Back in 2005, I'd been keeping up a regular mantra practice, and you could say that I was in an "energized" state, in so far as I would occassionally feel light vibrations in various spots of the body. My mantra teacher Ashok explained that these vibrations were various chakras in the body being activated by the mantras, but meditation and spiritual practice had for me always been a mental or intellectual thing. Despite reading about them in books on yoga, I didn't really believe in chakras, and didn't give the matter any further thought.
About this time, I attended a meditation retreat conducted by the soon to become infamous Swami Nithyananda. Whatever his moral or other failings, I can attest that Nithyananda was an accomplished yogi. I experienced a profound shift during the weekend-long retreat, resulting in a heightened sense of mental clarity and focus that lasted for weeks. I was familiar with such shifts from previous experiences meditating on my own, and so wasn't particularly surprised, but what followed soon after was new territory. On the third day, Nithyananda offered an optional "healer's initiation" to the workshop attendees, which would purportedly qualify one to perform "touch healing" on others to cure various ailments. I rolled my eyes in skepticism, but decided that in for a penny, in for a pound. One by one, the acolytes knelt in front of the Swami with their hands raised, as he pressed his thumb into their forehead for a few seconds. I'd hesitantly submitted to the process and returned to my seat, when I felt what can best be described as a huge glob of energy between my eyes.
The Glob descended down my chest and settled into a large grapefruit sized region in my solar plexus. I went into a trance that lasted about 20 mins, while the Glob throbbed and vibrated spectacularly inside me. All this time, the rational part of me wondered what this was all about. What was this Glob, where did it come from, what did it mean? Anyways - I was sufficiently impressed by this feat of magick that I decided I would practise touch healing using the techniques we'd been taught.
A few weeks later, the occasion arose. Bhavna was fighting a sore throat, and as we retired for the night, I sat on a chair next to her with my right hand on the afflicted area, trying to send it "good vibrations".
My old friend the Glob had long disappeared, and I couldn't muster up a new glob of my own, try as I would. As befits any hardworking meditator or healer, I soon fell asleep. I awoke what must have been an hour or so later, my hand still on Bhavna's throat. I could clearly feel a strong, circular vortex of energy about three inches in diameter churning clockwise under my palm, as if someone had plugged it into a 9V battery. In the dimly lit room, it was clear as day that I was sensing a chakra - whether Bhavna's throat chakra, or the chakra in my palm (yes, there are chakras in your hands and feet too, and are known to Reiki and other touch healers), I could not tell.
The word Chakra (चक्र) derives from the Sanskrit word meaning "wheel" or "circle", the etymology of which I'd never paid attention to while reading about it, but now it all made sense. With renewed faith, I continued the healing session for another 10 mins or so before calling an evening of it. You must wonder - did Bhavna's sore throat improve, and did I build on this experience and become an accompished touch healer and master of chakra energies? I don't recall that I affected an instant cure, and sadly, I did not keep up my practice despite this early show of promise. (Plus, Nithyananda and I had a falling-out of sorts, but more on that later.) I can say that I am no longer a skeptic on the matter of chakras - they do seem to exist, and can be sensed as circular vortices of energy, as described in yogic texts.
So, if a friend asks you to send them good vibes, go ahead and do so even if the only thing you feel is a little silly. To paraphrase the famous British scientist JBS Haldane, "The Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose", and you might discover your latent talent as a healer.
About this time, I attended a meditation retreat conducted by the soon to become infamous Swami Nithyananda. Whatever his moral or other failings, I can attest that Nithyananda was an accomplished yogi. I experienced a profound shift during the weekend-long retreat, resulting in a heightened sense of mental clarity and focus that lasted for weeks. I was familiar with such shifts from previous experiences meditating on my own, and so wasn't particularly surprised, but what followed soon after was new territory. On the third day, Nithyananda offered an optional "healer's initiation" to the workshop attendees, which would purportedly qualify one to perform "touch healing" on others to cure various ailments. I rolled my eyes in skepticism, but decided that in for a penny, in for a pound. One by one, the acolytes knelt in front of the Swami with their hands raised, as he pressed his thumb into their forehead for a few seconds. I'd hesitantly submitted to the process and returned to my seat, when I felt what can best be described as a huge glob of energy between my eyes. The Glob descended down my chest and settled into a large grapefruit sized region in my solar plexus. I went into a trance that lasted about 20 mins, while the Glob throbbed and vibrated spectacularly inside me. All this time, the rational part of me wondered what this was all about. What was this Glob, where did it come from, what did it mean? Anyways - I was sufficiently impressed by this feat of magick that I decided I would practise touch healing using the techniques we'd been taught.
A few weeks later, the occasion arose. Bhavna was fighting a sore throat, and as we retired for the night, I sat on a chair next to her with my right hand on the afflicted area, trying to send it "good vibrations". My old friend the Glob had long disappeared, and I couldn't muster up a new glob of my own, try as I would. As befits any hardworking meditator or healer, I soon fell asleep. I awoke what must have been an hour or so later, my hand still on Bhavna's throat. I could clearly feel a strong, circular vortex of energy about three inches in diameter churning clockwise under my palm, as if someone had plugged it into a 9V battery. In the dimly lit room, it was clear as day that I was sensing a chakra - whether Bhavna's throat chakra, or the chakra in my palm (yes, there are chakras in your hands and feet too, and are known to Reiki and other touch healers), I could not tell.
The word Chakra (चक्र) derives from the Sanskrit word meaning "wheel" or "circle", the etymology of which I'd never paid attention to while reading about it, but now it all made sense. With renewed faith, I continued the healing session for another 10 mins or so before calling an evening of it. You must wonder - did Bhavna's sore throat improve, and did I build on this experience and become an accompished touch healer and master of chakra energies? I don't recall that I affected an instant cure, and sadly, I did not keep up my practice despite this early show of promise. (Plus, Nithyananda and I had a falling-out of sorts, but more on that later.) I can say that I am no longer a skeptic on the matter of chakras - they do seem to exist, and can be sensed as circular vortices of energy, as described in yogic texts.
So, if a friend asks you to send them good vibes, go ahead and do so even if the only thing you feel is a little silly. To paraphrase the famous British scientist JBS Haldane, "The Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose", and you might discover your latent talent as a healer.
