August 22 , 2019
Romi's Way is delighted to introduce you to our Inspirer of the week Bijay Anand. Bijay is an Indian actor and superstar who fell in love with Kundalini Yoga in 2006 and soon became a world famous and much loved teacher and founder of Anahata Retreats (www.anahata.in) who now balances the two worlds of 'unreality' (= acting) and the true reality within, which he connected through Kundalini Yoga.
In his own words, Bijay describes this balancing beautifully. According to him, "the world that is drawn to unreal and unrealistic images is trapped in the illusion that we called ‘Maya’. Maya has the ability to entice us with worldly desires of greed, lust, fame and vices.
How I manage to maintain my spiritual equilibrium is by surrendering to the cosmic dance and allowing this ‘unreal world' and all its experiences to guide me towards higher plains of realisation and wisdom. I don’t need to get trapped by my fame and my fortune. I just allow myself to be and to observe its character the same way as you would watch an opera when you go to one.
The realisation that everything around us is an illusion does not mean that we recoil into a shell and withdraw from this world. Rather, we surrender to the cosmic dance and we dance IN IT. WITH IT.
Life becomes a beautiful and enigmatic journey that I see everyday from the eyes of an infant. Learning, growing and experiencing bliss. Every moment."
We wanted to know how Bijay found yoga (or how did yoga find him). "I lost millions in the crash of 2006 and it made me realise that nothing material that we own is really ours. It made me see through ‘Maya’ and her bewitching allure. I started looking for answers.
The questions I had in my mind took me to different lands over many years. I took part in yoga retreats, spiritual events, yoga festivals and then, one day, I came across Kundalini Yoga.
My first 5 minutes in this practice made me realise that I had finally ‘come home’.
I immediately signed up for the teachers training course, not to become a teacher, but to simply expose myself to 21 days of healing and learning. After I finished, I was a totally different soul. Nothing about my past life would reflect upon my aura. I was shining with an inner light and bliss that I never even knew existed.
It was my moment of awakening. Akin to waking up from a deep slumber."
Romi's Way asked what would Bijay say to people who feel hopeless or depressed in the current times and feel their individual change or input would be meaningless to help our planet and its flora and fauna to survive? He says: "To those who feel hopeless or depressed about current global affairs, I just want to say that it is not your Karma to save the world. Your priority is to first become enlightened yourself.
It is only when you shine bright and are luminous with a beautiful aura that you will be able to become the candle that can light up this world.
Do not attempt to help anybody from drowning without becoming an expert swimmer yourself. You will both drown!"
Romi's Way promotes unity and compassion through its actions. Therefore we asked Bijay how he sees unity in his frequent teaching travels around the world. "Humanity is currently divided between the lost souls, those who are seekers on the path and those who are enlightened beings.
When the enlightened beings light up the path for the seekers to follow that will in turn lead to their spiritual growth and upliftment, there will come a day when this thread of wisdom that will then weave through these awakened beings will become the catalyst for global change.
As teachers, it is incumbent upon us to have an urgency within us to effect this change and to help as many souls as we can to find their way or as I like to put it, “to find their way back home”."
Lastly we talked about what may future potentially hold for Bijay: "I have a vision, what some would like to call goals but I have no plans at all, ever.
I would like to see hundreds of Anahata retreat centres around the world helping people to find themselves. I would like to advise governments interested in the health and wellbeing of their citizens on these issues.
Once I manifest this vision and set it out there, the universe will conspire to make this happen. So you see, I don’t need to make any plans. Not for the future, not for this month, not even for today.
Surrendering to the cosmic dance and flowing in it is all that I know to do. One of the first quotes I ever wrote was, “I don’t decide what happens in my life, I allow my life to happen to itself”."
Thank you for being our inspirer Bijay! We hope your light has lit hope and joy for our readers day.
Find more about Anahata Retreats www.anahata.in
