Daaji got ready for the Zoom call with Dr Partha Nandi @ 9 am. Dr Nandi has visited Kanha a few years earlier.
Link to watch the complete interview:
“Spiritually I was always searching for God, even as a child,” Daaji added. “I used to wonder what all these statues were for – of Gods and Goddesses in India where I was growing up then. When those did not satisfy me I began to go inward and started searching for books on spirituality that would enlighten the way. The way or the path is important – once you find it, it is easy to tread. Then you need a guide to show you the way. But I was not yet searching for a guide back then. The most imposing book that I found in my village library was the Gospel of Ramakrishna. It changed everything. With every page I read, I would cry like a child. Ramakrishna Paramhansa’s restlessness for God was so profound, that you cannot escape that restlessness. It will touch you. That he (Ramakrishna) would cry in his restlessness to attain that Divinity was simply breathtaking!”
Daaji got ready for the Zoom call with Dr Partha Nandi @ 9 am. Dr Nandi has visited Kanha a few years earlier.
Link to watch the complete interview:
Daaji watched some videos which are helpful for his R&D. He found a video that would be helpful for the Kanha civil engineering team, and asked that it be shared with them.
Later on, he spent some time with his granddaughter Laya. After watching a video tutorial on how to create imprints of leaves on paper, they prepared to print leaves in a do-it-yourself mode which went on until lunchtime. They collected several different types of leaves that had fallen on the ground around the trees and shrubs in the garden around the house.
In the evening Daaji and his grandson Nanak Dev checked on the prints which seemed to be coming out very well indeed. This led to the next idea of adding flowers for the project of drying and imprinting them.
After dinner, around 9 pm Daaji gave an interview with Jeannie Assismos who is the head of Content and Communications for way.com. It was a short and profound interview on Daaji’s book Spiritual Anatomy which was recently released in the US.
Jeannie asked Daaji about what he had wanted to do when he was growing up to which he replied that in the professional world, he had wanted to be a doctor. But somehow his scores did not permit him to achieve that. Although he was getting admission into other colleges out of his home state of Gujarat, he could not go there because his family wanted him near them. “Spiritually I was always searching for God, even as a child,” he added. “I used to wonder what all these statues were for – of Gods and Goddesses in India where I was growing up then. When those did not satisfy me I began to go inward and started searching for books on spirituality that would enlighten the way. The way or the path is important – once you find it, it is easy to tread. Then you need a guide to show you the way. But I was not yet searching for a guide back then. The most imposing book that I found in my village library was the Gospel of Ramakrishna. It changed everything. With every page I read, I would cry like a child. Ramakrishna Paramhansa’s restlessness for God was so profound, that you cannot escape that restlessness. It will touch you. That he (Ramakrishna) would cry in his restlessness to attain that Divinity was simply breathtaking!
“So I wished I had such a Master in my life. Nevertheless, I used to close my eyes and just sit quietly for a few minutes. I would try to meditate but did not find a real way at that time that showed me how to meditate.”
Daaji then related how one day his friend told him, “I see you meditating but you still are very restless.” Daaji agreed that he had yet to find that depth in his meditation practice. His friend proposed to him to go with him to his meditation trainer who would, he claimed, put one in a trance when they meditated!
In those days of the late 70s in India, there were no telephones in their hostel, so there was no question of taking appointments. So the two friends simply went there and requested a meditation session. Daaji fondly remembers his first trainer, that lady from Ahmedabad, who was a simple housewife: Daaji said that it was the most profound meditation he had ever had in his life.
He mentioned that most traditional Hindus surprisingly were very much against the practice of meditation because they chose to stick with their traditional ways of worship like singing devotional songs and lighting lamps or burning incense sticks, visiting temples, etc.
Daaji said that closing one’s eyes and pursuing the Divine essence is highly praised by all traditions, but no one does it. Even the holy books say that without meditation you cannot attain the superconscious state and without this superconscious state you cannot resonate with Divinity. With the level of consciousness that we have here at the worldly level, we cannot attain hope to attain nearness to God.
Jeannie questioned Daaji on what he thinks about how people nowadays are so lonely and in despair perhaps more than ever, even when we have communication technology at the tips of our fingertips like social media and such.
Daaji replied and patiently explained, “You think you are getting in touch with people through FaceTime and Instagram but you are only in touch with mere electronic gadgets. These are superficial things. You cannot be in touch with your girlfriend or boyfriend over these gadgets and expect to have a successful relationship.
It is like sending your bride off on a honeymoon with someone else to represent you! That is not a relationship, right? In order to connect with your friends you need to be with them in person, hold their hand, and speak to them, isn't it? We live in limbo and satisfy ourselves by saying we are in touch with so many people whereas in reality, we are not in touch with anyone at all. We are not even in touch with ourselves any longer.
“Getting in touch with ourselves, establishing this inner connection with the self, can be a stumbling block for us or become a facilitation for the evolution of our consciousness which is the purpose or our existence. The more dependent we become on the external, and the less we use our inner connection with that inner presence, we lose that privilege. Now your connections are more and more in the virtual world. It is not real. It is worse than a bubble of imagination. The bubble can burst in a matter of seconds. You may be having a conversation with a person over Instagram and even if you exchange words and words you don't know with whom you are interacting. These days we also have AI girls and AI boys to romance with. So imagine to what extent we are becoming inhuman. Technology is great but is this the greatness we want to achieve? When you deny the real and rely more on the virtual world you are fooling yourself.”
Jeanie asked him, “What drives you these days Daaji?”
Daaji replied, “I continue to grow the more I serve. The more I get involved in transforming the consciousness of others it becomes evident that along with their change, I also feel a change in myself. When I meditate and attain a certain level of consciousness, it becomes part of my being. When I sit and meditate with someone then I can share that level of consciousness with that being just in deep silence. Then a real state of satisfaction comes that yes, others are also able to perceive this state of consciousness which is now in me. And you also resonate with that deep meditative state. You don't need to travel the entire distance I have traveled to get to this state. Now you are traveling along with me.”
Jeannie: “Why don't people realize such a simple thing as you are so beautifully explaining?”
Daaji replied, “It is like the saying, ‘too good to be true.’ But when we meditate in the Heartfulness way, I feel it is so good, that it is too good to be untrue! Your inner experience is so profound that you may start to ask yourself ‘do I really deserve this?’ And you become very grateful in the process, especially when your consciousness, your emotions, your moods, everything changes. Just in a few minutes of meditation, you become grateful to existence itself. That thankfulness is just a by-product of meditation. At times people ask me ‘Daaji, people are just meditating around you with closed eyes. Is it not being selfish and passive about contributing anything meaningful to the world?’ I tell them, ‘Why don't you close your eyes and meditate for a while and find out if it is so?’ I say this because I have seen that when even one person meditates in a home, the tranquillity around them is so perceptible. When two people meditate, like say parents meditate, then it is even better. When children wake up to that silence, that deep divine silence, then they also imbibe those vibrations. Then you don't have to keep teaching them ‘do this or don't do this’ – the discernment about what is right and what is wrong arises rather naturally in such children! The advantages of it are simply megafold. The peace that radiates within you can touch so many people, starting with your own family, your neighbors, and then the whole world.
Many people, especially politicians, ask how to establish world peace. The United Nations organization was created some 70 years ago to achieve just this. But it is not going to happen by waving a magic wand, isn't it? The world is going to pieces, not peace. Unless each and everyone is at peace, there is no possibility of achieving world peace. So peace begins at home. Because unless the individual is not at peace, the family cannot be at peace, we cannot have communities in peace, and when such is the case entire nations are restless and there is no peace in the world. Peace begins in each heart!”
Jeannie: “Daaji do you have any regrets?”
Daaji gently replied, “The biggest mistake I am ruminating on these days is this. You know, my mother passed on at 92. We spent most of our life together except for some time when I was in the United States when I was not with her. But even when I was with her, I did not serve her in person. I brought in help; doctors, nurses, and others to look after her but I regret that I did not spend time doing things like massaging her feet, her head, and such like. In later stages when she was not well, I regret not feeding her myself but having relegated it to nurses. I missed that. When I think how wonderful it would have been had I served my mother with my own hands, I am filled with regret. Such are some of my regrets. I missed those moments and there is nothing I can do about it now. But I would like to share this with the world that when you have the opportunity, do not miss those moments, to serve your loved ones.
Another regret is my not saying sorry, like when I was in a relationship and my saying sorry could have prevented the breakup.. You need to let go and be in such a state that you don't regret your thoughts or your inaction of expressing your gratitude or for something that you could have done and did not do which you now regret, like many such missed opportunities to speak up. That is what I regret. When I was in the first year of my pharmacy there was a lovely lady in my class who was so generous and caring. I took it for granted and did not even tell her I was thankful or that I liked her or loved her. That was the least I could have done.”
Jeannie: “Daaji, Do you still struggle with ego?”
Daaji replied, “I would say I used to struggle with it.. Even to say I have mastered ego, is ego. It would still be my ego speaking if I said it that way. My Master had given me such a beautiful principle which I tried to follow. He said, “ There is no harm in thinking you are great, but always think the other to be greater.” And that solves a lot of problems in life, in the office, at home; you will be in everyone’s heart. Don't think yourself to be less, think you are great by all means. But remember that the other person is greater.”
Jeannie: “Daaji What is the main takeaway from this book according to you?
Daaji said, “Well if anyone read this book and felt like undertaking their spiritual journey and strengthening their spiritual anatomy, I will have achieved my purpose of writing this book.”
After sharing those rare pearls of precious guidance in his usual charming and elegant way, in this interview, Daaji went back to his office and was yet again busy with work at his desk. It is so captivating to see how he is entirely focused and dedicated to the work at hand and completes with all attentiveness the work he undertakes, in such a calm manner. It is not the nature of the work, which dictates his attitude. Rather, his attitude towards the work, towards patiently listening to people who come and speak to him, and the powerful attention to detail which is remarkable in his everyday routine whether speaking to a minister or a gardener, caring for a plant, or speaking to thousands of people, it is always Daaji, in his signature peaceful presence which we are grateful to have in our lives.
