Yoga means to unite and connect back to God, the Cosmic Consciousness. Yoga means uniting in a way that will never allow separation. Our life source is Cosmic Energy (God), to which we are always connected so long as we live. It follows that from this standpoint, we are always in a stage of Yoga, union with the divine. This is also the philosophy of Sunyoga.
Yog means “inner light,” which when ignited becomes one with universal light. The union of the inner self with the Cosmos or the heavenly father occurs when the frequency of our inner vibration matches the frequency of the universal vibration. Whatever exists in the macro cosmos also exists in the micro cosmos or individual self, which means that all the light of the Universe may also be found concealed in the physical body. Everything in the Universe is inside of us; when self-realization happens, the secret of existence and creation becomes evident. Self-realization is the ultimate solution to life’s problems. When we are one with the Universe, then we experience enlightenment.
In our lives we are searching clueless in all directions without any guidance where to go. Our awareness is limited and has become too narrow for us to feel the connection. The actual step to connect is very small. We have to balance both inside and outside so we can connect from the heart. All ego has to go.
Through the practice of meditation, we can increase our consciousness and expand our awareness from the physical body to the five elements and to the Earth, the Sun, the galaxy, and the Universe. When we have expanded our awareness from our physical body all the way to the Universe, that is called Yoga. We have created a connection and united our Soul to the Supreme Soul. Yoga is the science of how to foster the conditions for this connection to happen more and more often, until it becomes permanent.
There are different types of yoga, each with different techniques that guides to this connection. For a technique to be effective it has to be developed by a saint that has reached full enlightenment himself/herself. Over time the purity of a method often gets polluted when people who have not complete knowledge, interfere with and change the original technique.
There is a great benefit to having a physically alive fully enlightened guru that can guide whenever we reach an obstacle that can potentially halt our progress. The meaning of Yoga is to connect to Cosmic Consciousness and it takes much more than just focus to maintain a healthy body (Hatha Yoga balancing the Earth Element) to reach there efficiently. A healthy body helps only to a very limited extent.
Those forms of yoga which include meditation with focus on the third eye can give the fastest progress. This is because when we focus to balance a higher chakra (as Ajna Chakra for the third eye), the lower chakras will automatically follow, but the opposite is not true. Those yoga paths including focusing on the third eye are called Gyan Marg (The Knowledge Path) and Sunyoga is one of them. In Sunyoga, the Sun is used as a tool for us to make the connection to Cosmic Consciousness or Cosmic Energy.
What is Sunyoga?
If we connect to the Sun, we can access Cosmic Energy through it. With this energy, we can balance any disturbance in our body, as it is the source of all life. Enabling this connection is easy. First we need to create the right atmosphere to calm and focus our mind. With several steps we remind ourselves to focus on gratitude and reverence, as well as, enforce our goal and direction. By asking ourselves “Who am I?” we set us up to find the deepest wisdom possible.
When we start the meditation, we open the eyes and look towards the Sun directly from the third eye. The eyes will be fully open to receive maximum sunlight, but the head is tilted down until no rays from the Sun are touching the retina. The Sun will not be visible with our physical eyes. All the time it is crucial that we hold the intention to create and feel friendship with the Sun and free our mind from all expectations. Thus avoid getting distracted by our thoughts and instead surrender and fully immerse ourselves in the experience.
The type of energy we can extract directly from the Sun is of a very high quality. This energy is passing through the pineal gland and into the cerebellum. There it metabolized and separated into 5 elements: Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Space.
These energies then continue to the cerebrum. From here the energies are distributed to each and every cell of our body, to each and every organ. By this, weak and damaged cells and organs that have an imbalance of the five elements can be balanced. Any disease can be healed. After looking at the Sun, we also need to stay a considerable time in a relaxing Savasana position to accommodate the energy distribution efficiently.
The Sun Meditation is giving us a peak experience but it is only the top of the Pyramid of Sunyoga. Much focus in Sunyoga is about building a strong foundation; Yama, Niyama and Asana. Without the foundation, the peak cannot reach high or be sustainable. Sunyoga advocates a way of living to increase our awareness until we get fully enlightened. First we learn to meditate with the Sun. Then we go from being in a meditative state in our meditations to be in a meditative state in 100% of our lives.
All the practical steps for what is needed to become fully enlightened is clearly explained in the Sunyoga courses and it is only the student self that can limit the progress. Once we are realized it will be natural for us to take full responsibility for the family and society.
Sunyoga is not only personal spiritual growth and overcoming difficulties but also to establish peace, harmony, and brotherhood in the world. Practicing Sunyoga every day and with sincerity will help us reach self-realization, understand the cosmic law, and avail ourselves of this knowledge to solve any dimension of problems in life.
Sunyoga basic principles
Before starting to practice Sunyoga, it is very important to follow certain principles in order to purify your mind, and to develop your power of concentration through regular practice of meditation. These principles can be explained through the first three steps of the eight steps of Yoga, which are Yama, Nyama and Asana.
Uma Sankar Sunyogi explains Yama, as the foundation of Yoga, the primary stage at which the beginner makes his or her life plan, that is, Who am I? What do I want and why do I want it? What is the purpose of life? What is the relation between what I want and what I am doing now? It is the stage at which one turns inward to question the purpose, to make a plan and start preparing to carry it out. It is the stage at which the sadhak (someone who follows a particular way of life designed to realize the goal of one’s ultimate ideal) begins to surrender to a higher ideal, to listen to one’s heart and decide what one wants.
Once a plan or the seed of a plan has been put together, the sadhak must stick to it. His or her will power should be like – I will do it, I must do it, even if I die I will do it. The path of Yoga is never without challenges, so one must have confidence and persevere. The time it takes to achieve the goal depends on the sadhak’s will power.
The second step, Nyama, is the actual implementation of the plan. The two basic principles of Nyama are discipline and punctuality. At this stage, the sadhak knows what he wants, and why he wants it. The challenge now is to carry out the plan, and not to be distracted by challenges along the way and not to waste valuable time. The stronger the foundation i.e. the plan made in the primary stage, Yama, the easier it is to carry out the second step, Nyama.
The third basic step is Asana, the most important principle of which is to develop a correct posture and attitude. The most important aspect of Asana is to keep one’s spine straight and relaxed. In this way, the divine force can move freely through the main energy channels that run from the top to the base of the spine. At this stage the sadhak can start his or her practice of meditation. There are three sitting postures that are most effective for meditation which are, Padmasana, Sidhyasana and Gomukasana.
Ancient Sunyoga techniques
Sunyoga seems to have been common knowledge before its spiritual significance was undermined by subsequent systems of belief. Manly P. Hall summarized well how the original religions looked upon the Sun in The Secret Teachings of All Ages:
“In the majority of cases, the religions of antiquity agree that the material visible Sun was a reflector rather than the source of power. (…) This Sun reflected the light of the invisible spiritual Sun, which was the true source of life, light, and truth.”
The Sunyoga technique was developed by Sunyogi Umasankar by the grace of Mahavatar Babaji. It is a reinvention and adapted to modern culture and society. To worship the Sun is a natural progression for any culture that can acknowledge and value the Sun as the ultimate perceptible spiritual body serving as a gateway on our path towards enlightenment. This tendency stems from the fact that humans are intuitively inclined toward veneration of our Sun as the source of life.
The effective teachings may shift according to changes in the language and symbolism of host cultures, as well as time and place. Such shifts can lead to misunderstanding. This is why we need enlightened gurus to watch over what is being taught so we are not misled. Their right discernment can help us access real wisdom hidden within. Various forms of Sun Gazing or Sun worship has been known to be widely across all the continents.
If we go back somewhere between 15,000 to 40,000 years ago, humans did not practice any formal or explicit religion. Daily life and culture conformed to an intuitive pattern that was self-evident and undisputed. All our knowledge was incorporated in our life and the sciences formed a single continuum.
Everything was one science, one philosophy, or one religion. There was an appreciation of the Sun and an understanding that the Sun is the closest gateway to heaven and is the highest embodiment of heaven on the physical plane. We can say that it was a religion of the Sun and the people called themselves the children of the Sun and lived in paradise.
(Excerpts from: Essence of Sunyoga)
Sunyoga courses
Sunyoga has a total of seven levels of courses. It is necessary to remember that practice precedes theory for gaining understanding. There are also guidelines for teaching in Sunyoga. In general, the teacher should be well grounded in practical experience to inspire confidence in the student of the specific course level. The whole purpose of Sunyoga is to empower ourselves, to be able to trust our inner divine power, and to become self-sustaining, with our own inner guru taking charge. Our inner guru will start to guide us more and more, while our outer gurus will be less and less influential.
Level I – Nursery course
The first level course is all about bringing inner peace and health to the individual for a balanced life. Here we learn the basic tools for keeping ourselves healthy and having a happy life. In the course, we will be introduced to basic meditation techniques, be given instructions on how to eat healthily, do physical exercises with awareness of the breath (Yogasanas), and learn a few important acupressure points for health.
Prerequisites: None.
Course duration: A single lecture/Satsang.
Course target: Basic understanding of the benefits of Sunyoga.
Recommended practice:
Physical exercises for purification;
Simple Ajna Chakra meditation.
Level II – Primary course
In the second level, we learn what brings a sustainable happy life and how to maintain a holistic approach for keeping us in balance inside and out. Solutions to different common health issues related to emotions are addressed, overcoming depression, traumas, resolving fears, etc. We learn how to improve our psychological condition and our vital and mental powers, for better concentration and memory.
Prerequisites: None.
Course duration: Two days.
Course target: Mastery of basic Sunyoga practices and 1% brain
utilization (Half-conscious mind).
Recommended practice:
Yogasana exercises;
Eye-to-Eye or Photo Meditation;
Basic Sun Meditation (get technical instruction from a level IV+
student)
Level III – Secondary (Basic course)
Thee third level course is a three-day practical and theoretical workshop. The course serves to purify all interior chakras. The goal of the course is to reach Dhyana stage or Sahaja Samadhi, awaken Chakras±4 and introduce a lifestyle that can sustain this higher level of awareness. This is a spiritual level beyond the full kundalini awakening and it takes us to the seventh of the eight steps in the Ashtanga Yoga. At this stage of spirituality, we have passed the lower spiritual levels where the magical Siddhis reside. The course will take us beyond this crucial obstacle and facilitate our future progress. We experience heightened self-confidence and control over our lives.
Prerequisites: None.
Course duration: Three days.
Coursetarget: Open all Chakras upto Dhyana and Dhyana Rodhak Chakra (the Chakras ±4), and 2% brain utilization (Conscious mind).
Recommended practice: Morning or evening Sun Meditation.
Teaching capacity: After completing the course, we can teach
Sunyoga Level I.
Level IV – Higher Secondary (Advanced course)
This course is an intense 7-day-long practical course including theoretical lectures. In these seven days, we strictly follow and live the foundation of Yoga: Yama, Niyama, and Asana. The focus is on purification and on strengthening our foundation, making the experience of (Nirvikalpa) Samadhi attainable. If we are well prepared for the course, reaching Samadhi is definitely within our grasp. Nirvikalpa Samadhi is the first experience of being in a state of enlightenment and is where we learn to make a strong connection to our inner guru, our soul or higher self.
‘This is the final and eighth step in Ashtanga Yoga. From this stage, our inner guidance towards the higher stages of enlightenment will be more prominent and our dependence on outer gurus will slowly fade away. We start to understand the natural flow of nature, life, and the Universe. We will realize that the significance of the individual self lies in its ability to play an important role in the infinitely bigger whole, the Creation.
Prerequisites: Completed Sunyoga Level III;
At least 6 months of regular sincere practice of Sun Meditation
following completion of the Sunyoga basic Level III course.
Course duration: Seven days.
Course target: Awaken all chakras up to Samadhi and Samadhi Rodhak Chakra (the Chakras ±5), and 7% brain utilization
(Subconscious mind).
Recommended practice:
Sun Meditation in strong noontime Sun;
Apply Yama, Niyama, Asana in everyday life;
Basic Chakra cleansing and breathing exercises;
Chakra Darshan meditation.
Teaching capacity: After completing the course, we can teach
up to Sunyoga Level II.
Level V – Degree course
This is the beginning of enlightenment and where the real yoga starts. Here we can start to experience freedom from the dependency on food and water, and reach to the level of having a disease-less body. Now we have to dedicate part of our life to social work.
Prerequisites: Completed Sunyoga Level IV; At least one year of regular and sincere practice of Sun Meditation after the finished advanced Level IV course.
Course duration: Six months in the Sunyoga Ashram.
Course target: Open up all chakras to Rogamukta and Rogamukta Rodhak Chakra (the Chakras ±8), and 20% brain utilization (Super conscious mind).
I Recommended practice: Dedicate a part of our life to social
service.
Teaching capacity: After completing the course, we can teach
up to Sunyoga Level III.
Level VI – Master’s Degree course
This is the higher enlightenment course, bringing us to Paramahansa, childlike stage, and Chaitanya, no enemy stage, all the way to Amar, supreme conscious, longevity stage.
Prerequisites: Completed Sunyoga Level V; Applying ourselves to the society;
Doing Karma Yoga. Course target: Open up all Chakras to Amar and Amar Rodhak
Chakra (the Chakras ±11), and 50% brain utilization (Supreme
conscious mind).
Course duration: An estimated time of three years of sincere
practice in the Sunyoga Ashram.
Teaching capacity: After completing the course, we can teach
up to level IV.
Level VII – Researcher course
This is the level of full enlightenment, where we are at all times merged with Cosmic Consciousness (Cosmic Energy or God Consciousness), and becoming a real yogi. At that time, 100% of our brain will be activated and we will be 100% dedicated to social work. Duality will not hinder us anymore and we can do real Feel-osophical work.
Prerequisites: Completed Sunyoga Level VI.
Course duration: The estimated time for a fully focused student
is about 12 years practice to complete the course.
Course target: Open up all Chakras to Brahmanusama and
Brahmanusama Rodhak Chakra (the Chakras ±14), and 100%
brain utilization (Universal conscious mind).
Recommended practice: Dedicate full time for social service.
Teaching capacity: After completing the course, we can teach
all Sunyoga levels.