And just like that it’s over…
I’ll be heading home tomorrow. This trip was an intense roller coaster ride — going into the depths of myself in this pressure cooker bubble of a place. It was intense for the students and everyone else involved in the class including the trainers in training (TNTs). I was poked, provoked, confronted, and in the end — elevated. This is the style of communication that Yogi Bhajan advocated.
This is what I have learned the most:
How to communicate, and to communicate in a compassionate and uplifting way. Words can inflict violence. People, especially those that you love, remember the negative more than the merits that you’ve cultivated together. Yogi Bhajan had said “… under no circumstances are you required to speak the negative language, and you must not communicate in a way which will be offensive. Neither should you speak in a way that should be just buttering? Speaking should be neither overdoing nor under-doing nor super-positive nor super-negative.”
I want this etched to memory: The rules of harmonious communication as espoused by Yogi Bhajan:
Rule One: You are communicating for a better tomorrow, not to spoil today.
Rule Two: Whatever you are going to say is going to live forever. And you have to live through it. Therefore, take care that you don’t have to live through the mud of your own communication.
Rule Three: One wrong word said can do much more wrong than you can imagine or even estimate.
Rule Four: Words spoken are a chance for communication. Don’t turn them into a war.
Rule Five: When you communicate, you have to communicate again. Don’t make the road tough.
He offered two ways to improve communication: One is to stand in front of a mirror, talk to your image and respond back on behalf of the image as if it were a separate personality. Or two, record everything you say during the day (with permission from others you are talking to) and listen to it in the evening. He said to, “Listen to what you have said and understand how offensive, neurotic and inhuman you are from the conversations you made. Then, create a harmonious communication out of your recording. The practice is called ‘hypnotic communication of self-correction.'”
There are tools too to help you not react. One of the students shared a tip from Snatam Kaur, where you can excuse yourself and push your tongue under the lips. Another tool is to press the tips of the pinkie finger and thumb together (buddhi mudra) which will help carry you through any kind of communication. And quoting Rumi, ask yourself if it’s “true, necessary, or kind”?
Remember the sole purpose of communication is to elevate, as Yogi Bhajan said. “[To] uplift the person by raising the energy… Transformation is based on inspiration and support and the giving of hope.”
Seeing you off with a forecast.
It’s a new moon today in Virgo at 6:37 pm (Manila time). Intuitive Astrology says that this is the time to set your projects going. “If there is a project we are wishing to get off the ground or something we are looking to speed up or add some steam too, this New Moon will help push things along.” Now is the time to make a long ‘to do’ list of everything that you want to accomplish before the year ends.
I’ll be back in Manila next week and classes start with the Four-week Heal Your Karma series on September 5, and sound healing gong bath sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. The Siargao Weekend Getaway Retreat has slots left if you want to connect to your inner glow or if you just need to recharge and reboot.
The two winners of the #LiveHealBloomKundaliniYogaChallenge for prosperity will be posted on Facebook. To all those who participated, thank you and may you enjoy the prosperity you sought for. And remember that should the universe reward you, they are meant to be shared with those in need, which is why the last step of the challenge is to donate to a charity of your choice. After all, Yogi Bhajan had sternly said, “When you don’t give anybody anything you will never be prosperous.”
See you soon. May these words, as well as your own, help someone bloom.
In loving service,
Rosan
