Message on the Occasion of the 90th Birth Anniversary of Pujya Shri Chariji Maharaj, 24 July 2017, Kanha Shantivanam
We regularly witness how flocks of birds feed, move and journey together, and how those of the same kind assemble together. Our assembly is likewise. We aspire to soar majestically towards the Unknown with wings outstretched. In the language of Yoga, the cycle of samsara culminates in the hansa or the transcendent swan state: the swan that separates milk from water! Yet this discrimination or viveka, highly praised as the first step in Sadhana Chatusthaya, still eludes us.
A common bond unites us here. May this bond foster mutual trust and respect, and hasten the future forward into this very moment, so that we see our united enterprise achieved in utter harmony and in the service of one another in simple anonymity.
Some of us are nonetheless tormented by a continuous preoccupation with the feeling of ‘lack’ in life. This preoccupation, or constant craving to fulfil that lack, results in a chronic predicament of enough-lessness or incompleteness. We are fixated on that lack until it is fulfilled, and when it is we dig up another lack.
Our habitual awareness of an unfulfilled state within us stirs an activity within the mind that affects the brain’s neural network. It is well known that neurons that fire together wire together. Per contra, those neurons that do not work together risk losing their links within the neural network; they must be retrained to connect to the network.
Ceaseless brooding over any lack or any excess in our lives creates a pattern in our minds, and subsequently a neural network that supports the brooding mind. If the pattern triggers fear and worry, surely the neural network will adapt to boost the fear and worry. The mind impacts the brain, and thereafter the brain impacts the mind. Meanwhile, life seems to speedily move on when we are preoccupied with detecting what we lack and finding ways to fulfil it!
How to overcome this pattern that hurts us?
A gentle nudge that deflects the habit of brooding helps us to avoid the valleys of fear and worry. During any ideal meditation are we not successfully deflecting unwanted thoughts, by reminding ourselves of what truly matters? This awareness – at any given moment of what truly matters – can save us from deep troubles, including the ceaseless brooding that may make us bitter towards life.
Here’s what you can do. Cultivate and steadfastly implement a routine of daily meditations, weekly group satsanghs, and weekly individual sittings. Establish a biological rhythm that trains the mind and the brain to establish specific neural pathways that support our noble effort in evolving. Allow the spiritual condition to percolate deeply to firm up those pathways. Dedicating such effort to the Divine will only intensify the pathways.
By now we know well the significance of meditation before sunrise, cleaning before sunset and prayer at bedtime. We do have a choice to tap into our limitless inner resource where stillness, peace and contentment flourish – a treasure of unparalleled riches and supreme strength.
Focusing on this treasure will only fortify our resolve; but staying away from it can weaken our resolve to continuously improve. Often when it is ideal and most necessary to reconnect with our Beloved Master we deviate from that awareness. Such deviation, even for a few seconds, can drastically change our inner environment.
How to prevent this deviation?
By micromanaging with micro-meditations. Meditating even for a few seconds during our daily rush can prepare us to regain our meditative state at a moment’s notice. In no time we can cultivate the meditative state if we remain even a bit vigilant.
Is it mental gymnastics we are learning? No! In fact, we progress naturally and joyously towards the Source within us. By cultivating the attitude of relying on the supreme strength inside us, we create superior neural networking that surpasses the networking of a mind focused on what we lack.
What then is needed from our side to facilitate this joyful journey? A heartfelt desire that, “I must go on continuously improving myself,” and to recognise that a simple practice such as ours cannot be ignored. Once we sense the inner stillness, the next evolutionary step will unfold naturally.
Constant remembrance, the art of building a bridge between my Maker and myself, is a result of well-finished meditation. Pushing oneself to ‘think’ of the bestower of spiritual conditions is not the same as ‘remembrance’. Remembering the Beloved is never a torture, while thinking can become a torture. In fact, it may give us a headache. Instead let the remembrance of the Beloved be a natural outcome of our passionate practice of Sahaj Marg.
Our way is very simple, its naturalness extraordinary, and to become natural ourselves is a sure outcome. Gently, steadfastly, in utmost care, and in loving remembrance, let us tread on this sacred path that the Great Hierarchy treads ahead of us.
Like birds of a feather, as seekers of Reality, let us make this way of life our primary focus. Let us carry this message out to the world and allow it to permeate our lives. Let us keep flocking together as swans and, soaring high, spread the message of love in a majestic way. On this most divine of days, let us catch up with our Beloved Master.
Kamlesh D. Patel
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