Loving The Unloved-The Amazing Work of ISHA

Loving The Unloved Claire Gillman talks to the remarkable teacher Isha about how her system works for everyone, whether they are celebrities or convicts Picture yourself standing on a stage in front of over a thousand maximum security prisoners, having just told them that, despite your obvious freedom and relative prosperity, you are no different from them. Would you feel anxious about their response? Would you fear for your safety? Remarkably, this is what a 47-year-old Australian woman has done on many occasions and, thanks in large measure to her warmth, grace and tangible authenticity, these hardened men always receive her with rapt attention and the utmost respect. The woman in question is spiritual teacher, Isha, who for the past ten years, has been taking her internationally-acclaimed system for effecting profound inner change to thousands of individuals from all walks of life - from the rich and famous to the high security prisoners of South America.

Loving The Unloved

Claire Gillman talks to the remarkable teacher Isha about how her system works for everyone, whether they are celebrities or convicts

 

Picture yourself standing on a stage in front of over a thousand maximum security prisoners, having just told them that, despite your obvious freedom and relative prosperity, you are no different from them. Would you feel anxious about their response? Would you fear for your safety?

Remarkably, this is what a 47-year-old Australian woman has done on many occasions and, thanks in large measure to her warmth, grace and tangible authenticity, these hardened men always receive her with rapt attention and the utmost respect.

The woman in question is spiritual teacher, Isha, who for the past ten years, has been taking her internationally-acclaimed system for effecting profound inner change to thousands of individuals from all walks of life - from the rich and famous to the high security prisoners of South America.

She explains about the prison workshops, saying, ‘Initially, I was teaching the prison officers but they wanted me to start teaching the prisoners. I had the same preconceptions as you, but the authorities are very progressively-minded people in these countries – it’s not ‘them’ against ‘the prisoners’. We started with small groups but when they saw the results - that’s to say less violence - they opened up the whole prison.

‘These prisoners are very sensitive. They have got to a point in their life and they seriously want to change. They have the most horrific perception of themselves. I tell them, “There’s no difference between you and me – it’s about choices. You have got to start making different choices.” We all want the same thing and that’s love. These prisoners are just the same as the famous people that I teach. It’s so touching.’

In Isha’s eyes, there are no differences between any of us. She arrived at this conclusion when she discovered ‘love-consciousness’ on her own path to personal enlightenment and, as a result, started to develop the Isha System.

She says, ‘When I was 36-years-old, a voice in my head, or more likely my heart, was telling me, “It’s time to wake up.” It started to lead me towards the experience of total freedom. I had to start to speak my truth, to focus inwards and to let go of the dramas, addictions and destructive behaviours. As I started to do this, I started to see myself as I really was. We have an idea of how we are and it’s nothing to do with reality.

‘As I started to go inwards, I started to let go of aspects of myself that were based in fear and weren’t really me. I let go of things that distanced me from love. I expanded this internal energy that I call love-consciousness. It’s a very intense, phenomenal energy. The facets that I developed take you into this energy.’

 

The Isha System

Her system is simple to follow and provides a practical method for expanding consciousness so that each of us can learn to love ourselves and our lives unconditionally. It works on both a physical and emotional level and is based around four ‘facets’ – simple powerful statements of truth that expand awareness and help us to ditch unconscious fears and doubts.

Isha says of her system, ‘I think one of the beautiful aspects of the system is that anyone can use it; it has no doctrine or belief systems. It brings each individual home to themselves, home to their own truth, and empowers them to start making life-altering choices.’

Although the system is simple to follow and easy to incorporate into daily routines, it does require a certain amount of dedication. However, if practiced regularly, results can be seen very quickly. In her normal, forthright way, Isha explains that before you start, you have to be honest about whether or not you are ready for change. She says, ‘We have to be real with ourselves. Am I willing to do some work? It’s not hard. It’s very simple but you have to commit. The mind loves the facets and it’s something you can do everywhere. Usually, we focus on what’s wrong in our lives. The mind is never satisfied but the facets break that education of suffering and critical consciousness.

‘When you start using the facets, initially, there are lots of thoughts in your head but, when you’re doing it with the eyes closed, it’s very profound. We have about 80,000 thoughts per day so to put the facets which vibrate with infinite consciousness in with those is good.’

Certainly, the system has taken off in South America where her extensive social outreach programs are changing lives in hospitals, children’s homes, with ex-guerilla soldiers as well as in the prisons. To date, over 100,000 individuals have directly participated in her workshops and trainings. Moreover, Isha travels the world giving conferences and seminars and she is often invited to speak by international leaders, churchmen and high profile celebrities.

She is now based permanently in Uruguay because the Isha system has taken off so spectacularly in South America. ‘I was invited here to Venezuela 10 years ago and it just went crazy. I started opening centres and I would then have to make them bigger. We started in Venezuela. Then I went to Colombia and set up a centre but it became too small, so I have a headquarters in Uruguay and a big centre in Mexico. It was demand – there’s a lot of need for the Foundation here. We run paid courses and then there are also the community services,’ she explains.

On their release from prison, many of the prisoners who have been helped by the Isha system while inside join the groups to help others. Her trained teachers and community students also offer support to those who have experienced an Isha lecture, workshop or seminar.

 

Modern Guru

The success of her latest book, Why Walk When You Can Fly, and recently released film of the same name, suggest that her renown as a spiritual teacher looks set to spread to an even wider audience.

She is often hailed in the press as a modern guru but, although comfortable with her press coverage, Isha is in fact extremely unassuming and somewhat surprised by her status as a world-renowned spiritual teacher. She says, ‘I never dreamt in a million years that I would become a spiritual teacher. You find what you have been looking for all your life and you simply want to talk about it and share it. Once I had opened this flood of internal consciousness and I could see that I had found what everyone wants, I started to share it. Everything just fell into place. It wasn’t something that I intended to do. It was a consequence of my own healing.’

Isha is sure that all of her life experiences to date led her to where she is now. And these experiences were certainly diverse – during her chequered career, she has been a race-horse trainer and a singer/songwriter (in fact all the music in the film is her own music). Yet it was a dramatic experience from her childhood that was the eventual impetus that made her look inside and reconnect to love-consciousness.

She confesses to being an awkward child, more comfortable in the presence of animals than humans, and the news that she was adopted affected her profoundly. She recalls, ‘I went to a nice family and they gave me all the support and love in the world. But obviously, that initial shock of finding out affected me. It put me into a panic and that feeling of panic is what governed my life.’

Paradoxically, she is grateful to this momentous event in her life because she is easily able to identify this as the point where she lost her natural connection to unconditional love. She is adamant that most of us have some trigger in our lives that stifles our child-like, unquestioning acceptance that we are worthy of unconditional love but it is not always easy to identify. She explains further, ‘My adoption was the greatest thing because it kept pushing me forward. I feared abandonment. All people have something that causes that break and makes us think we don’t deserve love. Intellectually, we have it covered but it is that separation from unconditional love that we have to go inside and identify. All kids have that connection and then something causes it to break and that’s what we have to heal.’

 

Connection to Nature

It is ironic that someone who was more comfortable around animals than humans in her youth should end up working with and touching the lives of so many people. But, yet again, Isha realises that there was a purpose to her early experiences: ‘I can see that one of the great things I got from being with horses for so many years is that because they can’t talk to you, you have to be with them and to know what’s going on. I feel it and I know what’s going on. It’s the same with humans.’

Nonetheless, animals still play a very important role in her life. She adores her pet falcon and she is passionate about all animals but horses in particular. In fact, she has recently started racing Arabian endurance horses – an extreme equine sport that tests both the horse and rider to the limit.

Isha – meaning ‘full human consciousness’ in Sanskrit which is why she chose it not to mention because she hated her given name - exudes warmth and humour when you speak to her and both qualities are present in spades when she describes her relationship to animals: ‘As a child, I wanted to be Tarzan – I thought it was the ultimate job. I was confused as a kid. I used to look at humans and I didn’t understand them. I focused all my attention on animals because they were simple and loving. As a result, I have an incredible connection with animals. I love animals and I have a way with them. I was always obsessed with horses and I broke in my first horse as a child. I love their strength and vulnerability, their phenomenal power and acceleration, and the exhilarating feeling of freedom when you are racing with the wind on an endless beach.’

Her unquenchable zest for life is self-evident and her joy in the moment is very infectious. And, she firmly believes that the state of grace that emanates so effortlessly from her is achievable by each and every one of us. She tells me, ‘The most important thing that humans need to understand is that love consciousness is the most important thing there is. If you don’t love yourself, it doesn’t matter what you achieve or do, it won’t work. We are always trying to change the outside and it will never make you fulfilled. To enjoy life 100% and to have internal security, peace and joy, then you have to change it from the inside. Until you experience internal love – this fundamental energy and force, you don’t know what it’s like to live in abundance.’

Isha lives by example and, in part, that is why her message resonates with individuals from every background, including the prisoners and ex-guerillas whose life-experiences have probably made them sceptical of fairy-tale endings. Isha is the personification of all that she teaches and this lends credibility to her vision that a world united in the experience of consciousness is achievable.

Her example is what inspires many to follow her path. She describes herself thus: ‘I know the truth of who I am. I know that I am love, and I am eternally love. I know that I am the totality, and I have no fear of not existing. I know I create everything in every moment, so I surrender and embrace my creations from a place of joy. I don’t live in constant fear of the future. I experience a peace and joy that overshadows the conflicts of the matrix, and I find myself eternally surrounded by love. I am surrendered to this present moment. Within this experience, fear becomes a distant illusion. This is not an unattainable experience; this is the experience I want all humans to have.’

The Four Facets of the Isha System

The first facet involves embracing the present moment – in her book, Isha explores the many habits of the mind that lead to suffering and this simple statement is a tool for healing them; the second facet is about accepting what is, without judgement; the third is loving oneself and others unconditionally, while the fourth facet is about being one with the Universe.

Practicing the facets involves repeating them silently over and over, with body-awareness and a pause between each repetition. For most effective results, Isha recommends setting aside at least one hour per day for focused practice, but also notes that the facets can be used spontaneously at any moment to help us bring our attention completely into the present moment.

What They Say

Prisoners who have attended Isha’s seminars/workshops and followed the Isha programme have the following to say:

"The Isha System has changed my perception of life. Thanks to the System, I no longer want to do the same things I have always done - to live a life of crime, or take drugs. I have learnt to choose which thoughts I want to focus on. I want to change my life, and these teachings have given me a new vision for the future, they have brought me to value the things I have."

Inmate, Olmos Penitentiary Unit Buenos Aires, Argentina

“When I found myself in this place, I felt completely destroyed. As if the chessboard of my life had been knocked over and all of the pieces had fallen away. Then I started practising the Isha System and through the use of the Isha Keys, everything has become alive again, but from within me, and I feel full of light. I have come to find peace and self-knowledge where I least imagined to find it. I think that on the day that God gives me the opportunity to leave this place, I will leave renewed and with a different perception of life.”

Inmate, Reclusorio Oriente, High Security Prison, Mexico City

 

"When Isha asked us to practice with our eyes closed, I became aware of the habitual negative thoughts that run constantly through my mind. Then I began to feel peace and love, beyond the mental noise on the surface. The Seminar inspired me to reflect about many things in my life, and to look beyond the apparent confines of prison life. It was wonderful to dive within, to feel peace and love for myself and those around me. It is an experience that will stay with me forever."

Inmate, Olmos Penitentiary Unit Buenos Aires, Argentina

“This system has helped me to learn to be with myself. I dive into myself and look at myself. It is a new experience for which I am grateful. I look forward to our weekly meetings with excitement…. I always try to come because I know it helps me to relax. I know it makes me feel good. It’s a completely different experience to what I used to live, here in the prison and out in the world. If we had all practised this system out in the world I don’t think we would be here inside today.”

Inmate, Reclusorio Oriente, High Security Prison, Mexico City

More information

Why Walk When You Can Fly? by Isha (New World Library, £14.50)

Her movie, Why Walk When You Can Fly?, had its worldwide release on 1 May 2009 and is being streamed everywhere.

For full details, go to www.isha.com

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