IF YOU CAN DO IT, DO IT. IF YOU CANNOT DO IT, DON’T DO IT.

“If you can do it, do it.
If you can’t do it, don’t do it.”

I absolutely love this teaching found in Kundalini Yoga. It refers to this path and practice, and it just makes everything so incredible simple.

Yet somehow many still get caught up in a struggle and a duality relationship with Kundalini Yoga and how to practice and teach it.

The teachings of Kundalini Yoga are very clear, and they are also very perfect. There isn’t anything that you have to change, subtract or add—whether you practice for yourself, or you teach others.

But of course the amount you practice can absolutely vary. You can take one kriya, one practice, one teaching, apply it to your life and you will feel a tremendous benefit.

For some reason I still see people who struggle with the authority of the teachings though.

The directive is very clear: you do not change the teachings. And if you were given a teaching, you have an obligation as a teacher to pass it on in the same way as it was taught to you, without altering it (the consequences of not doing so are described in the scriptures and they are quite grim).

But why would someone change the teachings? — you might ask

There are many reasons why someone would alter a teaching, or “water it down”, and most have (not surprisingly) to do with the person’s ego involvement.

When someone doesn’t have a teacher relationship, they become their own highest authority.

That sounds like just the thing for the Aquarian Age right? Maybe you have heard phrase like “you should be your own authority”, or “don’t let yourself be “controlled” by anyone else’s influence” etc.

I’m not saying that you should let yourself be controlled by someone else, but when it comes to being on a spiritual path it isn’t helpful for you to be your own highest authority.

There isn’t enough time in this life to ascent to the highest peaks of consciousness, without having someone to guide you there. But you can absolutely roam around in the lower realms without getting significantly affected.

If you think you know better by being on your own, or if you avoid having a teacher altogether, your ego is likely running the show.

People avoid having a teacher because they don’t want eyes on them, and they don’t want their faults exposed.

The ego feels much more comfortable without a teacher, as the person is then free to engage in their own interpretations, and are not under pressure for their consciousness to change at a rapid pace, which might cause changes that their sense of attachment is challenged by.

This is why people “shop around” for teachers, do trainings “here and there”, or sometimes avoid being around a teacher at all.

When you are a teacher you have a responsibility. And your life is not lived for your own need fulfillment or sense of entertainment anymore. Many don’t want to realize that, and that’s why they don’t want to be in the “teacher identity”, with all the responsibilities that come—yet they still teach others.

Back to my first notions: If you can do it, do it. If you can’t do it, don’t do it! (Do something else instead)

But we do actually really need Kundalini Yoga teachers, and the objective is never to gather students or disciples, but to create teachers. (Another thing you can be aware of: someone saying excessively “my students”. The students belong to the dharma, not to any one teacher).

There’s absolutely an “eco system” to these teachings that I also don’t want to deny or scrutinize.

Not everyone has to do it “perfectly”. There has to be different levels of entry to the path, and not everyone who initially connect will be able to “catch it” right away. So it isn’t “wrong” of the path to arrange itself in a way where some teachers have a more “loose” or mainstream relatable approach. As long as they understand what is correct, and they don’t criticize, discourage or ridicule anyone who want to go further than where they themselves have gone, then there really isn’t a problem with that.

If they do however (criticize, discourage etc…) you can be sure you are dealing with a teacher who’s ego got challenged and got involved with their practice. They likely don’t have a teacher themselves, or their teacher simply isn’t of a caliber where they are able to challenge them to transform their ego approach.

People practice inaccurately, because their ego have too strong a hold in them, that prevents them from wanting to do it right, because they know (subconsciously) that to practice right will change them, and they are too attached to their current life that they block the opportunity to change.

Teachers teach incorrectly, as they likely practice incorrectly, and also because teaching Kundalini Yoga authentically can create a significant subconscious release in the group, and the teacher subconsciously wants to avoid that.

That’s why they “dumb it down”, make mistakes, don’t put a turban on (yes that can absolutely make you avoid going deeper when teaching, because your crown chakra is less protected, and you then subconsciously avoid taking the practice to a higher level), or try to conform the directives of the practice to the students level of comfort, instead of trying the motivate and inspire the students to go further.

—And hey everyone can make a mistake, say “Sat Nam” and move on. But if you frequently make mistakes, or if you study with someone who frequently makes mistakes, it can be a symptom that they are subconsciously avoiding the potential depth of the practice.

Nevertheless, even such a teacher can be a first step for anyone on the path, and therefore can serve a purpose for the student.

A note to the student

You might find yourself under the influence of such a teacher who think their own subjective interpretation of the teachings are more correct than what was originally given, or who doesn’t have a teacher who is part of a connected lineage.

You might be surprised to know that I did in the very beginning of my Kundalini Yoga journey. My first teacher that I went to many classes with for years, turned out to be corrupt (changing the practices and being the student of a teacher disconnected from the lineage of Yogi Bhajan).

I don’t spend a moment ever being ungrateful for what she gave me: an entry point into the yogic science and lifestyle.

There’s no way that I would have been able to connect directly with my current teachers, at that time in my life. I had to first get a foundational practice going, and get in touch with the Kundalini Yoga lineage, even if on a superficial and imminent level.

We never really know where the path will take us, but if you stay aware and search for authentic teachers, and avoid the traps of “vibez”, and teachers who are too concerned with comforting you (or scared of the students, so they never get further than to please and comfort), you have a much better chance of “walking up the mountain”. There honestly isn’t that much time in a lifetime to reach a higher consciousness, but the soul is yearning for it.

Back to my initial notion: If you feel in your heart that you can do it, please do it. Take this path, find authentic teachers, do it right, submit yourself to the practice and the system, be humble and learn. You will be very well rewarded. (And if you cannot: don’t worry about it!)