When the Student is Ready, the Master will Appear

Take kindness and benevolence as basis, Take frankness and friendliness to heart

Sadguru Bhagawan Nityananda

When the Student is Ready, the Master will Appear
by Acharya Ricardo B. Serrano, R.Ac.

"Focus the mind on a being who has risen above passion and attachment." - Patanjali Yoga Sutras, 37

In the One Heart of the One Love Recalling my spiritual progress until now having many inspirational spiritual Qigong teachers from Arhatic Yoga Master Choa Kok Sui with Master Miguel Nator, Merkaba master Alton Kamadon, Taoist Master Michael Winn, Master Ou Wen Wei, Sheng Zhen Qigong Master Li Jun Feng, and Qi Dao Master Lama Tantrapa, I truly believe that the original root and beginning of my spiritual journey toward liberation started since attending the Siddha Shaktipat intensive with Gurumayi Chidvilasananda in Vancouver, B.C. in June 15, 1989. My spiritual search and journey within a span of 20 years also finally culminated after including Shaktipat meditation or Gurukripa Yoga meditation with my Enlightenment Qigong or Enlightenment Qigong Forms for Returning to Oneness as my form of seva (selfless service) to my beloved Sadguru Bhagawan Nityananda, the Guru of our Siddha lineage.

"By this path of the Guru, knowledge of one's Self rises." - Guru Gita, v.110

Through the true glory of Shaktipat, the true glory of the Guru, sometimes we get a transformative experience of what the awareness of our divine essence with expanded blissful feeling of being in the flow of universal energy is like. Here is how one person describes having a similar enlightenment experience as mine during a Shaktipat intensive:

My awareness began to expand. The waves of my breath seemed to become waves of energy, and I became aware that I was an ocean of energy.
With each breath the size of this ocean seemed to grow. At first it grew to the size of the meditation hall. Then it became as large as the ashram,... then the countryside around us,... then, the earth,... then, the universe itself. I felt intensely alive! And yet at the same time I felt as though "I" were no longer there. It was though I had finally discovered my true nature and my true size. I was the ocean, the essence of all that is. I was connected to everything... and everything was completely alive.

I have now realized that Swami Muktananda's Shaktipat initiation that happened 20 years ago has now ripened the fruit of my Self-realization through the grace of Sadguru Bhagawan Nityananda, my Self, Guru, and Shiva. Through the daily practices of Gurukripa Yoga (Shaktipat meditation), Tibetan Shamanic Qigong, and the other four enlightenment Qigong forms, by opening my heart to unconditional love, I have been transformed into a blissful liberated person I have been dreaming about since my early youth. See Memorable Quotations from Yoga Scriptures of the Ancient Siddha Lineage Tradition

"Muktananda, only when you become the Guru by merging with him will you understand service to the Guru, meditation on the Guru, the Guru's knowledge, and the Guru's grace." - Baba Muktananda

From my personal enlightenment experience, I now personally believe that without the awakening of the Kundalini Shakti by the grace of a true Siddha (enlightened liberated) Guru with its lineage of Siddha Masters in every lineage tradition, a student of yoga or other Qigong traditions or spiritual paths of the 21st century will not completely progress spiritually. Secondly, having been initiated by a true Siddha Guru doesn't mean that enlightenment follows immediately. The purification of the mind and breaking the chain of inner words has to happen which takes time before enlightenment is experienced. "When the student is ready, the master will appear." In my case, like a seed that will one day grow into a full tree, a tree which bears blossoms and fruit, it took a long time, 20 years, before I experienced blissful heart-opening transformative enlightenment. Thirdly, faith, persistence, patience, devotion/ love and surrender to the Guru, and doing the practices regularly - Qigong, meditation, chanting, mantra repetition, selfless service, study, or satsang, spending time in the company of saints - assisted me greatly in my spiritual journey toward love, transformation, healing, and personal freedom through Self-realization or Realization of Buddha Nature.

"He should be considered as the real Sadguru who makes the disciple experience perfect calmness of mind by making him realize his own Self. For no other reason should one person be considered as the Sadguru of another." - Eknath Maharaj

The predominant sign of such a yogi is
joy-filled amazement. - Shiva Sutra 1.12

This yogi is filled with joy and amazement. The Sanskrit word vismaya means "amazement completely filled with joy." Just as a person seeing some wonderful object is amazed, in the same way, this yogi is filled with amazement who, in the objective world of senses, experiences entry in his own self filled with consciousness, which is unique, intense, always fresh and uncommonly charming, and by which entry all his varieties of organs are filled with blooming, ever smiling, one-pointed joy.

What kind of amazement is this? This yogi, upon entering into that limitless state of bliss (ananda), is never satiated with the experience. On the contrary, he feels bathed with the amazement of joy. This is the predominant state of yoga of a yogi who has become one with the supreme Lord, the supreme tattva, Siva tattva. And by this, you can surmise that he has ascended to the state of Siva.

When he perceives his own nature through subjective perception, then he perceives that he is one with this reality. For him, being wonderstruck and filled with wonderful joy, there is no possibility of traveling the path of repeated births and deaths (Spanda Karika 1.11)

May this short essay on my spiritual practices assist those on the path to Self-realization. Thank you for taking the time to read this short essay which is dedicated to my beloved Sadguru Bhagawan Nityananda who though his Gurukripa, his Grace, was instrumental in my enlightenment and liberation or Self-realization. As a final note, I leave you with a quote from my beloved Siddha Guru Baba Muktananda:

"After Shaktipat, when the disciple becomes fully aware of the nature and importance of the Shakti, total devotion to the Guru springs up in his heart naturally. If the disciple were to become aware of the fact that the Kundalini Shakti which pervades the universe, which has limitless power, which creates the universe, is now running through every cell and fiber of his being since the Guru has awakened it in him - in fact, it is the Guru himself who entered him in the form of Shakti - devotion would arise in him spontaneously." - Baba Muktananda

May all who read these words be uplifted and filled with God's Grace and the All-Pervasive Love of the Endless One, Bhagawan Nityananda (everlasting bliss) of Ganeshpuri.

May your heart merge into the heart of the Divine.

The heart is the hub of all sacred places, go there and roam.

In the One Heart of the One Love.

Sadgurunath Maharaj Ki Jay!

Gurukripa Yoga

"The Guru is the Grace-bestowing power of God." - Shiva Sutras

The following quotes were taken from the article on Gurukripa Yoga at BhagawanNityananda.org

"Gurukripa Yoga is the yoga in which the disciple relies in the Grace of the Guru or Acharya (which is God's Grace) to carry him/her to liberation. The Shiva Sutras state "Gururupayah;" the Guru is the means. The Guru who has attained Self-realization is the only one who can help the aspirant acquire it. Gurukripa Yoga and Bhakti Yoga are one and the same because they both emphasize the process of drawing God's Grace to you through Selfless Service and complete Devotion/ Surrender to the Acharya. In this way, over time, you learn to take complete refuge in God...

For this reason, the Saints of the Gurukripa path all state that all the other forms of yoga (Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Hatha Yoga) are contained in Gurukripa. Gurukripa Yoga is the Yoga of Bhagawan Nityananda. It is the Yoga of Supreme Love. For this reason, Baba referred to it as Raja Yoga, the yoga in which all the other yogas are contained.

Without the Grace of a Siddha, a Guru, you cannot realize God. You may be successful at reducing stress or even attaining states of relative happiness. But without the Guru, these will be fleeting at best. By reading scriptures and attending lectures you maybe able to understand and express philosophy like so many preachers that we encounter day-in and day-out. But you won't have a lasting experience of the philosophy that you are preaching. To become completely absorbed in God, to liberate yourself from bondage in order to bask in the rays of total freedom from this ignorance of pain and pleasure, you must be guided by a Siddha (perfected being) until you are set on your own path. It is only by the Grace of such a Guru that you can undergo permanent spiritual transformation.

Gurudev Nityananda Bhagawan Nityananda was a MahaAvatar (a being who is born God-realized) of the 20th century. His disciples believe him to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva and also Lord Vishnu. As lovers and disciples of Bhagawan Nityananda, we want to share our experiences of Gurukripa, His Grace, which had transformed the lives of so many across the globe. We take refuge in His authority, not our own. We do not claim to know everything. However, we do have intimate knowledge and first-hand experience of how Love for Bhagawan Nityananda can transform one's entire being...

We are certain that this journey will lead all those who take it Liberation from the bondage of ignorance that keep one separate from God. Like the ocean, the Grace of the Guru is always available to those who sincerely want to know the Truth. Even if you let go of the Acharya's hands, he will never let go of your hands. The Guru will stand by you, no matter what. That is why we call this Gurukripa. Once you surrender to the Acharya, your Liberation is certain.

What does it take to complete this journey? Prem (unconditional love), Shrada (unshakable Faith), Tyag (sacrifice/ discipline), and Anyanasharanam (total surrender to the God/ Guru). These four cannot be understood intellectually. They have to be experienced through the Grace of your own effort at sadhana (daily spiritual practice) and the Grace of the Guru. Love everyone, have faith in the Self and make your life good. Cultivate discipline in sadhana and the will to excel in wordly affairs, remembering always to give the glory, not to yourself, but to God..."

"When Kundalini awakes, the eyes are filled with light, fragrance rises, nectar bathes the tongue, ecstasy plays in the heart." - Baba Muktananda

"The real secret of meditation on the Self is Shaktipat. If you want meditation to come easily and naturally, you inner Shakti, the Kundalini, must be awakened through the grace of a Siddha Guru. Then you will no longer have to struggle for meditation. The Shakti will center your mind in one place, and through the mantra given by the Guru your consciousness will naturally and easily be carried inward, toward the Self.

However, you must meditate regularly and persistently, going deeper and deeper within. Then meditation will be a gradual and systematic unfolding of your real inner being. Along the way, you may have many kinds of experiences, but the ultimate state is beyond all experiences. In that state there is only bliss. True meditation is to become immersed there." - Baba Muktananda

NOTE:

Acharya Ricardo B Serrano Qigong Master Ricardo B. Serrano, a Bhakta (devotee) of Sadguru Bhagawan Nityananda, is an Acharya (Arhatic Yogi and pranic healer) trained by Master Choa Kok Sui since 1994 in Victoria, B.C. He has been teaching Pan Gu Shengong, Primordial Wuji Qigong and Sheng Zhen Qigong since 2005. He has completed the Advance Qi Dao Practitioner Certification Program (Tibetan Shamanic Qigong with Tantric Yoga) by Lama Tantrapa since 2009. Baba Muktananda's books, centering meditation practices and teachings together with the study of the ancient Yoga scriptures (Kashmir Shaivism) have influenced Ricardo's outlook on spirituality since 1989 after his Shaktipat initiation that led him to begin his spiritual journey. And most of all, Ricardo's devotion to Bhagawan Nityananda was inspired by Baba Muktananda's surrender and whole-hearted devotion to his Gurudev Nityananda to whom Baba Muktananda attributed to his Self-realization and becoming a Siddha Guru.

Bhagawan Nityananda says, "The heart is the hub of all sacred places, go there and roam." In order to accomplish this, your heart needs to be purified of all the false impressions and dirt deposited there by the impure ego. For this you need a Guru.

According to Acharya Kedar, "I am often asked why a Guru is necessary. Some people who come to our programs have expressed concerns about the fact that there are pictures of my Gurudev and the other Siddhas of my lineage hanging on the walls of our Meditation Hall. People want to know why I worship Gurudev and why we encourage worship of the Siddhas. There are those who believe that one should only worship the formless God. So, we have this question. "Why?" And it is a very good question which the Disciple must ask.

To be clear, the limitation of your ego is the only thing standing between you and God, the only thing that prevents you from attaining liberation or God-realization.

The only reason to take a Guru is to destroy the limitation of the ego. This ego cannot be destroyed by attempting to worship that which you cannot see or experience through your senses since, in order for the ego to be purified, the senses must also be purified.

Since the function of your senses is to attach themselves to objects of form (people, places, and things) the senses and the ego can only be purified by becoming attached to that which will destroy their limitation in the fire of Yoga. This must be an object with agency, an object with the power to bestow God's Grace. That object is the Guru who is a Siddha.

If you constantly remember that the Guru is not the physical body, but the Grace-bestowing power of God that is being transmitted through the Acharya; and if you worship the Master, remembering this, taking the form of the Guru inside your being in meditation, or meditating on the Acharya's Guru or any of the saints of the Guru's lineage, you will begin to experience a wonderful and powerful purification and opening of the heart.

This leads to a burning devotion to and love for the Guru, which leads to surrender of the impure ego. Once this surrender is complete, you still have an ego, but it is purified ego which proclaims, "I am Shiva, I am Shakti, I am the Absolute, I am Pure, I am Worthy, I am Perfect." You begin to bask in your own natural, free state of divine unconditional love.

That Love has the power to perform miracles and it will transform your entire being and also, over time, heal all your latent illnesses. This Love comes from the Grace-bestowing power of the Guru and your own Self-effort at daily spiritual practice. It is your own Grace, known as Disciple's Grace, that is the foundation for this relationship between Acharya and Disciple. Your Grace is the most important element. Without it, the Master cannot do his work."

"Shaktipat alone is true initiation." - Shaktipat Yoga Sutras

Shaktipat: literally, the "descent of grace." The transmission of spiritual power (Shakti) from Guru to disciple, awakening the disciple's dormant spiritual energy, Kundalini.

"Spiritual energy is needed for expansion of consciousness and traveling in the inner worlds. Stillness and awareness are not enough. No spiritual energy, no expansion of consciousness. Spiritual empowerment or Shaktipat is the transference of tremendous spiritual energy to enable the consciousness of the disciple to be able to travel to the different levels of the inner world. This transference of tremendous spiritual energy is called spiritual initiation in modern esoteric books. Shaktipat is an Indian term for spiritual empowerment." - Master Choa Kok Sui

Enlightenment is the state of Oneness with the Absolute

Enlightenment is the state of realization
of oneness with the supreme Consciousness.

Enlightenment is another term for Qigong state, ascension, illumination or spiritual oneness, wherein the incarnated soul is achieving a higher degree of oneness with the higher soul, and a certain degree of oneness with God and oneness with all, experienced as expansion of consciousness accompanied with blissful joy, inner peace and quiet mind.

Gurukripa Yoga is similar to the Tibetan Buddhist Tantric practice of Guru Yoga.

Qigong Master & Acharya Ricardo B. Serrano with his Enlightenment Qigong, Shaktipat meditation or Gurukripa Yoga is an independent entity and has no association with Siddha Yoga organization and its activities.

See About Acharya Ricardo B Serrano & his Shakti-based Nityananda Lineage, Memorable Quotations from Yoga Scriptures of the Ancient Siddha Lineage Tradition and Bhagawan Nityananda - A Short Autobiography of a Saint

You can quiet your restless mind, open your heart and have personal freedom thru Shaktipat meditation

Click to email me to make an appointment for Shaktipat Meditation

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North Vancouver, B.C., Canada Tel: 604-987-1797
Contact serrano@qiwithoutborders.org
Updated January 16, 2010 by Holisticwebs.com