Bulletin No: 2018.22 - Wednesday, 2 May 2018
Travels and Conversations with Daaji in the South of India, 1 - 8 April 2018
Also available at http://daaji.org/travels-conversations-daaji-1-8-april-2018/
The next stage of the journey: Hosur
Peace, meditation and higher states of consciousness
Daaji: The essence of the Bhagavad Gita is this: happiness can only be had when we are at peace. When we are restless, can we enjoy happiness? It sounds paradoxical. How to arrive at peace? Lord Krishna says we arrive at peace only through contemplation. How is that possible? Through focused thinking. And how is focused thinking possible? Only through meditation.
Lord Krishna again explains in the Gita that a Yogi is asleep but he is fully aware. This is what the Turiya state is all about. We are fully aware, yet we are so absorbed with minimal brain activity in Sahaj Samadhi. There is no anticipation of phone calls, no anticipation of future problems or present problems, and no worries about the past. We are in the moment. That is the Turiya state. Further, having achieved the Turiya state, what is its ripple effect? This Turiya state becomes the cause for the Turiyateet state. Turiyateet state means something beyond the Turiya state.
To my understanding, simply put, Turiyateet is the Turiya state extended during day-to-day activities with open eyes. And this is facilitated in Sahaj Marg very simply through constant remembrance. You are so absorbed in Master, in his love, you continue doing your work as if you are doing it as prasad offered to Him. Every act in the day becomes prasad, an offering. When you are so careful about your acts, your mind will not be disturbed and will always cooperate peacefully. That is Turiyateet. Now, what will be the effect of this state? Merger. Only when we are in such a state does merger becomes possible. Without this Turiyateet state, you cannot even begin to merge; you have not even scratched the surface. That is why Babuji Maharaj says that only after arriving at the state of merger does our true spiritual journey begin.
At Tiruppur
Positive and negative energy
On one of the evenings at DJ Park ashram, a young enthusiastic girl met Daaji. She happily said that she had been waiting to meet him and it finally happened. There was little conversation and the girl said that, according to Einstein’s theory, time travel should not be possible. Daaji replied that while physically time travel may not happen, spiritually speaking it is possible to go back and forth in time. It is possible to go back in time and remove things that are affecting the progress of an individual. It is possible to peek into the future also.
This young scientist’s eyebrows went up in amazement, and she now started talking about energy and the effects of touch. She said that one should never touch others using the index finger, as such actions will take away positive energy. Daaji said, “We should not be miserly in our thoughts. What is Transmission? It is energy utilized for the progress of others. A Guru puts his Divine Essence (positive energy) for the good of others.” The girl nodded in agreement.
At the end of the discussion, when it was time to leave, she went near him for a photo. Daaji used his index finger and pointed at her shoulder. She reciprocated with her index finger and touched his shoulder. Daaji said jokingly, “See, now you are giving me negative energy!” She laughed and tried to take it away using all her fingers like a magician. There was joy in this light movement with a profound lesson on giving.
It was late in the evening when Daaji decided to extend his trip to Kerala to meet the abhyasis there. The journey to God’s own country was about to begin!
Friday, 6 April, Coimbatore and Aluva
God’s own country
It was 6:20 a.m. when Daaji started from DJ Park to go to Coimbatore, and he reached Nachipallyam ashram by 7:30 a.m. He conducted satsangh and rested for a while.
He was looking forward to visit Kerala, so by around 1:30 p.m. the road journey started. The lush greenery throughout impressed Daaji. He kept wondering about the landscape and remarked, “It’s truly God’s own country.”
He enjoyed the road journey with some music, some silence and some times talking about his observations.
A meditator’s mind
During the journey, Daaji shared his thoughts on how we suffer in life and react due to emotional weight: how misunderstanding leads to emotional weight, causing anger and relationship issues. Daaji narrated this through the story of a king and the Sufi Master, Junayd.
Daaji: Junayd was one of the greatest Sufi Masters, and the king visited him, wanting to become his disciple.
Junayd would not tell the king ‘no’ directly, although he felt that the king was not ready for spiritual initiation, so he kept postponing instead of inviting trouble: “Let’s do it next week.”
The king would follow him wherever he went, and it was difficult for Junayd to get away from him. Being a king, he forced his way into it.
Eventually Junayd said, “Okay, after one week I will initiate you into my system.”
Junayd was a smart guy, and he created a scenario. He went across the river from his town to where his family was living. Sitting under a tree, he invited a woman to come there, they sat there with beautifully laid glasses and spent almost two to three hours enjoying each other’s company, pouring that liquid out of the jar into the glasses and feeding each other.
This king was watching from the other side.
“What the hell is this man doing here? He is with a woman and he claims himself to be a Master! And not only is he sitting with her, now it is also late evening and God knows what else they are doing. They are drinking.”
So he went there and barged in: “What sort of a Master are you?” He started cursing him, as he was in such a rage! “Now I will throw you out of my kingdom, you’re refusing to initiate me.”
And so the drama went on …
Then Junayd says, “Forgive me, my Lord, you are the king. I told you, you are not ready for this.” Then the Sufi hands the king a glass, “Taste it, it is just juice.”
“And who is this woman?” asked the king.
The lady removed her veil and it was Junayd’s mother.
Then the Sufi said, “You’re really not ready to become my disciple, because you go on doubting. You have a prejudiced mind.”
It is a beautiful story about how the mind interprets things. Your eyes have seen correctly, but your prejudiced mind interprets things the way you want to see them. Until this emotional weight is clarified, it has nothing to do with your nature. Sometimes you misunderstand the whole thing, even though you don’t have a tendency to become angry.
So now what happens? This misunderstanding can cause irritation and anger, and it spoils the relationship. So people say, “Oh, I became angry.” Naturally, out of ignorance, out of misunderstanding! That’s why understanding the situation is very important. Why something thing was done, and by whom, at such-and-such a time, in such-and-such a place. Everything has to fit in.
Q: So should a meditator’s mind always seek for understanding?
Daaji: Always, otherwise we lose expansion. A meditator’s mind always tries to forgive things. We can’t carry the weight. It’s too much. Even if it is true: “All right, you had a drink with your mother. Have another one!”
Around 3:00 p.m., Daaji stopped near Trissur at the home of an abhyasi. He conducted satsangh and spent time with a group of loving abhyasis. Then he continued on his journey, and after a brief visit to Kochi, Daaji came to Aluva ashram by late evening. It was a long day of many short drives. These travels are bringing our groups together and deeper into spirituality.
Saturday, 7 April, Aluva
Aluva ashram was filled with around 1000 abhyasis. Daaji conducted satsangh at 9:00 a.m. and it went on for one hour. After this, he gave a short talk congratulating the gathered abhyasis and the centers for the wonderful meditation and spiritual condition.
When the Masters are happy
Daaji: Yesterday, while leaving Tiruppur, a few abhyasis were coercing me, “Why are you going to Kerala? The abhyasis from Kerala already visited Kanha and you met all of them, but you never came to our centre.”
I had no answer and I didn’t want to argue either. Sometimes things happen beyond our planning. I had no plans to come here, but one thing leads to another, and there was such a pull.
Then I could understand the wisdom behind Babuji’s words: do something in such a way that the Masters are happy, and see what they can do for you. I think somewhere, somehow, you have pulled yourselves together in this state and have been able to attract their attention. The sitting this morning itself speaks volumes. Those of you who are traveling with me, those of you who are used to my sittings in Kanha also, know that they rarely exceed 35 to 40 minutes. Today it was effortless and, zoop, one hour. I was so surprised. So I should congratulate abhyasis here for such a condition and whatever you’re doing, please continue doing in a good spirit and try if possible to venture into other realms, other dimensions, where finer, refined conditions are awaiting us.
Yesterday one of my brothers was saying that abhyasis here practice very diligently, they read a lot of books also, and they are well informed about Sahaj Marg. So I have nothing but praise for this center, and the centers around here. Thank you!
Peace is the prerequisite for higher states
Peace is a prerequisite for happiness, and peace is also a prerequisite for the state of Samadhi. Various states of Samadhi are there, various classes of Samadhi, dimensions of Samadhi, but a prerequisite is always a peaceful heart. If we remain trying to fulfill desires here and there, at any cost, the heart becomes very restless. So we need to focus on the essential and satisfy that. Having satisfied that, everything else is satisfied, as there is fulfillment of the goal. Having arrived at the Samadhi state, other stages of Samadhi are also awaiting. In the beginning, often with one dose of Transmission we are lost. Recollect your first sitting, second sitting, third sitting and subsequent sittings – they were so good. You felt, “Oh, I was completely lost! Such a thing has never happened in my life.” We write that in our diaries, but then the stone-like Samadhi state also changes. Lalaji Maharaj calls the state of being fully absorbed with awareness Sahaj Samadhi, or the fourth state, the Turiya condition. In the Turiya condition, we feel so absorbed, so relaxed, while at the same time we are fully aware. There is another definition of a yogi: one who may look sleepy but is fully absorbed and fully aware.
Sahaj Marg offers much more than this: I call it the Turiyateet state in which this Turiya state prevails during our day-to-day activities, extended beyond meditation hours. You may be at school, at your business, maybe you’re cooking something, maybe you’re driving, or you’re doing nothing at all and watching TV, but your inner state is so profound, as if you are in a state of meditation.
We often talk about how samskaras are formed, and they are also formed by this law of cause and effect. Something is caused, and an effect is created. I look at a beautiful rose flower, and my eyes are attracted towards its beauty. Later I pass by and I want to hold the rose in my hand and say, “Oh wow, it’s a nice fragrance.” On the third day I feel like plucking it and taking it home. This is cause and effect, the ripple effect.
How can we take advantage of it in spiritual life? Let the peaceful heart created through meditation become the foundation for other things to grow: inner happiness, inner contentment. They are the result of a peaceful heart, which yields through the Samadhi-like state, the Turiya state, the Turiyateet state. Now we become eligible for merger.
When purity reigns supreme, simplicity is at its pinnacle. The pure heart can become eligible now to merge with ultimate purity. As long as we remain wishing and desiring, blowing our own trumpet, including how successful we are in Sahaj Marg, nothing will happen. When we go beyond all these things, then we truly become eligible to merge in that ultimate purity we call God. It’s an assumed name, as no one has seen God. We take it for granted. It’s like a hypothesis: we suppose that either he’s there or he’s not there. Well anyway, in the end somewhere we prove in our life, “Yes! He’s definitely there!” And now we embark on the journey in such a way that we become eligible to merge in Him. Only after merger does our true spiritual journey begin. Until then we are only preparing the foundation.
We have religion, spirituality, Reality, and we have abundant bliss also. Bliss becomes too heavy towards the end, and we say, “Okay, I will have nothing more to do with this bliss; I renounce bliss.” Renouncing other things in daily life from samskaras is very easy, and to stop blowing our own trumpet as they say, abandoning ego, transcending ego, transcending maya. These are all small things. The ultimate one, to abandon the blissful state, is a challenge. But through Sahaj Marg, when we have understood all the steps one by one, one leading to another, then it will happen in the most natural way. We may not even know that, “Now I’m shaking hands with God.” Then too, it will seem so normal, as if we are simply breathing air. It doesn’t take much effort. Osmosis in that ultimate purity will happen so naturally that we will remain dumbfounded. In fact, we will not even know that we have had an encounter with God or Divinity. Those vibrations become our nature. It’s like a drop falling in the ocean. It doesn’t exist as a drop anymore, and there is no drop left to recognize, “Oh! I have become the ocean.”
So I think we have a beautiful ending, even though there is no end when we embark on a spiritual life. That one book can be closed in this life very joyously and we can say, “I did what I had to do. There is nothing more I could do and thank you God.” And thank you sisters and brothers for listening.
What about social change?
Daaji conducted evening satsangh and then answered questions from abhyasis:
Q: Dear Daaji, with this visit of yours to Kerala, the state of Kerala is entering a new spiritual journey; a new spiritual awakening is happening to the state. Also in the morning you mentioned that the state is clearly on a progressive path. At the same time, the state is also facing challenges at various fronts – political, social and economic, and it is unique in that the influence of the media is very deep and we have a government that is left-oriented. The question is: how do you locate the state on the spiritual map or spiritual ladder? Where do we stand? What is the future that you envision for the state of Kerala?
Daaji: Personally speaking, when an individual is not happy the family cannot be happy. When an individual is not spiritual, the entire family as a whole will lack spirituality. Do you want to add up spirituality and make it an egregore? Spirituality is individual, and I cannot even force my wife to meditate. Of course she may be meditating, and you can request your dear ones, “Let’s meditate,” and they may also cooperate, but do you think that they are meditating at your frequency, at your level of love? Are they really searching sincerely, truthfully?
If we cannot speak about our own families confidently, how can we design the destiny of the whole state? Spiritual persons will mind their own business, doing their duty as best they can towards the community and the state; we simply do our part as best as we can. This is why Babuji prescribed this 9 o’clock prayer, not just for the state or the family, but for the whole world. I cannot change anyone; change happens willingly. If the other person would also like to change, then there is a possibility. You see?
The political scenario in Kerala and throughout the world is so poisoned. As communal rifts are ever increasing, there is so much on one side and so little on the other side. That is also increasing, all throughout India. The gap is widening, and who knows when evolution will break and all the negative elements will be let lose.
You must have heard that during the Bharath bands one of our abhyasi’s residences was attacked for no reason in Gwallior. He was from a certain community so they broke his cars, his windows, and everything was destroyed. Not only his family, but so many others are suffering. We are really entering into a poisonous zone in our lifetime. But let us do the best we can for our families, for ourselves, and pray for the rest.
The neuroscience of Samadhi
Q: Daaji, how can we progress to the state of Sahaj Samadhi? We need a little more guidance on how to reach the state of Turiyateet and continue to be there.
Daaji: The methods are already given to us; we just have to apply them in our daily lives: morning meditation, evening cleaning and nighttime prayer are sufficient to arrive at all those lofty conditions Lalaji Maharaj and Babuji Maharaj have been talking about.
What is Turiya? Again, you should not get confused with what is Turiya in Sanskrit. Scientifically speaking, you can conduct an experiment – a consciousness experiment, an awareness experiment. To make it very simple, I will explain the basics behind measuring the brain activity on an electroencephalograph or EEG. Whenever you think, if you have anger in your mind it will create electromagnetic impulses in your brain, which create a magnetic field, which can be measured. If you’re thinking too fast it’ll measure that speed. If you’re not thinking at all, there will be the least amount of mental activity, the least amount of electrical activity and magnetic field created.
So when very many thoughts are there, there’s an intense wave effect, so the needle on the EEG goes very fast. Per contra, when a person is peaceful, the measurement will also be slower and calmer. When you are reading a book that you enjoy, you’re listening to a music, or you’re meditating, it will slow down. During sleep, the frequency slows down even further. We have measured the EEG of a few abhyasis practicing Sahaj Marg meditation, and it mimics exactly the condition of deep sleep but the person not asleep. When we ring a bell, he’s able to hear it, so he is aware, but his EEG pattern is extremely low, as if he’s in deep sleep.
Krishna says in the Gita that a yogi is someone whose consciousness is like they are sleeping but they are fully working. So our mind is working, but it is restful – it is not running after things, it is not going crazy, it is not responding with fast signals. It is moving slowly with full awareness. So that’s what happens in the Turiya state: you acquire the sleep state, while at the same time you’re fully aware of what is happening inside and outside. I’m not speaking of Master’s presence.
The Turiya condition is possible in Heartfulness meditation even for a person who is meditating for the first time. If an EEG is attahed to them, the graph will show the deep sleep brainwave pattern. By and large, I would say that 99% of our people are able to enjoy the benefits of the Turiya state during meditation, and if they are careful enough to maintain their condition after meditation they can prolong this so it can become the Turiyateet state with open eyes.. You’re moving on in life with a cool state.
Body, mind and soul
Q: It is said that the subtle bodies goes with the soul, yet life has its existence only when body and soul are united. Can you kindly elaborate on this concept?
Daaji: The first I learned about this subtle body business was when reading Truth Eternal of Lalaji Saheb. He beautifully describes how we have:
The physical body, which is the outer manifestation.
The subtle bodies, of which there are many, but four are the main ones: chit, manas, buddhi and ahankar.
The inner most causal body, the cause of everything, the karan of everything. That is our atman, and without the atman forget about the subtle bodies and the physical body.
All these are needed, and the soul in its wisdom choses parents, embodies itself, and manifests in physical form. The physical form is needed, so we need to keep it healthy, allowing these four subtle bodies to grown alongside it. Then the soul will find its fulfillment.
The purpose is something else. When we ask, “What is the purpose of life?” often, we think of so many esoteric things, but to my heart the purpose of life is simply to do the best we can in every moment. And when we talk of improving the soul and its quality, can you improve that which is already pure and eternal? You can’t. It is what it is.
How can we improve the physical body? If we pay too much attention to the physical body, we’ll be caught up in it. We’re already caught up so badly with it, yet this physical body can only age and decay. It follows its own natural rhythm, and it cannot evolve, it can only age.
Then what is this evolution all about, if it is not about the soul or the physical body? It is all about the subtle bodies – chit, manas, buddhi and ahankar. We all have consciousness, we all have mind, we all have intellect, we all have ego. Now when these four slowly evolve to become what we find in a saint, what becomes of them in the end?
Consicouness is the field in which manas, buddhi and ahankar play their part. What becomes of manas? The role of manas is to think and it must evolve to think from mind to heart. It’s a whole spectrum where, instead of focusing only on this mental apparatus, we allow the heart to take more of a role. Saints respond without having to think. The example I often give is that of a businessman, an office goer or a student, who has a problem and remains confused for months at a time. Their mother or sister or wife will ask, “What is wrong with you? Tell me what is bothering you.” When they open up and say, “Mom, this is my problem,” she will come up with an immediate answer. A wife will also give an immediate answer to a problem for which you wasted three months or six months brooding. So thinking of course has its own role, but if you can feel the situation it can give you an immediate answer.
Likewise with intellect, we can intellectualize over so many things, but once our intellect develops intelligence we become more intuitive, wisdom develops and we start receiving guidance from inside. There’s no more need for intellectualization, as things reveal themselves.
And what about ego? As long as we remain egotistic, nothing much can be accomplished. An egotistic mind is all about ‘myself’. Such a person will not think much of God. That’s a long chapter.
The evolution of all these three together permits consciousness to expand. But Babuji Maharaj actually pours cold water on this aspect of consciousness. He says that while it is good and we have to facilitate the expansion of our consciousness to evolve, we must also pay attention to something much more than that. He gives the example of toys given to children: children need toys to play, and adults also have their own fancy ideas about enjoyment. Yogis also waste their sadhana and tapasya playing with consciousness. He encourages us to go beyond consciousness in Sahaj Marg, and find what is the potential behind consciousness; what is it that supports consciousness?
So we have to move on slowly like that, you see. It is this combination of subtle bodies that forms an amalgamation with the soul and moves from one life to the next. Samskaras are stored in these subtle bodies. The more the samskaras are removed, the more free the subtle bodies become. And the soul will find its own liberation through that process. Thank you.
Within ten minutes, rains poured, filling the atmosphere with a cool breeze and joy. It looks like God’s own country is blessed again!
Sunday, 8 April, Aluva
Daaji rose early and conducted satsangh. His closing talk had only two words: “Thank you.”
One of our brothers asked Daaji, “What is possessiveness? Why does it come? Is it love or insecurity?”
Daaji said, “It is definitely not love. Love gives freedom.”
He started back to Bangalore to meet his new family member. The official travel ends till the new one starts!
So much happens in travel that can’t be captured in words, and can’t be captured in knowledge. One can always stay tuned in and experience.