Devotion: The Gateway to Infinity
By Ram Krishan Singh
Emotions are a natural part of our human experience. Yogic science says that 90% of the time, emotions are directing one’s life, and that a life led by emotions goes nowhere. Literally, life becomes a pursuit of feelings.
However, when emotions are channeled consciously, they can serve as a flow of energy that carries the life towards destiny.
What are Emotions?
Every blink of an eye 1000 thought forms are generated. Out of millions of thought forms, the conscious, subconscious or unconscious is attracted to some of them and grabs hold of them. This produces a feeling. Out of millions of feelings the personality identifies with some, and they become what we call emotions.
The nervous system processes feelings perpetually as they arise, and when the personality identifies with the feeling or a series of feelings, that experience is called emotion. This processing produces physiological energy as synapses fire between neurons of the nervous system. E-motions are energy in motion, which consciously or unconsciously drives the life.
Commotion or Devotion
With each emotion that we experience, there is a small window of choice. There is the possibility to go with the emotion, to filter it with intelligence and channel it with the will, or to simply allow the emotion to remain neutral as it is processed.
If the personality grabs hold and goes with the emotion, that energy becomes a desire and finds expression through action. When the personality identifies completely with the emotion it turns into a commotion. Once inside of commotion there is no seeing, no hearing, no reasoning. Commotion always leads to destruction and is very difficult to shift at that point.
Yet if we consciously channel the emotion with the will, it can serve to carry us towards our infinite potential and the emotion becomes devotion.
From time immemorial we are emotionally sick because our potential of human caliber has never been explored. We talk of God, God is Infinity. How can we reach Infinity when we are not together as a finite being?
Path of Infinity
Awareness and intelligence are required to experience an emotion and have the space to act or not, and it requires will to be able to direct the energy of the emotion.
The nervous system interconnects the body and mind. It is the primary physiological channel in which information / energy / experience flows. When the nerves of the spine are weak, then emotions rule, yet when we strengthen our nervous system, we expand the bandwidth of the amount of energy we can process, and also expand the ability to experience emotions without being over- run by them.
By committing to a structure in life, we develop our will and our ability to direct the energy of emotions.
This is all part of the technology of Sadhana. Commitment to a structured daily practice strengthens the will and the ability to direct the flow of life, and the practices work on strengthening the nervous system and our ability to discern and choose our direction.
The 3HO lifestyle offers a structural harmony that aligns the personality with an evolutionary trajectory into Infinity.
Living Devotion
Out of millions of waves of emotion some become desires; and out of millions of desires some are acted upon. This action creates karma, which bears fruit within the law of cause and effect.
When an emotion becomes a desire it is always projected towards some object or achievement or goal, yet the most important is not the outward action but the quality of emotion behind it. The quality of emotion determines the karmic outcome and inner experience for the personality.
When we channel our emotion towards the object of our infinite potential, our emotion becomes devotion.
“Emotion does not lead anywhere. Emotion is a very soft, short lived thing, but devotion is a tested wave on which the ship shall reach the shore.” –Yogi Bhajan
When emotion is directed towards Infinity, born out of devotion, karma becomes Dharma. Then action is outside of the realm of cause and effect, because there is no object of seeking. The personality continues to act no matter the condition or outcome, devoted towards Infinity.
Infinity is the direction, yet Infinity is not a destination. Infinity is beyond the finite. If there is an objective, it is still in the realm of the finite and limited. When all life force energy flows in harmony with universal law, the finite self merges with the Infinite Self through the gateway of devotion
Practical Infinity
Exercises in Kundalini Yoga are called Kriyas, which means “complete action.” Each kriya contains the entire path in itself. Each kriya perfectly aligns posture, breath, gaze, and sound, to create a precise pressure which both challenges the finite self and strengthens the nervous system. Committing to giving 100% to the kriya creates an ideal opportunity to project all dimensions of the personality beyond all limitations of the finite self.
Practice does not have to be a kriya, or Kundalini Yoga; it really could be anything. It’s the potency of the projection of personality towards Infinity through the perfection of the finite—in other words, living fully—every nuance of the infinite being that we are, projected into this moment.
“Contentment can come to you by self-discipline. Self-discipline is knowing yourself; knowing yourself is mastery of self; mastery of self is reality of the self; reality of self is God in you. Devotion to God means devotion to your Infinity.” –Yogi Bhajan
Devotion—the Gateway to Infinity
Infinity is not far away. We are here and now an active part of Infinity. It’s up to each one of us to direct the life, transform commotion into devotion, and consciously merge with our potential and destiny.
Originally Posted to: https://www.3ho.org/devotion-gateway-infinity
