COASTAL ANDHRA TOUR – PART III
Tuesday, 7th of April 2015, Vijayawada
If I have no wishes would I still need to offer prayer?
On the way to Vijayawada, respected Kamlesh bhai stopped at K L University, where the Vijayawada team had organised an open house. This university has a very impressive campus with around 10,000 students and thousands of faculty members. The Vice Chancellor had a short meeting with Kamlesh bhai, exchanging ideas on the need for spiritual values and ways and means for developing them. This university is planning to provide a dedicated space for meditation.
Around three hundred Computer Science students had assembled in the Peacock Convention Hall. The hall was full of youngsters and many faculty members. The session was more of a workshop and began with Kamlesh bhai giving a brief introduction to the need for meditation in life.
In his own words, “I am happy to be here, and very impressed with the campus. There is a lot of greenery. I am also impressed with the students, who are noise free. Rather, I have attended so many colleges giving such programs, but I have known them to be loud and indisciplined, and it took a long time to settle them down. So I am very happy that we are beginning on a good note and I hope and pray that we will understand each other better at the end of this little talk that I am going to share with you.”
Q: How to prepare for life?
He said, “Nothing very serious about life, actually. Life is full of surprises, and how well we are prepared depends upon our wisdom and upon our innate ability, which surpasses intellect. Suppose if I have to sit for an exam and pass, what do I have to do? Memorise a few things and learn a few things. But wisdom is a different matter. Wisdom is something, when invoked within you, that allows you to handle the most unknown situations in life. No surprise can confuse you, no surprise can disturb you, and such is the way of our Indian civilisation. How can we prepare ourselves for the most surprising moments in life?
“Do not differentiate between the spiritual life that has to be dealt with later and the material life. Material life and spiritual life must go together. We should not differentiate between them. Material life and spiritual life are like two wings of a bird. If I pay a lot of attention to this material proliferation, there is nothing wrong with it, but I must pay equally intense attention to spiritual life if I want a balanced existence, if I want a satisfied existence while I am going through this so-called journey on this planet. How to do that? How to balance this?”
Kamlesh bhai shared an interesting observation while he was explaining about the physical, mental and spiritual realms of human life. He said, “Now, look into the spiritual realm. Spirituality says that there is no limit to the expansion of consciousness, spiritual consciousness. We devote one minute a day, two minutes a day, to this field, which has no limitations, while we devote so much time to the field which is full of limitations – limitations at the physical level, and restricted approach at the mental level. Where there is no limitation, we don’t seem to be serious about it at all and we don’t pay any attention to it. That is the tragedy of modern life, you see.”
“The purpose of meditation after all is expansion of one’s consciousness.”
“If you meditate and create some inner peace within, having inner peace within, it will radiate outside.”
Kamlesh bhai conducted relaxation session, 300 participants drowned into some state in no time. Later He gave the first sitting to all students and continued with remote sittings on subsequent days to complete the introduction.
Later in the day He was mentioning, “One should work with full confidence.”
After the K L University session, Kamlesh bhai continued the journey and reached Vijayawada ashram. He conducted satsang at 5.45 p.m. and gave a talk on prayer.
He said, “I would like to share some thoughts on prayers. We have, rather, invented many kinds of prayers based on our individual needs. We’ve invented various ways on our own to fulfil our needs, and when our efforts fail we automatically resort to prayers, requesting the Lord for the fulfilment of our desires. I do not think it can be considered as prayer. It is no less than begging.”
Kamlesh bhai conducted satsang at 9.00 p.m. and continued his talk on prayer: “I would like you to ponder over these words: ‘O Master! Thou art the real goal of human life. WE – we are yet but slaves of wishes…’. Now, when we say ‘We are yet but slaves of wishes’, whom are we considering when we address ‘we’ to Master or God? Whom are we including in this process of saying, ‘We are yet but slaves of wishes’? Most of us, even though we use the word ‘we’, somehow twist it and say it is all about ‘I’. ‘We are yet but slaves of wishes putting bar to our advancement.’ Who are these ‘our’? Do we really mean ‘our’? And whom are we feeling? On whose behalf are we addressing this prayer? Do we mean putting bar to our advancement or putting bar to my advancement? Next is, ‘Though art the only God and Power to bring us up to that stage.’ Do we mean ‘us’ or intuitively do we mean ‘bring me up to that stage’?
“Most of us seem to be praying only for ourselves as individuals rather than for we, our and us. So I request you all to ponder over this aspect of our prayer in a very serious way.”
“If I have no desires or wishes would I still need to pray to my Master? Kindly meditate over this. I would like you to exercise your heart and just write in your diary what you feel about it.”
Late at night, before bed, there was an interesting discussion about the difference between desires and wishes. Why does our prayer refers to wishes and not desires?
Wednesday, 8th of April 2015
Another hectic day started at the Vijayawada centre. Kamlesh bhai was up early in the morning and conducted satsang at around 6.00 a.m. He said, “The highlight, the high point of my visit here, has been to visit the K L University, where approximately three hundred native students took their first sitting yesterday. Whenever they come, I wish that you will all welcome them with open hearts. They are new saplings. A new sapling needs a lot of care. Help them experience what Sahaj Marg is all about without lecturing them.”
A student leader from K L University attended. This student was puzzled as to how come he woke up at 4.00 a.m. to come to the ashram. He had never had such a sleep as after his first sitting yesterday in almost fifteen years of life.
“I wish that such efforts are made in many other universities, in many other colleges and schools, wherever young minds can be motivated and inspired to live life through the heart.
“Sahaj Marg is a way of life and this way of life is constantly guided by the Master speaking to us through our more and more purified heart. Our hearts have only to become cleaner every day, purer every day, and we will get better and better messages, louder and clearer. We are then able to follow them, without any suspicion, without any doubt but with courage, with confidence and the superb conviction in the system and the Masters.
“What Master wants from all of us is that we should be able to make our own decisions under all situations, as if the Masters themselves are taking those decisions.”
He left the ashram and visited the homes of two satsangi brothers. Then the journey towards Rajahmundry started. He visited Elur centre on the way, conducted satsang and gave a short talk, in which he said, “In the Yoga Shastras, dhyana specifically means meditating on the divine form. Since we have no idea what this divine form is, our beloved Babuji Maharaj recommended that we meditate on Divine Light. If at all we are asked to meditate on the divine form, which form can we imagine to be divine? Whatever form we can imagine in our minds will be limited to our own imagination. While we say throughout our Shastras that God or Divinity is nameless, formless and quality-less, it is beyond all these assignments that we can give.”
“If you like this meditation more and more, do it as often as you can.”
The journey continued towards Rajahmundry Ashram, which is situated away from the city in the rich Godhavari belt.
Rajahmundry ashram
Dissolve yourself with gratefulness
Kamlesh bhai went for a walk and sat near a mango tree, which is seventy years old. The local group used to have satsang under this old tree. He conducted satsang in the evening at around 6.00 p.m. Something interesting was brewing during the last few hours.
A seeker from a city in Andhra connected with us through the Heartfulness.org website. On a call lasting two to three minutes, he was advised how to meditate and when to sit for meditation. In the evening at 5.50 p.m., Kamlesh bhai conducted satsang and gave the sitting to the new seeker also. The seeker was told to sit for forty minutes. Satsang ended after around thirty-five minutes. Later, over the phone, this seeker said, “Sir, I finished my meditation after thirty-five minutes so did not sit for forty minutes. I hope that is okay with you.” He also said, “Initially my mind was wavering. I think I slipped into sleep. My inner self has become so light. I have not experienced this before.”
After satsang, Kamlesh bhai gave a touching talk. Snippets from the talk are recorded here:
“This was a very wonderful and rejoicing satsang. I enjoyed it and it was unique in its own style. There is always some surprise, some variation, some uniqueness to every satsang. Even when we say, ‘I felt a lot of peace during the satsang,’ or ‘I felt calmness during the satsang,’ each time the spectrum of this peace or calmness changes; it is of a different nature. And that is the beauty of the Sahaj Marg system of Raja Yoga, where no two satsangs are similar.”
Kamlesh bhai recalled revered Lalaji’s message and said that he was very much pained by the removal of trees for the construction of the meditation hall.
“Does the mango tree ask you for mango juice for their growth? They are not demanding anything from us. In fact, they take the least and give us the best. I visited one mango tree under which you all used to meditate. I mean imagine the happiness of that tree and the charge. Imagine if we had merely constructed a nice little hut there for meditation. It would have been simply natural, simply wonderful to have. But now what is done is done, we cannot undo it. Now whatever is left in the surrounding in our colony, I beg you actually, don't destroy it. Don't cut those trees please. Leave them the way they are.
“At the epitome of civilisation, at the epitome of the evolutionary cycle that we belong to, I think we have some responsibility towards less evolved objects on this planet. Every lower species is serving the higher species at the cost of their own life. Take, for example, buffalos or cows or goats. They eat grass, drink water and what do they give us? Milk. Only human beings take the best and gives the least or nothing.”
“Worrying over tomorrow makes you lose peace of mind and, at the same time, it exposes your ungratefulness towards the Maker.”
“I am sure most of you have experienced the contributions made by our Masters in our lives. It is so great, I would say, it is so paramount. You can go on writing – each one can write his or her own book about it. When we know it, when we feel it in our hearts, show it! Express it in our lives. Don't ask for more and more of this condition and that condition. Whatever we have so far, be happy, be grateful to them and they will be even happier. All these years they have looked after us, so do you think they will leave us halfway through or even after death? If you have a doubt, please work on yourself. If you don't have a doubt, dissolve yourself with gratefulness.”
Later in the night, Kamlesh bhai read out Lalaji’s message from Complete Works of Ram Chandra (Lalaji Maharaj), pp. 110-111:
Rawati [known as Raoti these days] is a tribal area in Malwa. It has a natural beauty and I had an opportunity to go to this place to visit some of my beloved associate brothers. One of my brothers by name Dr. Krishnaswaroop was employed as government medical officer there, and Shri Heeralal and Revashankar were employees of the same hospital. They are very dear to me. At their request I went to Rawati.
The natural beauty, and the innocent people of the village were the attractions. I liked this place very much. I felt I should stay there forever. I am in the latter half of my life. Instead of helping people to know the grace of God and His love, this place, its trees, plants, earth, water made me get interested in the natural scenery. I was eager to make my dream come true of building an ashram like that of Kakabhusundi. When compared to people, such places have more power to absorb feelings and transmission and can retain them for a longer period. As a result whoever comes in contact with such places cannot but be influenced. This is the reason why even today this place looks like Brij (Brindavan). Even if one looks at it from the traditional angle, one can do better sadhana here than at other places.
Thursday, 9th of April 2015
Like many days on this tour, another very hectic day started by around 4.45 a.m. at the Rajahmundry ashram. Kamlesh bhai was up and reading his notes.
Around 6.20 a.m., he gave a sitting and prepared three candidates to work as preceptors. Almost immediately he went out and planted trees. Somehow this ashram visit is centred on trees. Several times he mentioned the need to plant trees in our ashram premises, protecting them while doing any construction work, and designing buildings without disturbing them.
After sitting, he went to the main hall, conducted satsang and then left for Amalapuram. On the way, he stopped at a very big nursery of sixty acres, and spent an hour watching and learning about the plants and their care. He also stopped at a lovely farmhouse on the way to Amalapuram. This farm looked more like an ashram. He conducted satsang and spent some time.
By noon he reached Amalapuram centre and conducted satsang. After lunch he left for Kakinada and on the way visited another centre called Yanam. He conducted satsang in the Yanam centre at around 4.40 p.m. and left for Kakinada.
Kakinada ashram at 6.00 p.m.
Kamlesh bhai conducted satsang in the meditation centre at Kakinada. Our first brother from Heartfulness was afterwards waiting for our call so he could tell us about his experience, and he promptly reported that he felt very light. There is something about human hearts – they seem to be connected and familiar without our knowing it!
Kamlesh bhai gave a short talk emphasising the need for sustained and consistent effort in our practice:
“If raindrops were to drop from the sky, one and then after five minutes another drop, and then a third drop, would we call it rain? It would not form even the smallest of rivulets. The moment it drops, then the second drop, the third drop, after a few minutes, it would dry up.
“Our efforts, our sustained efforts, like those drops coming from above, must be consistent, must be fast enough, and must be regular enough. Our endeavours, our tapasya, our sadhana, our inner passion, should not be there one day and then the second day you skip it, and then the third day? What sort of a rivulet can we form with such tapasya? Will such a rivulet ever reach the ocean? It can never reach the ocean. First of all we have to form the rivulet, then form the river, let the river flow – my spiritual river that I form within my heart – let it flow towards the ultimate ocean, with passion and with a lot of strength. Nothing on the way should let it stagnate.
“Small efforts result in very big things. Small efforts in the beginning may not sound much. What do we do in the half-hour meditation with closed eyes? But every little condition that is created in our heart adds up, like those water droplets coming from above. Each condition is also like that. We should not let them evaporate like water droplets, we must let them accumulate within our hearts and make an ocean. And when this ocean of mine merges with that of my Master, then there is beauty, magnificent beauty you see.”
Kamlesh bhai again conducted satsang at 9.00 p.m. All were asked to join from wherever they were.
A very hectic day ended with him answering emails, phone calls and writing his diary.
Friday, 10th of April 2015, Kakinada
Sahaj Marg will be known in the future for its unity
The morning started early at around 4.30 a.m. Kamlesh bhai was getting ready for satsang at the Kakinada centre and the onward journey.
Q: Why do some people look into the lives of others and criticise?
“It is a habit. It has become their second nature.” He then asked, “Why do people love?”
Kamlesh bhai conducted satsang at 7.00 a.m. and again at 11.00 a.m. He gave a talk on samskaras, attitude and the future:
“I would like to share with you something very, very important on the subject of samskaras. In the early days of my practice in Ahmedabad, there was this unfortunate prevalent ideology, rampant throughout the Mission, that when someone wants to help someone within the abhyasi circle, certain senior preceptors would say, ‘Oh no, no, you should not interfere in the bhoga of that abhyasi.’ They would say, ‘Let that abhyasi suffer. He is going through his own bhoga, and we should not interfere with this natural process.’ And I found it to be so absurd and so inhuman. I would say it is a great misunderstanding, an unfortunate misunderstanding on the side of certain members of the Mission, and because of this we let abhyasis suffer their own samskaras.
“As abhyasis, what is our duty towards each other? We may not give anybody our house to stay in or our money to share, but at least one thing we can do is pray! Have you prayed for someone? This is sadly lacking actually. We always pray for ourselves.
“How will the future know Sahaj Margis? Do we have a characteristic that differentiates us from other philosophies or other followers in the world? Have we identified ourselves with a peculiar identity? While I was reading Babuji’s Whispers from the Brighter World, in one of the messages it struck me. He said, ‘Sahaj Marg will be known in the future for its unity.’ Other religions are known for their love and compassion, their rock solid brotherhood, or their bhakti, and Sahaj Marg will be known for its unity. Unity between whom? Unity amongst all of us.”
“To sacrifice one needs courage and confidence, not in the self, but in Master.”
“The goodness of your heart should be reflected in your actions.”
Kamlesh bhai left by noon and reached our ashram at Sampathipuram, around forty kilometres from Vizag.
Around 5.00 p.m., he sat out with abhyasis and spoke about the Hyderabad project, commenting that it will be the Mecca of Sahaj Marg. Then the discussion went into science and spirituality. He answered many questions raised by a couple about meditation and the need for a living guru. The husband was deeply into social service and bhakti and admitted to Kamlesh bhai that it was difficult for him to focus the mind. It was touching to see how Kamlesh bhai interacted with them and created an inviting atmosphere.
At 6.00 p.m. he conducted satsang in the meditation tent set up for the occasion. He was very impressed with the atmosphere and gathering. Nature is very serene and calming in this place.
After dinner, he sat out with the local group for a long time discussing future development possibilities and answering questions about spirituality. One of our brothers suddenly recalled that Kamlesh bhai had conducted more than thirty satsangs so far on this coastal tour and not even once had a cell phone made its presence felt! It is an amazing thing that no cell phone rang before, during or after satsang. Truly, the coastal centres of Andhra have set a new standard for our assemblies. Kamlesh bhai was very happy and thoroughly impressed.
The day ended with him sharing an inspiring idea.
“Enthusiasm and generosity should become highly contagious among our lot.” All can work towards this.
Saturday, 11th of April 2015, Sampathipuram
Early morning here is very pleasant. Kamlesh bhai was up early, finished some work and went for a long walk. The ashram is adjacent to a lake, so he walked around and examined various development possibilities.
He conducted satsang at 7.30 a.m. and a second one at 11.00 a.m. After the first satsang of the day, he spoke about dynamism in meditation:
“When you allow your thoughts all to be on Master, on Divine Light or on Master’s form, they should not then remain static, fixed in this one part. Divine Light has to be felt, and Master’s presence has to be felt, so if you are static only on thought, how are you going to feel? That flexibility has to remain. You don’t think of Master anymore, and you start feeling his presence, and then from feeling it must become dynamic so that you are always feeling and always lost. Some people cry in his remembrance. Being in his presence, in his spiritual presence, may not be in his physical presence. It must not be limited to that. Wherever you are, you can imbibe his spiritual presence. It is beyond emotions. You are in association with him at a spiritual level and then you start becoming like him slowly, you start imbibing his qualities, and you start becoming like him. This is dynamism.”
At 6.00 p.m. he conducted satsang and answered many questions related to practice and spiritual life. On a question about laziness, he said, “Once Babuji Maharaj was visited by an abhyasi from South India. He kept working on this person for three days, four days, and it went on. And he was not able to figure out why the grossness that had formed in this abhyasi’s heart was not going. So he communicated with Lalaji Sahib. And Lalaji Sahib said that this person was developing grossness because of laziness. So we have understood so far that actions, our karmas, create samskaras. Our inaction also creates samskaras, our inability to do certain things, and when we keep brooding over them, that also forms samskaras. And this is the fourth one that I am reminded of now – that laziness also can create samskaras.”
There was an interesting question an abhyasi asked:
Dear Master, ascending is very difficult, and one should be more resilient, whether spiritually, morally, ethically etc., whereas descending or falling down is easy. If God is eager to receive us, Nature should support us in ascending. Then why is it the reverse?
While answering this question, Kamlesh bhai said, “It is based on Khushro’s life. It goes like this:
Khushro baji prem ki, main kheli pi ke sang.
Jiti to piya mere, hari to mai pi ke sang
In the game of life, Khushro played with God.
If I win, God is mine; if I lose, I am with God.
“So the end result, whether you win or lose, is that you are together, you see. So why worry? So whether ascending or descending, if we are there together, forget the whole thing. When you love someone, love God. Forget the whole business of ascending or descending. He will come where we are.”
Later, he also mentioned that, “Nature permits us to ascend when we are ready. That is for our own safety.” Is this also not an act of love? Our Masters keep reminding us that spirituality is love, and they are always giving.
Late in the evening, around 8.20 p.m., he said, “Fear is due to the absence of faith. It is a lack of trust. How will you develop trust? Keep practising and experience leads to trust.”
The day ended.
Sunday, 12th of April 2015, Sampathipuram
This is the last leg of the coastal Andhra tour. The day started very early for Kamlesh bhai around 3.30 a.m.
At 6.15 a.m. he prepared two candidates to work as preceptors. He conducted satsang at 7.30 a.m. and gave a concluding talk for the coastal Andhra travel. He encouraged one and all to change for the better, by dedicated practice and attracting new seekers as a result of our changed selves.
“When we meditate with dedication, with sincerity, with extreme punctuality, then we ourselves become role models in the society. People watch us. They watch every move that we make and this is how we reflect Sahaj Marg. Either they will be attracted towards Sahaj Marg because of us or they will be repelled because of our actions.
“We are all pilgrims going towards our Godly abode, going together as one family. Our internal being must shine forth in our actions. What we are must reflect outside through our actions, our behaviour, our speech and our mannerisms. We have very a simple thing to explain: ‘Sir I don’t know much about philosophy, I don’t know much about this Godly business, but you yourself decide, experience it and see where it takes you. I may tell you all kinds of things, that this is the greatest thing, but why do you believe it? You experience it for yourself. You find it yourself. You are the experiment, you are the experimenter and you will be the result, the tester.’
“Basically all Sahaj Margis are joyous and cheerful individuals, but when you are overwhelmed by this inner state which pulls you inside, draws you inside, you are drowned inside. When you have to interact with the world, just come out for a minute and interact with joy. Let that also spread outside. So I won’t say much, but can I ask a question? Can we expect 50,000 by next year? [The audience answered in the affirmative. He laughs.] May He help us all, thank you.”
He met preceptors and abhyasis and had an informal discussion. He mentioned that all should actively participate in the expansion of the Mission.
In the afternoon, Kamlesh bhai had lunch with the volunteers and spoke to them informally for almost an hour or so. The session touched many aspects of practice, life, participating in spiritual work and contributing towards expansion. He emphasised the need for a relaxed approach in all our work and practice.
While talking about the nature of Man, he recalled a quote and said, “God gives, gives, gives and forgives. Man gets, gets, gets and forgets!” Kamlesh bhai added his own extension, “Gets what? Gets condition after condition after condition… and forgets!”
Q: Why are we here in Sahaj Marg?
“To change ourselves. Change should come from within, out of love, voluntarily.”
All the volunteers were immersed in this session joyfully.
He was happy and impressed with the assemblies, the discipline and the approach of the abhyasis to participation in the spiritual gatherings.
It was a very nice ending for the coastal Andhra tour. Throughout this journey, not even one cell phone rang before, during or after satsang! Discipline is an expression of love.
Kamlesh bhai travelled to Hyderabad by the Summer Special train. Many abhyasis came to the railway station to see him off. Some stood silently, and some had wet eyes. In the train the atmosphere was very light. Kamlesh bhai said that it was his long-time wish to travel by train. He enjoyed the ride.
Monday, 13th of April 2015, Hyderabad
Kamlesh bhai got up early and started working in the train.
He reached Dommalaguda ashram by around 10.00 a.m. and conducted satsang, which was attended by around 1500 abhyasis. He gave a very short talk about Babuji Maharaj’s message and his Master’s expectations about the Kanha project. He requested one and all to participate and build a spiritual sanctuary where the Masters would love to descend.
Around 11.45 a.m. he started from the ashram to the Kanha ashram, and many were crowding around his car, making it difficult to move. He said, “It is sheer indiscipline,” and recalled the beautiful assemblies of our coastal centres.
After a brief stop at the Kanha site, Kamlesh bhai flew to Delhi.
