On the occasion of the 70th birthday of&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Pujya Daaji&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; September 28, 2025, Kanha Shanti Vanam&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Dear Ones,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The spiritual journey presents a fundamental paradox: What we see as the ultimate goal is actually just the beginning of true growth. This insight, which is central to the message shared during the September Bhandara 2025, prompts us to re-examine our most basic ideas about progress, success, and the nature of spiritual realization.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; People in our world are obsessed with endings. We act like graduation, retirement, and enlightenment are final points. But nature shows us something else. Has a seed finished its journey when it finally breaks through the soil after struggling in the dark? No, it’s just the beginning. The breaking through isn’t the goal; it’s the first step toward everything that matters—photosynthesis, growth, bearing fruit, providing shade, and eventually becoming soil for new seeds.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; “Has a seed finished its journey when it finally breaks through the soil after struggling in the dark? No, it’s just the beginning. The breaking through isn’t the goal; it’s the first step toward everything that matters—photosynthesis, growth, bearing fruit, providing shade, and eventually becoming soil for new seeds.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; When Babuji said that merger makes you a beginner, this is what he meant. The drop that celebrates joining the ocean while still being a drop hasn’t really merged. There is no one left to celebrate a real merger. It’s the biggest contradiction.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Science and Philosophy Behind Change&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Consider the profound lesson that basic chemistry teaches us: Hydrogen is volatile, dangerous, and elusive; oxygen ignites every fire and causing everything to burn. Yet, when they combine, do they symbolize destruction? They merge to form water, which supports all life. But here’s the deeper truth: Water doesn’t remember being hydrogen. It no longer has an explosive nature, even as a suppressed tendency. The transformation is so complete that its original nature no longer exists as a possibility.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This relates to how we grow spiritually. We often think of spiritual growth as adding something to who we are, like learning new things or improving at something. But real change is like alchemy. You don’t just boost your ego; you become something completely different that serves a totally different purpose.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;“We often think of spiritual growth as adding something to who we are, like learning new things or improving at something. But real change is like alchemy. You don’t just boost your ego; you become something completely different that serves a totally different purpose.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Bhagavad Gita discusses svadharma, your personal duty or purpose. But what happens when change is so profound that your svabhava, your essential nature, transforms? The dharma of water isn’t the same as that of hydrogen and oxygen. The new dharma is to flow, nourish, purify, and sustain life.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Message: We are not becoming better drops. We are learning that our true nature was never “drop-ness.” And even this discovery, which is very important, only prepares us to start the real work. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; What implications does this have for daily life? First, it alters how we perceive problems and challenges. An aware being doesn’t see traffic jams as issues on their own journey. They view themselves as part of the flow, and this influences their reactions. They might choose a different route, not because “I need to get there faster,” but because it benefits the overall flow.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This understanding changes everything in relationships. Most fights occur when two drops try to stay apart while claiming they want to be together. When both people realize they were never separate drops but always expressions of the same water, they are no longer separate.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Vedic tradition talks about prayatna (effort) and prasada (grace). Before the merger, we try to become the ocean. After the merger, we realize that we always were the ocean pretending to be a drop. But then comes the most challenging part: Choosing to be a drop while knowing we’re the ocean, a paradox full of riddles.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Babuji calls it the beginning for this reason. An actor can get lost in a role, but can you play the part perfectly while knowing that you’re playing? Is it possible to be fully human and still know you’re divine? Can you feel how limited the body is while being in the limitless?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Wisdom of Limiting&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This is where philosophy starts to apply in real life. Water takes the shape of its container not because it can’t be shaped, but because being shapeless isn’t helpful. Water becomes drinkable in a cup. It turns into rain in the clouds. It becomes life itself in blood vessels. Similarly, the ability to change is what empowers us.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; “The ability to change is what empowers us.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "After the merger, the journey is about learning to see limitations as creative choices rather than rules that have to be followed. You picked the shape of your current life not because you had to, but because it fits into the bigger picture."&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; After the merger, the journey is about learning to see limitations as creative choices rather than rules that have to be followed. You picked the shape of your current life not because you had to, but because it fits into the bigger picture.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The spiritual ego that claims, “I have merged,” is the most dangerous trap. This is hydrogen pretending to be water but remaining hydrogen. Genuine water doesn’t have to say what it is. It just flows, nourishes, and cleanses. Its existence is its declaration.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This understanding frees us from the exhausting work of being overly spiritual. You don’t need to appear all-knowing. You don’t have to speak in unusual ways. You just need to be like water—always present, helpful, and adaptable to meet the needs of the moment.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Endless Service&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; When mathematicians discovered multiple infinities, each containing all the others but being different, they touched on a spiritual truth. After the merger, the journey isn’t about becoming bigger. It’s about finding endless ways to serve within limits.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This is perfectly shown by a mother feeding her child. She doesn’t need to be aware of the universe to take care of life. Her change from being a person to being a mother is complete and perfect for what it needs to do. But even with this “limitation,” she touches upon the endlessness of love itself.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; “After the merger, the journey isn’t about becoming bigger. It’s about finding endless ways to serve within limits.”&nbsp;&nbsp; This teaching changes how we approach spiritual practice. We learn to recognize the profound in the everyday instead of seeking extraordinary experiences. Washing dishes becomes a lesson in how things evolve. Breathing shows us how to exchange what is important. Every time we talk with someone, we have a chance to practice conscious limitation in the name of love.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Being limitless doesn’t give us the most freedom. It’s like how water chooses to become ice to stay solid, steam to rise, or remain as liquid to flow. Each state works perfectly, and the changes between them happen naturally when they are needed, not because people are unhappy with the current state. Perhaps this is true freedom.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Living Message: As you go about your day, remember that you’re not trying to become the ocean. You’re learning to be water in every way that water works for this moment. When you drink water, think about the hydrogen and oxygen that gave up their own lives to help life. When you have problems, be like water and find the path that meets not only your own needs but also the needs of the whole.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; “Being limitless doesn’t give us the most freedom. It’s like how water chooses to become ice to stay solid, steam to rise, or remain as liquid to flow. Each state works perfectly, and the changes between them happen naturally when they are needed, not because people are unhappy with the current state.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; After merger, the journey isn’t about gaining more. It’s about discovering what you can become by intentionally letting go, how you can serve by choosing to limit yourself, and how you can love by accepting your limited form while knowing that you are formless.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This is the pathless path that goes beyond all paths. Creating a path only means imposing freedom upon yourself. When people ask the Masters what comes after enlightenment, they smile. They give you a glass of water and wait for you to find the infinite in the ordinary, the deep in the simple, and the everything in the enough, the essence of finding totality within sufficiency.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And in that realization, the most amazing change happens: It is not that the ordinary becomes holy, but you finally see that it always was. The water was always sacred. We just needed to learn how to see.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; With prayers to the Great Master, &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kamlesh&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; “It is not that the ordinary becomes holy, but you finally see that it always was. The water was always sacred. We just needed to learn how to see.”

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Postscript to the Message - The Journey After the Merger: When Water Forgets It Was Hydrogen

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Guardians of the Sacred - A Heartful Guide to Conduct in the Master’s Presence and Holy Places

Below are messages to download, read, and contemplate.&nbsp; The Journey After the Merger: When Water Forgets It Was Hydrogen

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The Journey After the Merger: When Water Forgets It Was Hydrogen

Below are messages to download, read, and contemplate.&nbsp; Being Identical with Nature

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Being Identical With Nature

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The Trinity of Intention, Attention, and Attitude Through the Three Paths - Daaji's Message from Lucknow

Below are messages to download, read, and contemplate.&nbsp; When the Heart Hears, the Mind Sees: The Art of Right Understanding &nbsp;

When the Heart Hears, the Mind Sees: The Art of Right Understanding

Below are messages to download, read, and contemplate.&nbsp; Embracing the Unknown: The Journey of Gratitude

Embracing the Unknown: The Journey of Gratitude

Below are messages to download, read, and contemplate.&nbsp; About the importance of the Seer

The Seer

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Surrender

To achieve the correction of gross tendencies, Point A of the Heart Region is used for meditation and Point B is used for cleaning. It is highly effective in correcting self-indulging tendencies.&nbsp;<h2>Locating Points A and B</h2>Points A and B can be located by actual measurement. The heart lies in the left part of the body, near the lower part of the left lung. If we measure two fingers width straight to the right of the left nipple, and then proceed straight down, up to three fingers width, this is the position of Point A. Now proceed two fingers width straight down from Point A to find Point B – the measurement to be taken with your own fingers.<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Finger_3564363631.webp"></figure><h2>Meditation on Point A</h2>To achieve the correction of gross tendencies, Point A of the Heart Region is used for meditation. It is highly effective for correcting self-indulging tendencies as well as promoting a feeling of universal brotherhood and, in turn, creating unity amongst all. Fix your attention on Point A, with the thought that all the women and men of the world are your sisters and brothers. Hold your thought on this while you meditate on Point A, believing this to be the reality. This is a really short but extremely effective practice. If practised wholeheartedly you can see its effect immediately, and this effect will be permanent. This meditation is to be done before going to bed for not more than ten minutes.Sisters are advised to follow the process with a slight modification. Instead, think that all divine gifts are available to you, and that all men and women of the world think they are brothers and sisters and your thought is one with theirs.<h2>Cleaning on Point B</h2>Fix your attention on Point B and imagine that all impurities and grossness are going out from Point B from the front of the body. Imagine that as this process is going on, the glow of the atman, the soul, begins to appear from behind. This process is to be done before beginning your morning meditation, but never for more than ten minutes.<blockquote>BibliographyEfficacy of Raja Yoga in the Light of Sahaj Marg Complete Works of Ram Chandra, Volume IV A Preceptor’s Guide, Volume II</blockquote>&nbsp;<h2 style="text-align:center;">CHARACTER FORMATION SOME JEWELS FROM REVERED MASTER’S TALKS</h2>Spiritual practice must lead to character building and development but, as my Master has emphasised again and again, while he gives spiritual wealth to us, we have to use our willpower and our intelligence to mould our character to conform to our spiritual level. The conscience is only like a thermometer to judge how good or how bad one is. In spirituality we do not think of good and bad but of samskaras, and they are to be avoided. Sahaj Marg will surely work for social transformation too, but the effects will not be visible so soon.If people are coming to the spiritual life only to change the world (please listen to this carefully) – if people come to the spiritual life only to change the world, they will not achieve anything. I assure you. If you come to change yourself, there is a guarantee of success provided you apply yourself to changing yourself.…Therefore, brothers and sisters, here in this Mission, in our practice of spiritual life, the total responsibility for your welfare, for your happiness, for your growth is, bluntly, entirely on you – on nothing else, nobody else. It is not with the Mission, it is not with the prefects, it is not with what we teach – it is with each one of you, for yourself. You live by yourself; you work on yourself; you grow. You are the experiment; you are the object of the experiment; you are the experimenter. And when this combination is successful, you will be the result of that experiment.Meditation is the only way of building your character, which is only trying to make goodness in yourself, restore human values of friendship, brotherhood, companionship, love, compassion, forgivingness. And the first need is to forget everything that can make you different from others. Everything that points to you as something different in society must be dropped.But I tell you one of the most important things which Babuji Maharaj used to emphasise: the most important point of character is not to hurt anybody else’s feelings, and the most important is, never to hurt your mother’s feelings.The problem with human development is always the gap between aspirations and character building of the person concerned. Application of one’s will to character building is all that is necessary, remembering that the Master’s help is always present. I am happy to see your progress and pray for faster progress with time.Personal discipline goes a long way in spiritual progress. Personal discipline shows an inner discipline – that you are balanced, that you don’t put your needs before that of others. It shows itself in courtesy – you give way to others, let them sit first. You will let others eat first, don’t rush. If there is no sitting space, you allow older people to sit and you go and sit outside. All these must come from inside you. We cannot say, ‘Place reserved for old men’, ‘Place reserved for handicapped people’, and things like that. Inner discipline must show first of all: concern for others, willingness to help others before you help yourself and, in general, courtesy prevailing under all circumstances.

Messages

GIVEN BY DAAJI ON VARIOUS OCCASIONS