Shaktipat as Explained by Guru Siyag

Below is an extract taken from a discourse Guru Siyag delivered in the year 1996. Here, Guru Siyag explains 'Shaktipat Diksha': 

"The method of Diksha I use has been gifted to mankind by the Nath Sect in the yogic tradition. It is called 'Shaktipat'. Shaktipat does not mean the seeker receives some external force through the Guru (as is populist belief). To use siample analogy, the term Shaktipat is like using one lighted lamp to light another which is not yet lit. 

You are like the unlit lamp, which has everything — the wick, oil, etc. All you need is another lighted source to light up the flame in your lamp. Once you join the lighted source, you will yourself become a lighted one. This is how I can describe the Skatipat process in a broad sense. "

Here is the process of getting Shaktipat and proctice to make further spiritual progress:

Step 1: Watch the following short video to receive Guru Siyag's Mantra Initiation. This mantra must be received in Guru Siyag's voice only. That is the reason you need to watch this video from Guru Siyag. 

http://www.the-comforter.org/siddha-yoga-philosophy-and-online-initiation.html

By listening to above video and receiving the divine mantra, you will be completing the initial process of getting the divine spark. You need to do this step only one time.

Step 2: Meditate two times a day 15-30 Minutes using the simple method listed in the link below:

http://www.the-comforter.org/How_to_Meditate.html

Step 3: Mentally and silently chant the Mantra received in step 1 throughout the day and night as much as possible


That’s all. Isn't that easy and simple!

Now what? Here are few things that may or may not happen with you. Every ones experience is different. So if your experience is different do not panic. Continue with the practice. 

During meditation, you may experience certain automatic yogic postures or movement of your limbs. Swaying, nodding of head, rapid movement of head from left-to-right or vice versa, inflating or deflating of belly, clapping, grunting, moaning or laughing can happen in many cases. Do not panic or worry. These actions, happen involuntarily, are ordained by divine force, and they are needed for your internal cleansing and readying you for further progress.
You may also experience vibrations, see bright lights, colors or even have visions or revelations of the past and future events. These are indications that you are progressing well on the spiritual path. 

However, if you do not experience any yogic postures or see visions, it does not mean that you are not making progress. In all probability, the divine force awakened in you has perhaps decided that you don't need these experiences. Go to the "FAQ" section to read more on this topic

Here on... all you need to do is meditate two or more times a day as per the link provided and chant the divine mantra silently in your mind as much as possible throughout the day. 

Spiritual Milestones of Guru Siyag's Siddha Yoga

Most disciples are aware of the material benefits of practicing Guru Siyag's Yoga: Freedom from diseases, addiction and stress. When disciples experience these benefits they know they are progressing. But what are the many spiritual experiences that act as milestone of progress? Given below are a few (these are NOT the only markers of progress): 

1. GSSY is based on the Ashtānga (eight-fold / eight-limbed) philosophy of Yoga as codified by Sage Patānjali in the Yoga Sutra. The practice of GSSY leads to an easy and effortless realization of these eight limbs. 

2. After sustained practice, mantra chanting (mental repetition) becomes involuntary. This experience is known as Ajapā Jāpa. In this state, the practitioner finds that the mantra is being chanted endlessly within him / her of its own accord, without any effort on the part of the practitioner. 

3. When the seeker chants the mantra relentlessly (or experiences Ajapā Jāpa), it transforms itself into a divine sound. This is known as Anhad Nāda. Physical sound is created when one object strikes another. The Anhad Nāda has no such physical origin; it is an unstruck, ceaseless sound that pervades the entire universe. The Nād is heard by the seeker in one of his ears, and is an indication of the seeker crossing a major threshold of spiritual development. 

4. Through the practice of GSSY, the practitioner attains many divine powers. One of these divine powers is known as Prātibh Gyāna (Intuitive Knowledge). When this knowledge is attained, the practitioner is able to foresee and hear events of the unlimited future and past.

5. During meditation seekers may experience Khechri Mudrā, a yogic posture where the tongue is pulled backwards and prods a point in the roof of the mouth which secrets Amrit a divine nectar, which is the elixir of life. Amrit fortifies the body’s immunity and frees a practitioner from incurable illnesses. 

6. The practice of GSSY brings about a change in the practitioner’s Vrittis (inner tendencies) from Tāmasic (dark, dull, inert) to Rājasic (passionate, energetic) to Sāttavic (positive, pure, enlightened). A transformation in Vrittis essentially means an overall change in the practitioner’s personality. 

7. The practitioner ultimately attains Moksha (liberation from cycle of life and death) and divine transformation.a

Anahat Nād; Anahat Naad Unstruck Sound; Cosmic Sound (अनहत नाद)

Anahat Nād (अनहत नाद): A lot of Guru Siyag's disciples experience the Anahat Nād. We have been asked a number of times what it is and what its experience implies. Below is a brief note on this topic (courtesy GSY disciple Jui Pagedar).

Nād (नाद) in the ordinary sense means sound of any kind. It is created when one object touches, strikes, ruffles or hits another object. Thunder in the sky, rustling of the wind, chirping of birds, strains of instrumental vocal music, whirring of machines, blast of guns, and many other natural or man-made sounds fall in this category of physical sound. 

The term Nād however has a different and special connotation in Yogic literature and practice. Nād in spiritual sense is an unstruck sound — a sound which has not been created by the friction between any objects. It is a ceaseless sound which pervades the entire universe. According to ancient scriptures like the Vedas and the Upanishads, it is from this Anahat (eternal / endless) sound that the entire universe came into being. In fact it is also said that Nād is the manifestation of the divine absolute itself in the form of sound, ‘Om’. It is this divine sound that connects the seeker with higher planes of consciousness. 

Many Guru Siyag’s Yoga practitioners, after experiencing the Ajapā Jāpa (involuntary chanting) stage begin to hear a peculiar non-stop sound in one of the ears. This sound resembles any one of the limitless varieties of natural or manmade sounds. Some of the commonly experienced sounds are: chirping of crickets, buzzing of bumble-bees, notes of a flute, strumming of Veena (a stringed Indian musical instrument), pealing of bells, clash of cymbals etc. This sound that the practitioner hears is called the Anahat Nād (endless sound).

Though this Nād resembles sounds commonly heard in our physical world, it is actually a subtle version of the divine sound that the mantra given by Gurudev represents (Vaikhari Vāni वैखरी वाणी or the articulated word is the grossest form of divine sound energy). So the practitioner actually becomes aware of (or senses) rather than hears the Nād.

As the Nād is a subtler form of Gurudev’s mantra, and it is always the seeker’s endeavor to ascend to subtler planes of consciousness, the practitioner must stop chanting once the Anahat Nād begins. Before one stops chanting, it is important to ensure that the Nād can indeed be heard ceaselessly and is not a brief experience. Listen to the sound carefully for a couple of days. If the intensity of sound grows and can be even in a noisy environment, then know that what you hear is the Anahat Nād. Gurudev advises disciples to listen to this Nād intently as much as possible.

By listening to the Nād with concentration for long periods, the practitioner’s wavering mind gets attuned to the divine sound and eventually becomes one with it. During meditation, the human body acts as the medium for receiving and experiencing vibrations from subtle planes that lie far beyond our physical world. Therefore, Nād that a seeker hears in his ear is not a physical sound but a subtle sound emanating from its original divine source. 

The significance of Nād can be seen in the context of Gurudev’s lucid explanation of how an individual’s spiritual evolution is directly linked to the descent of the divine into matter when the universe was created through ‘Om’, the unstruck sound. The creation of the physical universe happened through five sequential stages when Om, the divine itself, descended from Ākāsh (sky/ ether), the highest plane, through Vāyu (wind), Agni (fire) and Jal (water) onto Prithvi (earth). Each one of the five descending elements represented a grosser form of the divine than the previous one. Prithvi represents the grossest form of matter where the divine settles down and assumes myriad forms — from human to the tiniest of insects and germs. 

There is a subtle element called Tanmātra behind each natural element. These Tanmatras give us our five physical senses. Thus sky has Shabd (speech), the divine word or sound as a subtle element; wind has Sparsh (touch); fire has perception (seeing); water has Swād (taste) and earth has Gandh (smell). These physical senses tie us down to the material plane as a result of which we forget our true divine self and get mired in the illusion of joys and sorrows.