True Giving and Receiving

RESTING IN I AM / PART 2

FULL DAY WORKSHOP

MAY 4th /10-5pm

As yogis, we are on this path of no path to try and change the way we were taught to see the world, through boxes of comparisons, judgements, and fears. Today in this constantly changing, speeding up times of the Aquarian Age, it’s important to take pause, reflect, step back to see the unfolding drama of it all from a Neutral Mind. This means looking beneath the surfaces of some of our well-meaning behaviours, like Giving and Receiving to explore their true nature and understand where they really come from and how they impact our lives. 

In Kundalini Yoga, we use the energy of numbers to intuitively guide us in navigating theses challenging times and explore what’s emerging each month through the energies. This month, April, number 4, Sat Nam, Air element and a chance to take a closer look at our attachments through the Neutral Mind and a Heart Centred Space. The Number 4 brings the possibility of double duality with 2+2=4 and also a sense of wholeness, as 1+2+3+4 = 10, a short cut to our Radiance, 10th body. This means we could be pulled back into those boxes or create a neutral space to hold the tension of difference from a new conscious perspective. When connected to love, and compassion we can access a space beyond right and wrong action or belief and begin to take personal responsibility for our choices.

To Give and Receive is a decision. Yet most of us have been giving and receiving from an unconscious place hidden deep within us. A decision is only real when it is made consciously, otherwise it is a reaction from the subconscious. We are only conscious when we are breathing consciously. After mineral, plant and animal, we humans are on the 4th plane of existence, the only creatures who can choose to breath consciously. When we make a choice to breath consciously, we change our state. This change of state represents making a conscious choice. It is in the way of conscious breathing that we begin to truly Give and Receive.

"The true essence of love lies not in the act of giving or receiving, but in the state of "being" or "being in love". Focusing on giving and receiving can lead to instability and that true love is a state of being, not a transaction”. Ram Dass

Before we can give to others, we first need to give to ourselves. This may sound challenging, which is from the negativity of our past, we were taught the opposite growing up. We were shown to survive we must let go of our authentic selves, keep the attachment to our care givers, or else we may die. This choice of self- denial coloured the way we gave and received. We became attached to notion that giving was how we got love. Giving became a survival mechanism, and receiving was something you had to work for, earn, and even then, we struggled to receive. 

When I was a child I heard many stories of my grandmother’s generosity, how she would literally give you the shirt off her back if you needed it. As a barmaid back in the day when smoking was still allowed in pubs, and pints cost less than a dollar, she would often bring the drunks home, who had drunk too much, didn’t have a place to sleep and give them a bed. These stories of her giving influenced how I saw the world, it’s people, and I grew up believing this was true kindness. It wasn’t until I started on this path, that I realised that the bed those drunks were sleeping in was my mother’s bed. As a little girl, when the drunks we’re bought to her home, she was told to give up her bed, and sleep on the floor. Now I understand that in my grandmother’s attempt to give to others, she denied herself and her families right to openly receive.

In self-denial we become a victim of our unhealed wounds. Naturally you are wise, in self – denial you create insecurities, distance, duality. Focusing on giving and receiving from duality can lead to instability and we forget that true love is a state of being, not a transaction. If we can remember the true essence of love lies not in the act of giving or receiving, but in the state of "being" or "being in love". 

This is our gift and our challenge. To meet the challenge, we first must understand what blocks us from accessing this wisdom, this truth. It’s our attachment to giving and receiving from the past, from a place of needing love and need to give love, which leads to disappointment and suffering. When we remember that I and you are we are, and we are one, then we begin to see behind the drama of the true giving and receiving. That when we share what we have beyond duality, then we can use it together, because it brings us closer together.

Love, light, and laughter 

Devpreet 

GIVING AND RECEIVING / FULL DAY WORKSHOP / TICKETS HERE