20 April

Daaji reached the Raipur ashram early in the evening. He conducted meditation at 6 pm, after which he retired for the day.

21 April

It is a short walk from the cottage in the ashram to the meditation hall, and as Daaji made his way to the hall to conduct the morning meditation, he was greeted by many abhyasis. After the meditation Daaji left for breakfast, and by the time he finished his meal, many abhyasis trickled in and the dining hall was soon filled with people.

One sister asked Daaji what one should do when there is no support from the family and it becomes difficult to practise. In response, Daaji gave the example of his preceptor, Draupadi Devi Agarwal, from whom he had taken his very first sitting. He explained how she would pretend to be asleep early in the morning and meditate while lying under the quilt, and in the evening, under the pretext of going to the toilet, she would do her evening cleaning there. Daaji said matter-of-factly, “Jisko karna hai, usko kaun rokega? (If someone truly wants to do it, who can stop them?).”

A young girl talked with Daaji about her studies abroad. Daaji asked her her age and if she was married. She responded by saying that she was only 26 and wanted to wait for some more time before she got married. Daaji smiled and said, “Tujhe jaldi nahi hai, lekin Nature ko jaldi hai! (You are not in a hurry, but Nature is.)”

Daaji then asked all the members of the kitchen team for a group photo. After meeting with a few more abhyasis, Daaji left. In the evening he conducted meditation at 6 pm.

22 April 2025

Around 10.30 am, Daaji met a few members of the Tukdoji Maharaj spiritual organization. Daaji spoke to them for a while and then conducted a meditation session.

The evening program featured a visit by the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Shri Vishnu Deo Sai, and an interview with Tarang Khurana, National Chairman of Young Indians (Yi)—an integral part of the Confederation of Indian Industry, established in 2002 as a pan-India platform to empower the youth in realizing the vision of a developed nation.

Daaji welcomed the Chief Minister, and after a warm exchange of felicitations, they sat down for a tête-à-tête. Also present there was a group of Yi members. Daaji spoke about the various Heartfulness initiatives, followed by a Brighter Minds demonstration. Later, Daaji accompanied him to the meditation hall, where, before conducting meditation, he gave a brief explanation of how to meditate the Heartfulness way.

After the meditation, Daaji presented books and gifts to the Chief Minister. The CM then took his leave from the meditation hall. Daaji remained there to continue with the scheduled interview with Tarang Khurana from Young Indians.

Here are some excerpts from the interview.

Q: Keeping in mind the awareness for climate consciousness and the need to take action toward it, what suggestions do you have for our youth to bring about these changes in their daily lives so we can leave a better world for our future progeny?
 Daaji: It is a great feeling to have the youth being exposed to Heartfulness which is a way of life guided by the heart. And whenever we are guided by the heart, we become extra sensitive to our conscience—should I do this or that? Should I invest money here or not? Whom to marry? Whenever you follow the mind, it tricks you into fulfilling your own selfish desires. Whenever you have gone against the heart and followed the mind, observe the consequences. To get clearer and clearer solutions from your heart, the lens of your heart must be clear too. The main thing we have to understand is ‘how do I get the right message from the heart?’ So firstly, create purity in the heart. We can sail through complicated situations in life, only when we follow the heart.

There are no guide books to help navigate us through life. Osho’s story about a thief describes this very well. (Watch Daaji narrate the story in the link below)

A presence of mind is required in every situation. And every situation in life throws a different kind of curve ball at us. Just like in cricket, if you are used to batting against only a certain kind of bowling, it would have been easy. But now and then there will be a different kind of bowling—with a different speed, with a spin, full toss and so on.  So life throws different curve balls at us, but a meditative mind picks up the problems often before they arise. Meditation to me thus, is like vaccinating the mind against many situations.

Q: Young people say, ‘Our time is now. Time for meditation will come later.’ How do we, as young people, come sooner to this side of spirituality and why is it important that we do this?
 Daaji: According to me, the spiritual journey should begin at the very moment of conception. Imagine for a moment that you are retired, 60 or 70 years old. Would you be able to meditate? Would you be able to sit—at already such a young age you have taken up chairs. Imagine yourself at 60+. Would you be able to sit properly, even in the chair, with your back erect? When you cannot even remember things, how will you remember the continuity of your spiritual experiences which are so refined? So I would not recommend you to postpone the most essential thing. Think about it in a scientific manner: a genetically pre-exposed spiritual man or spiritual woman and their respective progeny. If you become spiritualized at the age of 70, how can you transfer your genetic pre-exposure to your next generation? If you want to transmit your spiritual bent of mind to the future generation, you better be spiritual even before you get married.

23 April

On the day of his departure from Raipur, Daaji conducted meditation early in the morning and after breakfast he met with many abhyasis in his room, one group at a time. Amidst many fond farewells, each group had a photo taken with Daaji. He then left Raipur for Kanha at around 10 am.