European Tour, Part 2
Thursday, 7th of May 2015, Lausanne to Montpellier
Achieve something better each time
It was a beautiful morning in Lausanne, and satsang was conducted at the new meditation centre. Regarding the new ashram in Lausanne, Kamlesh bhai said, “By our beloved Master’s grace, I am now here to convey my hearty congratulations to all of you in person. This place has come up really well. I wish we could have many more centres like this in Switzerland and in many other places.”
He then gave a wonderful talk on how we should approach the system of Sahaj Marg. Here are some excerpts from the talk:
Kamlesh bhai told abhyasis, new and old, to play with the practice. He explained, “By saying that Sahaj Marg should be taken like play, I mean take it like research at the individual level. Do research with your own sadhana. For example, meditate before sunrise and then after sunrise, and see the difference for yourself. Show yourself that, yes, it does make a difference, or it doesn’t. Now you will have your own confirmation. Meditate for five minutes and see whether you have attained any spiritual condition, or meditate for fifty minutes and feel the difference. Some of us meditate for five minutes – wonderful. Babuji did it for two minutes. But remember, his hold over his consciousness was so profound that he would instantly take off. The shift in consciousness in certain individuals is very rapid.”
“If my heart is delighted with fifteen minutes of meditation, and if I am really, really satisfied with that state of mind, that state of consciousness, then even if I meditate for one more hour it does not change anything, because I have reached my rock bottom.
“So, we have to experiment: what is the gestation period of my meditation? Am I able to achieve that depth within five minutes or fifty minutes? To do that, I have to be more sensitive, more alert that, “Yes, this is my rock-bottom condition of the day.” But if the rock bottom condition of that day repeats the next day, you will not be happy, because you want to do better each time.
“If you are an artist or a flute player, for example, and you give a performance at the UN, at some great location, and everyone is giving a standing ovation. The next day, if you perform the same music, as an artist you will not be happy because you want to do better than yesterday. So, if I am satisfied with achieving a certain level of depth in meditation, and I am happy all the time with that same depth, then there is something wrong with me. I must achieve something better each time. Let me try to recognise each condition, each spiritual state, each time.”
After breakfast at the centre, Kamlesh bhai and several other abhyasis went for a walk. Then the journey by car continued towards Montpellier with a short stop on the way at the home of an abhyasi family in a French village called Novalaise. It was a beautiful house in the countryside. After satsang and lunch we were back on the road to Montpellier, and reached the hotel in the evening.
Friday, 8th of May 2015, Montpellier
The morning started with a drive to the ashram from the hotel. Kamlesh bhai conducted satsang and visited the medium Hélène privately. The programme continued in the ashram. Later, the children enjoyed eating lunch and talking with Kamlesh bhai in the ashram. In the evening again he spent time with the medium. The day ended with dinner in the ashram with abhyasis.
Saturday, 9th of May 2015, Montpellier to Perpignan, and then to Barcelona
Our attention is always on the heart
Kamlesh bhai left the hotel to go to the ashram for satsang at 7.30 a.m. After satsang, he conducted a question and answer session with the abhyasis. During the session, he said, “Our attention is always on the heart.
“Our attention is on our children, and at the same time we are cooking. So our main focus is here, while keeping a track of where the transmission is reaching. It takes us further, but we still meditate on the heart. Even when I see the mountains with my eyes, I feel them with my heart. I may be seeing God, but I feel Him with my heart.”
Peace and harmony at home
An abhyasi shared her dismay regarding the resistance to Sahaj Marg she faces in her family, and wondered if she is the cause of it. She said, “We can go on praying and praying, but else what can we do?”
In response to this, Kamlesh bhai told her, “Keep praying more and more. When you are driving on the road, there are bumps which the car didn’t create. I think subtle resistances are there in our life so that we become careful with our lifestyle, with our behaviour, so that we can check ourselves. There should always be harmony and peace if you want to achieve the highest. Even when there is resistance, it is possible to have harmony and peace in the house. How? It is very simple.”
He then cited the example of his preceptor, a woman who had to face not only resistance but also continuous rejection of meditation from her husband and his family. In spite of this, she found a way to do her practice in such a manner that it would not draw their attention and create any conflict. Moreover, she did not have any bitterness about her situation.
He added the example of a woman going to a movie theatre with her husband, and feeling the environment to be very gross. He said, “If the atmosphere is gross, you have equal capacity to counter it and change it. You can sit with him, with your arms around him, and think of the Lord. Keep watching as if you are watching the beauty inside. You can have your eyes on the screen, but you are somewhere else. Try to do this. We have to make all the family members actually happy at any cost. The problem comes only when I say, ‘It has to be my way.’ Then there are problems. You have to go some distance and then try to change the person.”
Maintaining and expanding the condition
“Even the idea of maintaining the condition within is wrong. It is very good that I retain what has been given, and I must appreciate it first; appreciate it so much that it becomes a part of me. It should gently begin with that. The beauty is when we start expanding that condition and make it richer, rather than just holding onto it. Let it take you to the next level.
“If your father gives you a hundred thousand dollars, and after twenty years you say, ‘Father, I have those hundred thousand dollars intact,’ it is a waste of money. You must invest it and make it grow into a few million. When some spiritual gifts, spiritual conditions are given by Master, they must become greater in the process.
“I think I had put one question before all of you last time, but nobody wrote back to me. It was something along these lines: the conditions, the transmission, the gifts that Master gives us – what do we do with them? Even buffalos and cows are better. They eat grass and drink water, and give us milk. The apricot and apple trees, what do they eat? Nothing – water, some fertiliser and sunlight. They don’t look forward to orange juice and apple juice to give good apricots. Even coconut trees – you don’t feed them with coconut water to get coconuts. You give dirty water from the sewer and sunlight. They take the worst and give us the best. We get the best, the transmission, and what do we give? Think about this, please.”
Back at the hotel, he had some meetings regarding the administration in Europe, after which he spent some time with the medium. He had his lunch with abhyasis in the ashram, and then he departed from the hotel at 4 p.m. for the next part of the journey. It was a very scenic car drive, with the Mediterranean Sea accompanying us through the journey. After an hour and a half, he reached the centre at Perpignan, which was in a beautiful house of a local abhyasi. Around forty local abhyasis welcomed Kamlesh bhai, and he conducted satsang.
Later he gave a motivating talk, sharing his idea for the centre to grow more and more. He suggested that if each abhyasi would bring one new abhyasi every year, the centre would exponentially grow until it surpassed the whole of France. After a lovely dinner he continued the journey to Barcelona, reaching the hotel around 10 p.m.
Sunday, 10th of May 2015, Barcelona
In the morning he had a nice morning stroll to satsang, which was arranged at a nearby hotel. After satsang Kamlesh bhai had breakfast at with a local family, during which he discussed something very meaningful.
Don't bitter-coat this sweet pill
“All bitter pills are sugar-coated in the mundane world. It is only in Sahaj Marg that the pill is already sweet in the form of transmission, but we bitter-coat it with our behaviour. It is usually because of this that new abhyasis tend to give up the practice in spite of having great experiences in the beginning.”
He rested at the hotel before going back for the second satsang at 11 a.m. After this there was a palpable change in the atmosphere, which was felt by everyone. An impromptu question and answer session started between Kamlesh bhai and the local abhyasis.
During the session, questions were mainly on topics such as cleaning, stress in daily life and physical difficulties during meditation. He explained the importance of cleaning in a detailed manner, delineating the steps involved in the process. As in other talks, he emphasised the importance of each element of the practice – meditation, cleaning and prayer – saying that each element constitutes 33.3% of the practice. If we neglect one, we lose 33.3% of the benefit, and no business can survive a 33.3% loss.
Meditation is a mirror of our consciousness
Kamlesh bhai addressed certain instances where new abhyasis discontinue the practice. He said that, “Meditation is like a mirror to us, of our consciousness. People who don’t get a chance to look in the mirror are similar to people who have never seen themselves. So, when you meditate and see all the mistakes you have made, and how ugly you look, you are horrified. ‘Is this what I am?’ I see myself: ‘Oh, I did this.’ Before that, you never had a moment of reflection, and now during meditation, for the first time you are truly reflecting on your real self. People generally translate such things as a bad experience, like this ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall’ – when she breaks the mirror. We discontinue the meditation, because we don't look beautiful enough.”
This was followed by a joyful picnic in a nearby park with all the abhyasis. Over lunch Kamlesh bhai spoke about science and spirituality. The day ended with satsang in the evening, followed by dinner at the venue with all abhyasis.
Monday, 11th of May 2015, Barcelona to Lisbon
The morning started with a drive to the local meditation centre, donated by one family. After the superb satsang, Kamlesh bhai had breakfast and then we went to an abhyasi’s house – a beautiful house on top of a hill with a panoramic view of the whole city of Barcelona as well as the beautiful Church of the Sacred Heart. Kamlesh bhai gave a sitting, followed by lunch.
After a short nap, he left for the airport at 4.15 p.m. to go to Lisbon. It was a nice time at the airport as Kamlesh bhai shared some interesting ideas over a cup of coffee at the cafe:
“Through the 9 p.m. prayer we are changing the destiny of others.”
“Babuji said that if you recognise the problem, then you have solved half the problem. So, you should be happy if anyone tells you, ‘Hey, there is some problem.’”
“Subtle bodies are aligned during meditation and sleep. That’s why if you wake someone up from deep sleep, for a second they are disoriented. It takes a little while to come to consciousness. How does this consciousness affect our physical and mental growth?”
His flight was delayed by half an hour, and he used that time to work on restructuring the Mission and assigning tasks to abhyasis. He has been trying to form teams. While doing this, he mentioned that he noticed something very important and peculiar in the nature of abhyasis. He said that everyone is working very hard, but the moment someone else gets more importance they become insecure and then they start fighting. Jokingly he said, “I think it is normal, because in the Mahabharata even the Gods were fighting.”
It was a two-hour flight, reaching late in the night, and the travel was exhausting. There was a time difference of one hour as well, but when he came out of the airport there was a very nice feeling. Local abhyasis were there to receive him, and the day ended with saying goodbye to them and going to the hotel.
Tuesday, 12th of May 2015, Lisbon
Kamlesh bhai drove early in the morning to an abhyasi’s house, which was the venue for the day-long seminar. There were more than a hundred abhyasis, and he was very happy to see the strength. The centre-in-charge informed him that they have satsang on three days in a week and that it is really productive, as it suits the timings of the local abhyasis.
After the satsang, Kamlesh bhai gave a talk and said, “I want this one day to be very productive.”
Focus on practice?
“There is no need to ask any questions. If you have any question in your heart, then submit it to the Master during the bedtime prayer, with a prayer to get the answer. Answers from outside are not convincing, even if they come from the greatest of all. If I find answers in my heart, I feel very joyful. Our system helps us to find our own answers. It may not promise, but it will help. Even Master used to say, ‘Please ask your heart.’ Then, why ask? It is not that we cannot give the answer, but the most convincing answer comes from within. If you have faith, then there is no need for questions, and if you don't have faith, then why ask questions?”
After the second satsang at 11.30 a.m., Kamlesh bhai gave a beautiful talk on various interrelated themes.
Dissolve yourself in God
“I am a lover of God, and He is my beloved. And there is a field of love between the two. When I keep loving God all the time, a stage comes in my existence, where the person called ‘I’, my ego, dissolves. It is like the water droplet that is falling in the ocean becomes the ocean. There is no water droplet left anymore to talk about how it felt. There has to be ‘I’ to explain what happened but ‘I’ am not there any more. And if ‘I’ says anything about God, it will be all foolishness. I can say, “Oh, it is all so peaceful, it is so blissful, but all these things mean nothing to a listener. So such experiences, I don’t think anybody can talk about. If he talks about it, that means he has not experienced it yet.”
Humility and softness of the heart
Kamlesh bhai illustrated a simple scene from nature. “I would like you all to think over something, which I am going to share with you: a situation. It is a very simple thing that we observe in Nature. On the way you see apricot and apple trees and grapevines, and you also see pine trees and maple wood and oak trees on the road. What is the difference between these trees? The first three are giving fruits, and the other ones are giving wood. The wood is very strong in the other three. Comparatively, apple and apricot and grapevine are so frail. I mean you can feel them and they will break. The softer the wood, the better the fruit. Think about the softness, what it can create in us. If we had that humility and softness of the heart, how pleasant our nature can become. You can see the softness of a mother and the toughness of a father."
Be an example
I think the younger generation needs a lot of guidance from us and we have to become examples to them. No amount of teaching will help, whereas they will observe and learn. As the cells inside multiply after conception –one becomes two and becomes millions and then the baby is there. And while it is growing it is learning; we think, but they learn. They observe. Each cell that is multiplying is continuously learning things from us, and by three years of age a child has learnt everything that it has to learn from the parents.
“So from the moment of conception, even before conception, we have to create that certain vibratory state in our lives and invite the right soul, give it a direction and then that life can be a good life, I would say.”
“As a parent, I have to be wiser than them. I have to be better than them all the time, in my thoughts, in my actions, and in every possible way. Children may make hundreds of mistakes, but if we make one mistake they observe it and say, "You did this.” Do you see? And with our one mistake they will justify their hundred mistakes. So we have to be very, very careful. We should not hide and continue to make the mistakes, but be what we are, honest to ourselves and say, "Yes my child, I am sorry I made this mistake." At least accept it and say, "Look, I will not do it again."
Kamlesh bhai added that it needs many good-hearted families to raise one child, to make a good personality.
The attendance had increased for the satsang at 7 p.m., as many abhyasis had been unable to come during the day. After satsang, Kamlesh bhai spoke in depth about pranahuti.
Pranahuti
Kamlesh bhai explained that with the Heartfulness initiative, it is now possible for people to experience meditation first without pranahuti, also called transmission, and then with it, in order to feel the difference for themselves. He said that it is this pranahuti which enriches the soul. Just as a shower of rain gives new life, freshness and joy to plants and trees, pranahuti also gives new life to our soul.
He made a reference to the period of time when the earth was hit by meteors, and said: “At that time there were so many dinosaurs but they died because the whole atmosphere was covered with particles and there was no sunlight. So everything was destroyed on the planet. You try to plant anything under a big tree and that small thing will never grow.
“Samskaras are like those clouds or particles around our soul. It does not let the light radiate sufficiently to guide our path. As they are removed more and more, we feel lighter and lighter and feel confident that, 'Yes this is the way I have to carry on in my life,’ because it guides us properly. Now we are able to feel the vibrations emanating from the soul to the heart and we feel that. So through meditation, slowly we are able to make better and better decisions in our life."
The day ended with dinner and an intriguing conversation that Kamlesh bhai had with some abhyasis about subtle bodies. Later, during the Lyon seminar, he shared more insights on this topic.
