Bulletin No: 2017.43 - Monday, 20 November 2017

European Seminar & Conversations With Daaji, part 2

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October 2017, Kanha Shanti Vanam

Monday, 23 October, evening: more on the Goal and what is our purpose?

After the evening satsangh, Daaji shared some thoughts on the theme of the European seminar, ‘If not now, when?’ saying that he had been joking around in the afternoon with one brother, asking him, “What? What are we trying to accomplish, if not now, when? What are we trying to do here? What is our purpose?

“This brother brought a newspaper cutting from his country, which said ‘Now, more than ever’ on it. So ‘If not now, when?’ means it’s only now. But my fundamental question still remains – what?

“We have been taught to meditate, to do cleaning, etc. without understanding the why and what, the purpose of the whole thing. We understand these things mentally – God Realisation, mergence, being one, being with the cosmic consciousness, but when it boils down to the fundamentals of our personal existence we utterly fail, despite knowing meditation so well, and so many other techniques that we are taught.”

Daaji then shared a story of watching a movie with Master Chariji about Emotional Intelligence, in which Daniel Goleman explained the importance of EQ as the success factor for CEOs, and in turn how EQ is developed by meditation. He said, “So I asked Master, ‘How is it that our people who have been meditating for so many years are still competing with each other? There is not much visible empathy.’

“Does it mean that we don’t meditate? Or perhaps we are meditating with the wrong attitude. To meditate without grasping the goal is as bad as not meditating.” He reiterated from the morning talk that if we are unable to grasp the higher goals of merger and realisation, it is better to focus on “What is my immediate need?”

Daaji showed everyone a cartoon about the changing nature of goals, which evoked much laughter, and then he quoted Kabir’s analogy of raindrops falling in the ocean becoming the ocean for individual consciousness merging with the universal consciousness, the cosmic consciousness. He went on to ask, “When we talk of the drop becoming the ocean, we think that there is total merger, but Babuji says that he is swimming in the ocean (the drop is swimming in the ocean), and Lalaji is still swimming ahead of him. If they are merged, why is one ahead and one behind? Did you think about this?”

The perfect moment for Realisation

“I think we have to revisit this concept of union, of resonance, of mergence a bit differently. If you want to visit the planet Venus, learn to walk on Earth first. Let’s walk very well with the present condition. To reach somewhere else, we have to know where we are now.”

Daaji shared more anecdotes about Master Chariji, and then posed the question, “If someone asks you where you are on this journey, you may not be able to answer, but can you at least say, ‘I’m stuck with this nonsense, I’m stuck with these defects, I’m stuck with the problems that are bothering me now’?

“Let’s identify our shortcomings, identify our weaknesses, or do we prefer to cover them up and say, ‘I’m perfectly fine’? If such is the case, not even God can change us, because we have adopted hypocrisy.

“We have to be authentic. As I mentioned in the morning, God has to be reassured again and again; He has to rely on our authenticity so that He can help us. When we are in the mud but we say we are on cloud nine, or we say, ‘I am in Kanha enjoying the bliss,’ is it really true? Be honest and say, ‘I have to work upon myself.’ Then we can at least find inner peace, inner balance, inner equanimity, poise, and some sort of confidence in ourselves.

“If we don’t have that in the ‘now’, forget about the future. The goal doesn’t exist anywhere in the future. The future means we are only going to postpone things. And if it is in the ‘now’, if it is going to happen in this very moment, all my attention and energy should be focused towards that goal in this moment. We then meditate with the thought that maybe this is the perfect moment for Realisation.

“Have confidence and invest all that you have in that moment. Even a spark of thought will become a deterrent. So remain completely relaxed at every moment in your practice. Extreme receptivity needs to be cultivated in our hearts.”

With this ending, the heavens opened and such a downpour ensued at Kanha that rivers of water were filling the canals throughout the campus.

The story of Kanha Shantivanam

Later that evening, after dinner, Daaji met with seekers from the Latin countries of Europe – Italy, Romania, Spain and Portugal. They asked him about Kanha, so he shared some of the history with them: “It is a very special project to our Master’s heart. It started many years back, in 2010 or 2011. One of our local abhyasis who works in real estate spotted this land and offered it to Master. Then it grew to 300 acres, then 400 acres, and now we have almost 1,200 acres or 400 hectares. Our Mission will have 350 acres or 100 hectares of that for the ashram property itself, and surrounding that are apartments on one side and housing projects on the other side. It is a big community in the making. It’s quite an adventurous project for us.

“In the past, every year we would celebrate our Masters’ birthdays at different places, and for that purpose we would spend money on building new structures each time. So now we will make a permanent structure here in Kanha, and with that idea of celebrating the birthdays of the Masters four times a year, our investments in the buildings will pay off instead of perpetually paying money each time we have a new celebration.

“Now we have tents ready, we have dormitories ready, more housing will come, and it will become self-sufficient over time. We will also have various green initiatives – solar, sewer water treatment, organic farming etc. We already grow vegetables here. A lot can be done here, and this is just the beginning.”

The atmosphere in Kanha – transformation through purification

“On a serious spiritual note, I was travelling a couple of years back in the North of India. I happened to visit Mathura, the birthplace of Lord Krishna, where he spent his childhood and maybe also his teenage years. During one of the sittings there, the atmosphere that came down was quite significant, with a golden glow. After that North India tour, when I came back here to Kanha and gave a sitting, that same atmosphere was present – I could perceive that it was a replica. The same intensity was there.

“Then, when I was chatting with our medium, and sharing with her how wonderful the atmosphere is that is building up here in Kanha, she suddenly announced that Babuji had interjected and said, ‘Correction. The atmosphere in Kanha surpasses that which was existing during Lord Krishna’s time.’ So we have a lot to expect from Kanha. It is not static, and it will affect us in a positive way. So make the most of it.

“How? Remain silent, watching inside what is happening. Be perceptive and receptive. That’s all. What it does is purify us in a big way. Transformation is only through purification. The effect lasts beyond our stay here. It will continue when we go back home. In fact, Babuji used to say to those abhyasis who would complain that they didn’t feel anything while with him, ‘Ghar jaake dekhana!’ meaning ‘That’s okay. Watch it when you go back home.’ You would feel something remarkable happening – insight, subtle changes, and also powerful changes, and we can’t explain how these things are happening.”

The importance of trees

Daaji also shared the story of Lalaji Maharaj visiting a village in the tribal area of Rawati in Malwa district in present day Madhya Pradesh, which reminded him of the ashram of the saint Kakabhushundi from ten thousand years back. Whosoever entered that ashram was liberated, as the atmosphere was so charged. Daaji shared his own experience of the place: “I went to look for this village, which is now called Raoti, in 2007 and the moment I reached the nearby railway station I realised that nothing was there, it was deserted. And while going towards the village Lalaji had visited, there was nothing around – the trees had been cut down. It must have been much greener in Lalaji’s time. Then, as I reached the village, there was a stream running, on the banks of which were beautiful trees, including a huge banyan tree with a giant canopy. I thought Lalaji Maharaj must have visited this very spot, so I sat there and felt immensely benefited.

“So now we have the possibility of creating such an ashram here, where each one of us can contribute towards its charge. The way we move, the way we behave, the way we meditate; our vibrations will definitely affect the atmosphere.

“And why the trees? Lalaji said that trees retain spiritual charge for a longer period than humans can. This is because we have subtle bodies; we have consciousness of a different style. We can improve and we can also destroy. Trees retain the transmission the way it is given, without any disturbance. They are like a vibrations bank. Future generations will benefit from it, as it is not going to deplete! With spiritual charge, the more you use it the more it intensifies, and the same is true in a meditation space. WE ALL HAVE A PART TO PLAY!”

To be continued …