Soak in Ecstacy

 

It was with bubbled up excitement that I reached Delhi for the “Soak in Ecstacy of Enlightenment”
program with Sadhguru ..  I had no idea what to expect or what it would be like ..

The anticipation had been building up since a month with the emails and alerts and webinars conducted with respect to the preparation in terms of travel and arrival plus the necessary Sadhana and eating habits -prior to the program ..also what we should expect at the venue .. everything was so crystal clear and well managed and the volunteers were so responsive and helpful that I think I was filled with wonder just at how a single man can inspire such efficiency in a multitude of people working as volunteers with love and devotion to the cause as the driving force and nothing else ..

The idea of being in Sadhguru’s presence was a heady feeling and would send me into a tizzy every now and then …  

He had been my guiding light when I needed it…  in the darkest corners of mind .. ravines created by me only .. and then helped me gain some clarity and rescue myself  ... In many ways he had helped me pull myself out of the claws of despair when I was most in danger of drowning ...   And for this I will be ever grateful to Him 

I arrived at the Yashobhoomi Convention Centre at 6.30 am – The hall was magnanimous and quite impressive .. spic and span …  and it was a very smooth check- in process.

Simple mats lay on the floor equidistant from each other with the area divided efficiently into bays and multiple volunteers who stood with folded hands and a smile and Namaskaram on their lips .. 

we sat next to each other just absorbing the moment .. The hall was so huge . I had not expected such a large congregation, yet there was no commotion or discomfort … 14,000 odd seekers … guided by the able volunteers everyone reached their position in a matter of minutes .. Some were doing slow breathing exercises and chanting and it just added to the positive reverberations in the hall

The stage backdrop was done in earthy colours and patterns characteristic of the rustic aesthetic that’s associated with Sadhguru .. his style of dressing, the way he sits, drinks from the copper vessel .. every movement laced with grace …

At exactly 8.45 am a lithe woman dressed in white started the proceedings .. she spoke so gently and firmly ..  so spontaneous with her words and great clarity in her instructions... It was as if she had dissolved her personality completely to be just a messenger of Sadhguru's will ... and that had lent a lightness and grace to her face and whole being .. 

The process started with us doing the Shambhavi Mahamudra Kriya .. the energy reaching a new high in the hall … and then Sadhguru walked into the hall .. at exactly 9.10 am .. he had been waiting for us to finish the Kriya .. a "Mahapurush" being such  a stickler for time was hugely humbling

I had experienced the same when I had attended the Save Soil event and he rode up on his bike ( like the Rockstar that he is ! ) onto the stage at 6.30 am  sharp as was promised .. I could not help but gasp at how he could maintain such time , when he was always involved in innumerable pursuits and activities – executing each with such apparent effortlessness and perfection .. him being the super-human that he was !

Looking at him walking gracefully like an animal in the wilderness … that smile on his lips and his hands folded .. I found my eyes and heart tearing up .. here he was .. It hit me like a wave !

He sat then – incredibly still his eyes closed – calm and intense – then chanted a Shloka in his sonorous voice  ,,his face shining with intensity .. I could sense all this from a good distance .. I could see tears streaking many faces all around me .. he affected everyone who were not afraid of being affected ..

He then adopted the worldly disposition of a public speaker .. light , humorous , so it seemed like here was the best stand up comedian .. he could don any persona effortlessly, still being himself  .. the essence of the eternal truth hidden in his humerous anecdotes and stories ….

He said I wish and hope that you all are internally unrestrained individuals – wild horses on the inside .. but on the outside – use your restraint judiciously in each situation as and when required , but never restrict your horizons or capacity for interaction with the world for fear of rejection of turmoil .. he wanted us to be untouched and unfazed by whatever life threw at us ..

He said now when I ask you to close your eyes its just me and you in this hall and no one else ... and it touched a deep chord so that instantly this was true for each one seated there ... a personal darshan of Sadhguru .. 

Then he made us do the “Chit-Shakti” meditation and asked then walk into a forest upto a river in which he made us walk in slowly .. slowly submerging ourselves completely.. then sitting cross legged at the bottom of the river .the water swirling around us ..  the sensations very real .. he then urged us to form a bubble of all the hatred we had in us and push it up from our gut along the spine to our throat … that just unlocked something in me and a gasp and cry escaped my lips … as we all let put the bubble from our throat we were all screaming and gurgling and we all wanted that black bubble out .. he then did the same with our bubble of fear and jealousy and anger .. the crowd in a frenzy … some screaming and howling .. some rolling on the floor with the agony of ecstacy that this process was unfurling in us all ..so as to speak

I found myself sobbing uncontrollably --the sobs wracking my whole body .., I was trembling and there was a reverberation in my entire being .. a warmth that was pervading the senses ..

Sadhguru asked us to visualize ourself as this radiant creature emanating light and I was already visualizing that- once we had let all the hatred and fear out .. See the pure being that you are … he said – his works sparking off another volley of sobs .. I was almost howling and I knew I wanted to scream and shout .. with the unbearable lightness of being .. with the realization that I could exude such radiance …this was who I truly was … what I was capable of becoming

He gave us time to open our eyes .. 

We had a small break then for lunch .. he said lets eat with gratitude .. lets not communicate with other human beings …lets leave them alone for sometime .. and everyone was happy not to distract the energy within them anyway and there was gentle silence as 14 k people sat cross legged and ate with great gratitude .. = no mean feat to accomplish in todays distracted world with its relentless demands

My tears did not cease and I let them flow and wash over my face for as long as they came effortlessly, not weighed down by thoughts or judgements --  and I felt as light as air

The lunch was frugal but so exquisitely and thoughtfully prepared … a bowl of black chana, 2 fruits a quinoa preparation and  a ragi laddoo …all so tasty and fresh ,.. The way it was served … and the disposal of plates in the same efficient manner .. I just marveled at each intricate beautiful detail …as Sadhguru said – just make the process beautiful – the rest will happen on its own

The next few hours He spoke to us in that same intimate effortless manner even as we sat there one in a large crowd yet intimately linked to this one flame .. no one dared peel their eyes or attention away

He spoke about how society and religious gurus had created this concept of a “ heaven” which was a separate world from this one … It was criminal he said as people thought the real living and happiness would be found else where somewhere in the clouds ..

The whole idea of : God loves you and God will save you .. he just ridiculed it and crushed it once and for all – making it humorous with his stories of Shankaran Pillai etc … He said “ Are you that despicable that no one here on Earth can love you? You need God to love you ?

And why are you so weak that God needs to come save you ?

He said he was happy the whole imaginary concept of “ Heaven “  was collapsing in peoples minds ..

He was aggrieved that teenage girls who he said he had always associated with involuntary giggling fits and shy smiles were now on antidepressants and anti-anxiety pills – he said there was a need to elevate human consciousness to escape these self created traps and vortexes that pulled us all down and depleted our energy

There was a performance by the Isha Samskriti kids … They are just these fine sculpted proud creatures – these children – I have seen them performing in person once before at Save Soil event and was moved and amazed by their grace and discipline and agility … and their devotion to the classical dance form .. nothing less to be expected from Sadhguru's own students of course and they are very dear to him – it is quite visible on his face as he watches them perform ..

There was a Bharatnatyam performance dedicated to mother Earth first … spectacular and celestial .. the young sparkling girls with their animated kohl lined eyes and vibrant attire were a sight to behold-  

Then a display of Kalaripayattu … an ancient martial art form taught in Isha … The girls and boys who were performing – the focus and clarity on their face lent them a magnetism, sense of purpose and an unearthly grace and beauty that is hard to describe in words … one of the most riveting and glorious performances I have had the opportunity witness !

Sadhguru then asked us to close our eyes again and breathe in through our pursed lips and exhale through the nostrils … but to visualize as if the breath was escaping through the space between the eyebrows- our third eye … I thought it would be difficult to do but it was not at all … We kept doing it and it was gaining on me with an intensity I could not fathom .. He kept asking us to visualize how the breath became longer and longer as we inhaled and exhaled so that at some point I visualized it like a silver lightening streak entering my system and then on exhalation through the space between my eyebrows .. going and circling the periphery of the earth pervading the rivers and oceans and creatures and mountains … it was an experience of infinity and being connected by my breath with all the creatures all the life on this planet and beyond and we were all vibrating uncontrollably with an incredible tremulous ness and an explosion of energy building inside of us .. until it came out in the form of a gasp or cry escaping our lips … screams and tears .. it needed a release .. again an immensely powerful feeling of being of an infinite nature – the divinity inside of us revealing itself to us in these moments … a precious realization …