Stephanie - 
I've been practicing Reiki for a while.  Can I practice this meditation as well, what's the difference?

Dear Stephanie,


This is a great question and I think I've heard this question being asked at Sahaja Meditation centers on several occasions.  I am not an expert on Reiki so bear with me on this one (I am not really an expert on Sahaja meditation either, but significantly more experienced I should say!).


To my knowledge, some things that ring similar - Reiki uses the spiritual energy, seemingly like Sahaja Meditation does.  It has some mention and reference to chakras as well.  However, it is not clear to me that it uses the Kundalini energy that resides at the base of the spine.  


Sahaja Meditation on the other hand is very clear about what this energy is, where it is located, how it moves up and so on.  Secondly, vibrations are the sensory perceptions of our body detecting the flow of this energy.  Every practitioner can feel the energy and the vibrations and work on himself / herself.   I've not been able to figure out yet whether Reiki really uses the Kundalini energy or not.  I've also heard people practice it tell me that some kind of an aura is used and so on.  Does Reiki really awaken the Kundalini?  I am not sure.  Or does it allow the practitioner to feel and manipulate the energy?  In Sahaja Meditation, every practitioner becomes an expert over time without the need for a "healer" or "teacher" or "expert" to work on him / her.


Still more important, a big difference is that Reiki is heavily centered and focused around therapy and healing, where as the goal of Sahaja Meditation is very different - it is do with enlightenment or Self-Realization, personality improvement and spiritual emancipation.  Cure is only a coincidental benefit.


Lastly, there seems to be some focus on breathing in Reiki whereas there is little or no focus in Sahaja Meditation on breathing techniques.


Coming to the question on whether the two can be practiced at the same time, I'd say No.  You would probably confuse yourself, your physical and subtle system by doing both.


You will need to be clear about what your goal is, where you are likely to get maximum benefits and do the one thing that helps you meet your goals.  If your goal is Spirituality, enlightenment and overall self-improvement, Sahaja Meditation is the way to go, if your focus is healing, then you are probably looking at Reiki - but with either, I'd suggest that you be clear about what you are really doing and why.


-Shankar

Michelle Yu 
- You say Sahaja Meditation is not like other meditation.  More difficult.  How long it takes to do this meditation daily?

Answer - 


Dear Michelle,


I didn't mean to imply that Sahaja Meditation is difficult or longer by way of time or effort needed to practice it - just that it is much deeper than other usual forms of meditation in what it offers and also that it is better practiced as a long term commitment.


To your specific question, you will need to practice it for around 15 mins.. sessions, optimally twice a day, once in the morning and evening.  However, there are no set rules and you could do more on some days and less on others - this is flexible and it depends on  how much of meditation you really need.  As you practice Sahaja Meditation, you will become the best judge of how much you need and at what times - that is the best approach.


There are also additional techniques for clearing out the energy centers such as footsoaking and so on that you can learn - these also can be performed as needed.


So, Sahaja Meditation is not difficult or time-consuming when compared to other types of meditation, it's just that you've got to stick with it long enough to see benefits.  Also, if you are one of the lucky ones, you could start feeling the cool energy very quickly, in a matter of days...it varies from individual to individual.


Best Regards,
Shankar

Reader - You've spoken about spirituality so many times and also that Sahaja Meditation is 100% spiritual.  What, in very simple terms, is spirituality?  Can you give a common man's definition?

Answer -
Dear Reader,


Thanks for pointing out that I haven't really explained what Spirituality really is.  Spirituality simply means getting to know our spiritual being, experiencing it and then focusing our lives to improve it on multiple qualitative dimensions.  Our spiritual being comprises of the Spirit or soul that resides in our heart, the subtle energy centers, energy channels and the primordial energy at the base of the spine (Kundalini).  These 4 parts comprise our spiritual being and this being is created by God and indestructible unlike the physical body.


So, if someone were to ask you "Who are you?  Are you this physical body?  Or the mind? Or something else?"  - The real answer is that "I am the spirit or spiritual being".


Now, how does one find one's spiritual being?  That happens by the Inner energy awakening process.  This one-time process helps us detect and feel our spiritual being through the vibrations on the hands and on the top of the head as well as feel the actual energy centers in our body.


Any imperfections or imbalances in our energy centers represent areas for improvement overall in our spiritual being.  Once your inner energy has been awakened, you will be able to feel your energy centers, the imbalances and work on correcting these - this cannot happen overnight - it is a life time process.  


If you've watched the popular sitcom "Everybody loves Raymond", there's one episode dedicated to Ally's question to Ray - "Why did God create us or put us on this earth - why didn't we just stay in Heaven?"  The real answer to this question is a great way to understand what spirituality is.


So our main goal of life - the purpose behind God creating us - was for us to improve our spiritual beings.  And this journey of self-improvement can only happen in our human awareness and only when the spiritual being takes birth as human beings.  Each of our lives is an opportunity to improve our spiritual being and become better persons.


Thus knowing and realizing ourselves as the Spirit and working towards improving ourselves on the spiritual front is exactly what Spirituality is.  Sahaja Meditation is one such means to this overall goal of spirituality.


Hope this helps.


Best,
Shankar