The Heartfulness Movement
by Daaji, July 7, 2019, Kanha Shanti Vanam, Hyderabad, India
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Pranams everyone,
I am happy to see so many youngsters here, almost six to seven haundred of them. Anyway, what is the purpose of this broadcast all over the globe? There are many actually. One is to invite one and all to participate during the 75th anniversary of Shri Ram Chandra Mission, which is completing 75 years in 2020. Keeping that in mind, we have divided the participants’ batches into two. One will be on 28, 29 and 30 January, and the second batch will commence on 1 February until the 3 February. Basant, 2 February, happens to be Lalaji’s birthday as per the solar calendar, and 29 January happens to be his birthday as per the lunar calendar. Babuji Maharaj calls it Basant Panchami. So I wish many will attend in full force. Mainly because of that event, we have cancelled the 24 July and 28 September celebrations, so that most people who cannot afford it at least can save money and participate on Basant Panchami and 2 February celebrations.
I would also request that we don’t restrict this to our regular abhyasis, but take this message across to all the new U-Connect, C-Connect, and other Connect members. Invite them as well, and let them have exposure to the bhandara atmosphere. They have experienced Transmission, but they are not use to this aspect of Grace that follows during these bhandara times, and this is going to be an event of a lifetime for most of us – the way we had in 1999, where some of us attended all the four batches. So, I wish that similar things will be repeated again in 2020.
I would also like to share with you some statistics. We now have a few million abhyasis worldwide, those who have experienced the Way of the Heart. Also, in the last five to six years we have tripled the numbers of preceptors, and there are volunteers in thousands who are relentlessly working towards the success of our Heartfulness Movement. Something that has started recently this summer is the Dhyanotsavs [wellness festivals] all over India. More than twenty-five Dhyanotsavs have been celebrated and more are in the pipeline. I would like to see that by the 2020 celebrations we should cross more than 100 Dhyanotsavs, but these Dhyanotsavs need not be big events in the city.
Here are our findings so far, from whatever Dhyanotsav we have arranged all across India. Let us say you have a venue at X location, within the periphery of two kilometres you attract the maximum numbers of participants. The moment you cross this two to three kilometre radius the participant number decreases. So the best would be to focus mainly in that radius, and attract only those people. We don’t have to work all over the city, but just focus on that two to three kilometre radius around the location. There are multiple advantages: There will be a smaller group of participants, which means the hall need not be as big. It need not be a stadium, so you can have it even during the monsoon, as it will be an enclosed hall. The cost will also be less, and management will be easier. If you target 5,000 and 10,000 it becomes very difficult for a centre with a limited numbers of volunteers.
Now, going forward, we have so many programs being offered, and many government initiatives also. For example, in Gujarat, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, many schools and government departments are opening up. Recently we had a request to train more than 100,000 employees with the Mumbai Municipal Corporation. How to address this, where we have 500 regular abhyasis? It is a very difficult task. In Mahabubnagar itself, we were faced with the situation of training 720 sarpanchs [village coordinators], which means 720 villages, where we have an availability of hardly 50 or 100 preceptors. How to solve this problem? Even if we deploy 700 preceptors going to the villages three days in a row and looking after, on average, 100 newcomers, it becomes a daunting task for most of us.
So I would like to stagger this approach for the Connect programs. And also, for the volunteers who would like to propagate this and take it up with the government initiatives, and at the same time the school initiatives and U-Connect initiatives, I would like to make it possible through abhyasis who are willing to serve. This is not a volunteer program I am talking about now. I would like to offer these positions as employment. Just think over the potential of this employment. We have 700 plus districts all over India. Even if we focus only on 300 in the next two years, that means in one year there are 150 districts to tackle, and in each district an average of ten mandals. So, 150 x 10 is 1,500 mandals, and if we have two employees in each mandal we are talking about 3,000 employees looking after the Heartfulness Movement.
Now, on an average salary of 20,000 to 25,000 per month, or 30,000 with expenses including travel, this is a staggering expense of roughly sixty to seventy crores per year [600,000,000 to 700,000,000 rupees]. How long can our treasury last? Not very long. We don’t have such a long reach also to influence CSR funding in a big way, so we have to depend on our own limited resources.
However limited it may be, it can achieve our target. Use your calculator on your phone and figure it out for yourself. Just the saving of 50 rupees a day x 365 days x 50,000 abhyasis will touch 912,500,000. Do you lose anything by burning 50 rupees a day? Most of us can. Some of our abhyasis can spend five crores in a month and nothing happens to them, while there are some abhyasis who would find it difficult even to contribute ten rupees a day. So, on average, some of us can add or validate this figure of 50 rupees, and I think we can achieve not only the goal of employing 3,000 employees and take this Heartfulness Movement to 150 districts across India, but the remaining funds can also sponsor various Dhyanotsavs.
All these Dhyanotsavs that we have are not free. Some Dhyanotsavs cost us about 2,500,000 rupees per event; some Dhyanotsavs costs 800,000 rupees per event. On an average, we have seen that it is 1,600,000 to 1,800,000 rupees per Dhyanotsav, and if you are targeting 200 such Dhyanotsavs every year that adds up. We also have bhandaras to look after, and we have visiting guests. There are so many things we would like to do – we would like to train thousands of teachers every month. So we have a long road ahead of us. I request those who can afford it, those who would like to do it, to contribute a savings of 50 rupees a day. It will go a long way. You need not give this in the form of cash; rather, I would discourage cash donations at local centres. It is best that you keep it with you and every month save that money, 50 x 30 days = 1500 rupees, and you can wire transfer it to our donation accounts. It is simple. Those who can do more are most welcome.
Actually, we had launched a similar scheme a while back in the United States; a very simple $1 a day saving. Just $1 a day, and slowly this amount is actually reaching higher and higher and higher. $1 a day when you have 2,000 abhyasis is $2,000 dollars a day, multiplied by 365. Every year we can have a new ashram in that country. The same thing can happen here when we have a 50-rupee saving a day and 50,000 abhyasis contribute. We can easily have twenty ashrams in various corners of India without exerting anyone. What happens if we depend on rich people who contribute in crores? What happens in that situation? Think over it; we become so obliged. If one person is giving 50 crores or 20 crores, the obligation is very heavy. Instead of that, if every individual in our Mission can contribute, it will be very great, and once again I say this is not mandatory. If it comes from your heart, that is the best thing. If you have some suspicion, some doubt, and you don’t like to contribute, then I wish that you would not even talk about it. I would like to present this as Guru Prasad to our Masters. If the heart is not willing, it will be like mosambi [sweet lime]. When mosambi is not ripe, or mango is not ripe, it will taste sour. Unwilling hearts must not participate and need not participate. At least let your heart open up and pray for the welfare of this Mission, and ensure that through your prayer God’s Grace will descend so that our Heartfulness Movement can take a different turn for the better.
After talking about all this material aspect of our Mission, I’d like to take up some spiritual topic. It is about change. In the beginning, most of us go through a tremendous transformation. During the first week, the second week, the first year, the second year, the third year, we undergo a revolutionary transformation in ourselves. But as we move on in time, this change, this transformation, somehow slows down and we remain somehow a slave to our old habits. We get used to not changing any further. We somehow get into this idea that “I have progressed,” and this idea that “I have progressed” itself becomes a stumbling block. I have seen this in 99% of our abhyasis. That’s why I have brought this up, so that you can think about where you are. Are you really happy with your spiritual growth? Introspect: “Where have I gone wrong? Where can I correct myself?” What help do you need from the Masters? A few fundamental questions can be introspected, and can be answered by you only. You need not write to me about this. I don’t want to receive another million e-mails. This is your inner dialogue. “Am I happy with my progress after so many years in this Mission?” “Am I still questioning?” “Has this Mission become mine?” “Do I feel all our sisters and brothers to be mine?” “Do I belong to them? Do they belong to me? Do we all belong to this great Mission?”
When we read simple books like Reality at Dawn, what do we find there? If you understood the meaning of certain chapters five years back, and if you read it today and you cannot penetrate further into the real significance of that chapter, consider yourself as stagnated. If the meaning has deepened and has appealed to your heart in a different way, if it strikes a different chord in your heart and impresses you even more than what you had seen a few years back, consider yourself as lucky. But does that understanding inside create some more inspiration in your heart? Most abhyasis are not able to fathom the meaning of Truth Eternal – the words Lalaji Maharaj uses baffle people even after 40 years of practice. If you can understand that book, consider yourself as lucky: “Yes, I can understand.” If there is a lack of understanding, revisit your sadhana. Well, words and sentences all have limits, yet when we read them it reflects our inner state.
I would also like to receive more suggestions from all over as to how we can take our Heartfulness Movement in a very aggressive way all across these mandals. I wish that from all across the states, all over. Our presence is very strong in Andhra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, MP, UP – all these states are very strong. So should we start with these states, with each mandal, or should we focus mainly on those places where we are not present as yet? I would like to intensify our efforts where we already belong, with a higher presence. So we begin, as usual, with Andhra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu, because whatever we do will be and can be supported by our existing members.
So, in short, this is an appeal to seek your help, so that we can take up the Heartfulness Movement even more aggressively. And I wish that thousands and thousands of people will enrol themselves for the upcoming bhandara that will be divided into two batches, at Basant Panchami, our Lalaji Maharaj’s birth anniversary celebrations.
So thank you everyone; thank you for listening and I hope to see you in very big numbers. You should surprise our organisers and make them run, that they are not able to provide enough facilities. In fact, we will have a permanent facility going forward. By the time you come we will be in a position to accommodate at least 35,000 to 40,000 in one go. By the time you come our meditation hall will also be ready. Everything will be as per our expectation by the time we celebrate Pujya Lalaji Maharaj’s birthday.
Prepare yourselves spiritually in this grand feast. Intensify the practice. I think in a short while the 90-day challenge will be over. A lot of abhyasis have participated in this 90-day challenge, for which I am very, very happy, and I am able to feel a drastic spiritual shift in their condition. And this will only intensify further. Don’t slow down. 90 days were to create a habit so that it becomes automatic. This conscious effort must become subconscious. Once it becomes subconscious it becomes a habit, and then we can take up another good habit. This chain will continue. This evolutionary chain must continue, so that we can become better and better.
Thank you.