ANAM:

A note on the concept of “the marriage of East and West” and how the wisdom of India’s yogic teachings can help to restore balance to a world in crisis. Kundalini yoga & meditation is rooted in the sacred lineage of Raj Yoga or royal yoga – and associated with the heroic “soldier-saint” tradition of Sikh Dharma.

As we look to the “clash of civilisations”, of a world in crisis – it is natural to look to the stories that inspire us. It is clear that a Way to peace requires deep foundations in truth and a recognition of the need for dialogue. Qualities like trust, goodwill, patience and understanding can serve in this context. Here is one story of inspiration that continues to this day.

This is the life of one man who left a legacy that continues to serve 50,000 to 100,000 hot meals every day to hungry souls, at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India.

A boy was born on April 15th, 1469 who became a man known as “Naanak” ( meaning ‘no nose’ because of his humility). Naanak began to travel the world singing praises of God and a vision of One Humanity. Joined by his friend Mardana, a muslim, Naanak travelled for thirty years visiting “the nine regions of the earth”. Naanak is also commemorated in the Vatican with a statue & honoured as ‘the father of all humanity’. His teaching was of” Ik Onkar (ੴ, ‘One God’), who dwells in every one of his creations and constitutes the eternal Truth. With this concept, he would set up a unique spiritual, social, and political platform based on equality, fraternal love, goodness, and virtue.

As we face the crisis of the world today, may we be rooted in unity and wisdom, affirming the eternal soul & a wholesome unity of One humanity.

In attempting to bridge the east and west, I have found an allie in a trailblazing Benedictine monk named Bede Griffiths whose writings chart a genuine search for truth and understanding and whose life’s journey led him to start the first christian ashram in India. Reflecting on the imbalance and dysfunction in western civilization, Griffiths recognised the value of the spiritual tradition of India and warned of the necessity to remedy the destructive path of the west. Griffiths was also a mentor of scientist Rupert Sheldrake who with great humour continues his quest.

“I had begun to find that there was something lacking not only in the Western world but in the Western Church. We were living from one half of our soul, from the conscious, rational level and we need to discover the other half, the unconscious, intuitive dimension. I wanted to experience .. the marriage of these two dimensions of human existence, the rational and intuitive, the conscious and unconscious, the masculine and feminine, I wanted to find the way to the marriage of East and West“.

“This is a sacred universe, in which man has lived as far as we know from the beginning of history and which has been completely demolished by the Western scientific world. Every trace of sacredness has been removed from life so that Western man finds himself in a universe in which both man and nature have been deprived of any ultimate meaning.” 

Bede Griffiths : “The Marriage of east and west”

There is much more to be covered to address the crisis in western civilization. It is necessary to also address the root cause in how our perception has been shaped by our beliefs and learned assumptions.

We might also look at the history of science and our relationship to knowledge and how this has changed over historical time. From a very narrow and materialist world view that denies our interiority and the soul, we might look at how wonder and depth might be restored to the life of humanity.

“A dogmatic assumption prohibits enquiry”

Rupert Sheldrake

Looking to a collective cultural paradigm shift on a global level that begins in the hearts of each one of us.

Looking to the recognition of a perpetual immanence of “the divine”, as a Presence not constrained by Time.

I know that I have only scratched the surface and raised a few brief themes that would need greater depth. Rather than a kind of monolithic wholesale “this OR that” approach, (the kind that feels threatened and seeks fore-closure), might there be a “both.. AND” appreciation of multiple narratives and perspectives co-existing? Yet, finally reserving judgement for the measure that is proven through experience, actions and Results.

In conclusion, the offering is that, through the practical and applied wisdom of working through the body, mind and awareness there is hope for a remedy to the runaway train of crisis that is bound to the limitations of a failing paradigm.

It is helpful to acknowldge the roots of western civilisation in early Christian Ireland. There, an ecstatic and devotional experience of the ‘Oneness of all Creation’ can be found in the sacred poetry and mythic spiritual experiences of Ireland’s saints ( both men and women).

To encounter the wisdom tradition of India of the Sikh Gurus through the lens of Ireland’s own indigenous spiritual tradition is to reclaim a perception of the Cosmos, and an eternal Light of the Soul, rooted in experience of the “Naad”, a vibration that permeates All Creation.

22nd Pauree of Jaap Ji “The Song of the Soul”

by Guru Naanak

paataalaa paataal lakh aagaasaa aagaas.
orhak orhak bhaal thakay vayd kahan ik vaat.
sahas athaarah kahan kataybaa asuloo ik Dhaat.
laykhaa ho-ay ta likee-ai laykhai ho-ay vinaas.
naanak vadaa aakhee-ai aapay jaanai aap. ||22||

“There are nether worlds beneath nether worlds,

and hundreds of thousands of heavenly worlds above.

The Vedas say that you can search and search for them all, until you grow weary.

The scriptures say that there are 18,000 worlds, but in reality, there is only one universe.

If you try to write an account of this, you will surely finish yourself before you finish writing it.

O Nanak, call Him Great! He Himself knows Himself.”