Practical Training in Spirituality

The average human being of today gives a great deal of thought, and applies a great amount of energy, to attain high levels of material welfare. But notwithstanding even success in this endeavor, there is yet much unhappiness, discontent and misery pervading the lives of people. Why is this? It is the result of unbalanced application of effort. The human existence consists of two planes of existence, the material and spiritual, and both these are important and essential for the harmonious well being of an individual.

As a bird needs two wings to fly with, so a human being needs two wings of existence, the spiritual and the material. If either is neglected for the other, such a life becomes unnatural. Neglect of the material existence results in poverty and in sickness, and the neglect of the spiritual, which is the case with most people, results in horrors of manmade diseases and sufferings. To correct this sorry state of affairs, it is necessary to bring back balance into our lives.

Sahaj Marg (the Natural Path) is the system for practical training in spirituality used by Shri Ram Chandra Mission. It is in essence the well-known old Raja Yoga (yoga of the mind) remodeled and simplified to suit and help the man of the present day world to achieve inner perfection, which is a synonym for God realisation. According to the teachings of this system, God is simple and therefore, the way to reach Him must be simple. Mind is the key instrument in a human being, and by proper regulation of mind through meditation, under the practical guidance and support of a Spiritual Master, one can evolve to the Highest. There are no rituals and ceremonials. Do's and don'ts are also few and there are no rigid methods of austerity and penance.

The term 'spirituality' has nothing to do with religion, as commonly understood. In fact, according to Sahaj Marg, spirituality begins where religion ends. While the basic education of man can be undertaken by religion, his further development when he has reached what may be termed adulthood, can only be offered by spirituality. Religion enforces an externalisation of the mind in man's search for God. Mysticism or spirituality internalises the search and directs the mind to the heart of man where the search should really commence.

It is generally believed that meditation requires a lot of preliminary sadhana and preparation. Sahaj Marg on the contrary says that meditation is a simple thing and does not require any preparation. In fact mediation alone can prepare the mind. In meditation, mind is not controlled but regulated. The mind is brought to bear upon a single subject and disturbing and intruding thoughts are allowed to drop off by non-attention. Non-attention is the greatest weapon to avoid thoughts as thoughts without human attention have no power. The mind, therefore, is not being destroyed but is gently diverted to communicate with the Ultimate.