This article “Education for the Self” by Sandra Gross was originally published in the Sanathana Sai Sanjeevini News in August 2024.
At this year’s Sanjeevini Annual Conference, experiences and insights were presented on the topic of education and human education. The lecture “Education for the Self” dealt with which human image enables us to develop compassion for ourselves and others and to act according to the five basic human values of love (Prema), truth (Sathya), right action (Dharma), peace (Shanti) and non-violence (Ahimsa), and which thoughts, feelings, behaviors or problems can prevent us from doing so.
Reason for transformation
Our Higher Self accompanies us throughout our lives, whether we are aware of it or not. The urge to change life or change perspective is often initiated by the Higher Self. A crisis or conscious reflection can move us to transformation if we want to change something in our lives.
Transformation is often triggered by problems or challenges that we cannot solve with the usual means. Negative thoughts in the situation, negative beliefs, negative emotions or behaviors that do not correspond to basic human values mean that the challenges cannot be solved. With positive actions and a new perspective, it is then possible to solve the problem. As a result, people grow inwardly in the face of their challenges, their self-esteem is strengthened and a positive transformation of their personality for the better is possible.
But how do you get there with ease? My suggestion is to go two ways at the same time: (1.) Healing the programming from childhood and (2.) Cultivating a practical, consistent and conscious spirituality in everyday life.
Healing the programming from childhood
Our personal self is determined by experiences from childhood, karmic imprints or patterns from the ancestral line. In childhood, we experience situations that shape our emotional body. Many believe that the emotional body is formed again in the same way as it was left in the last incarnation. Unresolved issues return in this lifetime so that we can grow and transform negative traits. For example, a person for whom anger was part of their personality would, according to this teaching, find themselves in situations in this life where they have to find a new solution without the anger. You are allowed to be angry from time to time as long as you do not harm others, do not hold on to this emotion and do not let it become part of your personality. There are of course many other reasons for childhood experiences, but we won’t go into them here.
Unconscious and conscious programming as adults often has its origins in childhood, from inherited beliefs from the family to minor injuries and severe trauma. We can gain clues about childhood programming through self-reflection. For example, we can ask ourselves: When do we react emotionally? Where do we constantly criticize ourselves? Are there certain triggers for undesirable behavior on our part? Why do I keep running into the same kind of problems?
An example from my practice: a client was still sleeping with the light on at 40 and had breathing difficulties and a severe cough when stressed. He could not stop smoking. In a meditative state, he came to the cause of the problem: his father had almost suffocated him with a blanket while playing, which triggered a coughing fit. The father then stopped. The subconscious mind memorized that coughing provides relief in times of great stress. Through the regression and the visualization of the same experience with a different, positive and non-traumatizing outcome, the memory was rewritten so that there was no longer any danger and therefore no need for the subconscious to protect my client by coughing.
Unmet needs in childhood and traumas can therefore later create emotional patterns and emotions that block the connection to the Higher Self. The aim is to release these so that we can better and better absorb the stream of consciousness of our Higher Self and thereby permeate our lives and our personality more and more. In other words, you could also say that the pure stream of consciousness from our innermost being, our divine spark, cannot express itself fully within us.
Cultivating a practical, consistent and conscious spirituality in everyday life
Transformation is easier if you live a practical, consistent and conscious spirituality in everyday life alongside conscious healing. The following methods can be helpful in strengthening the connection to the Higher Self and promoting your own spirituality:
- Take breaks: When emotional reactions or ruminations occur, change the channel and do positive activities such as breathing exercises, stretching or reciting a mantra.
This only needs to be a few minutes.
It is not necessary to attend a 90-minute yoga class straight away.
- Practicing gratitude. Gratitude is the opposite of fear. We can only be grateful for things that are already here and now, and they are positive. Gratitude is also a powerful tool for manifesting positive change. It is important to imagine that what you want is already in your life. For the subconscious mind, there is no difference between past, present and future.
- Bless his life and his circumstances. Everything you bless that is negative becomes positive. Everything that is positive becomes even more positive. Through the regular practice of blessing, a deep feeling of connection with the universe can arise.
- Regular mindfulness, meditation and devotion: mindfulness brings you into the present moment, meditation focuses the mind and devotion surrenders the result to the divine.
- Prayer: Prayer is a simple and powerful tool to alleviate worry. It can strengthen trust, confidence and acceptance and give someone the confidence and inner peace they need to better cope with their challenges.
The connection between healing and spirituality
The more we take care of our personal healing and at the same time lead a committed and spiritual life, the more we have the opportunity to observe how we develop step by step. We solve problems that we might otherwise have turned a blind eye to or even taken refuge in a pseudo-spirituality. It is important for practitioners and clients to find the healing method that corresponds to the client’s consciousness and can bring about the greatest possible positive transformation. The Sanjeevini healing method offers an effective way to heal the causes of problems in a spiritual way.
Both healing and spiritual practice are necessary for complete transformation. This multi-level approach allows one to heal negative emotions and behaviors from the inside out, develop a deeper connection to the higher self, and naturally achieve higher and higher spiritualization in life. It is important to realize that there is not a spiritual life and a worldly life, as if they were two different things. We want to work towards aligning our daily life and personality more and more with spiritual values, effortlessly. Our spiritual life and our worldly life serve us best when they are seen as one.
Sandra Veronika Gross