A few weeks ago I came across an Isha Hata Yoga instagram post, which shared a quote from Sadhguru about akashic energy.
"To nourish the human being into a greater possibility, it is very important how the water, the air, the earth, the fire and the fifth dimension, which is the largest one, the space or akash, behave. Today, modern science is recognizing there is something called as akashik intelligence; that is, empty space has a certain intelligence. Whether this intelligence works for you or against you will determine the nature of your life, whether you are a blessed being or one who is going to be knocked around for the rest of your life. If you know how to get the cooperation of the akash into your life, this will be a blessed life. An intelligence that you have never thought possible will become yours, because an intelligence which is beyond your understanding and grasp is right now functioning right here within you, isn't it? It is that intelligence which is holding the whole cosmos together; it is that intelligence which is the womb for creation. It is in the womb of that intelligence that all creation is happening, and it is not denied to you. Access is not blocked, it is just that you have never looked that way. So to get the cooperation of the akash, there is one simple process you could do. After sunrise, before the sun crosses the 30-degree angle from the horizon, look up at the sky once and bow down to it for holding you in place today. After the sun crosses 30 degrees, sometime during the day, any time, look up and bow down again. After the sun sets, once again look up and bow down; not to some god up there, just to the empty space for holding you in place for today. If you just do this, life will change dramatically. If you consciously do this three times a day, if you get cooperation from akash, life will happen in magical ways."
I decided that I would do this every day. Though I was earnest in my intentions, the practice initially felt somewhat mechanical. I would stand by the window or on our balcony, look up at the sky and express gratitude. After a week or so, my daughter decided to join me. It was very sweet. On one particular day, I was standing at my window in meditation, while she played in the living room. But, when I opened my eyes, she was beside me, facing the window with her eyes squeezed shut and palms together. It made me smile.
This went on for a couple of weeks.
A daily existential crisis
And then, Reya started to take a special interest in the planets, solar system and space. We've been watching videos, having conversations, and reading about it. At night she likes to fall asleep to the sound of me reading a wikipedia article about a space related topic (haha). What began as me simply delighting her curiosity, ended up with me tumbling into it too. I would continue to read after she fell asleep, and noticed a gradual inner restlessness build within me. I joked that I was having a daily existential crisis after she slept, but truthfully, it really shook me up. I read about the beginning of the universe, the birth and death of stars, and other monumental cosmic events. I look at the dark and glittering photos of space on reddit, and sometimes it sends shivers through my body.
I couldn't wrap my mind around these abstract concepts and the incomprehensible vastness of the universe. I wrestled with balancing the immense insignificance with the profound significance of this little human life we have.
The insignificance in that to call us even a spec in this universe is still too generous of a quantifier.
Yet...we ARE here. And we are conscious. And we do have a period of time that is significant And we can be and do and create. That is significant.
Out of touch with life
There have been number of instrumental and inexplicable cosmic events that have taken place perfectly and precisely in order for us to be here today.
Our very existence is miraculous.
And while I sit here at my desk, in my quiet home, with the sunshine pouring through the window, on an ordinary friday morning, I know there are so many complex events happening in a dimension that I can't even perceive. The earth in spinning. I can't feel it. The universe is expanding. I can't feel it.
In fact, there are so many complex things happening within me, that I don't even perceive. Blood rushing through my veins and arteries. I don't feel it. The way I wake up every morning and fall asleep at night, I don't feel it. My breath, so loyal, so consistent, so automatic. I don't even feel it.
What do I know?
I feel out of touch. I feel like I've been out of touch my whole life. And when I do experience these brief moments of connection, it feels intense and a little overwhelming.
The intelligence of space
I think of space and time before the universe. How can pure black nothingness give birth to something so intricate and precise, so alive and real, and contain absolutely everything we know to be true?
I contemplate how that pure black nothingness, though it is populated with nothing, how it is so far from empty. How it brims and overflows with intelligence. How it is the source of all creation. How that same pure black nothingness erupted into what we now know as the universe.
How can something be empty and full at the same time?We find so much comfort in the things we can see. The things we can touch, and hold, and measure. But the majority of space is empty. According to wikipedia, planets, stars and gas clouds are 0.29% of the entire universe. Not even 1 percent. Not even half a percent!
The BIGGEST things we can measure are smaller than we can comprehend.
And everything else is just empty space.
And it finally dawned on me, that space - that intelligent and full emptiness - that is the akash.
In the universe that is measured in light years, a 84 year human life is a fraction of a fraction of a fraction.
I look at the way we live this human life, and all that we've done with it. We've created beauty, and art, science and logic. We've created money and exchange, wealth and abundance, communities and families. We created peace and war, feasts and famine. We have have committed acts of supreme love and also some of the greatest atrocities of humanity. We make each other feel things. We laugh, we cry, we attach, we release and let go. We entangle so deeply with one another and with ourselves.
And there's nothing wrong with that.
In fact, I hope we can delight in all these man-made glories, because they are here to be experienced and celebrated in their own way.
But it would be wrong to think that was all there is.I hope we can also delight in the immense invisible power that exists within us.
I hope we delight in and honour the act creation that is alive in every cell of our being. In the intelligence that is constantly expressing itself, and drawing in new realities to us. In the consciousness that flows through our energy body and makes us awake to ourselves.
A transformed practice
I can't look at the moon or the sun the same way again. What once were two pretty spheres in the sky, I now feel a deep sense of reverence and awe when I see them.
Every day, without fail they rise and set. They give life. Without them, there is no me or you. Now, every time I think of the vastness of space and the power in the emptiness, I see it contained within me too.
Since then, my meditations to the akash feel entirely different. I couldn't help but take them more seriously. It is 3 times in my day when I feel truly in touch with myself. A moment where I feel like I've been plugged into my charger. I feel full. I feel like it's raining inside me. A release and a freshness that ensues. Initially, I just bowed my head and went through the actions, but now it feels like a surrendering.
A transformed life
In my 1 month of doing this practice, my day to day life has gotten brighter. I've celebrated some unexpected successes. Doors are opening, windows unlocking, fresh air and sunshine winding its way through my life. I feel as though I am on the cusp of it all, and there is much good to come.
I suppose I have my daughter to thank for this.
It is a reminder to me that whenever I feel that the busy-ness of family life holds me back from my spiritual practices and aspirations, I realize that in many ways, it also propels me towards it.
