What is the good time for spiritual practice?

First, do we need to do any spiritual practice at all? Well, it depends on what you want to do with your life. If you look at the animals, they are completely programmed. They will eat when they are hungry, sleep after sun set and procreate at specific times. They can’t alter it.

It is humans who are endowed with the power to change the course of their lives. They can, by their deeds, rise to divinity, fall to the status of a demon, or just remain human. If we intend to exude divinity, we need to start spiritual practice in our youth, or preferably earlier than that, which may be possible if you are blessed with parents who have spiritual practices.

I will start in old age

This is what I have heard many times, ‘This is the time to enjoy life. We will turn to spirituality when we turn sixty.’ Oh, really? After spending sixty years of materialistic and mundane physical life, you think you can turn to spirituality? Unfortunately, it just doesn’t happen.

What spiritual practice is good to start with?

As  human beings, we are always in search of peace and bliss. If we consider that as the center of the circle, which is our life, we can reach that center through various methods. The secret is in being at it. Persistence and perseverance are needed to reach the goal. Having said that, we have to choose a technique that can be incorporated into our lives without causing too much inconvenience to us, or the family members.

Fortunately for me, I was spiritual from the beginning and puja, praying and chanting started right from early childhood. But my spiritual practice got a boost when I learned Reiki in 1997, though I was totally unaware of the spiritual aspect of Reiki at the time of getting the training.

Reiki is a good method to start with, because it gently leads you on, bringing whatever is needed for your spiritual growth.

Does the time of practice matter?

Undoubtedly Brahma Muhurta (4 to 6 am) is the best time for spiritual practice. When majority of the people are sleeping, we can feel the silence and it takes us deep within ourselves. It helps us to transcend our physical nature and get in touch with the spiritual dimensions.

I was in the habit of getting up at 4 am from early on, but when I ask people to get up early, I ask them, ‘Can you get up at least 10 minutes before  6 am?’ so that they can have a glimpse of the Brahma Muhurta. But unfortunately, many of them can’t keep at it even. 

In the twilight zone between day and night (dawn and dusk), everything is in a state of flux. So our ability to transcend limitations is more. If you can’t meditate during the Brahma Muhurta, dawn and dusk are next options for meditation or other practice.

Reiki practice – in the morning or night?

When we do Reiki healing in the morning, it is charging us. We are filled with balanced positive energy, ready to take on the world.

Reiki healing at night, before going to sleep, does the cleansing. Whatever negative energies we have accumulated during the day, through interactions with others that lead to emotional turmoil, from reading the newspapers or watching TV, or from our overactive mind that enjoys negative thinking, Reiki removes all of that and we are assured a peaceful sleep.

So, ideally, it is better to do Reiki healing twice daily,  just before sleep and on getting up first thing in the morning. But, as I told earlier, we have to decide what will be conducive for our routine life. If one is  a home maker, going out and interacting with people to get things done and watching TV serials, self-healing in the evening/night is good.

If you are in the corporate world and has to meet so many deadlines and the office work needs a lot of mental energy, healing in the morning will charge you up to tackle the day efficiently.

Ultimately it is your choice, considering what is it that you want, and what is your life style.  

My changing routines

During the years with growing up children, it was our routine to do puja, prayers, chants and Reiki self healing at dusk time. Now that I am free to adjust my schedule, I do my meditation and Reiki practice at 3.45 am and 9 pm, apart from puja/chanting at 8.30 am and 6 pm.

Lord Krishna influencing the Havan

Since the time I got instructions from Kalima to do havan on Tuesdays and Fridays, I have been following it religiously. On February 2^nd 2018 morning, we got a beautiful gift of Radhakrishna idol. It exuded so much energy and I was so captivated by its beauty.

February 2^nd happened to be a Friday and I started doing havan in the evening as usual. As the flames started to dance, I was seeing images of Krishna, holding the flute, dancing etc., the flames were so different from usual, with distinct images appearing one after the other. I felt they needed to be photographed and got it done. There were 24 photographs.

When I went through the photos, I thought I needed to share this with like-minded individuals, they were so unique. I started making a presentation as a prelude to a video, and were putting comments on each photograph. As I started, I thought, ’There are 24 photographs, what comments am I going to put on all of them?' But it was unbelievable, the words just got streamed through me.  And here is the result. Hope you will enjoy the divine beauty of the havan flame.

Butterfly- back with another message

Today morning when we finished yoga at 6.35 am, it was still dark outside. Since it was quite cold, we had opened only a small area of the window. After closing the window we walked to the other end of the 20 feet hall to pick up the keys and my shawl before locking and getting out. Suddenly a big butterfly started flying around my husband. It kept flying for sometime and then sat on the book shelf. We were surprised to see a butterfly while it was still dark outside, and the yoga hall was on the third storey.

Many cultures associate butterflies with souls. I am well aware of the previous messages butterflies had brought into my life. Jokingly I asked my husband, “Who is trying to contact you?” During our morning tea time he told me that while doing yoga, he was thinking of a close relative who died some time back.

Later when I was having a telephone conversation with my daughter, she remarked, “I don’t know why this song is stuck in my head since I woke up today morning. Sometimes it happens that when I wake up, there will be a song playing in my mind, but they are always relevant for the day. This one doesn’t make any sense.”

Then she started singing the song, it was Adele’s ‘Hello’ song. The words went like this:

“Hello from the other side

I must've called a thousand times

To tell you I'm sorry

For everything that I've done

But when I call, you never seem to be home

Hello from the outside

At least I can say that I've tried

To tell you I'm sorry, for breaking your heart

But it don't matter

It clearly doesn't tear you apart anymore”

While she was singing the song, I told her about the butterfly’s visit in the morning. Suddenly it made sense. She went into a cold shiver. Those words were addressed to my husband. And it made absolute sense, coming from the departed soul he was thinking about while practicing yoga!