Meditation, Radical Awakening
and the Yoga of Awakening
In the ancient Tantric traditions, yoga asanas were utilized primarily to prepare the body’s nervous system for deeper states of meditation. The goal of yoga was to awaken or merge with your true self as pure and abiding Consciousness. In my forty years of teaching meditation, I consistently emphasized to Western yoga students the importance of meditation being central to their practice yoga practice and reminding them of the true goal of yoga.
I found that the problems with beginning students of meditation to be multiple. Many found it difficult and even uncomfortable to sit quietly and impartially watch their breath and thoughts. To compound the problem, when these students did find a balanced and still place inside (which is the first step in reaching their true selves), that state could not be sustained for any period, and certainly not throughout their lives.
and the Yoga of Awakening
In the ancient Tantric traditions, yoga asanas were utilized primarily to prepare the body’s nervous system for deeper states of meditation. The goal of yoga was to awaken or merge with your true self as pure and abiding Consciousness. In my forty years of teaching meditation, I consistently emphasized to Western yoga students the importance of meditation being central to their practice yoga practice and reminding them of the true goal of yoga.
I found that the problems with beginning students of meditation to be multiple. Many found it difficult and even uncomfortable to sit quietly and impartially watch their breath and thoughts. To compound the problem, when these students did find a balanced and still place inside (which is the first step in reaching their true selves), that state could not be sustained for any period, and certainly not throughout their lives.
In 1997, a breakthrough in both my teaching of meditation (as well as my life) occurred in Lucknow, India with my Indian Master Papaji. At my first meeting with him, he stated the secret of awakening to the true self is to ‘make no effort,” “do nothing,” and “stop.” He also encouraged me to “stop all practices,” since it was “reinforcing the practitioner, which was part of the personality.” He explained to me how the personality must be transcended for the true self to be realized.
This proclamation to “stop all practices” was destabilizing to me, as I had been a practitioner of meditation since encountering Zen master Suzuki Roshi in 1968. Apparently, my new practice was to have no practice!
I knew I was working with a spiritual master, so I did not question but just followed his plan. It is considered very rare in India for someone to awaken without the aid of a teacher. More than just practice, the vibrational frequency of awakening. So, it was in the presence of teacher that I was awakened to my true self, and have spent the last twenty-one years sharing that awakening.
This proclamation to “stop all practices” was destabilizing to me, as I had been a practitioner of meditation since encountering Zen master Suzuki Roshi in 1968. Apparently, my new practice was to have no practice!
I knew I was working with a spiritual master, so I did not question but just followed his plan. It is considered very rare in India for someone to awaken without the aid of a teacher. More than just practice, the vibrational frequency of awakening. So, it was in the presence of teacher that I was awakened to my true self, and have spent the last twenty-one years sharing that awakening.
What is an Awakening? What is a Radical Awakening?
Last year I had a correspondence with someone who owned a yoga studio in Bali. In explaining Radical Awakening, his comment was, “people here are awakening here all of the time; I do not understand what you are offering.”
For most people, an awakening corresponds with a particular experience: one of great peace, joy, bliss, or even the grandeur of oneness. And yes, it is possible to a retreat or beautiful place to do practice, and experience some or all of these experiences. But these experiences, in and of themselves, do not constitute an awakening, since an awakening transpires beyond the realm of experience. This communication was difficult to explain to someone whose only reference point is the occurrence of a very groovy experience. An awakened state, the state which is the ultimate goal yoga, transcends experience. By universal law, all experiences come and go, and therefore is always present. As my teacher, Papaji stated, “if you had it and lost it, you never had it.”
For a deeper look at Radical Awakening, and what happens in a Radical Awakening and Ramana's mission, please go to:
http://www.radicalawakening.org/ramana/RamanaNote.html
To find out what happens in a Radical Awakening session and Radical Awakening 12-hour intensive, please go to:
http://www.radicalawakening.org/awakening/session.html