Once you have experienced your self-realisation through Sahaja Yoga, a new dimension of awareness is opened up to you. You are able to experience thoughtless awareness, or nirvichara samadhi, which is a state where you are perfectly alert, but are conscious without having to think. This is a truly liberating state, as our state prior to self-realisation is characterised by constant nagging thoughts and worries, or planning for the future.
Another area of awareness that becomes available to you in Sahaja Yoga is known as vibratory awareness, in which you become aware of the state of your subtle system, which is depicted in the diagram. Sensations on the fingertips, such as tingling or heat indicate a problem in an energy centre, whereas coolness is associated with an absence of problems in an energy centre, also known as a chakra. The colours shown in the hand in the diagram correspond to the colours of the energy centres, and in this way you are able to decode the sensations on the fingertips. For example, if the thumb (yellow) on the left hand tingles this indicates a problem with the swadisthan chakra on the left hand side (also shown as yellow in the diagram).
In Sahaja Yoga it is common to hear people talking about being left-sided or right-sided. What does this mean? If you look at the diagram you will notice that there are three channels. There is a blue channel which runs down a person’s left side (as we are facing the person in the diagram it naturally appears on the right-hand side) and is called the left side or in Sanskrit terms, the Ida Nadi, where Nadi means ‘channel.’ On the other side, on the right side of our body, is the right side, or Pingala Nadi. In the middle, running along the spinal chord is the Sushumna, or central channel.
What are the qualities of these three channels? The left channel is also known as the moon channel, and if we move too much into this channel then we can become depressed and in extreme cases, suicidal. It is also associated with feelings of hopelessness, dejection, fear and failure. Normally the colour of this channel is blue, but as we move more towards the left side, the colour becomes quite black. How do we know if we have moved into the left-side i.e. our left channel has become overactive? We can tell from our behaviour, as described above, but through Sahaja Yoga we can also detect this more subtly on our hands. If we feel more coolness on the right hand than the left, then this indicates that we have indulged too much into the left side of our consciousness.
The right channel, or the sun channel, is associated with feelings of elation, excitement, planning too much, being futuristic, dominating and aggressive. The colour of this channel is gold when it is in balance with the left side, but as a person moves more towards the right, the colour changes to yellow, orange and then red as the person becomes increasingly aggressive. The ideal state in Sahaja Yoga is to be in the centre, which means that we are are moving on the central channel, and that we are not too left-sided or too right-sided. In this state we are detached, enjoy being with others, and enjoy ourselves more too. This can be felt on the subtle level as coolness on both hands.
By attending a Sahaja Yoga centre near you, you can find out how to balance yourself on a subtle level.