16 June 

After his brief stop in Iglas, Daaji proceeded towards Aligarh, arriving there in the late evening. Hotel reservations had been made in advance for Daaji and those traveling with him. A large hall within the hotel had been thoughtfully transformed into a meditation space, creating a serene environment for the upcoming sessions.

In the evening, Daaji conducted meditation, after which he spoke to all. Here are a few translated excerpts from the speech.

• The Heartfulness method is a divine gift—the distilled essence of the Vedas, Puranas, and Gitas, especially the Bhagavad Gita. It contains within it the very spirit of all these scriptures.
• Many avatars and saints have graced our land, each expressing truth in their own way. Lord Buddha spoke of nirvana, Mahavir Swami of the Jainism tradition said ‘reach the condition of kaivalyadham.’ Saint Kabir urged us to become ‘nothing,’ like a drop that merges into the ocean and becomes one with it. Lord Krishna told us to be like the lotus leaf, on which water does not stay, meaning, to live in such a way that no thought or action leaves an impression upon our consciousness.
• But no one has shown the way to achieve all these states. Nowhere, except Sahaj Marg. Sahaj Marg says ‘meditate.’ But people misunderstand what meditation is—they think it means controlling the mind, developing thoughtlessness, or focusing and concentrating with the mind. All these meanings are wrong. How will you truly do that which you don’t understand?
• As long as samskaras (impressions) remain, the cycle of birth and rebirth continues. So what to remove? Remove the samskaras that lie dormant in seed form. This technique is also in Sahaj Marg.
• Yogic transmission works as a fuel; it connects our consciousness with the Divine consciousness, and so we can experience it. So we must keep in mind that ours is not an ordinary meditation—we are connected with Him via a subtle thread, through a flow of energy. Revere Him, welcome Him. Say, ‘I don’t know you, I don’t even know if you exist, but whatever it may be, I want to experience you.’ Meditate with this approach in the morning. Create a longing, surrender your condition to Him and then meditate.
• After meditation, preserve the inner condition that develops. Remember it through the day. Even if work or activity makes you forget, recall it again and revive it from the depths of your heart.  Enlivening the condition intensifies it. Try to become one with it even while working—then, your connection with Him will remain intact. The fragrance of spirituality will begin to permeate all your material work and actions. You will notice that any work undertaken in this spirit will naturally attain perfection; it will never remain incomplete or half-hearted. In this way, your actions will no longer leave impressions on the consciousness.
•  These threads of spirituality will begin to weave a new destiny for you—you will spiritualize your material existence. This all happens in a (sahaj) natural way and hence our path is ‘Sahaj Marg.’ Since we perform all actions with the heart, it is ‘Heartfulness.’ See it from any angle, and you will find it is a completely natural path.

Later on, Daaji offered a few reflections on the importance of maintaining a meditative state even outside of formal sittings. He reminded everyone that ‘the true measure of meditation is how it changes our response to life.’ On his way back to his room, Daaji stopped at the garden lawn for a photograph with all the children of the abhyasis. He even took the littlest one in his arms! Afterwards, he retired to his room for dinner and continued working late into the night.

17 June

The next morning Daaji woke up early and after breakfast, came down to conduct the meditation session. Afterwards, Daaji spoke briefly. Here are some translated excerpts from his speech.

• In business, for example, there is competition from others and anything can happen. But in spirituality there is no competition with anyone. In the material world, where success is not always guaranteed, we put in all our efforts, but in spirituality there is no one to stop you except yourself.
•  Lack of success in spirituality cannot be blamed on the Guru or God; we can only blame ourselves. So don’t allow yourself to be blamed; it will result in collecting more sin. To neglect our duty is a great sin.
•  Lord Krishna says in the Bhagvad Gita, ‘Understand your own responsibilities. Do not get involved with someone else’s responsibilities.’ And our greatest responsibility is to move ahead in spirituality.  
• When we love someone, we must give them freedom. They are not your slaves or servants.

So practice wholeheartedly. It must be a complete practice, with interest, not with majboori (helplessness or desperation). That little [Divine] flame which is burning within you, make it bigger, and immolate yourself in it.

Daaji’s Kasganj Visit

Once the session concluded, Daaji returned to his room, to prepare for departure to the next stop on the journey. Around 8.30 am, Daaji left Aligarh to proceed towards Kasganj, a stop en route to Badaun. On reaching Kasganj, Daaji conducted the meditation for all the abhyasis gathered there. After lunch and a short rest, Daaji then continued the drive to the Badaun. On reaching, Daaji went directly to the auditorium where the evening meditation was planned. After the meditation Daaji answered a few questions.

Q: If someone who has been meditating regularly stops for a period of time and then resumes the practice, does their progress continue from where they left off, or do they have to start from scratch?
 Daaji: This is a technical question that lacks practicality. Some people meditate each day, but it doesn’t mean they have progressed. Some meditate for only 10 minutes and some for 2 hours. There is a difference between these. It’s like if someone forces a student to sit in class and says, ‘You never study, now sit here in front of me and study.’ Even if that student stays there for 8 hours he will not learn anything. Here too I observed in meditation that some people were restless, some were absorbed. Why this restlessness, when the aim of meditation is union with God? And when the moment of union comes [in meditation], what sort of restlessness is it that keeps you diverted and holds your attention? This is no longer meditation. So everything depends on the attitude and intention we have when we sit to meditate. The key thing is ‘how well you are in tune.’ That’s all.

Q: The aim of meditation is to become loving. I don’t understand where this love in the heart comes from. I haven’t been able to develop that condition of love. Please guide me.
Daaji: Sometimes, even I don’t have that love in my heart! [smiling] I too get angry. To get angry or irritated doesn’t indicate a lack of love in you. Observe this: we only get angry with the ones we love the most.  So if someone gets angry at you, understand that they love you a lot. It depends on you how you take it, it’s your perspective. The mistake we make is in thinking whether the other person loves us or not. Forget that. If we love them, it’s enough. Don’t expect from others, or even from God.

Q: Does the samskara of fear get removed during cleaning or does it continue to remain associated with a particular object?
Daaji: When we do our cleaning in the right way, every kind of samskara is removed. If you are unable to remove something, pray to the Masters, they will do it.

After the Q&A, Daaji continued to speak for a short while, imparting more words of wisdom. He said, 

“Challenge the method. Don’t believe in it blindly; no benefit is derived from blind faith. So like a scientist, experiment with it. You might have done all kinds of worship and seen their results as well. We can also perform experiments in various methods of meditation. Not only Heartfulness, there are many other paths out there. Take each one, including Heartfulness, and follow it very sincerely for a week. Note your results, and then take up whichever method makes you feel best and keep following it. There is no need to anchor faith in the very beginning of any method. Like a true scientist, be fearless in your experiments.”

After dinner, Daaji met with the youth of Badaun—a lively group ranging from adolescents to young adults. The atmosphere was light and joyful as Daaji interacted with them, asking questions, sharing laughter, and engaging in warm, friendly conversation.

18 June

The next morning, Daaji conducted meditation early. Post meditation, he took time to answer questions from abhyasis. He interacted with them peacefully, without any sense of rush or urgency, giving thoughtful responses and encouraging deeper introspection.

Q: We get so easily distracted in our lives, and no matter how busy we are, we always manage to find time to attend to that distraction. So how do we curb this tendency?
 Daaji: Babuji Maharaj used to say ‘एक साधे सब सधै, सब साधे सब जाय’ (When you focus your energy on one goal or one essential thing, everything else falls into place naturally. But if you scatter your attention trying to handle everything at once, you end up achieving nothing.) So make such a strong connection or relationship to that one essential thing, that all else [that is unnecessary] drops off automatically. This is not just the issue with today’s youth. Even the elderly entertain such fancies and whims, but they keep quiet about it lest they appear to sound foolish. No one here can say with pride that we don’t have negative thoughts. Even the women. So connect your hearts with God early on. Then there will be no distraction; everything will transform into duty.

Q: Sometimes the practice is going on beautifully, but suddenly I encounter a low and I lose interest in meditation completely. Why does this happen and what should I do about it?
 Daaji: This high and low comes in every abhyasis’s life. At the time when you feel this ‘low’ take a sitting from a preceptor; everything will get fine-tuned once again.

After this session, Daaji left for Bareilly.

Stay tuned for more events from Daaji’s travels in Bareilly and Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh.