study Series, Part 3, Hindu gurus, including Amma: http://openheartopenheart.blogspot.fi/2016/02/bhumi-study-series-part-3-hindu-gurus.html
Stages of spiritual attainment: http://openheartopenheart.blogspot.fi/2016/02/stages-of-spiritual-attainment.html