Deeksha
and the Brain
(Selection from Fire from Heaven:
Dawn of a Golden Age by Kiara
Windrider)
September 2005
Enlightenment is the ability to see
reality as it is, without the layers of
interference and interpretation imposed
by the mind. It is a simple
neurobiological event, and can happen in
an instant. Paradoxically, in the moment
of your enlightenment, you also discover
that you have always already been
enlightened! It is our natural state!
The bio-circuitry of a human being
was designed in such a way that after
developing a self at around age 3 we
would return naturally to a state of
unified existence at around age 18.
Unfortunately, something went awry, and
we experienced a Fall within our
evolution as a biological species.
Nature demanded that there always be
a select few throughout our subsequent
history who maintained this
morphogenetic field of the natural
enlightened state. Historical figures
such as the Buddha, Lao Tzu, Jesus, and
many others exemplified this. Now,
however, we have come to a time when
humanity is once again being prepared to
return to our natural state as a
collective species. The time has come
now for each of us to be restored to our
natural enlightened state!
Enlightenment has nothing to do with
how long you have been on a spiritual
path, nor with what your religious
beliefs are. You do not even need to
believe in God or have any concepts
about the soul. Enlightenment does not
depend on knowing the right teachings or
mantras. It has nothing to do with how
many lifetimes you have meditated, or
even with how ‘good’ a person you are.
There is nothing you can ‘do’ to get
enlightened. Enlightenment cannot be
achieved through your own efforts any
more than a drowning person can yank
himself out by his own hair. We are in
a prison of the mind, and the key is on
the other side. The mind cannot
deactivate itself. It can only happen
by grace.
Humanity is ready now, says
Bhagavan. Each of us has spent
lifetimes preparing for this. We have
all done our sadhana, or whatever we
thought was required, and it is time now
to enter the Golden Age together. The
question is not if we will get
enlightened, but when.
“There is a simple way to know if you
are enlightened,” my guide had told me
once. “If you are asking the question,
you are not.” The biggest obstacle to
enlightenment is to pretend that you
already are if you are not.
If you know you are not enlightened,
and you become aware of the cravings and
aversions generated by the illusion of
self, then you become open to grace.
When you see clearly the nature of the
mind, and the extent of your
conditioning, and when you become tired
of the resulting suffering - all the
incessant comparing, judging, efforting,
and blaming - then grace can begin to
flow in. Understanding this as a mental
concept isn’t enough. It must be felt
and experienced.
The means that Bhagavan has set up
for this grace to act is known as the
‘deeksha’. The deeksha is a transfer of
power, and can be defined as
‘initiation’. It usually consists of a
ceremony in which one or more of the
‘guides’ at Oneness University place
their hands upon your head in a state of
divine union, and become channels for
cosmic energies directed by Bhagavan to
reorganize your neuro-circuitry.
Bhagavan refers to this process as
‘divine surgery’. A golden ball of
divine grace descends through the crown
chakra, and the kundalini channels get
activated. Certain areas in the brain
get shut down, other areas get
energized, initiating a process in which
the entire brain and nervous system is
reorganized.
This golden ball is programmed by
Bhagavan to reorganize the biological
circuitry of the brain, leading to
enlightenment. It has a living
intelligence, and operates differently
within each person. Once it has
descended into the crown chakra,
however, the process will move towards
completion, programmed by the divine
‘sankalpa’, or intent, of Amma and
Bhagavan.
The deeksha punches through the wall
of concepts set up by the mind. The
winds of heaven can then blow through.
In the words of Carlos Castaneda, we
open up to the world of the ‘nagual’,
our ‘assemblage point’ shifts, and we
are free.
In the current species of humanity,
the brain is designed in such a way as
to serve as a receptor station for a
certain band of frequencies
corresponding to the Ancient Mind. The
deeksha serves to loosen up the receptor
sites within the brain from this band of
frequencies, and simultaneously to
dissolve the feedback loops of
consciousness that create the sense of
separate identity which we have referred
to as the self. The brain then becomes
sensitive to a wide range of frequencies
emanating within the Universal Mind.
To be enlightened is to access our
souls directly, rather than through the
interference of the mind.
Unfortunately, for many people on the
spiritual path, even though we have had
direct experience of our souls from time
to time, our conception of the soul is
not very different from our conception
of self. It is a ‘higher’ self, but it
is still a separate fixed self. This
conception can be a limitation, which is
why Bhagavan doesn’t speak much about
the soul.
The enlightened yogis of ancient
India, when they spoke of their inner
divinity as the ‘Atman’, understood that
there was no such thing as a fixed
individual soul. The individual is
holographically related to the whole.
The Atman is one in essence with
‘Brahman’, the universal field of
consciousness that is constantly moving
through each expression of creation.
“Tat twam asi,” say the yogis, “I am
That!”
What happens when the deeksha is
given? Some may immediately go into a
peak experience of bliss, deep silence,
or cosmic consciousness. This may or
may not be permanent. If it isn’t, this
first peak experience is followed by
other peak experiences over the
following days and weeks, until a
permanent enlightened state establishes
itself.
For others, there may not be an
immediate felt response, and it may take
hours, days, or weeks before they start
noticing a change. Regardless, once the
deeksha is received, the seed of
enlightenment has been planted, and
Bhagavan will work with you in
accordance with your own soul’s purpose
and the readiness of your physical body
to bring the seed into fruition.
The first thing that often comes up
for people is an acute sensitivity to
the nature of mind, and the patterns
that have ruled our lives so long. It
can be a shocking and painful experience
when we first begin to look at it, but
necessary if we are to break free. If
more than one deeksha is given, often
the first deeksha is programmed to
pinpoint the self-centeredness of the
mind. If a person has done some
self-examination and emotional clearing
beforehand, or already ‘hit bottom’,
that can help. Grace only flows when
you recognize your illusions. As long
as you think you can make it on your
own, its flow will be impeded.
Once the deeksha is given, you
neither have the power to stop the
process in any way nor to help it along.
The activity of the deeksha has nothing
to do with how deserving you think
yourself to be, or with any concepts of
spirituality you may be holding, or with
making any kinds of efforts towards it.
As Bhagavan puts it, once the train
pulls out from the station, will you get
to your destination any faster by
constantly running around back and forth
inside the train? Please realize that
enlightenment has nothing to do with the
mind or the contents of the mind. It has
everything to do with the brain, and the
deeksha is an intelligent force which is
programmed to do whatever is necessary
to create the neurobiological shift
necessary to get there!
Many people, after they receive the
deeksha, still feel that somehow they
can help the process along by doing the
right meditations, thinking the right
thoughts, or somehow bringing the mind
under control. Other people get obsessed
with fears about blocking the process
through their doubts, fears, or feelings
of unworthiness. It is important to
realize that there is nothing you can do
either to help or to obstruct the
process, except simply to witness the
process itself.
In other words, if a ‘blocked’
personality shows up, simply step back
and watch the way it works. There might
be a fear that you will be the last
person on Earth to become enlightened,
that you have too many mental blocks,
that your heart isn’t open enough, that
you haven’t done enough emotional
clearing, that there is something wrong
with you physically, that you are too
old, too unworthy, too traumatized, or
whatever your own personal story might
be.
Just watch this personality as if you
were watching a movie. Notice how
attached it is to he drama of its own
suffering. Notice how it sustains itself
through its traumas and dramas, even the
drama of planning its own
enlightenment. Notice how it feeds
itself by pretending to hate itself.
Notice how its idea of being blocked
itself becomes the block. Notice how it
wants to analyze itself to death before
it is ready to surrender. Notice how it
hears only what it wants to hear so it
can forever prove itself right.
You may want to make a list of these
escape routes of the mind. Give these
‘negative’ personalities a voice, and
describe in detail all the fears,
doubts, blocks, manipulations, denials,
and dysfunctional habit patterns that
you can think of. Then let it all go.
Once it is down on paper you may find
that they no longer have as much power
over you. Once you can see clearly, the
seeing itself is the liberation. Once
you realize that there is nothing you
can do to change yourself, then
surrender can happen, and grace can
flow.
For some people, even the act of
surrender is associated with a great
effort. Well, then, surrender even your
efforts to surrender. Simply ask for
grace and then be silent. Once this
‘you’ who is so intent on understanding,
changing, or healing itself surrenders,
enlightenment can happen easily. The
neurological shift takes place and you
return to your natural state of
oneness. It is as simple as that.
It is important to understand what
enlightenment is not. It is not about
losing your mind, or even changing the
nature of your mind. The same mind
continues to exist, although you notice
that you now have a different
relationship with it. Nor is
enlightenment equated with cosmic bliss,
instant clairvoyant abilities, or high
spiritual states. All these may
accompany or follow enlightenment at
some point, but it is not what
enlightenment is about. Enlightenment
is simply ‘throwing a switch’ in the
neurobiological structures of your
brain, and thereby dissolving the sense
of a separate self. It is not about
changing the contents of the mind, but
seeing the mind for what it is. In this
very seeing, all conflict and suffering
dissolves, and you experience freedom.
he difference is primarily
internal. An enlightened person can
still make mistakes, still experience
disappointments, still have difficulty
with relationships, still experience
limitations, and still be bad tempered,
except that he will no longer be
identified with these characteristics.
It is not required that an enlightened
person will always have a radiant aura
or always be cheerful.
In fact, there will be times when an
enlightened person will need to exhibit
anger where she would normally be a
doormat, or do something quite contrary
to an established social or moral code
because he is no longer bound by the
conditioned identities and learned
responses of the old order. An
enlightened person discovers joy in
being true to himself. He finds no need
to pretend anymore, although to an
unenlightened consciousness he or she
might well be perceived as a rebel or a
troublemaker!
Enlightenment is to peel off the
layers of interpretation from a given
event. To the enlightened person, life
becomes a very ordinary thing. You
walk, and you are walking. You eat, and
you are eating. Enlightenment is not
about having extraordinary experiences
so much as recognizing that each
ordinary moment is extraordinary in
itself. Before, there were a thousand
interpretations in the mind for
everything you experienced. Now, there
is only the experience.
It is also important to distinguish
between enlightenment experiences and
the state of enlightenment.
Enlightenment experiences are peak
experiences or high energy experiences.
You may go into a peak experience after
a deeksha. You may already have had
several peak experiences through the
course of your life. The kundalini
energies within your body rise up to the
top of the head, unite with the cosmic
energies, and you experience bliss,
unconditional love, or cosmic
consciousness. You may see celestial
visions, even journey into higher ‘lokas’,
or heavenly realms.
Peak experiences cannot be sustained
beyond a few hours or at most a few
days. The cosmic energies coursing
through your nervous system would burn
you out and short-circuit the human
body, at least in our current level of
human evolution. An enlightened state,
on the other hand, is permanent. It is
a shift in the neurobiological pathways
of the brain, resulting in the
sharpening of the senses, and the
subsequent loss of a fixated self.
After a deeksha, there will often be a
sequence of one or more peak
experiences, which will eventually
stabilize into enlightenment as a
permanent state.
This can be illustrated in the form
of a graph. Supposing the unenlightened
person operates from a minus 2 or 3 or
4, depending on their level of
suffering. When the deeksha is given, it
will catapult them into a plus 3 or 4,
where they may have all sorts of
phenomenon associated with unity
consciousness. This peak experience
will not last long, and after a few
hours, the experiences will subside.
However, once they have experienced an
enlightened state, they will not
generally dip below the zero-point of
suffering. They may stabilize at 1 or
2. During the next deeksha, they may go
up to 4 or 5, and then stabilize at 2 or
3. The stabilizing point is higher with
each successive peak experience.
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