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How to Take the Practices to a New Level

Sadhguru discusses the inner workings of the spiritual process. Ones yogic practice, he
explains, is an energy code that is calibrated to evolve and adapt to the practitioner.

Blog Home Yoga & Meditation Demystifying Yoga Apr 10, 2017 | 0 Comments

Q: Sadhguru, you said somewhere that the practices we do are programmed in such a way
that once we evolve to a certain level, the practices continue to work on us in order to take
us to the next level. Could you explain further what this means?

Sadhguru: To use an analogy if you are old enough, you may have seen people
blowing rings with cigarette smoke. These days, no one does this anymore,
because it has become a crime to smoke in public. I knew an eccentric writer who
used to write his name Kailasham with cigarette smoke, in Kannada script.
You could see it for a few seconds before the smoke diffused, and people admired
him for that. Like today you have stand-up comedians, he was a stand-up
political satirist. And at the end of the show, he would write his name with
smoke. That was his trademark, which also featured on all the posters for his
show.

You can use the same opening of the mouth in so many different ways you can
speak, whistle, sing, or blow smoke rings. What comes out makes the difference.
If it is just air, it becomes a whistle. If the sounds come from your vocal chords, it
could become a song. If smoke comes out, it could become different forms.

The Energy Code

A yogic practice is an energy code that is structured in a certain way. It evolves

and finds expression according to your present nature. Using the same simple
instrument, you can do many things depending upon your expertise and your
capabilities. Similarly with a yogic practice it is a code that adapts to who you
are. All human beings are made of the same flesh and bone, but in how many
different ways they take shape! Both beautiful and ugly patterns occur. Likewise,
you can use spiritual practices in a beautiful or ugly manner.

A yogic practice is an energy code that is structured

in a certain way. It evolves and finds expression
according to your present nature.

I took twenty-one years to filter the occult out of the Shambhavi Mahamudra.
This was to eliminate ugly things that you could otherwise do once you are
empowered by this practice. You may want to read someone elses mind so that
you can exploit them. Or you may want to predict someones future so that you
can con them into something. Or you may want to destroy them simply by
looking at them. If you have control over your life energies, you can propel
someone to enlightenment or to destruction both are possible. Depending on
who you are, accordingly you use and transform your energies.
Therefore, it takes a certain care to rule out the negative when transmitting a
process like Shambhavi. But beyond that, what kind of expression you give it
whether you use it to heal yourself of back pain or for a higher level of existence
is up to you. The practice is set for wellbeing, but your idea of wellbeing still
matters. Your idea of wellbeing may just be a little better health and success in
what you are doing, and you think that is it. That is why I am saying, Dont set a
goal let it evolve. Let it evolve to a place that you could not imagine. Do not
stay stuck in something that you already know. As you evolve, the practice
functions at a higher level as well.

Free Drinks!

It happened on a certain day. A man came into a bar and announced, Free drinks
for everyone! Its on the house. He pointed at the bartender and said, Even for
you. Everyone drank, including the bartender and himself. When the time to pay
came, it turned out the guy did not have a dollar in his pocket. The bartender
punched him in the face, picked him up, and threw him out of the bar. Next day
evening, the man came back and again announced, Free drinks for everyone!
He looked at the bartender, Except you. The bartender stood in front of him
threateningly and said, May I ask why not for me? The man said, You tend to
get violent when you drink.

The practices are calibrated in such a way that they work for you at your level of
being. If I turn up the Shambhavi Mahamudra initiation, at least eighty to ninety
percent of you will not be able to get up afterwards. Those who were initiated into
Shoonya before the Dhyanalinga consecration would have experienced that. At
that time, at least seventy to eighty percent of the people were not able to walk
out of the initiation room. That is why we needed at least as many volunteers as
there were participants, because many of them had to be carried, supported, or at
least guided. They would be completely dazed. Back then, we were initiating
people in such a way because we were looking for people who could hold the
drink. This was important for the consecration that we wanted to do, and there
was urgency to it.
Calibrated to Grow

Before the Dhyanalinga consecration, I had a project to fulfill not mine but the
one my Guru imposed on me. Now, it is just that if people want to grow, we
provide them with the tools. If they do not want to, there is no rush. If you had
seen me before the Dhyanalinga consecration, I was a totally different person.
After the consecration was over, I consciously changed everything from the way
I walk, speak, dress, to the way I eat. People who knew me before and see me now
think I have lost it, because I am not fierce enough anymore.

It is good the way it is now. Today, most people sit quietly during the initiation
process, and afterwards, everyone happily goes home without any problem. That
is because the initiation has been brought down in such a way that it suits
everyone, as it is needed for them nothing more, nothing less. It is calibrated to
grow with you. We are not forcing you into a state that you are not ready for. If it
goes ahead of you, it is great, but you will have some difficulty managing outside
situations. We do not want to tone it down further, or else it becomes insipid. It
still allows you to see there are possibilities and dimensions beyond your present
level of experience. If you want to reach towards that, a little more preparation,
and it will evolve by itself.

Editors Note: Isha Kriya is a free online guided meditation that has the potential to
transform the life of anyone who is willing to invest just a few minutes a day. Try it out!
A version of this article was originally published in Isha Forest Flower April 2017.

POSTED IN: Demystifying Yoga

TAGS: Energy, Spiritual Growth, Spiritual Practices, Starred

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