I have been practising Chakra Meditation for nearly four decades.
For many years, it remained largely a personal practice. As my own understanding deepened, I began sharing the practice with a few people around me through in-person sessions. Then came COVID. Like many other activities, the sessions moved online and that unexpectedly became the beginning of something much larger.
What started simply as teaching Chakra Meditation gradually evolved into a structured journey of self-discovery and understanding life through understanding ourselves.
Bringing Ancient Wisdom and Modern Science Together
One question has fascinated me throughout this journey:
What actually happens within us when we meditate?
My interest in the science of meditation led me to explore neuroscience and other scientific perspectives alongside what our ancient scriptures and yogic traditions tell us.
This gradually became an important part of the course.
Rather than asking participants simply to practise a technique, I wanted them to understand the body, mind and energy processes associated with meditation, and how sustained practice could potentially influence the way we perceive, become aware and respond to situations in everyday life.
The course therefore evolved into a blend of ancient wisdom, personal experience and contemporary scientific understanding.
A Journey Into the Self
Over successive batches, the programme became more structured and experiential.
Today, the journey explores several interconnected dimensions: the mind and its patterns; the subtle-energy architecture of chakras and nadis; prana or life-force energy; interactions between body, mind and energy; our receptivity to universal life-force energy; gratitude and affirmations as part of inner practice; vibrations and frequencies; and exercises for cleansing and quietening the mind.
But I have consciously tried not to make these merely subjects to be taught.
The intention is to create experiences through which participants can observe what is happening within themselves.
Meditation then becomes more than sitting quietly with closed eyes. It becomes a way of understanding ourselves, and perhaps gradually transforming the way we live.
Can We Measure What We Cannot Easily See?
Another area that has fascinated me for many years is the measurement of subtle energies.
Can something that we experience subjectively during meditation also leave measurable effects on the body or mind?
This led me to explore different approaches to observing the state of mind, physiological changes and patterns associated with what traditions describe as life-force or subtle energy.
I eventually introduced an entire session called “Measuring the Unseen” into the programme.
During the session, we discuss - and in some cases demonstrate - different approaches such as physiological measurements, Kirlian / GDV-type imaging, aura or bio-field scanning, and other emerging approaches such quantum-physics based approaches that attempt to interpret subtle or subconscious patterns.
I am careful to distinguish between what science can measure directly, what can only be inferred from measurable effects, and what still remains exploratory.
For me, that distinction is important. Spiritual experience does not need to be forced into science, nor should scientific terminology be used merely to legitimise spiritual ideas. Both can contribute to our understanding when we remain curious about what each can, and cannot, tell us.
The Life Mirror
This exploration eventually led me in another direction.
I began working on an AI-assisted reflection framework based not on instruments, but on something much closer to everyday life:
How do we respond to situations?
An unexpected expense, criticism, rejection, recognition, disappointment, hurtful words, uncertainty etc.
Our responses to ordinary situations can reveal a great deal about what is happening within us.
The framework therefore looks separately at two dimensions: (1) our expression or response, and (2) our awareness of what is happening within us while we respond.
The purpose is not diagnosis, nor is it to attach a label to a person. It is a self-reflection tool - a mirror that may help participants observe patterns across different dimensions of life and revisit them after continued meditation practice.
I call it the Life Mirror.
Eighteen Batches - and Still Evolving
In the early days, I documented very little. I was more interested in conducting the sessions and observing how people experienced them.
Later, I realised that the programme itself was evolving and needed to be documented systematically.
Since beginning that documentation, I have completed 18 batches, and Batch 19 is now being planned in couple of weeks.
I don't advertise the programme. Participants have come almost entirely through word of mouth from people who have experienced the course themselves.
I deliberately keep each batch small, with a maximum of around 30 participants. We meet twice a week, and the ten-session journey is completed over approximately five weeks.
Participants have joined from different parts of the world, bringing very different life experiences into the same exploration of the self.
The Journey Continues Beyond the Course
The sessions themselves are only one part of the journey.
We also have a vibrant WhatsApp community called Chakra Dhyana Sadhana, where conversations continue around meditation, awareness, mind, energy and everyday life.
Questions, reflections, small experiments and polls often turn into interesting discussions.
It does take a considerable amount of my time.
But I thoroughly enjoy it.
Much of what I share is knowledge that I myself have received, studied, experimented with and gathered over many years. Being able to pass some of it on, and seeing people use it for their own self-development, is deeply fulfilling.
A Different Kind of Guru Dakshina
The course is completely free.
Occasionally, participants ask whether they can offer me a Guru Dakshina.
I tell them that I am happy to receive their gratitude in the form of energy rather than money.
If they still feel they would like to give something, I request them to donate an amount of their choice to an NGO that I am associated with, working in the neurodiversity space.
That, for me, makes the circle complete.
What Began as a Meditation Practice...
When I look back, it is interesting to see how something that began as my personal Chakra Meditation practice nearly four decades ago has taken on a life of its own.
It became a meditation course.
The course became a journey into the mind, energy and awareness.
That journey led to questions.
The questions led to research.
The research led to experiments, measurements and new frameworks for self-reflection.
And every batch teaches me something new.
Perhaps that is what I find most satisfying about this entire journey: I may be conducting the sessions, but the learning is never one-way.
We explore together. We experience together. And, in many ways, we all learn from each other.
The journey continues.
