Bulletin No: 2015.107 – Thursday September 10, 2015

Montpellier visit

Monday, 31st of August 2015, Nice to Montpellier

Kamlesh bhai landed in Nice at 2 p.m., arriving from Minsk via Frankfurt. It was very sunny and hot, and in fact this summer was the hottest in one hundred years. There were sisters and brothers welcoming him at the airport and he went to an abhyasi’s home for a short visit prior to heading off to Montpellier.

He reached the ashram in Montpellier after almost three hours and immediately upon arrival conducted satsangh for the abhyasis gathered. After satsangh he had dinner with some children who had come from India along with their parents, and with many of the local abhyasis. It was a beautiful moment of extended family dinnertime, filled with love and joy. After dinner he wished everyone good night and went to his room in the ashram, concluding the day.

Tuesday, 1st of September 2015, Montpellier

The morning started with a scenic drive to the venue that was arranged for the seminar. Kamlesh bhai conducted satsangh at 7:30 a.m. in a beautiful meditation hall by the sea, filled with around four hundred abhyasis.

In the evening after the satsangh he addressed the abhyasis about family life. There were some hilarious translation issues: when Kamlesh bhai said, “In men’s lives there are two people whom they love the most and hurt the most, their mother and their wife,” our sister translated it as wife and girlfriend! There was laughter all round.

Acceptance is the first step towards spirituality. Family life is the training ground to learn this acceptance

Kamlesh bhai spoke about acceptance, relating it to our experiences during meditation. He said that we must be able to accept the experiences given during meditation. This attitude should be there in daily life as well. To develop this ability, family life is the best testing ground. When two people come together, both are more or less defective, and when two imperfect beings come together there is going to be noise. The solution is to accept each other’s imperfections.

He said, “If I need to be tolerant to sit behind you, it is not acceptance. It is a very weak human characteristic. If we don't develop this characteristic of acceptance, we cannot even take the first step in spirituality.”

He quoted Babuji from Whispers as saying that every abhyasi needs to develop unprecedented openness of the heart.

After the talk, he greeted abhyasis at the venue and returned to the ashram for dinner with the children. In the cosy atmosphere of the ashram, everyone was delighted to see some of the children who had been at the ‘Brighter Minds’ programme in Bangalore, and who were invited by Kamlesh bhai to meet sister Hélène, the medium. Half-a-dozen children were able to show some of the abilities they have acquired.

Wednesday, 2nd of September 2015, Montpellier

After an early rise at the ashram, the day started with a drive to the venue for 7:30 a.m. satsangh, which lasted for about fifty minutes, leaving all the abhyasis in a state of deep peace. On this second day, new people joined to enjoy the seminar just for a day.

Meditation

Before satsangh, Kamlesh bhai shared some thoughts on meditation. He said it is not a mental process only. The expected result is of course to regulate the mind, but it happens by training the mind to feel things, through the heart, by listening to one’s own heart. It is great to be actively meditating and looking at life’s activities imbued in a meditative state.

We train our hearts by starting with what we feel from the heart, how we follow the signals, how we analyse the feelings, on our own without anyone’s help. Help is given until we reach a state where we feel things, but after that it is up to us to make use of those feelings.

Attitude before meditation

The attitude before meditation, before we offer the prayer, is to create this state of the heart. The inner attitude should be to say: “My lord, whatever experience you bestow on me today I am open to it. Whether I have peace of mind, or bliss, whether I feel absorbed in divine remembrance, whether I see brightness or no brightness in the heart, whatever will be, let it be as per your dictum, not as per my desire.” Remove ourselves from the process of meditation, and let Him prevail in our hearts.

After satsangh Kamlesh bhai had breakfast at the venue and returned to the ashram. The morning was very busy and certainly special for the children who are undergoing the Brighter Minds training. Kamlesh bhai paid a visit to sister Hélène, introducing the children and sharing with her the abilities they are developing.

After a late lunch and some rest at the ashram, Kamlesh bhai returned to the venue for 5 p.m. satsangh. Upon his request, brother Alain conducted a guided cleaning session before meditation started.

Meditation to a meditative state

Kamlesh bhai spoke about the time that should come when none of us will need to meditate anymore. To those who have been meditating for some time, he said:

“Meditation is a process where we culminate in a state of feeling rather than mere thinking on the Divine Light. When we are able to master this art of remaining in a meditative state, when our focus, our heart is in touch with our inner Self during all our daily activities, then at that level we can safely drop the morning meditation.

“For such a person, who is able to maintain the connection with the inner Self, there is no need for meditation. On a spiritual path like Sahaj Marg, there must come a time when we really become professionals in meditation. Our meditative state is then for 24/7.”

If you feel stuck, take a sitting

To those who are new to Sahaj Marg meditation, he said:

“In this system of meditation you will never find one experience in meditation being repeated ever again. Even though we feel peace, we feel calmness, we feel so many states of absorbency and various levels of consciousness, they are all different. Sometimes the calmness and peace that we felt yesterday, we also feel today, but there is a vast difference between yesterday’s peace and today’s peace.

“Sometimes there will be days when, after meditation, you say, ‘Nothing happened today.’ That is nothing to worry about. After a few days the inner atmosphere will change and take us to a new dimension. It is precisely when you feel stuck and don’t feel like meditating, as if nothing is happening, that you should go to a preceptor and take a sitting.

“With this Heartfulness approach, if you do feel stuck and you cannot go to a preceptor for a sitting, call them and request a remote sitting instead.”

We are about to take Sahaj Marg to the next level

He also said that we are about to take Sahaj Marg to the next level. “I know in France you don't like this application Uber, but I like it so much. Say you are in Tokyo, and in the middle of the night you want a sitting, you can go online and someone awake in Los Angeles can give you a sitting. I think a day will come when our Masters will give us permission to work masterfully. Our job is to dream of such things so that they become possible.”

The day ended with dinner in his room, as the joy of a lovely day give way to the need to rest and be ready for what was to come next.

Thursday, 3rd of September 2015, Montpellier

In the morning the sitting started a little earlier and some rain was soon falling on the meditation hall, as the blessings were descending from above.

After breakfast, Kamlesh bhai stayed back in order to conduct another satsangh at 11 a.m.

He shared that the most important required quality in spirituality is humility. One who has it can achieve the highest very easily.

He defined humility as feeling oneself to be insignificant.

After the 11 a.m. satsangh he gave a talk.

Touch the hearts of others

This is only the end of the seminar, whereas our inner condition goes on. Our heart is a very special place, where we gather all kinds of memories – joyous, unforgettable, sad etc. It also stores our spiritual conditions. For example, if we are not very careful, whatever spiritual condition we had in the morning is buried in our heart. We have to let this spiritual condition ooze out. Let it touch the hearts of others. Only then the inner condition can remain alive and dynamic, and also multiply and become intense. Otherwise the condition with which we have been gifted declines and dissolves. The purpose is to identify it, let it be absorbed, and then be transmitted outside.

Kamlesh bhai reminded everyone again that we must understand that meditation must give rise to the feeling of Divinity in the heart, and that this feeling in itself opens other doors.

He further added: it is only with this understanding, if we move into the world, that we can create a Sahaj Marg movement in the most natural way. We have to prepare ourselves, before we transfer it to others.

Constant remembrance is being absorbed in the higher entity inside oneself

At night, Kamlesh bhai was about to rest. He got up again and finished a letter for a book. He re-examined some of the messages and said that constant remembrance is misunderstood. He showed us his notes, where he had written that constant remembrance is a sincere calling from the heart. Remembrance is not just thinking about Master, but is being absorbed in the higher entity inside oneself.

He mentioned that Babuji says that the Sahaj Marg literature is not well studied by abhyasis. We could see that, in spite of so much work, Kamlesh bhai always set aside time to read books, study messages, make notes and write his diary, showing us an example of an intense approach to Sahaj Marg.

After this session, he concluded the seminar. He met many abhyasis from nearby centres who were leaving. After saying goodbye to the abhyasis and the beautiful venue, he returned to the ashram.

Friday, 4th of September 2015, Montpellier to Nice

Kamlesh bhai was up early in the morning, starting his day with work. He finished with emails and mentioned that emotional people drain their energy themselves by their inner fights and conflicts.

He conducted satsangh at 7:30 a.m. in the ashram. Though the seminar had formally concluded the previous night, there were around a hundred abhyasis present for the sitting, which was very deep and intense. After breakfast Kamlesh bhai met some newcomers. Later one brother guided them through the relaxation technique. Their feedback was quite encouraging and they mentioned how they have never experienced something like this ever before, so peaceful and calm.

After saying goodbye to all the abhyasis, he left for Nice at around 11.15 a.m. A few abhyasis followed and on the way stopped with him for lunch. He reached Nice after a three-hour journey, and stayed at the home of an abhyasis, taking some much needed rest.

In the evening Kamlesh bhai drove to our beautiful Nice ashram. Before satsangh he spoke to the Romanian sisters and brothers over Skype. Everyone was very happy. After this there was a guided cleaning, followed by a wonderful sitting.

He then took leave after saying goodbye to many of the abhyasis. On the way he went to the seaside for a walk, and during the walk some of abhyasis shared their experiences of feeling so light and peaceful the moment they entered the ashram. With a seaside walk this journey ended, only to begin a new one, as early the next morning he was to fly back to India.