by Yogi Bhajan: Why do we get up for morning sadhana?
Because we have to face the whole day, and we cannot face the day without a constant level of energy. People love you for three things only: wisdom, commitment, and consistency.
Wisdom is the intuitive nature that allows you to give the right answer by listening within the question that is asked. For every question there is an answer in it.
Commitment is the ability for your whole self to sustain its status in projected reality of action. Then people can trust you. Otherwise, it is like building a cozy
bungalow on the top of a volcano. If you act like an earthquake or volcano, who will build upon you?
Consistency is steadiness through time. Sadhana gives us sensitivity to know, to
feel, and to touch. It gives us intuition to touch reality. The methods are three-fold: jappa, tappa, sanjam. Jappa is repetition. Tappa is the heat of central impulsation. Sanjam is merger through simran—meditation on a very slow, conscious breath.
In your consciousness, you must find a time to ask yourself three questions:
- “How much am I a part of the I which made me what I am?”
- “During my working day, during my existence, during my awareness, how much of the time have I been aware that I am part of the greatness that I am?”
- “What can I do to extend myself to the greater I AM of which I am a part?”
In finding the answers to these questions, you will find your way from the realm of finite ego to the realm of higher consciousness, and you will have the experience of total relaxation into mental happiness and contentment.
Group Sadhana
All for One, and One for All
Your body is the temple of God, and your soul is the Divine Guru within. So, you get up in the morning, meditate, chant the mantras, do the exercises, call on your spirit, regulate the breath, and you get together in group consciousness. In that way you help each other. Group consciousness in morning sadhana is to help each other. If I am trying to sleep, another is not sleeping. If, in this whole group, one person opens up to God just once, we will all be blessed in his openness. That is what matters. If one has walked into sadhana with heart and soul in a prayerful mind, we will all benefit. That is the power of the group sadhana.
But, we still have something of the past in us. We bring up worries about who should lead. “Oh, that leader has brought a very good sadhana! That one has freaked out the sadhana.” The truth is that nobody freaked out the sadhana, and nobody made it beautiful. It is the will of God which prevails through the soul. When you are a servant, and act as a channel, it prevails through you.
If, in morning sadhana, one cannot curtail the barriers and get to Oneness, I don’t think there is any other time it can happen. All for one, and one for all. That is the principle.
Individual Sadhana
If you must do sadhana by yourself, then while you are chanting, imagine a million others all around you. Hear them all chanting, with you in the middle, not moving at all. Feel that you do not chant physically, and yet are leading the chant and letting the chant lead you. As you imagine this, continue chanting.
