I was reading a book by the utter legend that is Charles Bukowski recently. I like reading novels from pre-90s because it’s a delightful reminder of how my reality has changed. Pre-internet and post-internet. Pre-mobile phones and post-mobile phones. Pre-selfie and post-selfie.
BOOM! Welcome to the Aquarian Age. Time ticks faster than ever before, access to knowledge – fake or not – is instant, and there are no longer defined ‘safe’ social rules to play by, because we’re questioning all of them on a personal and wider level. So we can’t define ourselves by what we used to define ourselves by… and what’s left? Our selfie?! The number of @s following us on Instagram? The resulting stress levels bulge epidemically.
That’s the Aquarian Age for you, as it’s known in kundalini yoga teachings. It’s the era we moved into after a cusp period between 1991 (Piscean Age ending) and 2012. Post-Bukowski.
The Piscean Age – think 1950s as an ideal illustration – was defined by structures, patriarchy, trusted (rightly or not) institutions and hierarchy of knowledge. In the Piscean Age, the library was a localised seat of information, the university a site-specific mecca of study and learning. Reality was shaped by the media (newspapers, news channels). Information was limited, hard to come by.
Swing around to the Aquarian Age, defined by openness and fluidity. Information is a common currency – we can know everything at a click. In the Aquarian Age, we have access to all the information of a library, all the teachings of a university, real time news NOW. There is no hierarchy. The big Media’s credibility crumbles – we can all recognise someone out to make a profit. In fact motives and shadows become very easy to read in the Aquarian Age.
So what information to allow in, what to believe, what to hold sacred? Previous methods of making sense of and coping with the world, like seeking refuge in the supreme strength of the church/ mosque/ gurdwara/temple, family and educational establishments, are increasingly obsolete as those institutions fail to equip us to deal with the increasingly stressful demands of life.
What becomes crucial is the development of our own discernment, intuition, inner strength and neutrality in the beauty, horror and delight of our changing maya. It’s imperative that we embrace a new way of being – the recognition and generation of inner energy, the reliance on the self when there’s nothing else to rely on. We need to take responsibility for our choices and live according to our inner wisdom, our Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo. And we need to step into our capacity as a self-sensory human.
Kundalini yoga rather delightfully nudges us towards the self-sensory state of being that can cope with the increasing pressures of the Aquarian Age. By strengthening the self-sensory system – probably the most important aspect to cultivate in the Aquarian Age – kundalini yoga delivers to us a glimpse of our real Self. Our truth. Our innate divinity. And with that, nothing can shake us.
So, my dears, please go to your kundalini yoga class this week!
Sat nam x