North American Tour, Part 3
Saturday, 6th of June 2015, Toronto to Detroit, Michigan
Sahaj Marg is all about becoming
Respected Kamlesh bhai left Toronto for Detroit around 9 a.m. after morning satsangh. On the way he visited the home of one of his abhyasi friends at Kitchener, Ontario, and had breakfast with him and his family after a satsangh. He reached Detroit around 2.30 p.m., had lunch and rested.
Kamlesh bhai arrived at the venue, the offices of HTC Global Services, at 6 p.m. to the delight of many loving hearts. He immediately conducted satsangh, which was attended by around one hundred and fifty abhyasis and a few newcomers.
One of the newcomers later summed up the experience by saying that he was able to sit for an hour without any difficulty.
Afterwards he welcomed the new meditators, and spoke to them. Here are some excerpts:
“When we meditate with the help of transmission, we prove again and again that it is possible to tame the monkey mind. Through Sahaj Marg meditation, most people go very deep into meditation the very first time, because everything related to consciousness is done by our Guruji. All we have to do is gently close our eyes, relax our bodies, and focus on the heart. He does the rest.”
“Our lifestyle must support our goals. That’s all the wisdom we require. Start moving into this world with a conscious lifestyle in mind. With your lifestyle, with your habits, can you greet God and shake his hand with confidence? You have to answer this for yourself, God being purity and love. When a clean heart is there, it is easy to resonate with the higher consciousness.”
“Sahaj Marg is the way full of heart, but you have to practise yourself at home. If you want something noble, very sublime, then you will have to practice.”
“Sahaj Marg is all about becoming. It is nothing to do with experiences. It is nothing to do with knowledge. Take it as an adventure. Become a joyfarer.”
Sunday, 7th of June 2015, Detroit, and then on to Dayton
The gigantic ocean we call love
It was a fresh, cool early morning as abhyasis were filling the ground floor room of the HTC offices for meditation. Upstairs on the fourth floor, a new meditation hall and other facilities were awaiting Kamlesh bhai’s inauguration.
He arrived at the venue at 7.30 a.m. There were close to fifty new meditators who had come to try Heartfulness meditation. Kamlesh bhai invited them to experience the difference between mediation without transmission and with transmission. Everyone meditated for fifteen minutes without transmission. He then gave them an introductory sitting with transmission. After the sitting, he asked them to note down the difference in experience between meditation without and with transmission. For the remaining introductory sittings for the newcomers, he asked them all to sit at 7.30 a.m. for the next few days, while he conducted the second and third sittings remotely.
He also said, “The key is in your hands. Don’t lock your heart. Your heart has to meet that gigantic ocean we call love.”
Kamlesh bhai inaugurated the new meditation centre on the fourth floor of the HTC headquarters, which has three rooms – the main meditation hall with a capacity for one hundred people, a library that can also be used for individual sittings, and a dining area, which can also be used for discussions and meetings. Across the hall there is a children’s area with two rooms.
He then had breakfast and soon after left for Dayton. Though his visit was short, the abhyasis were filled with love and joy at his presence. Others also left for Dayton after breakfast, looking forward to seeing him again in a few hours.
Meanwhile, throughout the day, abhyasis gathered at the newly-expanded Dayton centre in anticipation of Kamlesh bhai’s arrival. A sense of excitement pervaded the atmosphere, without disturbing the quality of peaceful transcendence at the centre and the mellow sunny afternoon. A presentation of the new Heartfulness initiative took place. The talk given by Kamlesh bhai in Toronto was played, outlining the program, after which there was a question and answer session. This led to a deeper understanding of Heartfulness as a method designed to soften and sweeten the way we welcome new aspirants into Sahaj Marg.
Kamlesh bhai arrived in the evening, in time to give the first satsangh of the seminar, after which a condition of absolute lightness and joy pervaded the entire space.
Afterwards, he walked around the ashram at Beaver Creek, meeting people, and then went back to his hotel.
Monday, 8th of June 2015, Beaver Creek ashram, Dayton
The supreme importance of humility
A storm went through during the night, refreshing and revitalising everything. The next morning, under soft grey skies and an even softer condition, abhyasis gathered for morning satsangh at 7.30 a.m. This condition continued throughout the day, with the ebb and flow of meditation and interaction, sunlight and rain, motion and stillness mere reflections on the surface of its stillness and depth.
Kamlesh bhai started his talk after satsangh by saying that during the satsangh he wrote one sentence: “How does it feel to be a mountain?” He went on to say, “It makes me wonder how beautiful this statement is. From our limited vision, we cannot have a complete picture, even if we have a 360-degree vision from above. If I cannot even grasp a mountain in its totality, how can I grasp the Infinite in its totality? It brings humility. This is the most important quality and there must be a supreme place given to humility at any cost. It is perhaps more important than love.”
He also spoke about love, saying, “There is a beauty in the trinity of love, lover and the Beloved. Until I dissolve in toto into my Beloved, where there is nothing left of me, no spirituality is possible. Merger is not the end, it is just the beginning of the pure spiritual existence.”
Kamlesh bhai conducted satsangh at 11.30 a.m. and spoke again afterwards. He said that a time should come when meditation and cleaning become unnecessary. “A time must come where I am in a permanent meditative state, and going ahead in that consciousness.” Cleaning is necessary because we are leading a lifestyle that isn’t refined enough not to form impressions. He described how samskaras are formed, using Babuji’s example of being attracted to a rose. Spoke about memory also in this regards, saying, “It is all vibratory in nature. Between the soul and the brain, our inner environment is constantly changing, according to inputs. Sahaj Marg says, let’s get rid of the unnecessary vibratory level so we don’t create vibrations inside and outside.”
This is important not only for our own development, but also because we also play a role in the creation of samskaras in our brothers and sisters, most of whom have neither a practice nor a guru to assist them in cleaning. “Something inside us says ‘You had better change your lifestyle!’ What adjustments are required? All the solutions are given by our Masters. Take interest. Sahaj Marg is the only path where we can arrive at such a state. When we go inside in meditation it has to be purposeful. We can ask ourselves, ‘Did it make any qualitative change in my heart?’ Just a little switch is needed, and we need to know why we meditate, why we clean. We need to go on changing our inner attitude.”
He then patiently answered many questions from the abhyasis. In response to a question about how to you know when you have reached the destination, he answered with another question: how do we know when to stop eating? He said, be happy, we will know.
The heart will always give the right answer, as long as it is pure and simple. Surrender means my will does not exist, but to ask that my will becomes His will. We must exteriorise our inner condition.
He also spoke about many other things, including the fact that real romance is only in silence – even expressing love through the eyes is not subtle enough. He also reiterated that Sahaj Marg will be known in the future for its unity. Further, that without being in a permanent meditative state, we will never reach the goal. Masters can do nothing for us, unless we are prepared for it.
The third satsangh of the day was at 6 p.m. Afterwards, even as abhyasis’ thoughts turned toward the trip home and the work that must be assumed the next day, there remained the stillness and peace of the condition. Happiness and calm touched each face, briefly illuminated by an exquisite sunset.
