by SS Hari Krishan Singh, Engen, Germany
2025 (Third Quarter)
Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa, Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh!
Blessings abound, often concealed by a thin layer of perceived challenges. Having a family with two teenage boys, running a school and small retreat center, traveling, and maintaining a big garden certainly can disperse my mind. A lot.
Experiencing and cultivating Shuniya is essential to be able to keep all running smoothly, healthy and sane. To perceive the blessings as they present themselves.
Timelessness, true insight, inspiration, relaxation and creative thought, are all possible through Shuniya.
Getting out of the way, not being obstructed by limiting thought patterns, habits, and pathways of expectation, makes us recognize the Godliness in every moment, and respond with reverence and appropriate action. Seeing each moment as new, like a continuous continuation of ever new newness. And trusting this . . .
The moments in my life that I recognize to posses this quality sometimes occur spontaneously, or are called upon through tools that I feel blessed to have come onto my path.
There are moments when playing with the children, swimming in a lake, working in the garden, or hiking up a mountain bring me straight into the moment and out of looking forward or looking back. Being here.
It is auspicious to experience this, a real blessing. However, I do not allow myself to step into that flow often enough it seems, and to invoke this state requires some discipline. Something that has never come easy to me.
I feel blessed that quite early on in my life, I found a way to deal with this. Another type of discipline, you might say.
I make sure that I schedule many moments to teach.
Teaching brings me to the state of Shuniya very quickly! To teach a Kundalini Yoga class, or lead a teacher training—both experiences have this effect on me.
On top of that, to experience Shuniya in a community setting seems extra powerful. The moments in class where the air gets thick, colors brighten, focus increases and presence just seems to be. To be with all. Whether during or after a meditation, while chanting or during a discussion, the state is the same. This makes it very real. To be in this thoughtless state together with others alongside the individual—through this “sadhana-stillness”—gives confirmation and grounds it.
I was leading a wedding ceremony recently, and before I started I asked the guests and couple to close their eyes and practice some Pranayama. Stillness came over the room immediately, and all seemed to really go inside briefly and drop their frameworks. From there the attention was brighter, and I was also much calmer. I was more ready to lead such an important moment, and I was able to lead it from instant inspiration.
When conducted with the right intention, ritual and ceremony can be a a powerful medium to reach stillness in a community setting.
One more doorway into stillness I am exploring at the moment is training my voice and learning to play Shabads in Raag. Finding the stillness in the melodies and in the words of the Guru. A journey from Suniai to Shuniya.
Thank you for reading these words, and I pray you find Shuniya every day!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SS Hari Krishan Singh, Dutch but resident in Germany, is co-founder of Cherdi Kala International Kundalini Yoga and Karam Kriya School along with his wife Bachitar Kaur. He travels and teaches internationally as a Lead level 1 and 2 Kundalini Yoga Teacher Trainer and is a Karam Kriya consultant and trainer. He is responsible for establishing many training programs around the world. With profound understanding and insight into the Teachings and an abundant sense of humor, Hari Krishan’s infectious presence naturally puts people at ease. He brings the Teachings across in a way that is both light and deep and facilitates deep processes of change and personal growth. He lives with his family in South-Germany in Yogahouse Prasaad, their retreat center near Lake Constance.
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