In the morning, there were several practitioners in Daaji’s office by 10 am. Daaji met all of them in good stead. Vivek and Romane Bouderlique from Lausanne, Switzerland, presented their little daughter, Anna Bouderlique, to Daaji. Vivek had brought for Daaji a few wood inlay prints he had done recently with the heartfulness logo, which he presented to Daaji. Another little child walked up and asked Daaji, after getting the traditional chocolate from him, that she wanted a flag of India pin like the one he wears! So Daaji sent Kannan to fetch one from his room, and then he himself stood up to go get it. He brought it himself and pinned it on the little one. 

Daaji then proposed to conduct meditation. When Anna’s grandmother picked her up to take her to play outside to let the young parents meditate with Daaji, he remarked with a chuckle that this is what Indian grandparents do. They look after the children all the time, which is a good tradition. Daaji then conducted the meditation from 10.16 am to 10.45 am

After the meditation, Brother Ramakrishna Mallela discussed the HOPE program with Daaji, requesting his attention to some details.

In the evening, Daaji conducted meditation for several overseas abhyasis. They had all gathered at the cricket stadium. Daaji arrived at 5 pm. He led the meditation, and in the serene sun setting over a golden Kanha, everyone felt their hearts open and expand into the open sky under which they had all gathered with their Beloved Daaji.

Daaji welcomed everyone, saying, “Welcome everyone. A few years earlier, many of our European abhyasis had helped plant trees here. Now see how lovely it all looks now that the trees have grown. Where we are seated is a cricket stadium, dedicated only to women’s sports, as there are very few of them reserved for women. And the first national game here is planned for the 7th of March. Let’s meditate for some time, and later on we'll have some interactions.”

After meditation, some questions were asked to Daaji.

Q. What is the single most important focus area for growth, both in terms of depth and breadth, across the nations present here? Internal individual growth or the expansion of the Heartfulness movement? 

Daaji: Our practice is the fundamental support for everything, individually as well as externally. We need to not only practice but, as a result, carry that vibratory field along with us, which becomes our signature, the signature of a heartful Abhyasi. We cannot be peaceful inside and create turbulence outside. Many volunteers, many functionaries—even if you are a functionary of Heartfulness or a volunteer not behaving properly—you can forget about any growth. It cannot happen. We have a very long way to go at an individual level. I wish you all to focus on your own personal growth. 

External growth will happen on its own. You just mind your own business. 

Q. This is a question from a nine-year-old. Why did God become God? 

Daaji: I don't think he was trying to become anything. We think so, but that's our impression because we all want to become like him. And when we ponder over this, I don't think there is an individual called God managing this universe. It's a hypothesis. It's just an idea that there is someone behind it. 

Q. Why is there no music room in Kanha Shantivanam, while music is considered a universal language and is very spiritual? 

Daaji: Well, you can create a music room here; I'll give you some space. Nowadays, I don't think you really need a music room, do you? Everybody is busy with their headphones, you see. They carry their rooms wherever they go. I think when we come to such places, we drown ourselves in silence. So to you at your age, I don't blame you. Carry on with your headphones and listen to music. But here, at such places, I think we like to dive deeper into the utter silence. 

We don't even like to talk with others. We don't like to gossip around. We don't even want to say hello to people, but out of courtesy, we keep saying Namaste, we keep on greeting people, how are you, and all that. It's all too superficial. That doesn't mean we should ignore this civil or civic behavior. It's necessary. These are all formalities, and they should be respected. 

But after meditation, there is such a sublime state that you don't want to come out of it. Access is bestowed in some way. In my earlier days of practice, whenever I visited Shahjahanpur and was with Babuji Maharaj, for days together, I could not speak. It would take me about seven to ten days to come out of that state. I stayed in it as long as I could. And thankfully, in those days I didn't have a family of my own. I was by myself. I didn't have to greet my wife. Good morning, good evening. There are no children to look after. There is no job to worry about. 

So I request to dive deeper into the silence. Prepare yourself now. Enjoy the silence and the peace within. 

Q: A sincere abhyasi who has been practicing Sahaj Marg for 30 years is suffering from dementia. When people suffer from dementia in old age, what is the spiritual outcome for such people? 

Daaji: We are often trying to compare physical and mental states with spirituality. Though they are interconnected, our mental health supports both our spiritual as well as our physical health. And it's a vicious cycle. We like to see that the physically healthy must remain mentally healthy, and we must remain spiritually healthy, but that did not happen. It's very unfortunate, not for the person who is going through dementia, but for the individuals who are looking after such individuals, especially their loved ones. They suffer a lot, and in the process, the dementia patient is often unable to recognize their loved ones.

It's a very tragic situation. But to answer it briefly, the spiritual growth that they have entertained so far will remain. That expansion will remain. They are not able to consciously feel that because they are not able to connect with the world. The nervous system is so damaged from within. I have prepared a message, at least for this aspect of our existence—the bridge between mental and spirituality and mental and physical—and you will hopefully see it tomorrow. It's very detailed, and I don't know if everybody would be able to understand it, but I still read it. It's very interesting. There is a lot of science behind it. I'm sure you will all enjoy it. Thank you, 

Q: How do we manage constant remembrance, especially with the struggles and stress of student life? 

Daaji: It's very easy, actually. That's the easiest thing in all of existence. Everything else is very difficult. How difficult it is to remember yourself, your higher self, or to recollect your morning's experience of meditation. When you are so drenched and absorbed in a condition that you acquired after meditation, how do you shake it off? You can't shake it off. It will remain with you. 

Try to sit a little longer with your eyes open or gently closed after your meditation is over. Savor that condition and prayerfully make a suggestion that this condition that I am having now will remain throughout the day. Make this suggestion, and don't make any effort afterward to remain hooked on it. Later on, each time we change our activity, let's say you are talking to someone, connecting yourself with the Master, or with the morning spiritual state that you had, connecting with that depth. 

Next time you are perhaps having breakfast, having coffee, or smoking a cigarette, just think of your inner state. Next activity, you are about to take lunch or go to work again to your normal task, Connect yourself again. So it's a little bit of practice in the beginning. Afterward, it will haunt you. It will become a part of our lives. 

Before they learn to bicycle, children learn to ride a tricycle with two wheels in the back. Actually, there are four wheels, and then slowly we remove the supporting wheels, and then, you know, initially we have to support them as parents so that they don't fall. When the time comes, they go to school on their bikes, they let go of their hands, they sing songs with their friends, and their attention is also on the traffic. They are multitasking while riding a bike. 

So it is with constant remembrance. 

What is the purpose of this constant remembrance? Babuji Maharaj puts it very simply, that it's an art, it's a technique to develop a love for the unknown. How? He says that when you love someone, you remember. It's difficult to forget an individual whom you love. You reverse this equation. You remember, and the love will be ignited eventually. Meditation is the mother of constant remembrance. Without meditation, you cannot dream of constant remembrance. These are fundamental facts. And it is to create love. And once love is ignited in your heart, the remembrance drops. 

Do you remember your children? You are here. Or your loved ones left behind in the country you came from. Do you remember them all the time? We don't, but love is there because it's already there in us. We don't have to remember. So when the love for God is somehow ignited in the heart, the need for remembrance drops. 

What is the significance of Tattvamasi in Sahaj Marg? How does one proceed beyond that state? Tattvamasi means you are that. This refers to the ultimate. But when we are struggling with our limited individual selves, how are we going to be able to understand the limitless, unknown ultimate? 

Recently, we had people from one of the meditation practice groups, and they were too enamored with this statement of Aham Brahmasmi. It's similar to Tattvamasi. Aham Brahmasmi means I am Brahmam, I am that. So I shared the defect in this statement with the person in charge of the Transcendental Meditation movement. 

I told him that it was a very egoistic statement. He kept on saying, Aham Brahma, Maasmi. By reciting Aham Brahma Masami or Tatvamasi, you are not going to become the ultimate. It's like you are not a doctor, and you keep on saying, I am a doctor, I am a doctor. It's a futile statement arising out of ego or simple self-satisfaction. 

Experiences such as the state of Aham Brahmasmi, Tattvamasi, don't declare it. They are quiet about it. And they wait for another state to unfold. And that next state is not only myself, but I see everyone is also from the ultimate. All are Brahmam. It's not only me, but all are Brahmam. And when we experience that, we become very humble because there is no ego behind it. And when we arrive at that or transcend from Aham Brahma, all from Brahman. 

We should again revert back to the fundamental thing, our own spiritual practice. And see how this practice makes us transcend states of consciousness, one by one. Or, there may come a time when you can take a quantum leap and zoom straight to the center. 

Q: In the hierarchy of human needs, they say self-actualization is the final step. What does actualization mean in the spiritual realm? 

Daaji: It means to make the potential that we were born with is unfolding and become reality. Our potential is to become divine, though we are divine by nature, which is the fundamental nature of our existence. But to realize that and to understand that, I have to actualize it, become that entity, and then renounce it. Having understood, we have to then say goodbye to it. And it happens only through practice. 

Q: So all these questions, if you put them together, it's only practice, practice, and practice. 

This year, on the 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th of March, kindly remember and see if you can come. 15, 16, and 17th of March, 2024. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Conference of All Religions in Chicago, the address then given by Swami Vivekananda. Some of you may recall his lecture then. So to mark that, we have, in partnership with the Government of India, the Ministry of Culture invited all the religious and spiritual groups from all across the globe. Almost 300 groups have been invited. And they will be sharing their wisdom in that celebration. We'll be working with them very closely. And there will be workshops by all these 300 spiritual organizations. The Hon’ble President of India will be here. The Hon’ble Vice President of India will also be here. And more than anything, I wish most of you would be able to make it. It's a milestone. It's an effort to unite all the systems. Some of you who are familiar with Babuji Maharaj, in general, the whispers, because there are so many who have been communicating. One of the dreams of our masters is that all spiritual systems will come together. 

And in many ways, we are making strides towards this. Many spiritual religious organizations are coming here, and we are also going to them to unite. And Babuji says that eventually when all the systems come together, heartfulness will be at the center of it all. And I'm seeing those signs already, that there are many, starting with the Ministry of Culture, telling us, Why don't you organize such a thing at your place? And how can we miss such an opportunity? So it's like a wish come true. And it's just the beginning. 

Let's see how we all work together with all these organizations and then evolve the way ahead together to bring humanity together as one. I think it happens one step at a time. We did not take the big jump; we took small steps and saw how we succeeded with this. So towards that, I have requested that they meet us via Zoom at 7 o'clock this evening. 

I have often had to explain to people who write to me their concerns about how to avoid meeting seemingly religious organizations. I have shared with them that we cannot judge a book by its cover. The values that hold a religious institution together often come in several hues, which is essential to disregard if we are to see the truth behind them. Organized places of worship have created divisions in our societies over thousands of years as each one tries to uphold these while disregarding humane values, which are in fact universal truths that bring us together as a connected humankind where each one seeks peace. The damage wrought by misunderstandings, prejudices, and misinformation, when overcome, will bring us together as one. True unity is already there in our hearts - we need to recognize it through our inner practices, which reveal everyone to us in the light of our creator. 

So please, if you have any relationship with any organization, spiritual or religious, bring it to our attention. You can write to me at kamlesh@srcm.org or daaji@heartfulness.org, and we can start the dialogue because we have hardly a month left to invite and prepare the entire thing. Thank you all, and you have a wonderful evening now.

After this session, Daaji went home to join the Zoom call with all the spiritual organizations as a prelude to the upcoming World Spirituality Conference to be organized at Kanha by the Ministry of Culture of India.

The call lasted a couple of hours. Daaji carefully addressed the international and national delegates of great importance therein, taking time to listen to their interventions. His enthusiasm was palpable as he finished the call. With joy, he remarked on how eager people from different organizations were to join hands with this immense effort. Daaji’s openness was captivating. It has always been one of the remarkable things that has kept the flow of new ideas and seekers of so many diverse horizons coming to Daaji. 

After the call, he discussed with the organizing team, who were gathered there with him, several aspects of the event. Later, he had dinner with some guests he had invited

During the dinner, the discussion was lively and joyful. After dinner, one of his assistants brought a person to meet him around 9:30 pm, but by then Daaji felt a bout of vertigo set in and had to step out alone to take some fresh air by himself.

To see him go out for a walk by himself in the dark in his garden, dimly lit by lowlights, was so oddly touching. Somehow, the human aspect of him hits you in strange ways when you kind of observe him closely. He is ever-giving of himself in so many ways that the divine is in the foreground. How does any single human being manage so much and take on so much? This fascinating aspect of a Master’s life is one that enthralls, moves, and stills us into wonder at times like this.