Choice and Free Will are moment-to-moment things

We choose what we focus on. We choose what we are aware of or experience. We must realize that these choices are our Free Will, and occur with every thought and feeling. Every thought and feeling is a result of what we are choosing to be consciously aware of.

I’ve had mystical experiences throughout my life, and I have had worldly experiences throughout my life. There were times of dichotomy. I would be seeing and experiencing the material world with the senses, body, and mind. Then I would have an experience with my higher nature, with the Holy Ones, or God, and I get a different reality. There was a dichotomy between the higher and lower nature, which I could not bridge. I could have tremendous devotion to try to get to my higher Divine nature, and experience that. I could have discernment and discrimination with my lower nature to minimize the pain, but still felt I had a dichotomy, until I got the meditation techniques. The meditation techniques were the bridge that helped me integrate “Let Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The Sacred sciences of meditation allowed me to begin to see that Shiva and Shakti are ever in union rather than two opposite ends of the pole.

Swami Rama once said that we are already gods, but we must strive to become human beings. The process of integration is what Swami Rama was referring to when he said that most devotees are trying to have the experience of their God-like nature, to realize that they are like God, but they must accept that they are already infinite and eternal, and must also learn how to be human. They must learn how to let their Divine nature come through to be expressed while here as human beings. To do this, we must first and foremost be aware of our Divine nature. We must feel and experience that nature of Satyam, Shivam and Sundaram.

Most people will have the experience of falling in love. They will experience the infatuation, love, and intoxication when they meet someone. That love that they feel will bubble over at times, and in reality is bubbling over from their nature. They will be temporarily in love with life. We need to learn how to take our Divine nature of Om Satyam and bring it into our human encounters. We need both the inhalation and the exhalation. I found it easy to experience the mystical, though I didn’t always understand it. In my youth, devotion seemingly brought the experiences. When I matured and had a greater understanding, I was able to see that the stillness, calling out in devotion, and all my practices before I arrived on earth had developed this devotion. My mystical experiences were the result of work in the heavens, or my past.

As my understanding grew, I understood that the mystics prepare for their incarnation. They prepare in the heavens before they incarnate, and then when they incarnate, there will be a harvest of that preparation. We can work to become aware of this…of who we are, where we came from, and where we are going. The first time I saw Sri Chitrabhanu, he asked, “Who are you?” I worked on it. The first time I saw Swami Rama, he asked, “Where are you from?” and I worked on that also. I worked on: Who was I, and where was I from, what was my past history, what was my Wholistic nature? As long as I was working on “who am I” wholistically and what was my past tradition, then I was working on a larger vision of my Self, and was not working on my lower ego. In college I worked on the universalness of all of humanity. I tried to understand and see what was universal and similar in all people that I encountered. I studied people, and it was truly a delightful time of learning. I wasn’t caught up in what I wanted or needed for my own ego. As long as I was studying, learning, and growing, there was a joy and inclusiveness to life. Everyone has the same universal qualities, just in different arrangements.

Om namo ari hantanam, Om namo Siddhanam

”I bow to the conquerors of their inner enemies, I bow to the Realized Souls.”

This mantra is acknowledging the process of spiritual evolution. It is acknowledging that we want to attain a higher, more complete, state of awareness. It is also acknowledging our humility, or willingness to learn and accept guidance. It acknowledges that there are those have gone before us. The Realized Souls are the ones who have built the bridges that help us go from this worldly life into our Wholistic nature.

Om namo ari hantanam is our acknowledgement that there are others who are conquering their inner enemies and going beyond their samskaras, just as we wish to do. This gives us a peer group, a sangha of fellow travelers. They may not be our coworkers, or even our biological family. The very acknowledgement of this mantra gives us a sangha.

Om namo Siddhanam acknowledges that the journey is possible, faith that the attainment of the goal is possible, and that others have attained. This new peer group of people or spirits is whom we wish to associate with. They have conquered their inner enemies or samskaras, and have attained their goal of realizing their Divine nature. Om namo siddhanam acknowledges our Inner Guru, our own state of Christ/Krishna Consciousness, acknowledging and reinforcing that aspect of our eternal nature that calls out for, and strives to attain, our Wholistic nature.

It is easy to get lost in the feelings of aloneness and loneliness when we feel we cannot relate to life around us. Most of humanity is not seeking their Wholistic nature. Most people are like children playing in creation, and are satisfied with playing with the creation, and are satisfied with their attachments to their ideas of incompleteness or separateness. They may be dissatisfied with the results they are getting, but they are not yet willing to go beyond their limited beliefs and ideas. There will be times we feel we are all alone. I wrote a poem about these times…

it is better

to call out to Divine Mother

in your aloneness

than to seek shelter

in the arms

of someone else

I was not referring to Divine Mother who was away from me, but was calling out to the Divine vibration, the Om, the Word, God both manifested and unmanifested, of which I was a part. I found more comfort in feeling that vibration then I did in the arms of others, whether it was friends, coworkers, lovers, or people still caught up in choosing the idea of separateness and incompleteness. There was a period of transition where I didn’t feel connected to the whole, where I felt lonely or separate. During this transitional period, I chose which peer group I was going to associate with. I chose God and the Holy Ones… Om namo ari hantanam, Om namo siddhanam.

This calling out is part of the inward journey. There is also the outward journey of touching and perfecting the outer journey. This is about feeling the connection with the biological family, friends, coworkers, humanity, and even those who are not seeking the inner life. This connection can be experienced at the heart chakra with the Satyam. If you can look into the heart of every man, you can see the face of God, because everyone’s heart chakra is where their Soul is. This is the Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram nature. Ideas, beliefs, interests, and samskaras are all just clothing that the Soul wears, which is part of the diversity of life/God. This is learning to appreciate the diversity.

Being Wholistic is not about renouncing the lower chakras. Being Wholistic is being inclusive of the vibrations and qualities of all the chakras and their petals. This is why the greatest religion is love and the study of life. The greatest spiritual practice we can do is to have the desire, inclination, and willful activities that allow us to continue to learn and grow and expand our awareness of our Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram nature. Our goal should be to experience the ever-newness of Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram, both in meditation and in activity. To experience life Wholistically and to rejoice in God completely should become our main goal, and where we direct our conscious willful efforts. We should use the Om Shakti Ram Rama Shiva Om mantra to redirect our lower ego…”I want to rejoice in God completely.” We should use it to direct our Universal ego by harmonizing with Shivam. Then we can surrender to the Divine impulse or Will, and finally surrender to God without form, or the pure Satyam Consciousness.

Spirituality is touching and perfecting both the inner life and the outer life.

When I say “perfecting” I am not talking about a worldly or intellectual definition. “Perfecting” is the ability to experience the Satyam vibration that permeates everything, that always has been, is now, and forever shall be. The Satyam Consciousness is the pure Consciousness from the formless, through the Christ/Krishna Consciousness, the Holy stream, the Soul, the Causal, the Astral, and the Physical. There is only one God. Perfection is being aware of and experiencing the Satyam Conscious vibration in all life. If we choose to be rajasic, we manifest that pure Satyam vibration in our activities all the way to the Physical, which is the most limited, and then we turn around and go inward again. The Soul will call out for both the inhalation and the exhalation. We exhale completely to the Physical, and then inhale back to the God Consciousness. This is our journey, our infinite and eternal journey.

The most Sacred mantra is the Om mantra. Om can be experienced at all levels of creation. At its subtlest level we surrender to the, “Be ye still and know that I am God.”

Namaste

Surrendering to the pure experience of the moment is easier to do in meditation where we have temporarily withdrawn from our ideas and society’s ideas of what we should be doing, and who we should be, and what we should be practicing or vibrating.

When we meditate, we temporarily let go of our expectations of the people around us. We let go of our expectations of our lower ego, and even the Universal ego. And when we let go of all our expectations in meditation, we will find it easier to surrender to the pure experience of sacred vibrations. In meditation, we focus on the Divine vibration (mantra) that we have chosen to experience. We gently repeat the mantra, and gently let any thoughts or ideas, which may come in, just pass on by without dwelling on them. We return to the mantra and the pure experience of its vibration. When we begin to feel the vibration of the mantra within us, we continue vibrating and identify with the mantra until we are saturated with it. From here we can surrender or immerse into the Divine impulse or vibration.

When we come out of meditation, we take the experience and the vibration and try to feel or experience it in our activities. This can be done when we go beyond our individual ego of ownership: “I want to do this. I desire to have that.” To keep the experience and the feeling that we had in meditation, we surrender to the universal will and the Divine Will. Once we are experiencing the vibration of the Divine impulse, we will be able to do activities that benefit the rest of life. We try to keep this vibration even as we go off to work to provide food, clothing, and shelter for the small family and our self. This is how we utilize meditation as a way of unfolding into our nature inwardly, and then bring that experience back out into our outward journey. Touching and perfecting the outer life is not about being the most skilled artist or musician. Touching and perfecting the outer life is about having the Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram Consciousness, awareness, and vibration in all our activities. We have the vibration while we are skillfully, selflessly, and joyfully doing our work or interacting.

When we desire to know our Wholistic nature, we can add the chakra meditation to our practices. We can then surrender to each of the chakras. During our activities, we can chant the Sacred mantras so that we can continue to feel and experience our nature. We can do our activities selflessly and become aware of our God-like nature, and carry that awareness with us during our activities.

Understanding our dharma or purpose is not something we can figure out with our mind. Dharma is the completion…it is the vibratory nature of the Soul that is being expressed by our life, or simply put, the Soul’s journey. You can use the mind to say, “I am doing this activity, and it is part of my dharma,” but Dharma is never the activity. Dharma is the unique vibration you will have, the vibration of your Soul, the Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram nature of your Soul, which will be vibrating whether you are still or active. You have been uniquely created in the image of God and sent out on your journey. Your unique vibration is the sum total of your experiences as a unique Soul, until this present moment. Sharing this unique vibration is your Dharma. The activities you do are just the vehicles you use. Teaching a meditation class, or shopping in a store, traveling, walking in a garden, or meditating, you are vibrating out, living, and sharing your Dharma when you are aware of your Wholistic nature.

Your evolution is about your Self-awareness of your Wholistic nature. Avatars take on original sin, struggle, suffer, have pain and loneliness. If you read Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda talks about the pain he had when his mother died, and the struggle he had to find God. His father had marriage plans for him. Yogananda’s personal desires differed from his father’s desires. He had to struggle with the lower ego, the universal ego, and finally he had an acceptance into his Wholistic nature, and was able to fulfill his dharma. Yet, as an Avatar, he was able to partially vibrate Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram. Other people were benefiting from it, even if he was not happy at the time. We must see the spiritual journey not just as an evolution, but also as an unfoldment of our awareness into our true nature.

We practice Sacred mantras in our meditations, and also in our affirmations and chanting. We want to vibrate out the vibration that is our Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram nature. We don’t want to just repeat the mantra. We also want to surrender to the experience, and expand our awareness of the vibration of the mantra. We aren’t just singing the chant. We are surrendering to the experience of the Sacred vibration.

Bhagwan Sri Rajneesh (Osho) once said that the advanced Souls find security in the ever-newness of God. He said that without ever-newness, life would become boring and would become a living hell. We have to learn to let go of our ideas and beliefs of what we believe will bring us happiness, or of what our life and Dharma should be. We need to learn to surrender to the pure experience of the moment.

UNDERSTANDING OUR DHARMA OR PURPOSE

This brings us to the purpose of our dharma and our incarnation, which are part of the impulse of God to begin to see the harmony of life. We begin by understanding that the three gunas[1] (tamasic, rajasic, sattvic) correspond with the Individual ego (lower), Universal ego, and Divine impulse or inclination. The lower ego will bring suffering, which is tamasic. No matter what activity we undertake in thought, word, or deed while in the lower ego, it will end with incompleteness and will therefore bring suffering. The Universal ego is rajasic; it is activity. The rajasic activity of the Universal will or ego will be influenced by our intent. What is our intent? Do we want the activity to be selfless and for the benefit of others? This would be sattvic. Do we want the activity to be a harvest for our own benefit? With this, we have added either a sattvic or a tamasic intent to the Universal will. This is why some people can flourish while others, doing the same activity with seemingly the same motives, hardly get anywhere. One has the intent of giving unconditionally, and the other has the intent of partaking in the harvest.

The sattvic guna (vibration) is part of the Divine Will or impulse. It is identified with Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram, and is beyond any thought of individual identity. It is part of the one God, part of the Christ/Krishna Consciousness, part of the Holy Stream. Once we go beyond the Individual ego, and move into the universal ego, we can then surrender to the Divine Will or impulse.

We need to have a working understanding of these three stages of the Divine impulse. Then we need to understand that each chakra is seeking fulfillment, and is calling out for completion.  At the first chakra, we want to survive, learn, grow, and mature. Whether we want liberation, or Self-realization, or just happiness, the Soul will call out for more. The Soul calls out for the completion of the Divine impulse. The Soul will call out for completion of all seven levels, or at each chakra.

The first chakra will want food, rest, self-preservation, and procreation. We can channel it in a more harmonious way by having more prana as nutrition, more meditation to be in harmony with our nature. Instead of sleep, we have rest and feel peaceful. Instead of the procreation desire, we can be more creative within the Divine Will. For the self-preservation instinct, we realize that we are infinite and eternal.

At the second chakra where we are looking for completion in the male/female relationship and for children, instead we can balance the ida and pingala, and allow the sushumna to be the offspring running up to the Christ/Krishna Consciousness, and allowing the kundalini to awaken. When we inwardly find the balance of the ida and pingala, we will no longer feel the pull to have the completion take place externally with the sexual relations of the male/female. Rather we will find a creative expression to fulfill our dharma, whether we choose to be a host to children or not.

At the third chakra, the desire for human affection and connection, and the desire to fit in with humanity will, with meditation, transform into a desire to fulfill our Divine purpose, or dharma. We will begin to feel like we are connected to humanity. We will feel like we have a role or purpose within the Cosmic Consciousness. We will feel the pull of our Soul with God.

At the fourth chakra we have unconditional Love. We begin to live in a state of Om Satyam, Om Shivam, Om Sundaram. We now begin to give to life, give to God, give to humanity, give to the planet, give to the angels and devas. No matter who we encounter, we will want to be constantly feeling Om Satyam. That is what we are trying to vibrate out and identifying with. No matter what we come into contact with, whether the minerals, animals, plants, humans, angels or devas, they will benefit from the Om Satyam joy of love, harmony, and beauty that we are vibrating.

At the fifth chakra, we are now willfully vibrating the Om Satyam. We are willfully manifesting and beginning to create more Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram. Instead of just identifying with and vibrating Divine love, we are beginning to willfully channel and manifest more of the Om Satyam. We are beginning to influence those who think of, or come in contact with us. We are beginning to influence those that our vibration reaches or touches. The power of our vibration will reach out to be inclusive of all we are aware of.

At the sixth chakra, we continue to expand beyond the Universal will to the Christ/Krishna Consciousness. We are now in union with God. We are from God, of God, and part of God. We are now becoming the Divine Will. We begin to create more and more Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram.

We have become what is referred to as a Realized Soul, or an Enlightened Being.  When this Realized Soul attains liberation and leaves the body, and then comes back out of the formless and takes an incarnation, they are given the title of Avatar. This Avatar, or Divine Light that incarnates back, takes on original sin and ideas and samskaras, which they will have to work off.  Still there will be a part of their consciousness that is in a constant state of union with the Christ/Krishna Consciousness. They will constantly be emitting the vibration of Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram. When you read the ancient scriptures, you will find stories of someone who walked into the presence of a young child, not knowing who they were, and they were uplifted and healed because the Divine Light was so strongly vibrating out of the child. This is the state we strive to attain. I don’t necessarily mean attaining the state of being an Avatar and healing people, but to the state of realization of the Christ/Krishna Consciousness, the state of being in union with God. This is the state of Oneness, the dance of the Soul with absolute God Consciousness. We will be vibrating Satyam and continuously giving it to life at all levels. This is the Soul calling out for more, and experiencing its completion.

INDIVIDUAL WILL (lower ego)

First Chakra: Seed mantra Lam. The first chakra is about the four primal instincts (food, sleep, procreation, and self-preservation). This is also the lower ego, where people are thinking only of themselves and their own personal wants and desires. Self-centeredness is the vibration and quality of the first chakra. This is fine in a young child or Soul. It allows for self-preservation, and protection of the vehicle (body) that the Soul is using on its journey during the incarnation. The vehicle is used for the learning, growing. and maturing of the Soul. This is a natural healthy state. When we evolve beyond this stage, we don’t renounce the first chakra, but include the qualities of the first chakra into the qualities of the second chakra.

Second Chakra: Seed mantra Vam. The second chakra is that of the male/female, the ida/pingala qualities. We balance the male/female qualities with our love and relationships within the family unit. We can provide a loving relationship to bring other Souls into an incarnation. The male/female relationship and small family unit is a natural evolution when we quit thinking of only our self and want to include others in our life. At some point there is the natural desire for the inclusion of a member of the opposite sex, and having children also becomes a natural step. The small family grows, and the procreation instinct of the first chakra is completed. At the second chakra, creativity is also stimulated.

UNIVERSAL WILL (higher ego)

Third chakra: Seed mantra Ram. As we continue to evolve, we want to experience more of life. Now we move to include the large family or our community, country, and all of humanity. At this stage, our “family” is not limited to only those we are biologically connected to, but all of humanity becomes our family. We aren’t renouncing the small family of spouse, children, or parents, nor do we renounce self-protection and self-preservation. Instead, our vision has expanded to include all of humanity as our family. As we evolve as a human being we become more and more inclusive. We expand our consciousness. The first two chakras are the individual will (lower ego), which is the first stage of our evolvement and development of the Divine inclination. The third and fourth chakras expand to include the universal will.

Fourth chakra: Seed mantra Yam.  To continue maturing, we must go beyond the individual ego to the universal ego. This is where we make the inward journey to the inner consciousness. We must become aware of our larger Self. We move up into the fourth chakra, which is beyond the self-centered and dualistic nature. The fourth chakra is the residency of the Soul. It is also the part of God that is the Soul of humanity. When we expand into the fourth chakra or fourth level of creation, we begin to feel unconditional love toward others. This is love without any conditions. We begin to accept and appreciate others as they are. We begin to accept and appreciate the Wholisticness of God. Many people have an understanding of God that revolves around human characteristics or qualities. At the fourth chakra we expand out to be more inclusive of qualities of the mineral kingdom, bird kingdom, animal kingdom, the human kingdom, the angels and deva kingdom, the Christ/Krishna Consciousness and the Prophets, Masters, and Avatars. We include the Wholistic qualities of life or God. At the fourth chakra, we are more and more inclusive. Our understanding, appreciation, and acceptance have begun to expand beyond human qualities to include more wholistic qualities (or God).

FROM THE UNIVERSAL WILL (Ego) TO THE DIVINE WILL

Fifth chakra: Seed mantra Ham. As we continue to evolve and mature, at the fifth chakra we begin to go beyond the Universal will and surrender to the Divine Will. Instead of thinking only of what is beneficial for the individual and the international community, we begin to think of what is beneficial for the creation, the whole, or the wholistic body or Self. It isn’t about just the body, senses, mind, and Soul, but we also begin to think about the harmony of God. We surrender to the Holy Stream, the Aum. We become inclusive. “Going beyond” means being more open and inclusive. At the fifth chakra we have an awareness, interest in, and activity at all five chakras. We have the willingness to surrender to dharma, or the purpose of our Soul, the purpose of our incarnation, the purpose for which God created the Soul. We have the willingness to accept that we are no longer just an individual unique identity, but rather are a manifestation or Divine expression of God. This begins to take place at the fifth chakra, where this connectedness to the whole begins to manifest as our consciousness. We begin to become aware of the will of God.

Sixth chakra: Seed mantra is a short OM.  Still evolving, we become all inclusive at the Christ/Krishna Consciousness. Now we are identifying with the Word. Once we begin to be all-inclusive, we are in union with God. The Word was from God, of God, and is God. Once we begin to identify with the Christ/Krishna Consciousness, we are moving beyond even the universal ego into the Divine Will, the Divine inclination, or the Divine impulse. From this level, we continue to surrender from the Om into the absolute God Consciousness and immerse into God the Absolute. When we do this, we have completed our journey back home. Then we come back out into manifestation, all the way to the Physical, and then go all the way back to the formless, like Divine waves, Shiva and Shakti and Shakti and Shiva ever in union.

Seventh Chakra: Seed mantra is a long OM. However, we do these Oms more quietly and peacefully until we can surrender into peace, into the God Consciousness. The mantra is the stillness or quietness itself. This is the “Be ye still and know that I am God.” The Om mantra is the Word, is from God, of God, and is God.  As we are vibrating this out, quieter and quieter, we become the alpha and omega.  Then all we have to do is surrender into the absolute God Consciousness to experience this eternal part of our nature, this eternal part of God. When we come back out again, we try to be aware of the vibration and the qualities at each of the levels of creation or chakras. We also try to continue to be aware of all qualities of our Wholistic nature during our activities.

We do the chakra meditations with the intention of becoming aware of our Wholistic nature. We aren’t trying to just become aware of a vibration within us that we call chakras. We are trying to be more inclusive, to unfold into who we already are because we are all created in the image of God. A baby doesn’t have to grow up to adulthood to become human; even in its infancy it is already a human. The baby already has the potential to grow into a child, a teenager, a young adult, and a mature person. The potential is there, and it just takes time and awareness to continue growing and evolving. We are created in the image of God, and chakra meditations allow us to become aware of our Divine nature. Unlike the child that needs years to grow, we only need awareness of our nature to grow spiritually.

Om Shakti Ram  Rama Shiva Om

Rejoicing in God completely, rejoicing in life completely!

This should be the theme of our life. We should work towards a lifestyle that revolves around rejoicing in God completely.

And if we are going to make our life revolve around God, we will need to have a wholistic understanding or definition of God. When we study the Holy Ones or the Realized Souls, they have said that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was from God, of God, and is God. Therefore, the Om, the Aum, is the voice of God, the first Word. “In the beginning was the Word.” This is the first inclination or impulse of God that permeates everything manifested. Therefore, to start with, the working definition of God is the sum total of everything unmanifested and manifested. And our purpose in life is to rejoice in life (God) completely.

If we study both our Self and God, we will realize that there are seven levels to this vibratory nature of God. Starting with God the Absolute that is beyond all form, then comes the Word or the Om, which is the first form, then comes the Holy Spirit, then the Soul, then the Causal, then the Astral, and then the Physical. When we study our Self, we will realize there are seven chakras. These are the junctions or energy centers in the cerebral-spinal system where the ida, pingala, and sushumna meet. Each energy center corresponds to a vibratory level of creation: Seventh center or crown center, the formless; the Sixth center, the Christ/Krishna Consciousness; the Fifth center, the Holy Stream or the Aum; the Fourth center, the Soul; the Third center, the mind or the Causal body; the Second center, the senses or the Astral body; and finally the First center, the Physical body or Physical creation. If we are going to rejoice in God completely, we must realize and experience our Self at all seven chakras, all seven levels of creation.

We do the chakra meditations to first become aware of the chakras within our cerebral-spinal system. We then strive to become aware of the seven levels of God. With the chakra meditation, we begin to make the conscious willful effort to realize our Wholistic Self, and we begin to live more wholistically. Each individual chakra corresponds to an aspect of Divinity of the large body of God, or our Wholistic Self.

We must come to realize/experience our Wholistic Self, and begin to live within our whole Self. When we do, we will then realize that these seven levels of creation, or the seven chakras, are in three basic groups. In ancient scriptures, they talk about the triune nature of God. The triune nature of God is the Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram nature. An expression of this nature is the inclination or Divine Will of God. God the Absolute, that always has been, is now, and forever shall be, is a pure state of consciousness, which is complete.

When the Word, Om, begins to manifest out, it becomes the Divine impulse of God. Then we encounter the Mayac sheath and the idea of separateness, or the cosmic dance, and we have the higher and lower ego. The Divine impulse has a triune nature, the Divine Will, a Universal will, and an Individual will. This is a reflection of the triune nature, and is seen in the idea of separateness. The Individual will (ego) is like the nature of humanity. The Universal will (ego) is like the heart of humanity where the saints and sages live in order to serve humanity. The Divine Will is like the nature of the Soul, a oneness with God, and vibrating the Divine Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram Consciousness. These are three distinct vibrations of the Divine impulse.  The Shiva–to–Shakti vibration is the Divine impulse, Divine inclination, or the Will of God (all are names for the same thing). We gain understanding of the triune nature of God by Self-analysis or Self-study in meditation. When we study our self, humanity, and God, we will realize that the chakras, and their qualities that we live, are a reflection of our evolutionary maturity as a human being, and as a Soul.

The Soul usually isn’t thought of as a body, but it is a unique Consciousness. This Consciousness is fulfilled by experiencing Satyam, Shivam and Sundaram. The Causal body is satisfied by the appreciation of the harmony of life. The Astral body is fulfilled by the delight of the senses with music, art, nature, love, and connectedness with the whole of humanity. The Physical body feels fulfilled with activity or action that is beneficial and healthy for the body.

When we look for the fulfillment of the Soul and the three bodies, we look for the activities that are in harmony with nurturing the bodies. For the Physical body, we can use Karma Yoga, or doing for others, doing beneficial exercise or service, eating foods and drinking liquids that are beneficial to the body.

For the Astral body, we look for what is uplifting for the human spirit. Art should be uplifting to the human spirit; it should inspire the human spirit. Anything can be said in a creative way, but when it is negative or tamasic, it will bring pain and suffering. The Astral body desires, delights in, and needs the nutrition of art, music, and creativity. We need to begin to look for beauty, inspiration, and upliftment. We can retrain ourselves in this way to constantly be looking for the beauty, the Om Sundaram, Om Shivam, and Om Satyam. If we don’t retrain our self, we will miss the beauty. Photography, used for the specific purpose of taking pictures of beauty, will help retrain us to look for the beauty and harmony.

With the Causal body, we can develop appreciation and acceptance of the diversity of life, of the creation. We begin to appreciate and study this diversity, just as it is. We aren’t appreciating what it will do for us, but we are learning to appreciate life as it happens. We will then begin to delight in it. We don’t live without discernment. As an example, we can appreciate dirt in our garden as we grow our plants and flowers, however we do not want it in our bed. We discern and appreciate patterns of living energy for its nature and what its purpose is. This appreciation is inclusive of the Physical action, the art and creativity of the Astral (senses), and the harmony or interwovenness of life at the Causal (mind). The harmony, interwovenness, and appreciation of life includes our awareness of life all the way from the Christ/Krishna Consciousness to the mineral kingdom.  The appreciation, delight, and harmony is the Om Shivam that helps fulfill the heart, mind, body, and Soul.

Being in a state of openness, having an open heart, mind, and Soul, is living in a state of Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram. When we are living in our nature, we will naturally be doing the things wholistically. At this point, we will be living and fulfilling our dharma, fulfilling the purpose of our Soul. We may never fully see what our total dharma is, because that is God’s vision, but we will be able to tell by the joy, love, bliss, and even waves of ecstasy, when we are living our dharma.

This begins with breath awareness, and then expands to prana awareness, and then expands into our Wholistic or Divine awareness. We begin to retrain our limited habits and ideas, and begin to expand our whole consciousness.