Interview by Shako Burkhardt, SEIN Magazine, 

with Kiara Windrider
February 15, 2008

I greatly appreciate Amma and Bhagavan, the founders of Oneness University, for holding a vision of global awakening, a vision that I have shared for most of my life. I’m also grateful for what Bhagavan and Amma did in terms of opening up the possibility of awakening for the masses.  What changed for me was my response to the assumption that Amma and Bhagavan themselves were the Divine Source of this blessing, and that Deeksha was the only way a global awakening could happen.

My current approach with Deeksha and Oneness University is the same approach I would have with any teachings, to support what feels right for me and to question what doesn’t.  I support the overall vision and intent expressed through the organizational structure of Oneness University, but there are also certain inconsistencies and blind spots which I do not support.

Yes, I still give Deeksha.  Rather than calling on Bhagavan and Amma, however, I attune directly to the Cosmic Source as I bring the energy through.  I see this as the original essence of the term ‘deeksha’, which is an ancient Sanskrit.term meaning ‘transfer of divine light’.  Ilahinoor comes from the same Cosmic Source, although from a different tradition.  Many find that they experience deep states of cosmic union as they integrate this energy, while at the same time becoming more present and grounded within their physical and emotional bodies.

If a person is attuned to the Cosmic Source, the ilahinoor training can take 3 minutes.  I believe that all of us are already channels for divine light.  The training we are referring to here is simply a matter of focus and intention.  The ‘initiation’ comes not from a person or human organisation, but directly from the morphogenetic fields of an awakened consciousness, and as people open to this field and learn to work with it, they can in turn assist others in doing the same. 

 

The original claim of Deeksha was that it would initiate physiological changes in the brain that would lead to enlightenment, and was the reason many people, including myself, were attracted to this work.  This claim is no longer being made.  I personally believe a lot of premature assumptions were being made, and people were often being told they were enlightened when they were simply having a cosmic experience.  When a ‘dark night’ inevitably followed, people would get terribly confused or disillusioned.  Whether anyone actually got enlightened through deeksha I cannot confirm, although there were many instances when someone was declared to be enlightened and then later pronounced to be unenlightened.  Personally, I think the path to enlightenment requires humility and surrender.  There is no sense in making claims of enlightenment if it is not lived out in compassionate daily action.  However, I do feel that both Deeksha and Ilahinoor can help people on this path by opening the heart, loosening the judgements and controls of the thinking mind, and opening a doorway for each person’s access to their own divine presence. 
 

I don’t see enlightenment as sitting on pink clouds holding hands.  Rather, it is about accepting the pink clouds when they come, and equally embracing the dark storms when they arise.  I would define enlightenment as freedom from the control of the thinking mind, freedom from the polarized perceptions of the personal ego.  When we are no longer identified with the sense of being the ‘doer’, then life becomes a ‘happening’. We spontaneously engage with life in each moment without being overly influenced either by guilt and conditioning from the  past or exaggerated expectations and fears for the future. 

Perhaps there was a ‘pink cloud’ phase early in the Deeksha movement, when many of us felt that enlightenment was just around the corner.  Soon afterwards, however, came the realization that enlightenment is not simply about throwing some kind of switch in the brain, and that it involves a process of emotional and spiritual maturity.  It also requires a period of integration and detoxification on a physical level.  Personally, I see it as a process rather than some kind of magical event.

I do believe that humanity is evolving, whether we call this enlightenment or not.  And I do feel that we are in a time of transition right now, however we choose to label this.  Any kind of quantum awakening necessitates a period of chaos and turmoil, whether on a personal or collective scale.  If we can understand this process it becomes easier for our minds to let go its instinctive fears of mystery and change.

 

A totalitarianism of enlightenment is a contradiction in terms!  However, I do believe that we are evolving into a new species.  Sri Aurobindo referred to this as the ‘supramental awakening’. The ideas and concepts we have about this may have nothing in common with what happens when it actually happens.  We still talk about enlightenment as if it were some kind of  a spiritual achievement, whereas it may simply be one aspect of a much bigger evolutionary process than our limited minds can currently comprehend.  Talking about a ‘golden age’ from the perspective of our current understanding of the universe is like talking about a ‘heaven’ where everyone sits on pink clouds playing harps!

It’s called ‘Journey into Forever’, and addresses some of these same questions you are raising so beautifully.  I feel we are responding to an evolutionary impulse, and that there are physical as well as mystical aspects to this.  For instance, what does it mean that our minds and memories are linked to the magnetic fields of the Earth, and that these fields are collapsing?  What does it mean when scientists tell us that the basic harmonic frequency of all matter within our solar system is getting ready to change?  What do global warming and climate changes have to do with the kundalini activations so many people are  spontaneously experiencing today?  How do techniques such as Deeksha, Ilahinoor, and so many more fit into this bigger picture? And most importantly, what choices do we have in shaping this evolutionary process?

If we can drop into our hearts, and touch the truth of who we are, if we can look into the mirror and embrace all that we see, if we can let go of  perceptions of reality based on conditioned responses to life, then we are on a path of freedom, no matter what else we call it.  The techniques and the mind games are not so important.  What is important is to discover a basic level of trust within ourselves and for the universe, and to move out from a fixation with our own personal dramas to a place of clarity where we can be in service to the whole.  This is what I most wish to facilitate for people, and what many people begin to experience in the seminars I offer.