Donna Quesada: Now you were speaking of the neutral mind. This is part of the Ten Bodies which is a unique teaching to kundalini yoga.
And I think a lot of people aren’t familiar with this notion of the Ten Bodies…because we only see one body. Could you speak for a moment or two about the Ten Bodies and how the neutral mind fits into that?
Guru Rattana: Yogi Bhajan gave us a system of the Ten Bodies so that we could understand energetic realities of our physical being. Not just the physical being. So, it gave us a…I’ll explain this briefly. It explains what we can get, as we awaken, and how we can understand our energetic make up. So, the first body’s the soul, and that’s to say, yeah, where is soul in the human body? So, let’s recognize that and go for an experience of our life that is more profound than just, I’m this personality…hope things work out.
And then the next three “bodies“are the mind: negative/positive mind. That’s the dualistic mind…and the neutral mind. So, that’s saying we have a “mind,”as a human being, a “soul” in the human body. We have a mind to work with and this is how the mind works. Part of our mind analyzes things, and if we go into the neutral mind we can see from a different vantage point, a higher vantage point and start connecting to our soul. Once we see the mind, we know we have a mind and how it works, then we can relate to our body in a different way. And so the fifth body is just part of our being, it’s the physical body. I have added to the physical body that the emotional body is part of the physical.
DONNA: Mhmm.
GURU RATTANA: I spent years going through the Ten Bodies, thinking where is the emotional body? And finally, I was like, we just have to add it. Somehow, the system didn’t include it. So, I include the emotional Body with the physical Body. Because both the emotional body and the physical body work through the elements, the tattvas…air, earth, water and fire. And the emotions are the ones that really express those energies. So, that’s number five. Then, after that, we get more into the energetic make up of our being. The arcline is the light that awakens in the mind. It’s like, up like this…the halo, and that awakens the God consciousness. We don’t just have a neutral mind; our neutral mind awakens to God consciousness.
And then it explains that we have an aura—an energetic body around us, that computes from the universe…environmental and universal energies, and reflects our physical energy. So, that gets us in touch with the idea that we are an energetic being…that we don’t just have a physical body…our physical body has energy layers around it. And then eight is prana, the pranic body, the ability of the body to breathe. The ninth body is the subtle body, which is related to the emotional body in a certain way because it carries the emotional imprints that are attached to our soul when we come into physical reality. And our whole evolutionary process is to clean up our subtle body so that when we leave, that’s what we go out with, is a subtle body…is the energy body. We want to clean up our act while we are here. Our emotional, mental program. And as we do that, we get more light in our aura. And when we are all clean and shiny, our aura has a radiant gold light around it and that’s called the radiant body. There’s a lot. I explain this in a lot of my books.
DONNA: I know you do you have a lot of manuals out there and when we close, I want to give people a chance to find those manuals. So, I’ll have you tell them where they can look you up and find out more about your books. You know, a couple of things came to mind while you were explaining that…When you were talking about the subtle body and how that is what we need to clean up while we are here. It sounds a lot like karma. Is that where we carry our karma?
GURU RATTANA: Yeah, that’d be one way to look at it. I mean, it’s imprinted in our physical body, but it’s all interrelated.
DONNA: And is the arcline similar to the aura?
GURU RATTANA: Well, it’s part of the aura, but it’s the part that, when there’s enough light in the upper chakras, then we’re awakened. Neutral is connecting to that part of our mind that can awaken. And the arcline is when it does awaken.
DONNA: So there’s actually an energetic counterpart to awakening? There’s a different way of seeing…what people have to understand…it’s not just a different way of seeing, it’s the energy that sets up that condition for that new way of seeing…
GURU RATTANA: Yes, beautiful! That’s great! I like it, yeah. The energy that sets up the condition for that awakening to happen, yeah.
DONNA: To have the motivation to want to do this…you know, we talked about stress. The idea that things have to be pretty bad. Do we need to have what spiritual traditions have always called “the dark night of the soul?“ Or, “trauma? Or, what Eckhart Tolle calls, a “limit condition?”…in order to want to take on this task of awakening?
GURU RATTANA: Some people need that. If that’s what you need, you’ll get it. If you don’t need it, you might not get it. You might not get that disastrous event that causes you to be motivated. I suggest being motivated without that. But if you need it, the universe and your soul will reach it. Usually happens.
DONNA: And do you need a teacher? Does one need a teacher?
GURU RATTANA: Well, that’s a big question. Depends on what—who is a teacher? There’s lots of teachers, and they teach lots of different things. It’s good to have a Kundalini Yoga teacher to show you the postures, and be in a group and learn how to do the technology. Eventually, we have to become our own teachers. We have to tune in and listen to ourselves. The more appropriate guidance that we can get…it’s always good…we don’t want to be completely by ourselves. We can miss some things…I missed things in my life. If I had known some of the stuff that it took me 20 years to figure out at the early stages, I would’ve trained myself differently. I didn’t know I had trained myself. I just knew that I needed to do the yoga, so I did the yoga every day. But I finally woke up to the fact that I had to train myself to pay attention. So, that took me about 20 years to figure out. So, if you have somebody that can tell you, and then you do it, then that’s great. But eventually, we have to listen to ourselves. So, we shouldn’t use a teacher as a substitute for listening to ourselves and paying attention to ourselves. Yogi Bhajan would always tell us Kundalini Yoga is your teacher. So do Kundalini Yoga, And let it awaken you. And it does.
DONNA: And so, the doing of the yoga, is that what you would call “a practice?”And does it have to be done every day?
GURU RATTANA: It doesn’t have to be. It depends what you want. I do it every day. And if you if you can, the more you do it with consciousness and kindness…you have to be kind to yourself. That’s sometimes the missing piece…like ahhh, everything is so brutal. Nah, it doesn’t work like that. You have to be kind, you have to be disciplined, and not say ohhh I’m…and not be lazy. But you have to honor your body with the attitude of kindness. So, everybody should just do something and find out. The more you do, the more you get. The more you pay attention, the more you get.
DONNA: May I ask you about your pretty pink head covering, for those who might not know? Is that part of the technology? Part of the Yoga tools?
GURU RATTANA: Yogi Bhajan advises to cover our heads. Actually, it’s very interesting, American women created the turban for the women. There were no turbans for women in India. It was only men. And then when the women got introduced to Kundalini Yoga and turbans, and they were like, well what about us? Come on. So, it’s actually the American women that created these turbans for women! It centers your energy, and…gives you a focus. Actually, one time some psychic lady was looking at me when I put on my turban and she’s like, “Oh who are those gurus sitting on your head? As you wrap your turban these gurus started entering your aura.”I went, mmm good!
DONNA: Wow!
GURU RATTANA: I don’t see it…I don’t see it. But it’s very empowering, it’s very centering. When I write my books, I’m always wearing a turban so I get guidance. I don’t even know I’m getting it. But it makes me feel very contained, secure. My brain works better. So, I like it. Try it sometime. You know, you put your hair up on top of your head, and then you wrap something around…get something that you like, that’s pretty. And just try and see how you feel. It’s just an experience. You have to go for the experience. I like it. You might, too!
DONNA: Thank you for that. And so many spiritual traditions talk about the ego. Is that part of this practice? The abatement of the ego?
GURU RATTANA: Well, it depends on how you define ego. In an unawakened state, our ego is the name that’s given to what directs…how we direct our life…the identity structure. The more awake we become, the more our identity structure expands into a more soulful identity. And so, Yogi Bhajan used to tell us, we need an ego. Which I think, he basically meant that we need an identity structure. You can’t just say, ah, whatever. We need an inner guidance, but that inner guidance needs to be awakened to a higher consciousness. So, what directs us is not subconscious programming and the conditioning that we got when we were little…that maintains itself until we die. Unless we wake up to an identity structure that operates from love and compassion, and not fear and anger.
DONNA: So, the ego has the tendency to fall into the lower emotions?
GURU RATTANA: Well, generally, the ego refers to the consciousness, or the lack of consciousness, that is directed by the lower emotions and that subconscious programming. That’s what ego is usually defined as…that our identity structure is in place, and directed, not consciously, through our heart through love, but through fear and anger, and hurt and pain. That’s what usually is associated with ego. That’s why it gets a ”bad”…
DONNA: A bad rap.
GURU RATTANA: Yes, a bad rap.
DONNA: I could ask you questions all day! You’re such a wealth of information. It’s just been a pleasure to talk to you. And as we’ve reached the end of our hour, I would like to ask you, is there anything else that you would like to share with our Awaken listeners?
GURU RATTANA: Do something for yourself. Even one practice a day that’s good. Do it with kindness, and do it with awareness. And your life will change. And then—can I say something about…
DONNA: Of course!
GURU RATTANA: …my online courses?
DONNA: Please!
GURU RATTANA: I have Guru Rattana online. This program is available through YogaTech.com. Maybe you can put that…
DONNA: YogaTech.com?
GURU RATTANA: Yeah, can you put those little, the writing on the…
DONNA: Absolutely. So it’s YogaTech, T – E – C – H dot com?
GURU RATTANA: Yeah. So YogaTech.com is my website. From there you can get access to…it’s by subscription, but it’s like $10 a month. They’re 78 classes that I taught. I did this over a period of four years, developed these courses. And that’s Guru Rattana online. So you can take classes with me everyday…as many as you want.
DONNA: Wonderful!
GURU RATTANA: Yeah, it’s good. And then, there’s all my books.
DONNA: And can they find your books through the same website?
GURU RATTANA: Yes, the same website, they’re all available now as e-books, and PDF.
DONNA: Wonderful!
GURU RATTANA: Most of them are e-books, but they’re all available on PDF. And you can start it with the Introduction to Kundalini Yoga, Volume One& Two. The Power of Neutral, explains everything that we did about today. And in February, I’m going to have a new book, called The Inner Art of Kundalini Yoga: Wake Up to Love. And it explains everything that I said here…
DONNA: I look forward to that!
GURU RATTANA: It’s actually available now, as The Inner Art of Love, but I’m adding a lot to it. And using…I changed the title to The Inner Art of Kundalini Yoga. So, as we do Kundalini Yoga, we know what we’re doing and why were doing it and how to direct and train ourselves, so that we can become conscious quicker. It’s taken me a long time, I can’t really say I’m totally conscious now. But I’m waking up. And so, all the things I’ve learned over 41 years, how to direct our practice, I’ve included in that book. That’s the beginning, and then there’s the other books.
DONNA: I look forward! You are so prolific. It must be all the Kundalini Yoga.
GURU RATTANA: Yes, it helps! It does! I…I got this assignment. I know I’m here on assignment, to do this, so this is my job. I like it very much, and I just do it. I’m writing three more books right now.
DONNA: Wow! Well, I look forward. It’s just been a pleasure to spend this hour with you, Guru Rattana.
GURU RATTANA: Thank you so much! I had a good time. We can do it again!
DONNA: Wonderful! I’d love to, thank you! And Sat Nam!
GURU RATTANA: Sat Nam!
Guru Rattana, Ph.D., author, teacher and teacher of teachers, has been a student of Yogi Bhajan and teacher of his Kundalini Yoga and Meditation for 41 years. She literally lives and loves Kundalini Yoga, and has devoted a large part of her life to teaching and writing books about this amazing technology.
Read and watch Part I Here: Awaken Interviews Guru Rattana – Perceiving What Our Energy’s Doing And How It Relates To Our Soul
Read and watch Part II Here: Awaken Interviews Guru Rattana – Awakening The Neutral Mind
