Message #620
Krishna Singh Khalsa
Mind and mindfulness: Surrender to Nothing

As a spiritual teacher, Yogi Bhajan never said, "Follow Me." Rather
what he did say was, "Don't love me, love my teachings. Practice
them and become 10 times greater than me."

Of all the teachings, we can ask, "What is the very first teaching
by which we can leave the worldliness of Karma behind and enter the
free and enlightened realm of Dharma?" The answer to that question
eventually becomes so obvious and so blindingly simple that at first
it doesn't seem like it's enough. It doesn't seem as though THAT
could actually be all that it's all really about. But it is.

So what is the answer, and where is it hidden? How can this mystery
be resolved? How can we become adept in knowing what is truly true,
no matter what, no matter where or under what circumstances we may
find ourselves." The irony is that the most important teaching of
all is the very first teaching, as practitioners of Kundalini Yoga
as taught by Yogi Bhajan, the answer is right under our noses , we
see it and tend to ignore it every day, looking directly into it
with our eyes wide shut.

In-ept vs. Ad-ept
The Conventional Mind is inept (from L. ineptus "unsuitable,
improper, tactless,") rather than adept, whereas the masterful
Yogic Mind is the embodiment of being adept (from L. adeptus
meaning "one who is skilled in the secrets of anything"). As
practitioners of yoga, our ultimate purpose is to evolve and move
ourselves from ineptitude to adeptitude. And the amazing,
historical, philosophical fact is that of all the paths to oneness,
Yogiji bequeathed us with the most, MOST simple and accessible way
of getting there. It's hidden in plain view, and if we master this
one simple teaching, we can become one with the tree of life and
Dharma, and all the other birds of truth will flock to us and nest
in our branches. No further searching required. Everything will
become known and understood. So ask yourself, "What is the first
teaching that EVERY student is taught, from which we generally rush
on to unfold the vast body of teachings known as Kundalini Yoga as
taught by Yogi Bhajan?" What is it that we ignore by not spending
more time with this "First Teaching"?

There's a beautiful parallel to this situation in a great mystery
story written by Edgar Allen Poe, titled "The Purloined Letter." It
turns out that the true master, the adept, provides access to what
is most important by hiding it in plain sight. In the story a
prefect of police conducts and exhaustive search for a letter that
was stolen and hidden by a minister of the government (for some good
reason).

However, the police prefect never once thought it probable or
possible that the Minister had deposited the letter immediately
beneath the nose of the whole world, by way of best preventing any
portion of that world from perceiving it. The letter was hidden by
being in plain sight all the time, and by its obviousness no one
noticed it. (The story is only a few pages long, and you can google
it on the world wide web).

The worldly mind, which renders us unable to see what is most
profoundly important, is the trap we're all attempting to escape.
The "First Teaching" we're looking is the knife that cuts the noose
of the world and the worldly mind. It's the first mantra, the Adi
Mantra with which we begin each class, "Ong Namo, Guru Dev Namo."
The ultimate authority ("have no other gods before me") is Infinity,
Formlessness, Shunyata, Emptiness, Namelessness which we access
through the sound of Ong. No verbal command of any teacher will
ever take precedence over this reality. It is our first place of
surrender and our ultimate source of refuge. In Sikh Dharma it is
known as Wahe Guru. These are all simply different words and sounds
for the same thing, which is also the indwelling essence of
everything, including ourselves. There's no other reason needed for
explaining why we are all, therefore, One. What better place to
begin (and end)? In terms of spiritual authority, this defines
who's really in charge, and in terms of energy itself,
where "charge" comes from. When we leave this life either we will
be charged with the "crime" of ignorance and not fulfilling the
purpose we contracted for before we came into the life, or we'll be
charged with light and thereby be admitted into even higher realms
of truth and bliss.

And so for this, God bless you.