The morning at Kanha commenced with a serene meditation session led by Daaji, graced with a few guests who had arrived the previous night to attend the Global Spiritual Mahotsav. Among them was Shri Raghunath Guruji from Girnar Guru Gorakhnath, Shri Shiv Sevak, the IT commissioner of Telangana, and Ram Swami Ji, along with others from the Swami Narayan spiritual organisation. Following the meditation, Daaji extended a warm invitation to all the guests to join him for breakfast, fostering a sense of togetherness.

Subsequently, the guests gathered in Daaji's office, where Ankit Baiyanpuria, a former Indian wrestler from Sonipat, and his team sought to conduct an interview with Daaji. Before the interview, Daaji walked through the process of meditation and then facilitated another meditation session of the day, setting the stage for a profound and insightful conversation amidst the tranquil surroundings of the forest enveloping Daaji's abode. 

In the interview, Daaji addressed several questions that Ankit had

Q How do we tackle work-life balance, Daaji?

Daaji We need to recognize the signs and causes of anxiety and depression. Take the example of a student who has not prepared himself well for any upcoming exams. It is only natural that they begin to panic and feel anxious as exams get closer.

People have recourse to ways to resolve their anxiety, which may be harmful to themselves. Those are not the solutions we must learn to tackle. 

It is better to turn to such things as meditation, which can help. A certain level of tension is required to induce the student to prepare and study. So stress should not be at such high levels that it spins out of control, nor should there be such little pressure that one does not work on oneself.

Balance is achieved by such practices. Meditation renders us aware enough to be able to realise what to do and what not to do.

When we meditate, the first thing that comes to mind is all the stuff that we have left undone. At times, we remember things we have not done, and they haunt us perhaps even decades later. People dream of having forgotten to take a pencil to their examination hall or having missed a train or a flight! Isn’t it?

That is because when you are not prepared well enough, the seed stays ingrained in our minds and is revived by our thoughts. So whatever we do, we must finish well.

Q: Daaji, what motivated you to create such a place as Kanha Shantivanam?

Daaji: We made efforts to create such a natural environment so that we could meditate in a serene and beautiful atmosphere. You see, when we came here, the land was very barren. Our people planted trees, and very soon we will see how well they have grown. Similarly, the underground water level here was 800 feet or deeper.  At times, it went to 1800 feet, and we could not get even a few drops of water from our borewells. Now the water levels have come up to 50 feet.

Our efforts at water conservation have reaped enormous benefits. If we can do this in every village in India, can you imagine how our country can thrive? If a handful of us could do this in Kanha, then our villages can surely deploy enough people in their villages in a decade or so. Let’s start somewhere. 

Q: Daaji There are so many techniques of meditation that are proposed in the world. How do we know which one to choose?

Daaji: We must try for ourselves and see which one suits us best. In our case, we know that we don't charge any fees. This is because my Guruji used to be very firm on the principle that we cannot in any way sell "Brahmavidya.”. The commercialization of yogic practices is an inappropriate practice. We are going to host a huge celebration of Global Spirituality Mahotsav today here in Kanha Shantivanam. People from over 500 organisations will be joining us. They won't be from just religions but also from organisations that study inner peace and consciousness from a scientific and artistic point of view. It is the first time that such a gathering has taken place in history. 

We will exchange ideas. Religion has so far divided people. Buddhism stands for self-reliance, Jainism for purity and penance, Islam for brotherhood, Sikhism for unification, Hinduism for Bhakti, Christianity for compassion and love, and so on and so forth. If we were to take the best from each of them and create a family environment where they all reside, then imagine what a beautiful world we could co-create. If you are a Muslim, become the best Muslim that you can be. If I am a Sikh, let me be the best Sikh possible. So if we start learning from each other, we can find harmony between us. If we don't unite today, then people like terrorists, who have gone very far in collaborating with each other, will definitely take over the world.

Isn’t it? Most wars in the world have been fought over religions because of the competitive nature of religions and the need to prove which one is right and the best. 

Q: Daaji, where is the village you come from?

Daaji: I come from a village on the banks of the Narmada River near Bharuch. However, due to increased industrialization, several villages in those areas have been destroyed. It is sad in some manner that even though industrialization is important, we have not been able to preserve the pristine environment of our villages, which was conducive to a better lifestyle. We destroyed it, but we have been unable to recreate such an environment elsewhere to replace it. In Denmark or the Netherlands, I have observed that if they cut one tree, they replace it somewhere else by planting 10 more trees. When we destroy a village somewhere due to industrialization, it becomes the government’s responsibility to recreate a village community somewhere else based on the same values that embellish the lives of rural communities. They are literally the soul of the nation. 

Q: To live a good life, it is my belief that one needs to have a healthy body and an evolved spiritual life, isn’t it Daaji?

Daaji: You are right. I share that asana and pranayama, a balanced diet, and living a life that follows a proper routine—all these things contribute to good physical health. When we learn new things from our elders or educate ourselves at school, college, or even the internet, it enhances our minds and intellect. Emotional fulfillment comes from healthy relationships. But how will we nourish our souls? 

It is a proper spiritual practice that is guided by a Guru of caliber who can transmit the Pranasya Pranaha, who can give life to life. The various sheaths that constitute us, such as the Pranamya Kosha, Manomaya Kosha, and Vigyan Maya Kosha, are all fed by some sort of input, whether physical or mental. But what about the Anandamaya kosha (Sheath of Bliss), which is our soul?

A yogi who has connected himself to the infinite source is the only one who can transmit this flow of life—prana—to someone else. You have heard about this statue of Ram Lalla in the new temple at Ayodhya. The Prime Minister of India carried out a ceremony for this purpose recently. Now what is pran pratishtha? It is a way of transforming a mere stone into God’s idol so that it becomes sacred. And we can worship it. In Shaktipat, they transfer energy, or shakti, by touch.  

In Heartfulness, we transmit the Pranahuti with the help of sankalpa shakti, the power of intention.

There are three examples: those who give by word, eyes, touch, or mind. And they give in such a manner that the one who takes it does not even know where it comes from. In a silent manner; otherwise, people develop a huge sense of pride. Some Rishis of yore could perform prana pratishta in such a way that there was no need for any rituals. At a mere glance, they could carry it out. An idol cannot speak, so there is no way to know if it has received this transmission, whereas when you transmit it to a person, they can say if they received it or not. We go to idols only due to some sort of faith.

These places are crowded with people who don't even notice if they have been transformed in any way by going to pray to that idol in the temple. People don’t reflect on it. 

Our people go to the Ganga and take a dip in it. They say all my sins have been washed away. And they keep doing those all the time. Now, how is that possible? 

Q: People have not actually tried to understand this.

Daaji: Yes, they just make up their minds that it is so. We listen to Rama and think we believe in him, but we don't follow what he says.

Q: Do you have any messages for the youth, Daaji?

Daaji: I would like to tell the youth to please be superstitious. Ask your parents without any fear: Why are you doing what you are doing? 

I had asked my father, "Why do you do all this ritualistic worship? It is not that I don’t believe in what you do, but I truly want to know.” He said that it was because his parents had taught him to do so; it was innate to him. I asked him if he could share any such experience regarding God, which I can one day tell your grandchildren about. He kept thinking, saying that he had not had any such experience but that he was still trying. He was 62 years old then. So I told him that I had recently started meditation. Would you like to try it? He agreed, so I took him to a trainer who lived in a town nearby. In the very first meditation, he began crying. He said that such an experience is not described in any book or scripture. He had such a glimpse of the divine that he felt he had lost such precious time, having gone hither and thither in search of it for practically all his life. He regretted that he never looked within. 

Lord Krishna says in the Gita that we must look for him within our hearts. We look for him outside, so when we have taken the wrong path, how will we reach the destination? 

It is like looking for your wife in the shopping mall when she is back home. Many people do that, which is not appropriate.

So my message to the youth is this:. When we experiment in science in a lab, we do not use faith for that. We use our logical and scientific minds. So we can use the same attitude and look within, experiment on our hearts, and our hearts change with experimentation. We are scientists, and our hearts become our labs. We become the result of our experiments because we change; our hearts become our mirrors. Until we see ourselves change in the mirror of our hearts, we must understand that we are somehow stuck.

When you travel by bus or train and see the same scenery or place over and over, don't you get the feeling that you are not moving and are somehow stuck in one place?

So our consciousness changes. If it does not change, then we are stuck. Science says evolution is not stagnant. Either you rise or fall... 

Daaji then showed them various varieties of plants, describing the ingenious techniques that he has experimented with, such as hydroponics, in his gardens. 

Daaji then took leave from all and went back to his office, where one sister was waiting for him to show the clay tiles for the peace project. Daaji was presented with the clay tiles. The idea is that all keynote speakers had to sign a tile, which would then be baked and ready to be added to a wall as a tangible representation of the harmonious spirit pervading the event. Daaji then took one of the clay tiles, observed carefully, and then signed on it

Later in the day, Bhaishri Ramesh Bhai Oza, accompanied by his disciples, paid their respects to Daaji upon their arrival in Kanha. Daaji then invited a few guests, including Dr. Joseph Benton Howell, Isabelle Waschmuth, and Bawa Jain, taking them on a tour of his garden and showcasing various innovative projects such as greenhouses and hydroponics installations.

After a brief respite, the evening unfolded with a soul-stirring meditation session in the main hall, followed by a musical performance featuring renowned singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan, along with talented musicians Shri Ganesh Rajagopalan and Shashank Subramaniam. The concert transcended boundaries of faith and culture, with Shankar Mahadevan enthralling the audience with songs from diverse spiritual traditions, inviting active participation, and fostering a jubilant atmosphere. Daaji watched the performance attentively, later expressing gratitude to the artists and taking them home with him for dinner. They all posed for a group picture, along with little Devki

Shankar Mahadevan got so engrossed in the performance that he actually could not make it in time for his flight and decided to stay back that night in Kanha. His manager, too, was at ease backstage as he watched the lovely alchemy between the flutist and the singer, as well as the veena player, become a harmonious symphony reflecting that of the several spiritual masters seated in the hall, watching them surrounded by thousands of seekers clapping and humming to the songs.