Spinal Touch: Enlightened on the Level of Energy
“When you look at your life and the way you live it, many times, you would have noticed that you are ruled by compulsive emotions.”
—Sadhguru
Sadhguru talks about how on an individual level, raising the consciousness can be tricky, but in the presence of a Guru, getting enlightened on the level of energy can be easy to achieve.
Sadhguru: When you look at your life and the way you live it, many times, you would have noticed that you are ruled by compulsive emotions. For example, on a particular day when there was some special occasion, you really wanted to be peaceful but that is the day anger ruled you – it just came out for no reason. It is not about anyone or anything. It is a compulsive emotion that is coming out. Usually, whoever is around you becomes the victim. Actually, it doesn’t need anyone. You could get angry with trees!
People try to control these things their whole life but nothing changes. The mechanics of the mind and the way it functions is just the way the karmic substance is. This is because the mind is just an accumulation. What kind of accumulation you have is how it functions.
Going Beyond Compulsions
If one has to go beyond the limitations or compulsiveness that a certain type of accumulation creates within us, one has to either rise into a different level of consciousness with which he can become free. Or, another way is to transform his energies. Rising to higher levels of consciousness is generally very deceptive. Everyone believes they are a very high consciousness. If you put them to test, they will fail miserably because the nature of the mind is such, it can deceive you till the end. The mind is not a simple instrument. It is very complex. You may think you know it, but you will see, after twenty-five years you will realize that you have been tricking yourself all the way. Most people are using just a miniscule of their mind so they think it is simple. Otherwise, it is a very complex instrument.
Raising the level of consciousness is not out of the question, but it is very tricky and can be very deceptive. People believe they have changed many times simply because their situations have become a little more conducive. If situations become extreme, they are back to the same place again. Have you noticed this? Someone may be working in a certain situation and they don’t like it – they are constantly angry and disturbed. Then they went to a new work situation and they think, “Now I am fine. Everything is okay with me.” It is not so. Everything is not okay, it is just that right now the weather is good so they seem to be okay. If the weather turns bad once again, which invariably it will today or tomorrow, you will go through the same thing again. When you talk about consciousness, you are looking at life in such a way that you are not subject to the processes of life – the external situations don’t decide who you are. That is what it means to become conscious. That is also a possibility, but it can be deceptive most of the time.
Enlightened on the Energy Level
Transforming your energies is a more certain and solid way because here, you can’t fool yourself or imagine things. You may imagine “I am in heaven,” but your energy won’t move unless you do the right thing with it and something genuinely happens. So this is a more sure path – you are walking on solid ground. All you need is dedication and involvement in a certain practice. If one works sufficiently upon his energies with the right sense of understanding and guidance, one can very easily get enlightened on the level of his energy. His consciousness might not have gone beyond, but his energies will be enlightened.
We have created many people whose energies are enlightened, but their consciousness has not yet risen. We are working on it in a certain way, allowing the mind to mature slowly. So, you can still do stupid things but because your energy has reached a certain peak, these stupid things don’t really affect your life. They don’t rule your life anymore.
The Enlightened One in the Kitchen
There is a very beautiful Zen story. You might have heard of this master who was very popular, whose name was Eno. When Eno first came to the monastery, the master looked at him and declared to everyone else, “Eno is enlightened.” The next day he put Eno to work in the kitchen for the next 12 years because only his energy was enlightened, his consciousness had not risen. In many ways we have hundreds of people around us today who are energy-wise enlightened, but their consciousness has not risen; and we are not in a hurry for that. That will happen. It will slowly mature.
Shiva says, “When the spinal thread is touched, a light begins to glow in and around you.” If you place the whole attention on the Sushumna nadi and if it is properly touched, then it becomes alive and it glows. Once it glows, the energy will mature within a very short period of time and will become enlightened. This is something we have been doing with close groups of people for a long time. You have the glow of an enlightened being, but you don’t have the consciousness of an enlightened being. If you simply sit quietly you are a powerful being. If you open your mouth you are a fool – that is how you will be!
This is easy to achieve. All you need is dedication. Especially when a Guru is around, this is very easy to do.
