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Eestikeelsed artiklid

EDITORIAL

EPIFANIO RECOMMENDS

SOME FILM LISTS

CHANGING HEADS
Marco Casagrande

THE DIAGONAL PATH
Sukhdev Kaur

THE STAGE IS IN YOUR MIND
Eve Apro
Ina Stockem

TO CHECK THE SURFACE WITH BAREFEET, ABOUT THE SERIES OF "WALKING IN THE JUNGLE"
Kanako Sasaki

HARRY PYE'S POSTCARD FROM LONDON
Harry Pye

LIVE AGAIN IN PEACE
Mehis heinsaar

FLEETING, FAMILIAR
Lauri Sommer

FORMAT VICTIMS
Andri Luup

SPEECH TO THE INVESTORS AT THE FOUNDING MEETING OF THE ANTI-ENVIRONMENTALIST PARTY
Nato Lumi

Marco Casagrande

TEAM

The diagonal path

Since the beginning of civilization, man has tried to represent the world in various ways. Lines, forms and shapes are means to communicate beyond the spoken word. Geometry is often used for describing reality. Why geometry? Simply because geometry is within us. The body has geometrical proportions, geometrical purposes, geometrical relations, symmetry. There is harmony and balance between the elements in our cells. Our cells are formed by proportional particles, and they are the subconscious inspiration that finds expression outside the body as art.

All the way from cave art into contemporary art, there has been one underlying thought: to use the elements of the mind to re-present what is known to us, and what is implied in us: the geometry of our bodies, of the mind, of the human, of our reality.

Since geometry is in the body, it cannot be static. When you move an arm, the proportion, length, and width are still there, but the movement adds life into geometry. Geometry is a concept that requires life to be complete.

The most basic element of geometry is the line. The line as a vector has a position, length and direction, but it also has a purpose – the meaning.

A line can be diagonal or a diagonal can be a line. I will take this concept beyond its geometry into the meaning of the diagonal energy and its purpose.

The diagonal is one element, which in my memory relates mostly to the Baroque. During this highly evolved period in arts and architecture, the human figure from the Renaissance evolved into a human in movement. Baroque artists tried to represent force in all places. The force was implied in movement and represented by a diagonal line. If you go to a Baroque church or look at a painting from that era, you will find yourself in constant movement. The artist has made it so that you cannot stop feeling movement. The good works of art re-produce the movement in your insides so you get the sense of what they depict. But what is the purpose of this movement?

While static energy is found in direct polar lines (in art, it is represented by square geometry), then the energy that moves is represented diagonally. If it moves horizontally it doesn’t go beyond the two poles. Polarities are static. But energy which has a purpose, like the electron in an atom, moves randomly. What happens then is that the diagonal cuts through in the middle, and with its energy in movement brings the polarities beyond. Like in the Baroque masterpieces, movement implies life, wakefulness, transcendence.

Take one example. Medicine is the art of healing the body. Its symbol is a pair of snakes entwined seven times around the pole that holds them. The snakes represent the channels of positive and negative energy, sun and moon crossing around the central channel, which represents the dormant energy, rising the consciousness. This is the symbol of balance through the diagonal energy of consciousness, which can bring you health, happiness and bliss.

In oriental thought, our actions create karma. All that the law of karma says is that you need to transcend it. Go beyond your polarities to get rid of your karma. This diagonal action is called Dharma. Also, in the East, “yoga” means union, diagonal union. It is a technique which teaches you, through your body, how to transcend your own limitations and the polarities of the world. Beyond positivity and negativity. There is no metaphysics, it is all in the body, in the geometry.

Transcendence is not a word reserved for monks and yogis, it is the most essential action you can do. Transcendence means going beyond the static polarities, where negativity and positivity, right and wrong merge and loose their meaning. Holding on to the thoughts of how you hate the traffic or your neighbour, or how ugly you are without make-up are the sort of thoughts that make you suffer. Learning from Yogi Bhajan, we should “get out of our own misery and do something!” You are sick, because you are not strong enough to face your own limitations and go beyond them, you are late, because unconsciously you don’t want to go to work, and you are ugly, because you think you should look like the stereotypes society has imposed on you. It is your own choice whether to suffer or to learn. But if you keep holding on to a strong emotion in a polarity (“I am so happy!” or “I am so miserable!”) you will always be a yo-yo. (1)

Polarities are this reality. Once they catch you, you become static, powerless. Man has the precious gift of the diagonal energy. It is a sword that cuts through the air. It can cut through any strong feeling and only when it does, you are alive. The diagonal’s purpose is consciousness. Otherwise you are living trapped in the law of polarities, following your self-established patterns of positivity and negativity. Everything in life: love, friendships, communication, actions, can be beyond good or bad, beyond self-imposed limitations.
Master Yogi Bhajan has said:

“This constant play of the polarities in life will never cease. Your mind should give you balance and applied intelligence to act. It is a mental problem, when you try to fix on one extreme of emotion and hold the entire universe still. You can never always be happy and you can never always be unhappy. You must see and understand the fluctuating pros and cons, and then live through the diagonal on the line of the soul and reality between them. A clear mind helps you walk that diagonal path and be consciously you.” (2)

Sat Nam.

If you would like to experience the diagonal energy through White Tantric Yoga, join us at the European Yoga Festival from July 24th – August 1st in Fondjouan, France. (visit www.3ho-europe.org) The idea of the diagonal was enlightened to many of us in a group discussion on Love last February in the mountains of Mexico. This text has been sewn together from the teachings of Kundalini Yoga and Sikh Dharma. It is a text inspired by Guru Ram Das through the light and teachings of my master Yogi Bhajan. God, the universal energy in All, gets the credits for this piece.

 

Sukhdev Kaur

Sukhdev Kaur (Lilia Del Rio) was born in Mexico and is trained as an architect and urbanist. She is a Kundalini Yoga practitioner and teacher, member of IKYTA and the Healthy, Happy and Holy Organization. She now lives and teaches in Tallinn.


1 The human as a yo-yo is an idea that Yogi Bhajan talks a lot about in his lectures.
2 Yogi Bhajan, “Look through the Mind’s Window”