“Su means good, Darshan means vision, Kriya means action. Sudarshan Kriya means, by doing which action we get a vision of who we really are”.
I was intently listening to the Art of Living teacher before embarking on my first experience of Sudarshan Kriya technique some sixteen years ago. Who am I? …was a question I was fiddling with, not really making any effort to start a journey of inquiry? I bumped into infinity by chance!
People shared their experiences. I feel very hungry. I am craving jalebis. I want to kiss my children this moment. I felt light as though I am flying. I saw Kailash Mountain and Lord Shiva meditating. Electric current passing through my whole body. My fingers became stiff, could not move, but now I am fine. Feeling fresh as though I slept for 10 hours! Well, I was too dazed to speak but I must have shared something like I am so relaxed! The whole package, with Sudarshan Kriya at the core, turned my life around. The wall I had built around myself started to crumble and I was no longer afraid to reveal myself. I accepted myself first unconditionally with all my imperfections. I fell in love with myself! My heart sang, I am unique, I am beautiful, I am a masterpiece (Master’s piece, pun intended).
A Bollywood song would come to my mind ‘ main wohi , darpan wohi , na Jane ye kyan ho gaya, ke sab Kuch lage naya naya’ ( I am the same, the mirror is the same. I do not know what has happened. Everything looks new)
The voice of the teacher reverberated in my ears every morning as I practised the Sudarshan Kriya. “There is rhythm in nature. Sun rises and sets at a particular time. Seasons come and go. So also there is a rhythm in our body, thoughts and emotions. By doing Sudarshan Kriya we are setting a rhythm so that we are relaxed and stress free”.
I noticed the fact that our emotions are linked to our breathing pattern. By changing the pattern we could change our emotions! If negative thoughts and emotions can be reversed by just following a rhythmic breathing practice for a few minutes on a daily basis, I was all for it. I remembered the great poet John Milton’s words “Mind maketh heaven or hell”. My biggest enemy was nowhere outside. I recognized if I handled my mind, life will be a celebration. I became more aware of my body, breath, mind, intellect, memory and ego that was responsible for all the drama that was happening in my life. The teacher had explained ” as children, we lived in harmony with nature. As we grew up we lost the innocence and naturalness. It is like having all the musical instruments but not in tune. What do you hear if you play an orchestra? Just discordant notes. If all the musical instruments are perfectly tuned, just imagine how melodious the music would be to the ears? Sudarshan Kriya is setting the tune so that we experience beautiful music of our own being”. The course impacted me so much that I dropped the old Leela and welcomed the new Leela joyously. I was reborn!