Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D.
President/Medical Director
Alzheimer’s Research & Prevention Foundation
Prevention Editor, Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease

I once heard a Guru say that he got enlightened from watching birds. So I’ve been doing that and I’ve learned a lot. And I also did some digging and here’s something interesting I discovered: Birds ain’t dumb.

In fact, they’re one of the smartest creatures.

I know what you’re probably thinking. “How can that be? They have such a small brain.” That’s true, they do. But that little “bird brain” is packed with a tremendous amount of intelligence and ability. Research also reveals that birds can think and plan things out! But more than any thinking, what birds do is live a natural life, totally tuned in to their Creator and in touch with the Universe. They live according to their DNA.

Here are some things I learned from our fine-feathered friends:

Everybody’s got to make a living. Not unlike us humans, birds spend a lot of time looking for the right food to eat. They don’t think about it like we do. If we tune in to our higher self by meditating with Kirtan Kriya, discussed below, on a regular basis, we’ll be intuitively guided to not only eat well, but also discover our right action and work, our Dharma. Living your Dharma is when you do the right thing to not only make a living but also help make the world a better place.

You must do your Sadhana. Regular spiritual practice. Believe it or not, birds have a regular spiritual practice. If you study them like I’ve been doing, you’ll soon discover that they fly around in a group at the same time every day. They love to exercise and move those wings. And guess what? Scientists discovered that birds’ wings have many endorphins, which boost their well-being. Birds are naturally spiritual.

Chanting, not just silent meditation, should be an important part of your practice. I’m telling you, the birds I’ve been watching sing like crazy. And they sound so cool. They have many different sounds that they make. Sometimes they think I’m a bird too, because I try and mimic their chants and they answer me back. It’s fun. In fact, I’ve been thinking about writing a song using one of their melodies.

That’s another reason Kirtan Kriya is so powerful. Together with touching your fingers in sequence: thumb to index, thumb to middle, thumb to ring, and thumb to pinkie. It involves chanting the mantra Saa, Taa, Naa, Maa for 2 minutes out loud, whispering for 2 minutes, silent meditation for 4 minutes, and then back out with 2 minutes in a whisper and 2 minutes out loud.

Beyond that, when we chant the mantra Saa, Taa, Naa, Maa out loud the conscious mind is cleansed to restore focus and clarity while reducing stress and anxiety.

When it’s whispered, the subconscious is purified to address the root cause of automatic behaviors, emotional triggers, and limiting beliefs.

When we go silent, the unconscious mind is scrubbed of toxic thoughts that hold you back from being your best self. Many practitioners of Kirtan Kriya are delighted to enjoy these deep periods of thoughtlessness.

The result is you become a balanced person with a clear mind. You replace deeply rooted limiting beliefs, negative patterns and emotional blocks with powerful empowering alternatives.

No other meditation has all those effects!

SAFE Kirtan Kriya is a Simple, Affordable, Fast and Effective meditation that, when done for only 12 minutes on a regular basis, increases emotional clarity, inner peace, and joy by reducing internal resistance and self-sabotaging behavior.

Moreover, Kirtan Kriya has a double washing-machine effect on your brain. It removes toxins from your brain, as seen in our research at West Virginia University in conjunction with one of the world’s greatest meditation researchers. This work shows this meditation can reduce levels of amyloid in the brain — a potential factor in Alzheimer’s disease. We know this due to its higher plasma concentration.

Furthermore, these results indicate the activation of the brain’s vital glymphatic system — the brain’s equivalent of the body’s lymphatic system, which helps remove toxins, reduces neuroinflammation and helps you maintain overall brain and body health.

Also, please recall that, in addition to the washing machine effect, Kirtan Kriya has multiple health benefits, including a profound anti-inflammatory action, proven by the reduction of multiple inflammatory markers such as Il-6 and a decrease in inflammatory genes.

A maximum anti-aging action with an increase in the anti-aging biomarker chemokine eotaxin-1. Beyond that, our research has revealed that Kirtan Kriya increases brain volume, especially gray matter in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, frontal and visual cortex.

Long term practitioners have a brain at least 12 years younger than their age, according to our MRI studies.

In another seminal study of menopausal women called The Pink Brain™ Project, the group who practiced Kirtan Kriya, in addition to multiple other benefits, showed enhanced gray matter in their cerebral cortex.

Opens up all your meridians which meet at the shoulders and are thus activated when you touch your fingers in sequence. This brings a stimulatory balance to your entire mind/body spiritual system.

Neuroprotective: An increase in the neuropeptide FGF factor that is neuroprotective.

Rejuvenation: An observed increase of 43% in telomerase — the highest level documented to-date — as well as corresponding growth in telomere length, indicating significant gene rejuvenation. Telomeres are the tip of your DNA and when they’re elongated it means a longer, healthier life.

A powerfully enhanced brain function including an increase in executive function and memory loss reversal.

Sanity: Is it possible that Kirtan Kriya may have a sanity restoration effect? I think so. With so much anxiety and depression seen in the world today as well as hyper stress from multiple wars and economic pressure, not to mention the stressful ravages thrust upon us from what I call Climate Stress — air pollution, climate change and global warming — sanity can be restored by the regular practice of Kirtan Kriya.

The development of Authentic Intelligence. There is a lot of discussion about Artificial Intelligence, both pro and con. Even Pope Leo commented about it and said it takes us away from our humanity.

How about we put that AI aside for the moment and think about being able to develop our own Authentic Intelligence or AI2? AI2 refers to the unique human driven capabilities of self-awareness, morality, and creativity.

AI2 places emphasis on empathy, compassion, and love, thereby possibly fostering synergy with AI. Genuine person-to-person communication remains essential.

AI2: The Evolution Revolution of Spiritual Fitness. Spiritual Fitness emphasizes the importance of seeking the sacred in life. It encompasses two dimensions of optimal wellbeing, both collectively and individually contributing to healthy behaviors and being linked with improved brain longevity: Divine Well-Being, or DWB, and Spiritual Fitness, or SF, both of which help create a buffer against illness, inflammation, anxiety, depression, and cognitive loss.

DWB encompasses Acceptance, Self-belief, Independence, Persistent Personal Practice, Positive Relationships, and Purpose in Life.

SF includes patience, awareness of our connection to the Creator, compassion, surrender to your spirit, inner peace, universal love, and enlightenment.

Now we can share our knowledge, experience and wisdom with others in our family, friends, community, nation and the world to save the planet.

One final thought for this article, although I have learned even more about what we can learn from birds since I started writing it. I discovered this last notion upon re-reading the writings of Larry Dossey, M.D., who wrote several best-selling books on the power of prayer and other aspects of non-local healing. Birds communicate via vibration and energetic signals. That’s one great reason you always see pelicans, for example, flying together in perfect formation. We humans too can develop our intuition and communication skills by the practice of what yogis call “Jaap,” or repetition of a mantra. There are many mantras, but our Kirtan Kriya sounds of Saa, Taa, Naa, Maa is very effective at not only producing a multitude of health benefits, but also the benefits of higher consciousness and an energetic Universal connection.

I’m standing on my third-floor balcony now, watching two lovebirds build a nest in a tall palm tree. They’ve really got it together. It just comes naturally. We as humans can live up to our authentic natural potential, too, but it doesn’t happen by itself. We must do Kirtan Kriya and/or other aspects of spirituality — be it being in nature, reading the Bible, going to a service of some kind or volunteering. We really need to make it a priority.

Reestablishing our authenticity is more important now than ever. After all, it seems the world’s gone mad. But we can keep all this fire that we see on the outside from having a horribly negative effect on our mind, body, and soul.

Like the birds I enjoy observing, we should use our natural instincts to become healthier, happier, and more fulfilled.

We can become ourselves, only better.