Fasting

The principle behind fasting is that God never takes food, and by fasting we get nearness to God and thereby absorb his condition to some extent. But it fits well with the humility of a devotee to take a little food, thus admitting that we cannot live without food, like Him. When fasting without even taking water, we boost our ego.

Taken from the book "Complete Works of Ram Chandra, Vol. 4 (1st edn., 2014)", Chapter "Pearls of Wisdom", pg. 264, by Babuji Maharaj

One would never have thought of the principle of Fasting from this perspective, that God never takes food and so to get nearness to Him, we also try to follow that. But then in Sahaj Marg, Babuji Maharaj goes further to explain that extreme demonstration of Fasting is just a boosting our ego and really not beneficial to the spiritual path. If we really put our heads down and think about it, this is really true, that very much like one demonstrates his strength by building his muscles on one extreme which is nothing but a display of ego, that I did it, on this other extreme, complete fasting is also a display of ego that I can do this, and nothing else. If I may extend this, complete abstinence of any type is a display of ego. A display of the fact that I can do it, either just for myself, or for the world to see, or for God to see, it does not matter. 

Sahaj Marg practice talks about holding onto a higher principle with all you got, so that all these petty things including all manifestations of the lower-self drops off automatically, and we are focused on one thing and one thing only, which is our goal, which is our ideal, which is what we want to become, which is not what I am now. This way, Sahaj Marg can be seen as a middle-path, with complete moderation, no excesses of any type, on either side as in complete excess on one side and complete negation on the other side. All the Masters of Sahaj Marg have lived this life of complete moderation to its fullest degree. Babuji Maharaj demonstrated simplicity and moderation in his whole life. Chariji Maharaj demonstrated what it means to work and leave the results to Him alone, and now Shri. Kamlesh D Patel, the current Master and Spiritual representative of his lineage of Gurus and the President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission, has his complete focus on Heartfulness, a simple approach to offering Sahaj Marg meditation practice to people of all walks of life all over the world. 

A Life of Service: A Sahaj Marg Perspective

"To serve entails that one's life is no longer one's own and that, in a way, one makes oneself available to deal with it. In this field, more than elsewhere, one should make choices that meet one's profound aspiration to devote oneself to service without any materialistic motive. Everyone's karma is full of opportunities to find fulfilment in keeping with one's personal capabilities. Many of our aspirants engage in service, keenly aware of this reality."

- Babuji Maharaj

In USA, we have what is called as the AAA policy, which is an Emergency roadside service. One SRCM preceptor jokingly told me once, that in Sahaj Marg also, we have a AAA policy. That is, an abhyasi who wants to follow the path of service must be "AVAILABLE, ACCESSIBLE, APPROACHABLE". As Babuji Maharaj says above, make oneself available. But, Babuji says very clearly that there should not be any motive behind this service. Even though here it talks only about material motive, as a matter of fact, the best way of approach to service is to not have any motive or expectation at all, be it material or even spiritual. Our Master, Chariji Maharaj and Shri. Kamlesh D. Patel have both mentioned time and again, about the idea of not having any expectations towards anything that we do. The only "output" of any work should be that the work or service should produce the desired results, and it is for this result alone that we work. Not for any self-aggrandisement, or for any expectation of the self. 

Another beautiful point hidden in this message above is that this life of service is a "CHOICE". This choice arises out of a deep aspiration to follow such a life, a life which is life-changing in its every sense of the meaning of that word. That is, it changes the course of life itself for that person who made that choice to serve. Sahaj Marg offers such a choice, and Shri Ram Chandra Mission organization has many such selfless individuals who have chosen this life of service, epitomized by the life of the Master, Shri. Kamlesh D. Patel and the Masters before him, who have lived such a life of complete dedication and service, to help and support those who come to them for their spiritual growth and progress. 

Faith and Guidance

Let us try to understand what faith means. The old Biblical statement says, “Faith can move mountains”. Now, to a rational mind like mine, that is impossible. We know that mountains cannot move just like that, unless the tectonic plates in the Earth moves and that can make mountains move, but that too by a very small fractional distance only. So, according to this rational thinking, we can probably define Faith as “Believing in something that is impossible”. So, according to science, according to reason, according to logic, Faith is something “Illogical, Irrational” and thus Impossible.

Now, let us take the topic of faith from a religious background. Take an extreme example of a patient in deathbed, everyone has given up hope, the doctors have said it is just a matter of few days, and so on. However, a loved one perhaps, let us say the mother of the patient, she has faith in her God. She prays with extreme faith and devotion to her God or Deity and a miracle happens and the patient has survived the crisis. We have heard such things happening amongst our families and friends and of course we have seen such things in many movies. This is at the religious level, where a person has faith in an external entity called God and God sometimes answers the prayer. Only sometimes because, there are many times in real-life scenarios that such prayers go un-answered as well, even though the devotee has prayed with lot of faith and devotion, God does not seem to answer the prayer and whatever had to happen, end up happening.

When we get into the field of Spirituality, a system like ours, the heart-based meditation of Sahaj Marg, Heartfulness system of practice, here, things are somewhat different. In a spiritual system, where the focus is in “connecting with the Self within”, and “going inwards into one-self”, the element of faith also takes a turn inwards. So, spirituality makes a very clear statement, “Have Faith in Yourself”. One doesn’t need to have faith in any external entity other than himself or herself. From such an inner faith, courage and confidence develops which become unshakeable.

Now, let us try to connect the dots of where this faith in the self originates. As we all know, Heartfulness meditation is an experiential based system and also that Heartfulness is a science in itself. Just like how science has its experiments to prove a theory, the experiences from the Heartfulness meditation enables a practitioner to gain “Inner Conviction”, that this particular meditation practice is working and is helping me. However, once we cross the line of matter and reason, spirituality moves way ahead and leaves behind the physical sciences and enters into the “Meta-physical” world where “Feeling” overtakes “Thinking”. The feelings of the heart start to play a role in the abhyasi’s life and this is where conviction translates into “Belief”. From Belief, “Trust” in the Inner Master develops. That is, at the seat of the heart is the inner being, which offers guidance from within and the abhyasi begins to Trust these inner feelings and “Intuition” more and more as it helps the abhyasi in his day-to-day life.

When “Trust” in the inner Master becomes strengthened, it morphs into “Faith”. This is what the great Masters of Spirituality like Babuji and Chariji call as “Real Faith”, to distinguish such a faith from the traditional and religious connotations of faith. Such a faith can indeed move mountains, like how Lord Krishna is supposed to have lifted mountain Govardhana Giri or like how Babuji Maharaj says that he can spin the universe like a top! Such a real faith develops courage and confidence in that advanced practitioner that he can do anything, but only for the welfare of humanity and not otherwise. Cheap tricks and miracles are no longer attractive or enticing to such elevated beings. They become pure instruments of Nature, working for the welfare of one and all.

So, we see how faith develops in journey of Heartfulness meditation practice: starting from the practice itself, the experiences leading to inner conviction, and this resulting in belief, then trust and then faith. By the method of Heartfulness meditation, one gets into contact with the inner self, the inner Master, and derives guidance from within. So, after sufficient practice, faith in the inner self, and guidance from within develops in the abhyasi which are really very advanced states of being which enables that person to remain in super-conscious meditative states and do Nature’s work according to the needs of humanity.

Biography: About Shri Kamlesh Patel

“If you want to have infinite happiness, infinite bliss, then minimise your desires, from more and more to less and less and finally to zero! Make peace with yourself.” – Shri Kamlesh D Patel

Shri Kamlesh D Patel was born in Gujarat, India and is now the President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM) and the fourth Spiritual Master of the Sahaj Marg system of Raja Yoga meditation.

From an early age, Kamlesh Patel was interested in spirituality and meditation, and eventually came to the feet of his Guru, Babuji Maharaj in 1976 while still a student. Over the decades, Kamlesh Patel has assisted his guide, Chariji, in the management of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission, which offers the Heartfulness approach to the practice of Sahaj Marg in most countries of the world free of charge.

Kamlesh Patel is married with two sons, and is a role model for students of spirituality who seek that perfect blend of Eastern heart and Western mind. He travels extensively and is at home with people from all backgrounds and walks of life, giving special attention to the youth of today.  

Sahaj Marg: Proving science behind spirituality - The Hindu

Talk by Shri. Kamlesh D. Patel, President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission (www.srcm.org), first published in The Hindu at: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/proving-science-behind-spirituality/article8174560.ece

If spirituality is science, is it not necessary for it to be proved beyond doubt to be believed and accepted?

Giving a scientific spin to spirituality, Sri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM) president Kamlesh D. Patel has said ‘Sahaja Yoga’ was truly scientific and appealed to people to practise it to believe it.

Citing a Harvard study, he said an electroencephalogram test conducted on some Buddhist monks, who have meditated for more than 20,000 hours, had entered the ‘delta’ stage (fourth level) of consciousness. “Sahaja Yoga aims at attaining this stage much earlier.

Let belief be based on experience,” he said. Mr. Patel also likened the present level of consciousness among humans to a thin film of water, indicating the presence of an ocean of super-consciousness above and another ocean of sub-consciousness beneath it.

Speaking to The Hindu on his visit to the Tirupati centre of SRCM on Friday, Mr. Patel (‘Kamlesh Bhai’, as he is referred to by members of the order) said SRCM firmly believed in imparting lessons in meditation free of cost, as spirituality, he maintained, could never be treated as a commodity for sale. “If God can be bought, at what cost?” he asked. “The experience cannot be marketed but only experienced, believed and appreciated when practised with due seriousness, but certainly not [when taken up] as a flippant exercise,” he said.

Sahaj Marg on the Essence of Life

Sahaj Marg on the Essence of Life

It takes time to understand where the essence of life lies. Sahaj Marg, this way of the heart, makes one aware of the need to advance spiritually in this particular area – namely, the opening of specific points that foster real progress of the subtle being. In this regard, the work is focused on what is essential. With time, our abhyasis become familiar with certain important rituals capable of opening up wider perspectives. The opening of the heart in these specific points remains the hallmark of this extraordinary spiritual journey. 

— Babuji Maharaj

It is so interesting to read this message from Babuji Maharaj. One can see how much emphasis is made on what is essential. It is clear from this message that the key work happens in the secret of the heart, with respect to opening specific points which enables real progress. In Sahaj Marg, this is the most essential aspect, the important aspect, of this work on the heart of the abhyasi. This work done by the Masters of Sahaj Marg, Babuji Maharaj, Chariji Maharaj, and now the current Master, Shri Kamlesh D Patel, in the heart of the abhyasis, using Transmission as a tool, is the most essential thing and this is what results in the transformation of the being. With this transformation made possible, the abhyasi begins to understand the difference between what is essential and what is superfluous and thus a state of Viveka (Discrimination) is naturally developed in the abhyasi. The abhyasi's overall approach to life itself changes, all thanks to the "essential" work done by the Masters of Sahaj Marg, along with the help of SRCM Preceptors of Sahaj Marg. As Chariji Maharaj says, the Preceptors are the "Arteries" of Sahaj Marg, through which pure blood is circulated throughout the human system for its well-being. Shri Kamlesh Patel talks about how transmission flows into the heart and the work of transformation of the abhyasi begins in his book Designing Destiny. 

Transmission: Shri Kamlesh D Patel

Transmission: Shri Kamlesh D Patel

When transmission starts flowing towards the heart, we feel the presence or the flow of transmission and slowly get absorbed with it.

Taken from the book "Designing Destiny (2nd edn., 2015)", Chapter "The Spiritual Journey", pg. 48, by Kamlesh D. Patel

That now brings me to the most important and fundamental point in Sahaj Marg. In a sense we can think of Sahaj Marg as operating in three layers. The lowest is the cleaning of the past impressions by the Master's own power. The middle level is our own effort in meditation and avoiding such thoughts or such activities that can create further impressions. And at the apex we have the most important feature, and that is the system of transmission that is unique to this system.

Taken from the book "Purification and Regulation of Mind by Sahaj Marg Yoga, by Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari (Chariji)

Music and Sahaj Marg: Chariji Maharaj

This nice little snippet is narrated by Dr. Sanskrit Kannan, an SRCM Preceptor (Prefect)

The incident happened in 1985 at Gayatri, the residence of Shri Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari, Chariji Maharaj, Spiritual Master of Sahaj Marg. 

One sister Abhyasi told Rev. Chariji Maharaj, " my music teacher says that in Kali Yuga,  music will take one to liberation ".

Rev. Chariji Maharaj " It is not correct ".

Abhyasi, " how can you say this?"

Rev. Chariji Maharaj, " music will not take you anywhere in spirituality ".

Abhyasi, " Lord Rama came before Saint Thyagaraja. He saw the Lord.  Otherwise he could not have written like this".

Rev. Chariji Maharaj,  " well, Wordsworth has written so wonderfully about Nature.  Does it mean that he saw everything? "

Abhyasi,  "No, it's all imagination ".

Rev. Chariji Maharaj, " So too in the case of Saint Thyagaraja. "

The Abhyasi got angry and said, " well you don't accept anyone as great except your Master, Babuji Maharaj. "

Rev. Chariji Maharaj laughed and said, " I am only saying what I heard from my Master. Music cannot take you to higher levels in spirituality.  I can add that had I wanted,  I could have been a great musician ".

Abhyasi, " Then what drove you away from Music and towards Sahaj Marg? "

Rev. Chariji Maharaj, laughingly, " my samskaras ".

Chariji Maharaj Narrates: Time is Relative

 Dr. Sanskrit Kannan, an SRCM Preceptor of Sahaj Marg shares this incident with us.

“Rev. Chariji Maharaj narrated us the story of Ravana.  Once Lord Brahma was going for his ablutions. Someone told Lord Brahma "Ravana was born". After a few minutes, Lord Brahma was coming back and he was told, "Ravana had died". Brahma said, "Its such a pity, Ravana is so short lived".

However, if tradition has to be believed, Ravana is supposed to have lived for thousands of years. This shows how time is relative. What had been just a few minutes for Brahma was thousands of years for Ravana."

Shri Kamlesh D Patel is the successor of Chariji Maharaj and the current President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission (www.srcm.org). In many instances after giving group meditations in Sahaj Marg, both Kamlesh Patel and Chariji Maharaj have commented how the meaning of time itself changes when we go deep into ourselves in meditation. Many times, it feels like only 5 minutes has elapsed during meditation but when you open your eyes and see, one full hour has passed by. The opposite experience is also possible that what feels like one hour long during our absorption in meditation, actually has elapsed only a few minutes on the clock. This shows how time is relative, even in our lives, when we go deeper into our sub-conscious levels.

To get a simple understanding of how time can be relative in layman’s terms, one can read this article as well: https://www.quora.com/Can-somebody-explain-how-time-is-relative-in-laymans-terms. 

Desires and Happiness: Kamlesh Patel and Chariji Maharaj

Infinite Happiness: If you want to have infinite happiness, infinite bliss, then minimise your desires, from more and more to less and less and finally to zero! Make peace with yourself.

Taken from the book "Designing Destiny (2nd edn., 2015)", Chapter "Character and Lifestyle", pg. 14, by Kamlesh D. Patel

Desires: The main obstacles to feeling the Master in your heart are your desires. The Sahaj Marg prayer emphasises this point. You have to do your own practice, go to an SRCM Preceptor regularly, and practise Constant Remembrance. This is the base of the system. But if you want to feel the presence of the Master in your heart, surely you also have to give up a lot of things. You should think about this and see what your attachments really are. Try to give up some of them according to your possibilities, and you will get closer to the Master.

CHARIJI MAHARAJ, The Spider's Web, Vol-1. Pg-332.

Power of Prayer: Sahaj Marg Snippet

This incident happened in 1945. Rev. Chariji Maharaj narrated this incident to a few abhyasis in 1985.

One day, some dacoits entered the house of sis. Kasturi, who lived in Lakhimpur Kheri. The dacoits started to threaten sis. Kasturi with guns. She simply sat in Prayer.  Rev. Babuji Maharaj was in Shahjahanpur at that time and he received this prayer. So, Babuji Maharaj started transmitting. The dacoits, all of a sudden, threw their guns down, prostrated at the feet of sis. Kasturi and told her with folded hands, "Behenji, please forgive us, we have come to a wrong house". Saying this, they ran away. 

Rev. Chariji told us, "You see the power of the Prayer".

The aspect of Prayer is a key element of the Sahaj Marg practice. It is like a “Connecting Link”. When an abhyasi puts himself in a deep supplicant mood and offers prayer, the Master is in some way able to hear the prayer, and the prayer is answered. Chariji Maharaj says, our Sahaj Marg Prayer is like a switch, which, when turned on, allows electricity to pass through and turn on the light or any other appliance. Similarly, by uttering the Sahaj Marg Prayer just once, a connection with the Master is created, and the flow of transmission commences thereafter.

Shri Kamlesh Patel, the current President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission (www.srcm.org) has also talked about Sahaj Marg Prayer. Regarding the night-time prayer, Kamlesh D Patel said that suggest to yourself that all night through, I will remain connected to Master and as soon as I get up, I will meditate again. I will invite Master with my conscious mind now and will remain connected throughout the sleep hours. One other aspect that Kamlesh Patel mentions is the attitude of Prayer, about how very lovingly we invite Master and this love creates vibrations in the heart. This key element of love and humility is essential when we offer prayer to the divine.