Resonance and synchronicity
Theo. – You have evoked the process of synchronicity in spirituality, but could you please elaborate?
In physics, resonance is a vibratory phenomenon now applied to all our new communication systems. There is also the experience Christian Huygens conducted with pendulum clocks and the synchronization of their oscillators. Can the process be applied to spirituality as well?
The Elder – You have just uttered the right word: ‘synchronization’. Our spiritual approach consists mainly in trying to be in ‘synchronization’ with God.
Theo. – But you say that God is ‘Nothing’. Then how can we speak of synchronization?
The Elder – He is the Nothing everything comes from, a Nothing that is the Centre of all that exists in this creation.
Theo. – So, we meditate on that Centre, which is far from being evident.
The Elder – That is the reason why Babuji has offered us to meditate on the divine light in our hearts. It is a fantastic gateway, though it is rather congested when we start our sadhana (practice).
Theo. – It is also why we practice our cleaning, in order to get free of our complexities (samskaras) and get rid of the illusory coverings (mayakoshas).
But I can’t see how resonance fits into it…
Hesitant, Theo kept quiet for a while; then, he decided to go ahead:
– Why a long face, the Elder? I do know we’d rather feel than think, but I completed my studies in science, so that I am also keen on understanding and making parallels.
The Elder (smiling):
– As the Yi-King would say: “No offence!” We are talking about resonance at the highest level, the Divine level. To be in tune with God, one would have to be like God.
Theo. – That is to say be ‘Nothing’, be empty?
The Elder – One’s purity has to be absolute purity.
Theo. – But that is impossible!
The Elder – Hence we work directly with Masters whose hearts have become like God’s. It is the third level of liberation, when “God has been liberated within God”. The trainer will clean the aspirant’s heart so that it may become like his Master’s heart, i.e. pure and ready for the Divine.
Theo. – But where will resonance fit in the process?
The Elder – Ideally, once the aspirant has completed his/her preparatory work, the trainer enters in resonance with the Divine heart within him/her. In the same way, when dealing with a group of meditators, the latter become like resonance boxes, synchronized with the Master’s heart residing within the trainer.
Theo. – What worries me is the short time I have been meditating and the fact that I have just become a trainer, so that my heart cannot possibly be as pure as the Master’s….
The Elder – You can see things differently: during the introductory meditations, when the soul is set in motion and the yatra begins, the new meditator is directly connected to the Master’s heart once the three days have elapsed. As it is connected to the Master’s heart, his/her heart receives the yogic transmission (pranahuti, the Divine Word).
– I can still remember that fantastic initiation, Theo commented, with shining eyes.
The Elder – Your heart has already benefitted from that bond and now that you have become a trainer, the Master enables transmission (pranahuti) to go through your heart towards the aspirant’s heart.
Theo. – I see: everything is in place, within me as well as within the aspirant. But how to bring about the famous resonance you have alluded to?
The Elder – Retreat and make way for the Master, for the Master’s heart, which is like God.
Master’s heart, within you, will then resonate with Master’s heart, within the aspirant.
Theo. – And it works, does it?
The Elder – Only if you retreat totally so that the resonance may operate.
Theo. – But the meditator has not necessarily attained such a level of self-effacement!
The Elder – That is the point where, as a trainer, you address Master’s heart directly within the aspirant’s heart. The Centre, the Source, has been awakened during his/her initiation. So, it will by itself resonate with your own heart.
Heart-to-Heart resonance and living as a couple
Theo. – Are there different levels of resonance? When you explained heart-to-heart communication to me, wasn’t it another sort of resonance? Two hearts resonating, soul-to-soul?
The Elder – That resonance takes place in the heart region (pindesh). The purer the region, the more intense the harmony between hearts.
Theo. – Between two hearts in love, the resonance is rather magnetic, isn’t it? Then, emotions, feelings, and even bodies resonate and attract each other, since we are in the world of duality, the Ying /Yang world, the tamas-rajas, guided by nature and its attraction/repulsion laws.
The Elder – If we aim at forming a sustainable couple, the resonance will have to develop at the level of the soul, the bearer of every one’s destiny (swadharma). If the souls are in communion then we can say that there is a harmony that will help both beings to unite on every aspect and start a family. The souls that will incarnate through them will then be in perfect resonance and they will probably prove to have reached a high level of spiritual maturity.
Theo. – Do you consider that desires and attraction are just spurious frequency components?
The Elder (laughing whole-heartedly)
– I may be old but I can still remember how we feel when we are in love. I was just talking about a long-lasting union that will not depend primarily on tendencies: “I like you – You are beautiful – I want you.” Some of the positive psychology studies tend to demonstrate that passion won’t last more than five years before it starts regressing or even disappearing after ten years. If a union is not founded on true love, it is not likely to last … or at least it may bring about a lot of suffering!
Theo. – When we decide to form a couple, we should be in a sattvic state, in a naturally balanced state, and we should wait for the rajasic state, for passion, to have calmed down. But who is ready to listen to that?
The Elder – A systematic pursuit of pleasure will automatically entail the perception of its opposites, i.e. lack and suffering. No one is owned, and each one gives oneself in accordance with the rules of love. That is how a couple that is founded on the sattvic state will start on the road to a long-lasting happiness, to profound joy (ananda) and peace.
Theo. – Well, seen that way… But we could also say that meditating on the heart will contribute to the harmony of a couple, couldn’t we?
The Elder (amused):
– I’m listening!
Theo. – You told me that once the chakra at point 2 (the atma-chakra) has been awakened, purified and illuminated, it should induce love and dedication to the beloved. Afterwards, chakra 3, at the fire point, brings about a genuine understanding of what the beloved actually is, instead of the anger and frustration incited when that chakra is not purified, is that right?
The Elder – It is.
Theo. – In the end, as for the fear for the other one, or the fear of the other one, or even jealousy, that will all disappear when point 4, the chakra of water, is better balanced, once its original purity has been restored.
The Elder – But that is not the end. Point 5 too is very important, concerning our relationships with others.
Theo, after pausing for a while:
– When point 5 is purified and illuminated… all our illusions, all that we project on the beloved has been dispelled. Such a process will certainly contribute to a successful life as a couple, won’t it?
The Elder – Absolutely! Now you can understand why the heartfulness meditation the Sahaj Marg recommends will not only provide the realization of the Ultimate. It will also help us develop harmony and balance in every aspect of our daily lives.
Theo. – So, it is at once so simple and so vast…
The Elder – There is no constraint in Sahaj Marg. Everything has its raison d’être, provided it is in its right place. In my opinion, living according to the Sahaj Marg teachings means that our hearts, the best possible integrators, are what will govern our lives. They will integrate all the dimensions of our consciousness into Love and dispense that Love within our beings and all around, appropriately.
Theo. – Now I understand what Daaji, with Heartfulness, is offering to us: wellbeing and happiness through the heart, on a daily basis, and not only the quest for the Ultimate.
The Elder – He who can do more can do less. The highest dimension in the being includes and integrates all the other dimensions. There is no exclusion anymore. We know how to love and how to behave appropriately with our partner, our children, our friends, our neighbors … and with the world at large. Our minds are equanimous and discernment allows us to know what we should or shouldn’t do. That is what living through the heart really means.
Theophile the Elder
An excerpt from Dialogs with Theophile the Elder
Theophile the Younger’s Initiation