Bulletin No: 2016.15 – Wednesday February 3, 2016

Visit of Kamlesh D. Patel to France, part II

December 2015 and January 2016, Lyon

On the 31st December, Kamlesh bhai left Calet for the Heartfulness Conference organised at the Cité Internationale Congress Centre in the heart of the city of Lyon.

The immense Cité Internationale opened its doors at 4 p.m. and volunteers were preparing the venue, arranging furniture, posters and equipment to ready the place for the arrival of the new seekers the next day for the Heartfulness event.

After satsangh on the first evening at 6 p.m., Kamlesh bhai spoke on Heartfulness Initiatives, such as the one being organised in Lyon, urging all abhyasis to participate fully in the success of the event.

Sahaj Marg Family

He said that he was touched beyond any expression that he could share. We generally share such moments with our family – the 31st of December, New Year’s Eve and the 1st of January, New Year’s Day – but you are all here and so I can see that Sahaj Marg has become a family.

100 Monkeys

A scientific experiment was carried out on a Japanese Island in the early ’50s that revealed some interesting insights into collective behavioural patterns.

On these islands there were many monkeys living in clans. These monkeys were given sweet potatoes to eat. The place being an island, the sweet potatoes often had sand on them. Then one day, by some unexpected genius, a very young female monkey washed her sweet potato in the nearby stream and ate it. She taught this trick to her mother, and seeing this, some other young monkeys followed suit. The mothers of these other young monkeys did the same.

The older monkeys who did not have any young ones in the clan continued obstinately to eat their sweet potatoes covered in sand. They refused to change their ways.

This went on till something unprecedented occurred that baffled the scientists even further. When the 100th monkey began washing its sweet potato before eating it, all the monkeys began to follow suit, not only on that island but all surrounding islands. So what do we draw from this story?

The Concept of the Seminar

The events of the 31st of December evening and the 1st January until lunchtime were organised as a traditional Sahaj Marg seminar for abhyasis. From the 1st afternoon until the 3rd, the focus was on welcoming the public, although the 7.30 am satsangh every day was for abhyasis and the doors were open to newcomers from 9 a.m.

The seminar organisers decided to present Heartfulness in a way that would be well understood by the public, with the idea to repeat it in the same venue every year. They chose to call it ‘Les Journees Heartfulness’, meaning ‘The Heartfulness Days’, and designed the event with recognizable and attractive activities, e.g. a movie, a concert and talks on a wide range of topics related to the heart. The Heartfulness workshops were the focus.

They launched the French version of Heartfulness Magazine, and also sold Heartfulness clothes and calendars made of high quality materials.

The programme for the public was designed as a ‘promenade’ with many choices, e.g. workshops, talks, a movie, a concert, Heartfulness sessions, activities with the family, silent time, and of course meditation. Each visitor could choose their own programme, but at the end of the day everything culminated in the satsangh at 6 p.m.

The programme was organised in several spaces:

1. The Welcome Area, which had the Welcome Lounge and the Heartfulness Shop. From here, the flying team ushered newcomers to the various activities they selected.
2. Two lecture theatres:

   The first was a large auditorium, with 900 seats, where three subjects were presented. The Inner Journey, The Heart and Meditation – Scientific Discoveries, and Management from the Heart – a Dream or a Competitive Advantage.

   The second was a smaller room with 100 seats where the presentations were on How to Deal with Stress, Taking Decisions from the Heart, and Living with the Heart Open.

3. The Heart Lab

   Where Heartfulness Workshops were conducted every hour, mostly in French and some in English.

4. The Bubble

   This was a space for silence, introspection and relaxation, with inspiring quotes, nice pictures and big cushions for resting.

5. The Heartbeat Café

   A place for sharing after sessions and chatting over coffee.

6. The Forum

   This was the large hall used for group meditation and the concert. Newcomers were invited to attend three satsanghs here, on the 1st and 2nd of January at 6 p.m., and the 3rd of January at 11 a.m.

On the 1st of January, Kamlesh bhai made several new preceptors for Europe. Many abhyasis approached him with queries about Mission work and spirituality and he patiently responded as best as his time permitted.

On the next day, the 2nd of January, he spoke after the morning satsangh:

History of Sahaj Marg

It is important as we gather today to recall the history of our Mission and its development.

Lalaji

Lalaji Maharaj had a humble beginning. He was awakened to superconsciousness at an early age and began teaching others even then. During Lalaji’s time, people from varied walks of life came to him and he gave them practices with the knowledge of what was required for them. To some he would recommend rituals, to others mantras, and to the spiritually-conscious people he would recommend meditation. The number of associates of Lalaji were a few hundred.

Babuji

Babuji Maharaj established an organisation. He abolished all rituals and adopted a single method. He researched and revolutionised the entire system by bringing about the method of Sahaj Marg with transmission and the cleaning process. His discovery of the various points and of the centre itself was true genius.

Chariji

Our Master, Chariji, then laid the foundation for the structure of the Mission in the world, due to his unceasing lifetime efforts. What will the future show? That soon enough, the very term ‘Meditation’ will be synonymous with Sahaj Marg.

Kamlesh bhai said that in the history of the world there has never been a method to match the spiritual potential of Sahaj Marg. What will the future bring? We do not know, but as of now there is nothing that can go beyond Sahaj Marg. So let us work now to take this Sahaj Marg Movement to seeking hearts everywhere, for the benefit of all. This call struck a chord that brought tears and smiles on many faces in the hall.

Kamlesh bhai went on to say that our Sahaj Marg is the highest possible achievement in the field of spirituality. But to match it, as if to balance the legendary wings of the two birds, the material and the spiritual, we need to focus in parallel on developing the material wing of the Mission also. This could only happen if we contribute financially to the endeavour also. If we are in no situation to do so, that is fine. But if we can put aside the least bit and contribute to the Mission then we should do our best to do so.

Giving the example of a housewife in India, who goes to the market to shop for household groceries and manages to bargain with the vendors and save a certain amount of money, say 50 rupees a day, why not contribute that to the Mission? If every person gives as little a sum as a dollar a day, there would easily be a collection of millions in a short time, and regularly too. This would mean that we would not have to give anything over and above our budgets, but only what we save from our already set budgets.

He asked everyone to ponder over such possibilities and said that he hopes our Sahaj Marg Spiritual Movement will take off like the Hierarchy expects it to.

Kamlesh bhai left that evening for India.