TRAVELS AND CONVERSATIONS WITH DAAJI, 27 to 30 July 2019
OCT 09. 2019
Saturday, 27 July
Kurnool & Anantapur
Daaji left Kanha by road for Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh around 10:15 a.m. on the morning of 27 July, along with a convoy of seven cars filled with abhyasis who were all going to Bengaluru for the International Conference on Elevating Consciousness at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB). He arrived at the Kurnool Meditation Centre just before 1 p.m. and conducted satsangh for around 1,200 people who were present. He conducted a second satsangh at 4:30 p.m. The fervour of the abhyasis and the discreet warmth of their welcome were very evident.
We were informed that during the next three days a Dhyanotsav was being organized by the Centre. 10,000 invitations had been distributed to residents within a radius of 1 kilometre, and they hoped that at least 1,000 people would come to discover Heartfulness Meditation on that occasion. A haven of peace in the midst of car and truck horns, and slamming car doors, the Kurnool Meditation Centre is in the middle of the roaring buzz of the town, close to the communication lane that gives it access.
After the evening satsangh, Daaji was back on the road. At 17:15 the convoy moved again into the middle of intense traffic to reach Anantapur around 7 p.m. As soon as he arrived, Daaji conducted satsangh for the 400 or so followers who were waiting for him. The Anantapur Meditation Centre has found its place in the middle of a neighbourhood of very welcoming family homes.
The abhyasis of both Kurnool and Anantapur were so very disciplined and soft. They waited patiently, silently, and no one crowded Daaji. It was such a pleasure to be in these centres. Daaji has visited both these centres in Andhra Pradesh, Kurnool and Anantapur, several times since 2015.
Sunday, 28 July
In the morning, satsangh was conducted by Daaji at 7.30 a.m., for around 800 people. Rain was threatening, but the clouds did not break, so breakfast could be eaten by all outside. The travel group of around 30 people then left to the next stop at the home of abhyasis in Chickballapur, Karnataka. Satsangh was conducted at 12:30 p.m. with 120 people present. They had only been told of Daaji’s imminent arrival after the morning satsangh, and had organized themselves from the surrounding centres to participate.
At around 5 p.m. the convoy arrived at the Paramdham Ashram in Bengaluru, and the travellers were able to stay at the adjacent Haryana Bhavan Guest House.
Monday, 29 July
The abhyasis of Bengaluru were invited to attend satsangh with Daaji in two batches – one at 6:30 p.m., and the second one the following morning at 7:30 a.m. Throughout the day, the people of the centre were involved in setting up the Haryana Bhavan Guest House for these two satsanghs. More than 1,200 people came to attend the evening satsangh at 6:30 p.m. In his speech, Daaji expressed his joy at seeing so many people spread over three floors. In his talk, following the satsangh, he also spoke of guilt. "It is not a samskara but can become so if you do not pay attention."
A meal was served at the Paramdham Ashram to everyone in a particularly joyful and light atmosphere.
Tuesday, 30 July
A second batch of around 1,000 people was present for the 7:30 AM satsangh at Haryana Bhavan Guest House. All meals were served in Paramdham Ashram, thanks to the volunteers of the centre who were so present and so intentioned.
Bringing Heartfulness to the public eye -YourStory
This was a very intense day for Daaji as he had two public-facing interviews in Bengaluru. The first was from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon, at the studios of YourStory. It was an interactive session on “The Heartful Way to Leadership” with Shradha Sharma, followed by an experience of meditation, a Q & A session and a demonstration of Brighter Minds by some of the children of Bangalore. To listen to a snippet from the interview, go to https://yourstory.com/video/daaji-kamlesh-patel-coping-loneliness-heartfulness-leadership.
Daaji during the interview: “People ask me, ‘How can we beat anxiety? How can we beat depression?’ It’s the biggest tragedy of modern life. To me it is all arising from loneliness. You may be surrounded by family, friends etc., but you are often left to yourself emotionally by choice or circumstances.
The best is to avoid it, because once anxiety starts, depression kicks in, and it further leads to schizophrenia, it’s difficult to handle. It’s like any disease: if you can prevent it before it starts, it’s the best. So lead a lifestyle so that you don’t succumb to such levels of anxiety.
I like this idea of Original Creation, where no creation means there’s a zero state, zero dimension. There’s nothing in the Universe; no stars, no galaxies, not even a light. You need stars and galaxies to have a light. There’s nothing there. It’s a total void.
Now what happens if you apply Newton’s principle here? Normally when you throw something, it will move to a certain distance and then stop because of friction and gravitation, but where there is nothing - no friction, no gravity, nothing to stop it - even a small movement will go on forever. So can you say a thought or an idea can also expand like this? That’s also energy, which can be infinite.
“Now, how to recognize that this is the right lifestyle? I think everybody knows what is the wrong lifestyle, but we don’t have courage to leave the wrong and adopt the right. People say, ‘My friends push me to do these things,’ and succumb to peer pressure. Even children commit suicide these days, and there are many reasons. The best is always to avoid those situations that lead to guilt and trap us in a corner from which we can’t get out. Who is not aware of wrong things? We may not be aware of right things. If you analyse a time when you did something wrong, you surely would have known beforehand, whereas none of us are fully cognizant of doing the right thing. The knowledge of right is always imbedded in us, so it doesn’t impress us. But whenever a wrong thing is about to happen, the heart feels it before you even think of it. Your heart feels heavier, beats faster and starts pounding. It gives a sad feeling inside. If you go along with that, it will prevent you from doing things that are wrong. But then, what do we do? We stop listening to the heart: ‘I want to do this, no matter what! I like this. My friends are also doing it. Let me also do it.’
“Let us say that you fast-forward your life and you are now 90 years of age. You have grandchildren and great grandchildren. Knowing all that you did in your youth, would you tell your granddaughter or great granddaughter, ‘Go ahead, take my credit card and do whatever you like’? Think about it. I am not saying, ‘Do this or don’t do this,’ as I am not a preacher, but become aware of what you are doing and the resultant consequences. There is no God monitoring your action. Your own monitoring is more than enough.
“Full awareness must be there with our actions. When you have done something wrong, are you really aware of the wrongness of that act? Then something might happen. Help is always there if you are interested. It should be heartfelt. Do you really want to get rid of your weaknesses? Then it will happen.
“If you are running a business, and you have to choose a business partner, would you choose a partner exactly like yourself? With your thoughts, your attitudes, your weaknesses, the way you cheat, and tell lies? Would you want a similar partner? Or in a relationship, would you fall in love with a person exactly like yourself? You might perhaps run away! So what do we do with ourselves? That’s the problem.
“How do I change myself? And when I change, existence will resonate with me, and help will come.”
Bringing Heartfulness to the public eye – INK Salon
In the evening, Daaji was the main guest speaker at the curtain raiser for INK Salon’s 2019 program, “Within and Beyond.” Here he was interviewed by Lakshmi Pratury on the terrace of the CureFit head office in Bengaluru, beginning with the following question:
Lakshmi: What does Heartfulness mean to you?
Daaji: Doing things with the heart all the time: anything and everything. You go to work – enjoy with your heart. You partake meals – enjoy with your heart. You meditate – enjoy with your heart. Let the heart be involved in all facets of your existence.
In this session, he reminded everyone, "Spirituality is not for sale." In fact, throughout the whole tour, he emphasized more and more that spirituality, Brahma vidya, should be free. It cannot be a transaction. Informally, he said, “Some gurus say, ‘If I charge, they will pay more attention and they will participate during the program.’ But if they do participate, will you give them their money back? Do you have a policy of returning the money to those who attend fully?’”
Daaji also conducted a meditation session for the audience, and invited the Brighter Minds children from Bengaluru to give demonstration of cognitive skills.
To be continued
