In this issue:

The Expression of Ida and Pingala is given through the Hamsa Chakra

Discretion is a deep seated knowledge or wisdom
If there is Discretion, deep seekers do not go astray

We miss the biggest nourishment of Holiness if we have no Discretion

We have never yet paid much attention to this center of Hamsa, which is, I think, very important for the Western world, rather than for the Indian or the Eastern. The reason is, at the Hamsa chakra, part of the Ida and Pingala come out and manifest - means the expression of Ida and Pingala is given through the Hamsa chakra. So this Hamsa chakra is the one that, as if has not gone up to the Agnya, but is holding on certain threads or certain parts of the Ida and Pingala. And they start flowing through your nose, expressing through your eyes, from your mouth and from your forehead. So you know that Vishuddhi chakra has got sixteen petals, which look after the eyes, nose, throat, tongue, teeth. But the expression part of it comes through the Hamsa chakra, of all these. So it’s a very, very important thing in a Western mind, to understand Hamsa chakra. There’s a beautiful couplet about this in Sanskrit, “Hansa kshveta ha, baka ha kshveta ha . ko bhedo hansa bakayo ho. Neera ksheera vivek e tu. Hansa ha hansaksh, baka ha baka ha.” Meaning ‘The crane and the swan, both are white. And what makes a difference between the two? If you mix the water and the milk together the hamsa (swan) will just suck in the milk. So it can discriminate between the water and the milk while the bakha, means the crane, cannot’. It’s a very significant thing for Sahaja Yogis to understand.

Discretion is a deep seated knowledge or wisdom

Discretion is to be understood very deeply within ourselves. And how we develop discretion is very important in Sahaja Yoga. But before we go to that, let us see how this discretion plays a part, very much in the manifestation of our expressions outside. We are the people, in the West, who always try to express ourselves outside. It’s very important how you look, it’s very important where you look, what you look at, what you see. It’s very important that your appearance should be good. [They are] very particular, they spend lots of time in improving their appearance. This is the minimum. Then they have a method by which we call the Medias. The country speaks or manifests through the Medias. And the Medias have to have training. Every country has its specialty one better than the other. And when you see all of them you find they lack discretion completely. Also in our speech, in our expression of literature, expression of poetry, expression of our relationships with others, any kind of expression, requires discretion which is a deep-seated knowledge or wisdom.

If there is Discretion, deep seekers do not go astray

If in the West people were not so much outside, they would have been much better off I think. Fashions won’t work out in countries where they are deeply rooted into traditions and into a proper understanding of life. Of course, the countries which have been very ancient, have been traditionally trying to improve themselves, with error and trial and error and trial methods, have developed much better discretion, much better understanding. But the countries, which have not gone through that entire ordeal, have not worked out, have not gone through that discipline, lack in discretion. And that’s why many of the people though they are of very deep seeking have gone astray. If they had discretion they would not have gone astray, they would not have gone to wrong places, but the discretion was missing.

We miss the biggest nourishment of Holiness if we have no discretion

So it comes to the discretion how to use your Ida Nadi and Pingala Nadi and discretion to understand what is good and what is bad. Now let us see the Ida Nadi. Ida Nadi is very important because the discretion in this can only come through traditional understanding. Ida Nadi starts from the Ganesha’s point – Mooladhara. So first we miss the biggest support, the biggest help, the biggest nourishment of holiness and auspiciousness, at Mooladhara, if we have no discretion. We always take to a thing, which is detrimental to our growth, and also which may destroy us, not only us but the whole country. We like people who are destructive, when there is no discretion. Discretion means that you must choose the things which are good for you, which are benevolent to you, which are good for the collective, which are good for your ascent. On the contrary, the people who have no discretion fall into the traps of wrong type of people.

Notes: - All excerpts are taken directly from the lectures of the Founder of Sahaja Yoga, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi (1988-0710: The discretion of Hamsa, Hamsa Puja, Germany).