A The word Sahaja means "born with" or "spontaneous" and the word yoga translates as "union"or "connection" with the higher self. Therefore Sahaja Yoga means spontaneous union with the Self, the greater consciousness, and it recognises the intrinsic birthright of all persons to actualise this union.

As with so many teachings and philosophies, the understanding of yoga that we have started to seek here in the West has become somewhat distorted. Many people equate the word yoga with the asanas and postures carried out in the physical form of yoga, such as Hatha or Iyengar Yoga. Whilst these are a part of the yogic tradition they represent only a small part of the enlightenment process. To explain the great Indian Physician and sage Patanjali (5^th Century BC) prescribed a comprehensive system of physical and spiritual practices in the pursuit of healing people in a wholistic way in text known as the Yoga Sutras. Many came to him with physical ailments and until these were alleviated the people in question could not sit comfortably and experience the state of true meditation. The art of slow and deep breathing (prana yoga), the working away past karmas (karma yoga), the physical exercises (Hatha Yoga) and the devotional expression (bhakti yoga) were all parts of the system, designed to assist the practitioner to be able to experience the true state of yoga (Sahaja Yoga).

The pathway to enlightenment is beset with pitfalls, half-truths, contradictory logic and can be altogether confusing. It all seems too hard sometimes with so many choices, so many theologies, systems, practices, teachings. Add to this the plethora of new age paraphernalia that this age of aquarius has spawned, (as we look beyond the material and the artificial to deeper truths) and it gets even harder. One only has to take a visit to the Conscious Living Expo here in Perth each year to see just how many programs, practices and products exist that all promise to turn your life around from crystal balancing to tarot card readings, from massage techniques to past life regressive therapy.

And yet the answer is simple, the truth, the knowledge is innately within you. The wisdom of this is exemplified by the story of the Hindu God Shri Ganesha and his brother Kartikeya, who are instructed to race against each other, and the first one that goes around the circumference of the world 3 times wins. While Kartikeya races off around the globe Ganesha simply walks around his mother 3 times. You see Ganeshas Mother is the Goddess, the divine feminine power that resides in all beings, reflected as the kundalini sitting in your sacrum bone. The allegory suggests that we often go around the world to find the answers, trying out the shopping list of spiritual experiences, before we settle in the knowledge that the truth is within and actually all we need to do is to stop searching, to take the attention inside ourselves, to quieten the mind and rest in the silence. Ultimately in our quest for self-realisation we must stop looking externally and come back to the self. The greatest complexities turn out to be in fact the greatest simplicities!

It is said that human beings only have two problems the past and the future. If our attention is in the present moment then no worries, concerns, fears are present. We are not rehashing past unpleasant experiences and projecting them into a future event. Meditation is about keeping our attention in the moment, in the now. When we do this we feel content, blissful, relaxed. Though we are highly alert and conscious we are not thinking. We are in a state of thoughtless awareness.

The authentic tradition of meditation is a discrete and well-defined experience of a state called thoughtless awareness. This is a state in which the excessive and stress producing activity of the mind is neutralised without reducing alertness or effectiveness. Authentic meditation enables one to focus on the present moment rather than dwell on the unchangeable past or undetermined future. It is this state of equipoise that is therapeutic both psychologically and physically and which fundamentally distinguishes meditation from relaxation, physical rest or sleep.

There are many benefits gained from practicing Sahaja Yoga, both from an individualistic sense ( our personal physical, mental and emotional health), to collective social and economic transformation that benefits the whole of humanity.

By improving certain chakras we can improve our interaction with friends and strangers in society. For example people with low self esteem need to improve their "left vishuddhi" chakra on the left side of the neck. This chakra when blocked makes us feel guilty for everything, makes us feel worthless and blocks the joy of our life. By cleansing this chakra with certain affirmations and mantras etc, we can rebuild self-esteem, improving our social life immeasurably.

We are freed from the pain of separation from loved ones because we feel that we are always connected, not just to our family but to every human being.
Our heart opens to strangers more readily and we become more compassionate to others than we were before.

Many people have benefited physically from practicing Sahaja Yoga. This is due to the soothing effect that the awakened Kundalini energy has on our nervous system. And also by the amount of energy saved as a result of thinking less.
Meditation helps to still our over-active minds which cause the many stress related health problems of this modern era.

Many people practicing Sahaja Yoga find better employment as a direct result of the improvement of their personality. They also begin to feel so much joy from meditation that they find it unnecessary to spend small fortunes on drink, drugs or excessive material pleasures just to try to find some temporary happiness in life.
The fundamental law of economics is that..."desires in general are not satiable"... in other words although material things like alcohol, clothes or cars can satisfy specific wants, they do not satisfy our tendency to want more. Hence even a millionaire wants a million more. Even when we get a nice car we want a better car. However by discovering a joy & peace so profound in our own Self, we overcome our endless desires and find true "peace of mind".

Many psychosomatic problems and mental confusions can be cured.