Web Content Display Web Content Display

Bulletin No: 2016.45 – Sunday May 29, 2016

Report on Daaji’s visit to the Vrads Sande Ashram, Denmark

Heartfulness Training Seminars, Part 1, 13th to 15th of May 2016.

Friday, 13th of May 2016, Copenhagen to Vrads Sande

In the afternoon at about 4 p.m., Daaji arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark. He visited the Heartfulness Centre, where he rested and conducted a twenty-minute satsangh. On his way to the Vrads Sande Ashram, he stopped for dinner at the restaurant in the Hesselet Hotel by the lake. He arrived at the Vrads Sande ashram around 10 p.m.

Saturday, 14th of May 2016, Vrads Sande

Daaji conducted satsangh at 7 a.m. in the meditation hall, followed by breakfast with the abhyasis outside overlooking the beautiful forests and countryside.

At 11:30 a.m., he conducted the second satsangh of the day outside in the ashram grounds, next to the pond. This was a joyous occasion for everyone, even though it was a little cold. He was happily joking with everyone:

“Very dear sisters and brothers, it is good to be here for this very special moment. I don’t think I have ever conducted satsangh like this, and we are thankful to the Danish authorities for giving us this opportunity.[1]

Our relationship with our Maker

“During the satsangh I was laughing inside. Once I asked our General Secretary, ‘Why do men in India call their wives Bhagawan?’ To me they were addressing their wives as God or as a goddess. So he said, no, they are not addressing their wives as god. He explained that they really mean, ‘You the fortunate one who has married me!’ Bhagawan is a word derived from Bhagya-van in Hindi!

“I was laughing and smiling inside because it reminds me of our relationship with our Maker, our Source. He too should call us, ‘Oh Bhagawan, all those who are connected with me.’ And the best way to transfer all your wealth is to get married. The moment you are married, all that that person possesses is yours. It is automatically transferred. Even a wire transfer costs money and takes effort, but this doesn’t cost much – it is done very easily.

“So when we develop a connectedness with the Source, like a marriage between ourselves and our Maker, then all that He has is ours, and all that we have is His. I think He is the loser in the game, but nevertheless we gain everything.”

As he was speaking, dark clouds gathered in the sky and thunder and lightning started. He finished the talk with, “I think I will make it short! Let’s all pray together that this spiritual movement will reach out to many hearts. Not only that, while we are participating in this movement, I think we are the greatest beneficiaries. Every moment we are involved in how to take it forward, with efforts and analysing, ‘What do I do next?’ It is a beautiful thing to get involved in this movement. It is really gaining momentum. [Loud thunder] I think before this fellow builds momentum, we will move away from here. Thank you all, we will continue later on.”

Daaji conducted the third satsangh of the day at 5:30 p.m. in the meditation hall. After satsangh, he explained that just as material wealth is accumulated, spiritual wealth is also accumulated. The difference, however, is that material wealth depletes by use, whereas spiritual wealth increases by sharing it. He said that in order to retain one’s condition, it is important to share it with others.

Sunday, 15th of May 2016

Daaji conducted satsangh at 7 a.m. in the meditation hall.

Abhyasis participating in the two-day Heartfulness training workshop attended their first session after breakfast.

Daaji again conducted satsangh at 11:30 a.m. outside, and the third satsangh at 5:30 p.m. This was followed by a question and answer session with him. He gave very practical advice about how to introduce new seekers with the Heartfulness approach, not forcing anything yet inspiring newcomers to want more of everything we have to offer. Then he explained Sahaj Marg in a way that will revolutionize the way we present it to the world, in response to the following question:

Q: We have always said that Sahaj Marg is a spiritual path. Sometimes we feel that when we use the word ‘spiritual’ it is a block for many people to start Heartfulness. Is it okay not to use that word?

KDP: I think this concept has always been badly understood. I would say that Sahaj Marg is just the path; it is just a journey. I would not call it a spiritual path. When we describe this system as a ‘spiritual path’ we are actually belittling the system.

Religion is all about externalisation of the thing we worship and believe: God is outside. There is a form, there is dogma, and there are beliefs. … Religion is supposed to teach us to go beyond the form into formlessness. Spirituality is taking us from thinking to feeling, so we are experiencing things. But if you are going to be stuck with the experiences and you want the best experience repeated again and again then, my friend, you are stuck all over again in spirituality too. Sahaj Marg will fail.

We have to also transcend spirituality. You know Babuji’s statement very well: where religion ends spirituality begins, and that too ends. The field of experiences and feelings has to be dropped one day, and then Reality begins. Reality is where there is direct perception, and even that drops one day.

When my ego is subdued to such an extent that the weight of ego does not interfere and only He remains, then bliss begins. Because between bliss and myself was myself. It is not that I want liberation from the world. That is incorrect. I want liberation from myself, from my ego, from my lower self. I need to liberate myself from myself. Then bliss starts, and then when that too ends – because even bliss is too heavy, it is too much of a burden carrying bliss – then I slowly swim into Nothingness. It is not that there is nothing, as it is the fundamental Source of everything, where even vibrations are dissolved.

So, if Sahaj Marg helps us to transcend religion, transcend spirituality, transcend even bliss, can we call it a ‘path of bliss’ or a ‘path of Reality’ or a ‘path of spirituality’ or a ‘path of religion’? No, it is just the path. By calling it a ‘spiritual path’ we are insulting the system. I think we should be wiser and drop such words. It is the journey, the infinite journey.

Change

Daaji answered a few more questions, and then spoke about change. Here are some excerpts:

“Often we resist change, even though we want to change. We want to become better and better at each step. Though this inner urge is there to change ourselves, we resist the change because our nervous system is wired with certain patterns. Everything seems to affect us and we react at the mental level.

“When we speak about the subtle bodies, we speak about intellect evolving to become wisdom. Intellect is cerebral in nature, whereas wisdom is all heart-based. Now, I’ll give you an extreme example to understand things better. When we are thinking, suppose someone is angry, or we have extreme fear about something, our thoughts are based on the anger outside or the fear inside. That does not even let us go deeper into our heart or even superficially touch the heart. It prevents us from reaching the heart because of these two very strong powerful forces with which we are so much accustomed.

“Why are we so accustomed to them? Scientific research shows that all these neural patterns, neural connections, form their own pathways. For example, for millennia humanity has been exposed to the effects of the sun and the moon, and yogis were able to find out that the sun has its specific impact on the body and the moon has its specific impact on the body, starting with the physical level, then the physiological level, the emotional level and finally it can effect our genetic pattern.”

“Now when we are habituated in such a genetic way, how to break away from the patterns? We cannot shift the sun and moon. They are going to be there, but we have to adjust. We cannot push ourselves and say, “No, I will sleep during the daytime and work at night time.” That way we are fighting with ourselves always and working against ourselves. Our brains are hard-wired in response to those phenomena; nothing can be changed. But certain other habits can be changed.”

“Through meditation, through cleaning, when we realise a certain thought pattern is unwarranted, and if we are successful by connecting ourselves with a loving heart, then what happens? Our brains no longer respond the way they used to respond. When the neurons don’t work together, don’t fire together, they don’t remain wired together. Neurons are always firing in the brain. Its electrical impulses are always going on and on.”

“So when we are able to control it over a period of time, the old pathways, since they are not firing together, no longer remain wired together. A new network will form. You will not get angry under the same situation again and again, because you are able to create neural pathway in a different way. You are able to change by determining, ‘I will not let this happen.’

“Let’s say situation X is there and you react so badly. You want to get out of that pattern of reaction. How to get out of it? By making a stronger will that will supersede the X stimulus. Let us see what happens in meditation. The problem is ‘thought/s’. You are meditating and some thoughts come up. If you go after the thoughts, your meditation will be spoiled. Now the idea is to remind yourself gently that you are meditating, so on its own the thoughts generally disappear. Sometimes after the meditation you are not even able to recollect the thoughts that were troubling you.

“That is the beauty of our transmission-supported meditation. Now, when such is the case, then we divert our attention, the thought changes its pattern, and now we are thinking of Divine Light.

“Similarly, with problems also, when they are small problems, bring higher aspirations in between: ‘Okay, let me do this better.’ When someone has made a mistake, ignore it and say, ‘Let’s do this better.’ That is how we bring in a new wiring, which is stronger and more productive in nature, by allowing ourselves to forget about the smaller issues. Bring something into the picture that can elevate us together. Then it will change.

“The idea of constant remembrance makes sense in this way, in that it brings us back on track. But when constant remembrance is not done out of love, artificially, allowing ourselves only to think, then constant remembrance becomes a burden. Constant Remembrance should promote a change in our awareness, our consciousness. By connecting through the heart with the Source, we start imbibing the essence of the Beloved who is being remembered. What is the point if there is no softness perceived while thinking of the Beloved?

“So the change is possible when I really want to find the ways and means to solve these problems. Though we want to change, we are not working too hard to bring about this change. Mere prayer of course is a beginning. The desire to change is a big step. Babuji Maharaj said that once we realise we have made a mistake, fifty percent of the problem is over. The next fifty percent of the problem is how to solve the mistake, how to correct it.

Be grateful for criticism

“So when somebody reminds us, ‘Look you made this mistake,’ you should actually be thankful. Instead, we get angry because this is our normal habit. If we rewire ourselves, when somebody says, ‘You made a mistake,’ you can immediately take up that opportunity and thank the person, saying, ‘Now I have the opportunity of correcting myself, which I did not see as a mistake.’

“Then you are welcoming things. That is why Lalaji said that criticism is necessary if you want to attain sainthood. To a person who has such understanding, criticism will not appear negative or like criticism at all, but instead it will be an opportunity.

“So changing old patterns, though it is difficult, is also not so difficult. We can come out of certain habits, certain traits and certain tendencies with the help of our Master, starting with the prayer, ‘Yes, I need to change. I appreciate others who are contributing towards this.’

“And a third thing affects our circumstances in such a way that it can help us change the situation: sometimes changing the environment helps. For example, in school days I remember certain students could not cope with a certain school environment. The moment they changed from one school to another school, they flourished so well.”

“So I think we will take up this topic further: how our actions and our thoughts should be cultivated in such a way that they move from this very cerebral process to a deeper level of heart response.”

After this talk, Daaji then went for a walk, had dinner and then went to his room to work, meet people and eventually sleep. For the participants of the first batch of the training seminar, it was time for them to prepare to depart the following day, leaving space for the second batch to arrive.


[1] The local authorities did not allow large tents to be erected for the seminar, hence Daaji’s gratitude to them for forcing us to sit outside together in Nature.