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Dear friends,

On 21 July 1945, our beloved Pujya Babuji Maharaj registered Shri Ram Chandra Mission, Shahjahanpur (U.P.), India, under the Societies Registration Act of U.P. state in India, at the office of the Assistant Registrar of Firms and Chits at Bareilly. And this year, we are celebrating 75 years of our Mission’s flourishing.

What is not so well known, is that during the period leading up to and following the Mission’s registration, the Hierarchy of great Beings intercommunicated with Babuji Maharaj the principles and akhlaaq upon which this organization was built. These guiding principles are still as fresh and as vitally relevant today as they were in the 1940s, so I would like to share with you a few excerpts that have been so carefully recorded in Babuji Maharaj’s diary. They remain a beacon towards which we may all steer our personal behaviour, how we treat each other, how we work together, and how we behave or relate with the Master. This platinum jubilee year is the perfect opportunity to revisit these principles, and recalibrate our understanding of spirituality

If we can take the time to study these gems, and reflect upon how they manifest in our lives and work, we will be able to set our intention, like we set the helm of a boat, Irons Out All Wrinkles love Kamlesh D. Patel 2 and sail towards a vibrant egregore of akhlaaq. We will become shining ambassadors of Shri Ram Chandra Mission, fulfilling the purpose for which it was founded those 75 years ago

We start with a series of diary entries leading up to the registration. On 12 October 1944, Lord Krishna is present for the first time in Babuji’s diary, and together with Lalaji Maharaj they start preparing the field for the future Mission. Lord Krishna shares some important guidance:

19 October 1944

LORD KRISHNA:

“The principles of life should be very simple

1.  Cultivate the habit of speaking truth. 
    
2.  Abstain from useless auditory and visual pleasures. 
    
3.  Love to children. Respect for elders. Service to parents. 
    
4.  Honest living. 
    
5.  Remain well intentioned. 
    
6.  Have no covetous eye on what belongs to somebody else. 
    
7.  Avoid adopting a threatening attitude to others. 
    
8.  Try to keep cool and calm.  
    
9.  Restrain from uttering any word that may cause hurt to another’s heart. 
    
10.  In spite of all this, drawing out one’s sword in the face of the enemy is not forbidden, but it should be for the defence of somebody. 
     
11.  Prayer and worship (sandhya) should be performed twice daily, at sunrise and sunset. In view of the altered times, I have not ordered sandhya a third time. 

 “These are ordinary principles, which everybody ought to observe.”

And Lalaji Maharaj adds to this a few days later:

21 October 1944

REVERED LALAJI:

“The above-mentioned principles from Lord Krishna are concerned with practice.

1.  God’s entity should be taken to be one. 
    
2. One should abstain from useless kinds of worship. Religious bigotry is to be detested. 
    
3. God alone is worthy of worship, and as such God alone is to be worshipped. 
    
4. The Guru should be honoured. 
    
5. Such principles are to be adopted as may cause benefit to others. 
    
6. Living should be made so simple that on seeing it, people have an impression of good thoughts. 
    
7. I have always been, and am even now, opposed to idol worship. Its grossness spoils the heart. A promise to this effect should be taken at the time of initiation. Idol worship is to be strictly prohibited. 
    
8. “Otherwise observance of all these principles of good conduct is essential.”  

And a few days after that, Lalaji Maharaj dictates to Babuji the basic principles he would wish all seekers to follow:

24 October 1944

REVERED LALAJI:

1.  “In our fold much emphasis is laid on faith. That is the first step. To ripen it is every aspirant’s duty. Without this, proper benefit is not derived. 
    
2. Aspirants must first decide in their hearts whether this particular method shall do them good; and this will be evident to them through experience. Then there needs to be an orientation to ripen faith. Compliance with one’s Guru’s orders will then be considered as duty. 
    
3. It needs to be understood by the aspirants that what is being done to them is not mesmerism, but a way of connecting to the Ultimate, and that this is the main thing. So long as aspirants do not decide well in 
   their heart, and do not come to have trust in the Guide, there is no need to accept any guru or system. 
    
4. The consideration of character is the main thing and brahmacharya is also strictly essential. This is the way of devotion, and whatever else may be achieved along with it.”

The Mission was registered on 21 July 1945. By this time, many other great Beings had started intercommuning with Babuji and offering him their support. One of them, who was to play a very vital role in the establishment of Shri Ram Chandra Mission, was Swami Vivekananda, whose presence was first recorded on 1 December 1944. Just two days after the Mission’s registration, Swamiji’s role becomes clearer:

23 July 1945

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA:

“Accept and convey my heartfelt sympathy and blessings to the workers of the Mission. It is the will of the overruling Providence to have such an organisation permanently run, which is not a product of the human mind. The scheme I have given is divine. There may be controversies on certain points, but that is not to have any effect on it. My guidance will be there throughout.”

Please note the significance of “the will of the overriding Providence to have such an organisation permanently run, which is not the product of human mind. The scheme I have given is divine.” Shri Ram Chandra Mission is clearly more than a legal entity, and its President more than an office bearer. Here we are talking about a divine entity, a gift from above, and a path forward for humanity towards the Light.

A few weeks later, Lalaji Maharaj provides some guidance about the functioning of the Mission:

17 August 1945 

REVERED LALAJI:

“What I mean to underline is that the Mission is now a registered organisation, so now it should start functioning

1.  Young and capable people should be selected to do the work; 
    
2. There should be no consideration of age in a spiritual organisation. Work may be taken from whomsoever is able to do the job. They may be assigned and allowed to do the same work without frisk and frolic; 
    
3. Distribute the work among yourselves, and all of you must adhere to principles; 
    
4. Remain helpful to each other in every affair. If you notice 
   somebody’s work slackening, start that work yourself on their behalf; and 
    
5. Those of you who have more time at your disposal may do more work. Mutual love is to be maintained. There is to be no question of high and low. Learn this from my example. I do not approve of argumentation in my organisation, nor do I like heartaches over 
   trifles. All this work is mine. Do it all, taking it as such. If some point of discussion may come up, I am to be consulted, and my order in that case will be final.”

Following this, Swami Vivekananda continues:

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA:

“I am stricter on this point. I want the Mission to be run calmly and smoothly. A fiery spirit is not required at all. We are not preparing you for the battlefront. I know the position of Ram Chandra. He has more kindness in his nature, and that he has inherited from his Guru.

“The organisation can stand on the firm footing of tolerance. Love makes everything smooth. The first thing to do is to attract your brethren with your calm and simple habits and manners. When you reach this point, teach them things with love and only then give them rules to follow. Teach them the service of humanity and increase the feelings of brotherhood. Do your duty to them as a brother, taking them as your own.

“Develop in them the feelings of solemnity and sincerity. The best way in the interest of the organisation is to make yourself a role model for them to emulate.

“On any aspect of the organisation, take the example of your respected Guru, who never asked for anything that he had not done himself. There is a great mistake found prevailing generally, that people require Following this, Swami Vivekananda continues: 8 others to do what they themselves do not do. Such persons do not succeed. I want practical people with a good heart and calm habits to be appointed for various jobs in the organisation. I advise you to weigh everybody in the spirit of love and sympathy, as well as the habit of doing something first themselves, before asking others to do it.

“I have given you several warnings to do what you mean at heart. Never mind if the world is against you. Never mind if your brothers and sisters forsake you. Work for the sake of work and be firm in what you do. When so many of us are here to advise and guide, you need not fear anything at all. Be certain that success will dawn sooner or later. Even if the sun may burst and the sky may fall upon you, do what you will.”

Swami Vivekananda then goes into more detail about the way we may all participate – first as abhyasis, and then as trainers (preceptors):

23 August 1945

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA:

“The persons of high rank in your society should first set their own example for others to follow. 

“General duties for all satsanghi brethren of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission:

1.  Rise early in the morning and follow the laws of Nature; 
    
2. Be simple in habits and regular concerning meals; 
    
3. Be pious and generous; 
    
4. Be truthful in words, thoughts and deeds; 
    
5. Have sympathy for everybody like you have for your own children; 
    
6. Give service to fellow beings of every kind within your capacity; 
    
7. Consider the whole world as one community, with due consideration for the rights for everybody; 
    
8. Have faith in the Master, who is the supreme Lord, and loyalty to his Mission; 
    
9. Devote regular time to abhyas every day; and 
    
10. Offer prayer before going to bed, for the success of the Mission, and for the strength to follow the laws of Nature and the mandates of the Mission.

“This is the most important thing and is binding for everybody, big or small. Special cases may be exempted. They will abide by the orders, whatever may be there.

“Duties of a trainer (preceptor):

1.  Teach others, treating them as your own brothers and sisters; 
    
2. Have brotherly love and sympathy for abhyasis and follow your Guru fully in this respect; 
    
3. Talk with humility and softness, as if you are speaking to yourself. Words spoken should be like the flow of a river, when its water is calm; 
    
4. Abhyasis may be respected and loved in your heart as creatures of the same God; and 
    
5. Useless talk is not to be allowed at the time of satsangh.”

Following this, Lalaji Saheb speaks about the importance of swadhyaya in our practice:

REVERED LALAJI:

“Every member of the Mission may maintain a diary, in which these guiding principles are noted and studied from time to time, to remove shortcomings. There may also be notes in the diary as to what could not be fulfilled, and wherein shortcomings still persist.”

Lalaji Saheb also expands his guidance to encompass general principles on friendship, and how to best manage anger:

6 September 1945

REVERED LALAJI:

“I tell you something very important from my own experience: Friendship can survive only when mutual appreciation and regard is there in the heart on both sides. This has been my way.”

Babuji: What is poison for spirituality?

Revered Lalaji: “Anger. Unless one is free from this, moderation can never be attained. What effect is brought about by anger? The system acquires heaviness and tension is generated. As a result, the free and sublime current of spirituality fails to penetrate and flow through the system, and thought is not able to get rid of the burden outweighing it.

“Now the question arises as to how one can acquire freedom from anger and its effect. The prescription is here: One should consider oneself as humble and subservient to the Master. This should become a matter of trust and perfect belief, and one may remain practising it so as to acquire that same hue of humility and subservience in every part of one’s whole system.”

And later on he shares a few more general principles on how we may live our lives:

18 October 1945 

REVERED LALAJI:

“… one may engage in the affairs of the household, observing certain principles:

1.  One must try to earn one’s livelihood in such a way as to be able to give benefit to others also, but need not be unduly worried and confused in these regards; 
    
2. Remembrance of God may remain there in the case of every work; 
    
3. Dealing with others needs to reflect uniformity. This means that everybody has the idea that such-and-such a person is not lacking in the performance of the duty that is assigned to them; 
    
4. Love should be dripping out of every part of one’s talk and behaviour; 
    
5. Serving each other will be considered to be a duty by everybody; 
    
6. One may be given one’s fair dues; 
    
7. The thought of harming others will vanish from the heart; and 
    
8. Everyone is to be considered as God’s creation, and He alone is to be taken as the Master of all. Everyone may be given the same regard in that same light, and this will be for everybody without distinction, whether one belongs to the satsangh or not.

“These principles pertain to dealings with everybody, in general.”

In early 1946, Lord Buddha also starts offering guidance to the practitioners and trainers of our system:

10 February 1946

 LORD BUDDHA: (SECOND LESSON)

“… It is a grave mistake to leave everything to the Guru. To tell the truth, looking to the requirements of his disciples is not his only work. Particularly for such a great personality as Ram Chandra, it is incumbent that such a person be provided with leisure and rest, so that his heart and mind may find peace, and he may devote labour to God’s work.

“The thing that is so often bandied about in your satsangh, that ‘I have surrendered everything to the Master,’ is mere speculation. I understand that nobody as yet has been able to do that in the real sense. Such an example is possible in a single case, if that. This does not mean that people should give up the practice of surrender to the Master, and stop trying in that direction. An attempt may be undertaken with full sincerity.

“Surrender to the Master is a very unique practice, which Lord Krishna mentioned in his Gita. Before taking it up, a human being can make a lot of himself. This is something unique. Its consequence and the destination are one and the same. Such personalities come already In early 1946, Lord Buddha also starts offering guidance to the practitioners and trainers of our system: 13 perfectly structured. Even then, whatever one is able to do in this direction is beneficial and for improvement. It is a disciple’s duty to take the least labour by way of help from one’s Master. This does not mean that disciples should stop coming to the Master.”

20 February 1946 

LORD BUDDHA: (FIFTH LESSON)

“... Now, the person who imparts spiritual training may be endowed with the qualities enumerated here:

1.  Inward and outward aspects should be one and the same. This I am telling only in respect of spirituality. Otherwise, with regard to worldliness, one may have to go against this principle. The purpose consists in having the two aspects, inward and outward, perfectly balanced, so as to leave no difference between them. No part of personality should remain in opposition to the integrated 
   personality. Whatever is needed wherever, emphasis can be felt accordingly in the same direction, while one remains unattached from all of it. That is to say, one should not take the impression of that emphasis or force on their heart; 
    
2. It is also required that balance is there even while the stage of excitement prevails. 
   
   Here, I seldom come across this state in anyone. If one person, Ram Chandra, has come to be moulded like that, it is not to be included in the counting. I mean to say that everyone has to try to arrive at that stage. The duty is yours to try to bring everybody into that state. No doubt, your training from the very start has been like that, and still continues in the same way, but there is nobody to 
   appreciate it. It is possible that people may start deriving the savour of it through contact with you. Your case is a special one. I want to draw the attention of the preceptors of your satsangh to this aspect. This is the only thing for which I roamed about in the forests. How many troubles I underwent! I abdicated a kingdom, but was this (Nirvana) something lesser as regards happiness and bliss? To tell the truth, an empire is something very paltry compared with this treasure of unbounded happiness of Nirvana. Nothing can pay the price of this attainment; 
    
3. May such qualities be developed in everyone. The method consists in merging oneself entirely to the highest possible extent. Only this may always be there in one’s vision; 
    
4. However, the thought should not appear, nor come up, that one has registered so much progress; 
    
5. No obstruction or check should be found within oneself; and 
    
6. One may feel oneself as clear and cool as moonlight.  
   
   It remains impossible, nevertheless, to explain it adequately to make it understood. Is there someone of the field and front, who may be able to achieve this coolness in oneself? 
   
   “Alas, if what is available to you people had come my way in my life, I would not have had to wade in the dust of the forests. Do you take this period as something ordinary? Do you expect to come across this again? May it not happen that Ram Chandra goes away carrying all this immense spiritual wealth with him!” 

And then, in 1947, we have the famous intercommunication of Swami Vivekananda, in which he asks us to become like strands of a single rope:

23 August 1947 

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA:

“I am here as an observer at this important meeting of the Mission, on which depends the future of the organisation. I want the Mission to function smoothly. I do not want malice to be active at any stage. You should all unite and combine together for the common cause. Make yourselves like the strands of a single rope. The future depends on you. I set up my Mission single-handedly, and you may see the result. It has acquired worldwide support. Self-confidence was the only thing underlying my success. You need not worry that your Mission will not improve. My words at Rameshwaram will come true. My Master is showering blessings on you all. If your Mission improves, really it will be my success. … Now, this is my Mission. People will come to know after your physical demise. I work only in this sphere now and many sages do likewise.”

In addition to these guidelines about the formation of the Mission, Lalaji Maharaj advises how seekers are expected to behave during the large gatherings or bhandaras of the Mission:

31 July 1944

 REVERED LALAJI:

1.  “There should be mutual respect among everyone;
    
2. There should be no question of high or low;
    
3. All should consider everyone as children of the same parents;
    
4. Nothing should occur that is disliked by others; 
    
5. Desist from unbecoming conduct;
    
6. The mind should be oriented in a single direction;
    
7. There should be no liking for unnecessary discussion – only necessary matters should be attended to;
    
8. The real purpose of the bhandara is to refresh the memory of the one commemorated;
    
9. There should be no differentiation between the gurus and disciples of other sansthas.
    
10. The shower of Grace is to be the same all over.”

What can we imbibe from all these excerpts? They are rich in direct instructions, as well as in subtler hints, all of which help us mould our living. And Lalaji Saheb’s invitation “to maintain a diary, in which these guiding principles are noted and studied from time to time, to remove shortcomings. There may also be notes in the diary as to what could not be fulfilled, and wherein shortcomings still persist,” is of particular interest.

Swadhyaya is one of the five pillars of Niyama, the limb of ennoblement of character in Ashtanga Yoga. Swadhyaya means ‘study of the self ’. The need for self-observation and self-analysis in our spiritual journey is paramount, allowing us to develop the 17 awareness of our intentions and actions. Our thoughts and feelings are expressions of our inner state, so witnessing them helps us to study our inner state. To resonate with our Goal, we need to work on our character and bring those habits and tendencies to light that limit our personalities, so that they can be removed. How to do this without becoming judgemental with ourselves and developing feelings of guilt and shame? The Heartfulness approach is one of self-analysis for continuous improvement and refinement, with self-acceptance and self-compassion. There is no sense of getting bogged down in heaviness caused by our past transgressions, only in letting go and learning to change.

Without the other Niyamas – purity, austerity and inner contentment – self-study is difficult. Will an impure heart resort to self-study? Will a person who has not gone through some level of refinement and austerity be inclined to self-study? Will a discontented heart want to study itself? Please ask yourself these vital questions.

Thankfully, Heartfulness allows us to practise self-study before we have perfected the other Niyamas of purity, simplicity and contentment. How is this possible?

First, through meditation with Transmission, we learn to witness our inner universe keenly. That way, when any inner turbulence arises, we become aware and can remove it through the process of cleaning. We learn to be less and less entangled in the emotions that we see inside ourselves.

Second, we are encouraged to write a journal, so as to sensitise ourselves to the inner condition. We cultivate self-awareness, self-acceptance and self-empathy. As a result we are able to let go of old habits more easily.

Third, through prayer, we are better able to listen to our heart and become sensitive to its higher wisdom.

Fourth, through the practice of constant remembrance, we remain constantly connected with the inner wisdom that can help us refine our self.

Swadhyaya also includes the reading and study of our literature, as these texts provide a reference for our own inner journey. Through reading, we receive the wisdom of those Masters who have already traversed the path, and we are inspired to keep moving forward. In these sacred texts, there is layer upon layer of meaning and understanding, and as we progress in our own journey these layers of knowledge unfold. That is exactly what we are doing here – studying the diary entries of the Special Personality, Babuji Maharaj, and applying their wisdom to our own lives. In this process we are guided ever forward towards the Goal, as refinement gradually yields to mergence.

Can we imagine taking one of these guiding principles from Babuji Maharaj’s diary every day, and studying it within ourselves, with an attitude of continuous improvement? What would be the overall result if all of us were to do this for the next six months or a year? And would we be able to give up this process after six months? I doubt it. Self-transformation is infectious – once we have tasted its fruits, there is no turning back. Of course, it takes courage and patience, but what endeavour worth its weight is ever without effort?

The guiding principles that were laid down at the beginning of our glorious Shri Ram Chandra Mission are still the principles that guide us all today. May we rise to the challenge and embrace them with all our hearts.

With love and respect, 

Kamlesh