Introduction to blog 12 – My Personal Journey in Om Divine Grace Yoga.

Blog twelve is about the Post Enlightenment  part of my Om Divine Grace Yoga spiritual journey, after India.This period post-India is spread over 58 years.  Blogs one to five contain the introduction, overview and contents of this yogic pathway. I have also written about the autobiographical content in different places in my previous books. I have here revised some of that material relevant to spiritual practice and experience, with commentary and guidance. Om Divine Grace Yoga is designed to enable practical use by a practitioner interested in this pathway. Of course anything here can be approached as just reading matter of interest.

Historically, this pathway is approached via a Guru for initiation and guidance. In our modern world this might not be feasible or practical, given the nature of this dark era (Kali Yuga). It may not be possible to get a guru who can assist you in this area.

It is necessary now to offer this spiritual pathway and process as an option for any practitioner, desiring progress. This material will become a book.

The previous blogs about my spiritual development in India include meeting my Gurus and extensive all India pilgrimage, plus years sitting in a hut outside a small village in the middle of “nowhere”. Modified autobiographical excerpts are from my books English Man, Beggar-Man, Holy-Man & Om Divine Grace Journey.  You can also read these books here on this site.

A lot of my guidance came from the Inner Guru, which can be accessed to get “initiation” and awakening. This component is an important part of my Om Divine Grace Yoga experience, and can be understood with the explanation of how it worked for me.  If inner Divine Guidance is received, there will be appropriate clarity. (This guidance can also be accessed via surrender to ones chosen Deity). Good intent and practice is required for good results.

After India – My Personal Journey in Om Divine Grace Yoga.

Post – enlightenment.

Now my awareness is that there is no religion, or even spiritual belief that I have to defend. I also do not have to follow any path, but I am simply aware of my own choices in this matter. I have opened up to any religious or spiritual experience that helps, and accept the need for the many forms that religion and spirituality take. This then has led me to where I am now, in talking about Shakti & Devi, (Goddess as opposed to Deva – God).

I bypass all spiritual practice hype & confusion, by a surrendering process. That is to leave it up to the Goddess, or rather give it over to the Goddess. This can be replicated of course in whatever one’s pathway or religion is, and as I am multi-faith I have absolutely no issue whatsoever with doing the same process through any religion or any spiritual practice. I don’t have any issue or energy to discuss the benefits of one way or another, and I am simply not interested in debating my religion/s, (or politics). It is irrelevant, get on with the job, and attain Enlightenment and Realization.

I discovered that we all walk towards our Nirvana, and simply our world of experience is set up to provide the necessary learning. (Who made this so)? We can sit back when we see life “as it is and ourselves as we are”. This does not cure or even deny room for change or personal growth. Just that one is able to work, without being affected dramatically by success or failure. Also that any objective is already present as the perfect Self. (The Atman as one with Brahman). The journey, the effort is also the goal. Do you live in terms of being self-realized, when what we want is already achieved, and anything else is also certainly achievable? Then ones way of living automatically changes to one of living in the light, and one gets out of the darkness.

I became interested about six years ago in the channeled teachings of the Guides. (See books by Paul Selig where he channels the teachings). Firstly, the goal as expressed is to be free of fear, totally and unconditionally, as when one is in the light in the darkness doesn’t exist. As I did struggle with life’s fears & anxieties, this has been my goal. If I am honest, when I was a monk in India for those ten years, I was probably still enmeshed in more core human fear of “life & death”.  Thus I agree to make the free choice of surrender to the purpose of living in these Higher Rooms, and unconditional accept my birthright to be a Divine being. (Under all circumstances). This ties neatly in with my surrender to Goddess Shakti as the world made manifest, & to me acceptance of personal Divinity, via the Vedanta teachings.

This combines both a personal deity with an impersonal deity, and some “scientific” practice of working with bodily centers using the yogas of meditation, mantra and yoga postures. As well as a focus on chakra energies to connect my mental & physical body to the Goddess Shakti. This may seem contradictory but has been in practice from ancient times as per the writing of the sages and seers in India. They espoused lofty philosophies but also worshiped their chosen or Ishta Deity. (Devi, Rama, Shiva etc).

For some time The Guides gave me some clarity regarding the Gnostic part of my practice. Previously I had human gurus that guided my practice as a monk and into later years. So, still a core component of my spiritual practice has been the worship of the Goddess as my personal Deity, which in practice has entailed engaging in Kundalini Yoga. This for me is working with the centers of the body, the chakras, through which the kundalini passes as it arises from the base of the spine. This practice is also about Shakti, the Divine Goddess energy, which can be invoked using mantas, especially “seed” mantras.  A devotion to the Goddess then, along-side of my monotheistic or non-dualist philosophic practice. The mantras though are the key activity, and these refer to specific goddess forms, (of the one Divine Shakti). As they are directed to specific chakras in the body, this repetition of mantras, purifies and bring light to the human realm. They also work subtly on mental health issues, addictions and obsessions.

The work of the Divine Goddess is about spinning us into the web of Maya, seemingly on the surface. Then to trip us into mundane activities, but really to eventually liberate, as the Divine works happen in the world, and not in some cave or monastery.

As long as we are “on the pathway”. We are all full of subconscious material relating to needs and desires, but need to experience life through the physical persona in order to transcend the ego. Of course free will and choice is involved, and I had to make a choice to surrender to this version Higher Power, even if it was born of desperation. The mantras that I repeat as part of my spiritual way, led my individual self into an awareness of Universal Self, expressed as the Cosmic Sound. Eventually this sound can be experienced beyond meditation and bought right down through the chakras of the body to the toes and into all aspects of my life, “out there”. Life and the Universe.

We are led to:

Practical Enlightenment or Realistic Realization. Eventually.

Goddess Power

The Goddess represents both Maya in the whole world of human suffering, searching and pleasure seeking, and also represents the link back to the Universal Being, which is formless, pervasive Cosmic Consciousness. (Some people call it God). The Goddess is the energy or Shakti represented by the kundalini force, which rises up the spine with the human awakening, to break through at the crown of the head, so as to allow the liberation of the soul.

The Goddess is also the focus of the Tantric way that includes the world in worship. Instead of exclusion, there is inclusion of “money, food and sex”. (Which is in need often of being dealt with appropriately). The Goddess is the link or a means of transferring human identity to Divine identity by generating the understanding of what my gurus and guides are talking about.

There must be something, some way of living that makes sense in our world, such as that our spiritual being is our essence, & leads us to something super-special. Religion may have some answers, and historically has done the job quite well for a lot of people

However perhaps modern life views of religion are result of finding out the truth of religious organizations & decrees. This has added up to finding out that you have a Picasso, but it’s fake! People may have also enjoyed their faith but discover it’s like black and white TV, (which we had in the 50’s). Then we discover there is color TV!

Religion now does not seem to provide the answers a lot of people in the Western world. In the Eastern worlds, religion is still a foundation of a culturally based society. That also is changing quite rapidly now we have instant worldwide Google, Facebook, and YouTube. As we know just being in the world, even if our culture is still solid, does not automatically resolve some fundamental doubts & questions.

Becoming free

My years long ago in isolated huts and villages, gave me time and space to consolidate a core foundation Awareness. However I came to realize one part only of my spiritual journey, which was of a reclusive isolative nature. That I was 50% complete or 50% incomplete! It did take me another forty years to resolve the rest.

The underlying and sometimes automatic subconscious thread of devotion to God still worked for me to enable a Grace that made practical the therapy, recovery, mental wellness, and strength or fortitude. The Western world and my ordinary existence of family, work, and finances has enabled me to understand how the esoteric Eastern based philosophy of Shaktis providing true understanding or spirituality. It’s at all levels, through all cultures, and also props up the formless non-dual concepts of Vedanta enabling it to be, not just for monks, as traditionally it had been.

I am now in the moment, being present. If we are not really feeling this we should be using all the spiritual practice tools at our disposal. Prayer, mantra, meditation, or other means. Then there is no excuse, only self-responsibility. There is only the requirement to do what is needed moment to moment and “get on with it”. Deal with it, function and provide solutions, as far as one can. Beyond that we are at the mercy of our God!

The Guides say we are all Divine, and we all live in a Divine world that is undifferentiated in the sense that this perspective/belief is for everybody. All persons have equal opportunity as they are all by birthright Divine beings, in their bodies and human lives. This for me seems a bit more accessible in some ways than Vedanta, which originally was the domain of sannyasins and swamis in India. It is still often seen as being a philosophy in the domain of renunciation and monastic leanings.

Vedanta says Aham Brahma Asmi. I am the Divine or Cosmic Consciousness and the world is Maya. (Illusory). This can be seen as religion without a God, and has similarities to Buddhism, which evolved in India post Upanishads. (The scriptures defining Vedanta, which were written at a later stage of the Vedas. (Veda plus anta = Vedanta). The Guides words then come across very much like my philosophy of the Vedanta, but placed into much more modern terminology and perspective. The goal the Guides propose, is to stay or live in the Higher Rooms where one lives as ones higher self, which then allows all the answers to life questions to flow spontaneously.

The Guides words make it very clear that this “I am Divine’, is for the present times for all. This is what we need now in what is a chaotic world of darkness.

I have seen the divine Shakti in visions, but have also felt the presence for a long time of a male Divinity that has guided me and supported me. I still identify with elements of my “monk person” that I had held for so many years in India. Then I started to feel the female guide spirit & now there is a combination. (Of the male anf female).

I have also sought the guru within as well as without. The Vedanta teachers say that when we ask ourselves, who am I, we are trying to find out what the true nature of the “I” is. Not mind, not body, but an unchanging entity, that remains constant through childhood to old age. It is the self within the Atman which is the same substance as the Cosmic Soul. All the teachers of this way point out not only the importance of the guru, but also of the Deity that one surrenders to. The guru within will also be a guide who directs towards the highest energies. This force is also the Higher Power voice.

One of my gurus in India, Swami Muktananda, was somewhat scathing when I turned up to his ashram in my robes speaking Hindi and looking like a swami. He said in about two sentences: “you’re always going to be English, no matter how Indian or Hindu you try to be. And what’s wrong with Christianity”? I did not really except he had said those words. I pretended he hadn’t. It took me a long time to see what he said was pretty true in some ways. (But not all).

With my attraction to the Divine comes a natural tendency to serve others, & that is for me a keystone of Christianity. It is in place, even if I have been a bit driven at times by excessive, obsessive, or pleasure seeking type common human behaviors. I can see the goodness in the mistakes I made, but now can say it’s no longer about mistakes, they are just enriching experiences. I prefer to call them learning experiences. As long as I can still serve others then I am still on the right path!

Though quite different from Christian views, is see the marble form of the “idol” in the temple is a means to help with spiritual practice. It is not worship of a piece of marble, rather a useful means of purifying a psycho emotional mental deficit, and an activity done with a view to developing concentration and awareness. The purpose of any external devotion is that the true nature of ones Divine Self becomes self-evident into all levels of one’s human form and existence.

Although I feel and talk of the Divine Spirit including religious reference, it is also useful in to place it in view of life experiences in terms of mental wellness, addictive behaviors, and pleasure seeking lifestyles. (All the baggage that goes with normal human behaviors out there in Life and the Universe). The real need is to remain focused on the goal of coming to the Divine awareness, and then find the inner true guru, & to what you know you are in essence. 

Your guides: they are you and have purpose as separate, only to take you to awareness of the Truth, which coincides with the loss of the lower self through transcendence of your ego tendencies. Then you don’t need gurus, you are the Guru!

This is the wakening to the day of the light. Whatever religion or spiritual pathway has got me so far. The purifying benefits in terms of ego transcendence leads to dimming or disappearance of the psycho emotional and addictive tendencies that cause so much havoc in so-called civilized society.

Because I see the Universal Spirit as manifesting through a power of the Shakti or Goddess creative Maya, I accept that the energy of Shakti has to be brought into real life. I see the need to deal with and understand this energy as essentially a female aspect of Divinity, without negating the other male aspects of energy in the cosmos. I.e. Is the Cosmic Consciousness – male?

Transactions of ego in the all matters, (including psychosexual, and romantic), after I left India, required of me to accept the mental distresses experienced. That meant that the type of existence I continued with for many years thereafter, submerged my spiritual journey into a more common mode of survival. I forgot any kudos I had gleaned as an ex-holy-man. I think I had to become a humble-man not a holy-man.

Life events can be seen as an actions directed by a force, based on which choice is made by the individual. Such choices, and then endeavors, range from choosing a totally materialistic or even animalistic life style, to choosing a spiritual one, with all manner of variation in between. The concept of destiny does not make me fatalistic, rather more optimistic, cheerful and serene, due to knowing the true role of the outcome of that destiny. Destiny is my self-responsibility, and what happens is a function of the cosmic laws. Because I believe and feel the central Divinity of the Cosmos, I accept the pain as well as the pleasure of life equally and with equanimity, (because all experience is part of that Divinity).

I made my choices and then sat or fell back unable to process: Life and the Universe. My life was unmanageable, and that is when the Divine has come down in the form of grace. And this is spirit guidance. It’s a surrender thing! I have realized that the mind’s activities are transient and fickle, and the light of yogic awareness burns steadily behind the mental screens. We reach the transcendental through the awareness of the light. Through our deepest subconscious, we can return to our chosen life of being one with Divinity flowing down to all levels of our human endeavor.

The True Self within is so near and yet so hard to find. All the yogis and gurus, they must recommend you ask the question:

Who am I?