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)

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.