Sahaja Yoga: The Living Tradition of Sahaj Marg

#*#Sahaja Yoga: The Living Tradition of Sahaj Marg

The Raja Yoga system known as "Sahaj Marg" is still relatively obscure in the West, even among Yoga aficionados. This is largely due to the fact that Sahaj Marg has been a low-key, word-of-mouth practice. Works by the lineage of Sahaj Marg Masters, published under the auspices of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM), are difficult to locate, and beyond the abhyasis or practitioners of Sahaj Marg, few are aware that SRCM centers have been established worldwide since the Mission was founded in India fifty years ago.



What is Sahaj Marg? There are no easy answers to this question, just as there are none for questions like "What is Zen?" or "What is Sufism?" Sahaj Marg (which may be translated as "Natural Path" or "Simple Way") has no surface and its habitat is Infinity; thus by definition Sahaj Marg resists definition. Given the hopelessness of description, then, we must remain content with classifying, comparing, and giving historical accounts. These are outer matters and have little to do with the essence of Sahaj Marg, for spiritual Sadhana is not only a "study" but also a "practice," and as such can be understood only through actual experiment.



Though its method may seem novel to some, those acquainted with the great Dharmic traditions will find Sahaj Marg a natural extension of the continuing refinement and accommodation that living yoga has always emphasized. Sahaj Marg is a practical method designed to give the direct experience of realization, right here, right now, in the midst of our daily situations. This has always been the heart of all spiritual traditions, as Vivekananda observed: "Religion consists in realization. We all know as a fact that nothing will satisfy us until we realize the Truth for ourselves. However much we may argue, however much we may hear, but one thing will satisfy us, and that is our own realization; and such an experience is possible for every one of us, if we will only try."

1. WHERE RELIGION ENDS

All religions begin with the experience of God, the realization of a single person such as Christ or Buddha or Mohammed. After the founders pass on, their followers codify their teachings, and if these teachings are deep and true and helpful enough to stand the test of time, eventually they crystallize into a religion. But the original experience of its founder remains the bedrock of each religion, and to the degree that his followers can partake of that experience themselves, the religion remains valid and transformative, rather than degenerating into a set of mechanical rituals or a dry body of moral rules and social expectations.



We should not denigrate religion, for religions are regulating systems for societies and the preparatory schools for spirituality. My Master is of the opinion that while it is a wonderful thing to be born into a religion, it is a tragedy to die in a religion. We must transcend mere belief and conformity, and experience the Truth of the scriptures for ourselves. My Master told me that Christ, for instance, to keep his experience alive and to pass the light along, had to transmit this experience to someone, a human being who then would be the temporary vehicle of the essence of his Master, until he in turn passed it on to the most fit of his own disciples, who would pass it on again, and so on, down through the ages. Whether Christ actually transmitted this to Peter we do not know, but the Catholic Church has at least recognized the necessity for a living Master and the reality of such transmission in the doctrines of apostolic succession and the office of the pope as vicar of Christ.



Sahaj Marg also affirms the necessity of a realized Master in human form to assist most people in their journey Home. A true Master comes to serve, not rule, for as my Master's own Master taught, "God is the real Guru or Master and we get light from Him alone. But as it is extremely difficult for a man of ordinary talents to draw inspiration from God directly, we seek the help of one of our fellow beings who has established his connection with the Almighty." In Sahaj Marg, "Master" simply refers to one who has mastered himself, and who has the ability to make Masters like himself. Thus, though the Masters of the Sahaj Marg lineage are each unique in terms of physique, personality, taste, and temperament, in their most essential Nature they are one and the same person.



2. TRADITION AND TRANSFORMATION

Sahaj Marg is usually presented as a refinement of Raja Yoga. Ultimately, however, it must be understood as a distillation of the yogas of Jnana, Karma, and Bhakti as well. As outlined in the Bhagavad Gita, these four primary yogas (there are dozens of other yogas in India and the West) are suited for varying natures. Bhakti Yoga, the yoga of love and devotion, is designed for those with strong devotional or emotional temperaments; Jnana Yoga, or the path of discriminating intelligence, is said to be the path for intellectuals and philosophers; Karma Yoga is for those with active natures who are inclined toward activity and service; and lastly, Raja Yoga (called the "King" of yogas, as it involves the mind or "king" of the body) uses an experiential approach through which the yogi directly realizes oneness with the Absolute.



The fallacy common to the Aristotelian Western mind is to separate these paths into four rigidly exclusive systems. The fact of experience is different, for at a certain level these four paths all intersect and blend: Jnana or knowledge pushed to its extreme becomes Bhakti or love, which at its fullness is wisdom; Karma Yoga in its highest form is but the expression of Jnana and Bhakti. The sincere practice of Raja Yoga very quickly dissolves into the other three, since only a fool would attempt this practice without a qualified guide, and soon the techniques of Raja Yoga are lost in the greater truth that is the love for the Master, a merger in Him which is expressed by the great dictum of the Bhaktas, the All-embracing Tat Tvam Asi, ("That art thou"), and propelled equally by the discriminating wisdom of negation expressed by the Jnana Yogis as Neti, Neti ("Not this, Not this").



These four yogas arrive at a place where all paths end and merge, which we may call whatever we please, since words don't matter at this point: the kingdom of God, the Source, the Center, or the Impersonal Absolute. This is why Vivekananda advised yogis to be like a bird, have Bhakti Yoga as one wing, Jnana Yoga as the other wing, and Raja Yoga as the guiding tailfeathers. We could extend his metaphor and imagine the manifestation of flying as Karma Yoga.



Sahaj Marg reminds us that yoga, and in particular Raja Yoga, is a not and never was a frozen practice, fixed at some point in the distant past and codified by Patanjali around the Second Century AD in his Yoga Sutras. Even the highest concepts and most honored methods must evolve as the situations of men change. Methods which were suitable for a bull-cart society may not be so suitable in the vastly different world of the late 20th Century. The Way to the living God is not a Procrustian bed that forces all to fit into its fossil methods or die trying. One of the reasons the Divine descends again and again in the form of Masters is to provide us with an approach that is more natural to our time and place, to enliven the great traditions and honor the spirit of the methods by bringing a flexible and workable revision to the letter of those traditions. After all, the purpose of any method is to bring men and women back to the Source from which they have come. A method has no value beyond that. Indeed, as Buddha taught, the method may be dispensed with once that goal is accomplished, just as the boat is left behind once the river has been crossed.



Those acquainted with Raja Yoga will be familiar with Patanjali's Eight Limbs, the Ashtanga steps of Raja Yoga. These have usually been viewed as steps leading to the final union of self with Self, of human with divine -- which is what the word yoga, or "yoke," implies. Whether Patanjali ever intended his "Eight Limbs" to be considered as sequential and consequential stages is debatable, but Sahaj Marg takes a simultaneous and global approach to the practice of Raja Yoga. A classic image of the practice of Raja Yoga is that of climbing the rungs of a ladder: First one works on Yama and Niyama (the moral and ethical limbs), then Asana (posture), then Pranayama (movement of energy through breath), then Pratyahara (withdrawal from senses), and then Dharana (concentration) and Dhyana (meditation) to culminate finally in Samadhi (absorption). An image more apt for the practice of Raja Yoga under Sahaj Marg might be that of a sphere expanding from its center, for Sahaj Marg begins at Patanjali's Seventh Limb, Dhyana or meditation, and allows the rest of the practice to grow naturally from this seed.



2. THE CIRCUMFERENCE IS NOWHERE

Contrary to some notions, Sahaj Marg teaches that meditation is easy and requires no preliminary steps for anyone who has a normal state of mental health -- in fact, Sahaj Marg teaches that only by meditating can we learn to meditate! The psychologically dangerous aspect of Pranayama has been superseded in Sahaj Marg by Pranahuti (prana-ahuti, literally "offering Prana"), by which an individual can transmit spiritual reality directly from the center of his or her existence to the center of another individual's existence.



Pranahuti should not be confused with the more familiar spiritual transmission known as Shaktipat. Pranahuti is an extremely subtle transmission, described as a "forceless force" or "powerless power," and is devoid of all qualities, including even the Shakti (power) that informs Shaktipata. Nor is Pranahuti equivalent to what is termed Diksha, since Pranahuti does not confer or connote initiation by the Guru. In short, it is the utilization of Divine energy for the transformation and evolution of human beings into Divine beings. Pranahuti is a very gentle process and is imperceptible to all but the most sensitive recipients, although anyone can sense its effects as they gradually unfold over time. As my Master told me, normally we do not feel Pranahuti; we feel only its results.



The yogic transmission of subtle or Divine energy by one whose own life-force, or Prana, is realized at such a high vibratory level that it can awaken the dormant Prana in others across any distance by the merest thought or Sankalpa was known to adepts in the distant past, but had fallen into a sort of honored disuetude until it was re- discovered as a useful technique for 20th Century by Shri Ram Chandra of Fatehgarh (1873-1931). Lalaji, as he is affectionately known, is said to have attained realization of the Absolute in a period of just seven months, to have had no Master, and no former incarnation. Lalaji remains a mystery; he was known only to a few in Uttar Pradesh, but was beloved by both Sufis and Hindus.



The art of Pranahuti was transmitted by Lalaji to his most fit disciple, who by coincidence also bore the name Ram Chandra. This disciple, now known as Shri Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur (or more simply as Babuji, since he worked all his life as a "babu," or clerk) perfected the practices of Sahaj Marg, distilling a natural and simple method of meditation from the traditional procedures of Raja Yoga, established the Shri Ram Chandra Mission in 1945 in honor of his guru, and upon his death or Mahasamadhi in 1983 transmitted his essence to his disciple, Shri Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari.



Chariji (b. 1927) now embodies the Master and carries on the work of Shri Ram Chandra Mission. Like the other Masters of his lineage, Chariji is a family man and had worked all his life in an ordinary job until his retirement a few years ago. The usefulness of ordinary life is emphasized not only in the philosophy of the practice, but has been demonstrated practically by the Masters of Sahaj Marg.



Ordinary life is the accepted arena of spiritual practice under Sahaj Marg. As a bird needs two wings to fly, so a human being needs two wings of existence, the spiritual and the material. If either is neglected for the other, life becomes exaggerated and unnatural. Neglect of the material existence results in dependence, and neglect of the spiritual results in a fundamental unhappiness. To realize complete perfection, we must balance both sides of our lives, and treat everything that comes our way as part of our spiritual Sadhana or practice. Sahaj Marg emphasizes that realization is for everyone, not just for sannyasins, lamas, monks, or nuns. Indeed, family life in one's own home is an ideal ashram for learning sacrifice and love. Sahaj Marg flatly rejects the romantic notion that to realize God or Self we must renounce society and adopt arduous practices. God dwells not in the Himalayas, Babuji used to say, but in the human heart.

http://sahajmargmeditation.blogspot.com/

3. THE CENTER IS EVERYWHERE

Sahaj Marg insists that the highest spiritual attainments can be realized by anyone at any time in any place. In recognition of this understanding, Pranahuti or yogic transmission can be received not only directly from the Master, who is an adept in the art, but also via preceptors who have been personally prepared by the Master to serve as conductors of Pranahuti. Over 900 preceptors now serve worldwide. These preceptors can be likened to transformers in neighborhoods that direct and regulate the energy from a distant power plant for indivi- dual use. Preceptors are themselves abhyasis (practitioners) who are still evolving at varying levels of spiritual maturity. It's entirely possible for a preceptor to give a sitting to someone who is at a much higher stage than the preceptor himself. The term "sitting" is used in Sahaj Marg to describe a meditation in which the Master or a preceptor meditates in the presence of a group or with an individual to clean the subtle body and transmit Prana. This is normally done while sitting face to face -- or more precisely, heart to heart.



Those who have attempted to establish themselves independently in a longterm daily rhythm of meditation may appreciate Babuji's observation: "Serious difficulties arise when meditation is practiced independently in accordance with methods prescribed in books. One has to keep on struggling with the mind in order to suppress its unceasing activities. This continues all the time and there is practically no meditation at all, since all the time given to meditation is lost in struggling against thoughts and tendencies. What Pranahuti does for the spiritual uplift of a person and removal of complexities in a short time, independent efforts cannot achieve even in a full decade." In Sahaj Marg, this "removal of complexities" is called, simply enough, "cleaning." The habits, tendencies, and hardened impressions (Samskaras) which defeat our efforts toward realization are gently yet thoroughly removed. The effectiveness of subtle cleaning cannot be understood until it is experienced.

http://sahajmargmeditation.blogspot.com/

4. THE SIMPLE WAY

What, then, does one actually do in Sahaj Marg? According to the teachings of Sahaj Marg, God is simple, and the Way to God may also be simple. Thus there are no rituals in Sahaj Marg. Do's and don'ts are few. There are no secret mantras or mudras, no arcane Asanas, no special clothes, no changing of names. Really, there is nothing about Sahaj Marg to believe or disbelieve, because the practice involves direct experience. Sahaj Marg asks us not to believe, but to observe; not to trust, but to test. Anyone over 18 years of age who is willing to give a sincere effort is invited to do so. One can begin the practice by contacting a preceptor for the introductory sittings. No fee or "love offering" is asked for these or any other sittings from a preceptor. Sahaj Marg teaches that spirituality cannot be sold any more than the sky can be sold, for no one owns it.



The daily abhyas or practices are quite simple. The abhyasi is asked to sit comfortably and meditate at the beginning of the day for at least 30 minutes, eventually for an hour if possible, focusing on the heart (a preceptor can detail the method). At the end of the day, sit again for at least 30 minutes, but this time, the purpose is for cleaning, and again the technique is quite simple. Weekly Satsanghs or group meditations are helpful, along with individual sittings from preceptors. Abhyasis are encouraged to keep a diary of their inner life, and most soon notice a feeling of Shanti or peace, a sense of lightness, and an awakened intuitive ability. Though these experiences are not uniform, they are common in the beginning, and many other experiences and conditions will follow. Sahaj Marg recognizes a plexus of subtle Granthis or knots beyond the traditional Chakra system of Kundalini and other yogas, and abhyasis during their practice make the Yatra or voyage through various spiritual regions as they approach the Center. At various stages obstacles are encountered, sensations occur, and visions or dreams may be seen, but with the guidance of the Master the abhyasi will not be distracted and can move on toward Reality.



So the basic practice takes about one or two hours a day -- we begin our day with meditation, end it with another, and enter sleep in a state of prayer. By an art called "Constant Remembrance" the abhyasi can eventually extend these meditations to 24 hours a day. Curiously enough, many find that the simplicity of the practice is its major difficulty, especially since Sahaj Marg claims to aim for a level of human perfection beyond that which even Patanjali described. This claim can be easily tested, for Sahaj Marg was designed so that even the busiest person could integrate a profoundly transformative spiritual practice into his or her daily life.

http://sahajmargmeditation.blogspot.com/

Photo Tour of Sahaj Marg

Photo Tour of Sahaj Marg


A picture is worth a thousand words! Given below is a series of pictures that provide a glimpse into Sahaj Marg life.

http://www.srcm.org/welcome/phototour/index.jsp

Ashrams
Aspirants (Abhyasis)
The Guide (Master)

What is Spirituality?

Is spirituality something crazy, or is there a scientific basis to it? I believe Raja Yoga meditation, which is part of our subject matter under spirituality, is both a science and an art. And I believe the basis of science is art. Because even though science is based upon formulas which can be rationally explained, I don't think there can be any more scientific advancement if there are no imaginative, intelligent people to do PhDs. So, science, even though it is taking us to the frontier, the basis of science is philosophy. Because philosophy being part of art, is part of imagination.

It is absolutely important for us to understand that there is a need to integrate the artistic and the scientific elements in our living, in our thinking, in the way in which we understand scientific theories, and in the way in which we understand artistic things. I believe if an artist is organized, he or she can make more money. But if a scientific person doesn't have an artistic sense it may be difficult for him or her to progress, to continue his or her line of imagination, use scientific theories and applicable scientific formulas. So, when we talk about spirituality there is a need to understand the scientific basis for spirituality.

Spirituality is a science that deals with the spirit. Spirit not in terms of the 'spirits', but in terms of the spirit within. We understand that we have both body and mind. Body is something that we see, it is outward, it is faculty driven, there is no problem in terms of understanding the existence or the purpose behind the need for the body. But when we talk of mind, there are many theories that explain mental phenomena. Nobody denies the existence of mind, even though it is a subjective matter, not objective as the body is.

But, continuing that line of existence from the body, which is material and which we can see and touch and smell and perceive easily, through the mind, which is a little more subjective even though its purpose and existence is not questioned, we go deeper, and come to what is called the spirit or soul. Soul is the life of life, it is the cause of life, life does not exist without the soul. The soul leaves the body when the body can no longer support life. This may sound theoretical, but nevertheless, I think they are fascinating theories, theories that should arouse our curiosity to start the fundamental search for what brought us here.

There is also this theory of impressions. What we are today is a result of what we have been in the past. Many only extend it to the time of our birth when we talk of heredity, inherited qualities, and environmental qualities. And, we stop there. We do not want to extend the analysis much deeper. Science itself goes only to the extent of saying that the personality and the character we have today is because of our genes, our heredity and environment, our culture and traditions.

I have been personally observing twins. Are they similar? Are they identical? If so, in what respect are they identical? Are they identical in terms of their appearance, or are they identical in terms of their thinking processes? Is there total identicalness in terms of their behavior? Definitely not! All of us know that science says that twins come from the same egg and sperm but somewhere along the line, these two people, who came out of the same thing, seem to behave differently, seem to react to things differently. They were brought up in the same traditions, with the same parents, and in the same childhood environment. After forming all these impressions, so to speak, which are confined to heredity and the environment, there still are differences in the way in which they behave, in the way in which they react to things, and the way in which they perceive things. To me that difference is attributed to only one thing: the impressions that are carried by the spirit, by the soul. The soul is eternal. The soul is something which is trying hard to free itself of the impressions.

Here we have to understand the relationship between the soul and the mind. The soul, on the one hand, has the indestructible quality or characteristic of trying to free itself, of trying to expand itself, of trying to delimit itself. So, that is the characteristic of the soul. And, then there is the mind which has a free will portion, which is connected with the ego, and gets the initial impulse from the soul, and also sends back the impressions that we have formed through the mind to the soul. This explains the difference between twins in terms of their reaction patterns. On the one hand, the soul has this indestructible quality, but on the other hand it seems to be helpless, because it has no choice but to receive the impressions that the mind has passed on.

So here, there seems to be some disharmony developing. The soul has this indestructible quality and characteristic of evolution, whereas the mind may not recognize this quality of the soul. And because of that, it may not pass on conducive impressions back to the soul. Until the time the mind recognizes and starts cooperating with the evolutionary impulses that come from within us, there is more and more movement towards this potential disharmony.

Unfortunately, life is a one way street. Life is like time. You just go once, one-way. You cannot return and go back to 1860 to relive your life. And an opportunity lost is an opportunity lost. But it is not so much, if at any point in time we are able to recognize and understand the experiences that we have gone through. Life is an opportunity to lead our lives correctly to the extent that one day we will be able to form that impression which is conducive to the indestructible quality of the soul.

This is what spirituality says: Use the mind, but recognize the quality of the soul. Use discipline to promote the cause of the soul. Use the same mind to accept that the experience of suffering is nothing more than an experience to learn. Spirituality, which is a science that explains the cause and effect relationship between soul and mind, has to be given due importance in our day to day life. And here, when we talk of impressions that we formed, consciously or unconsciously, knowingly or unknowingly, which go back, travel back through our unconsciousness to the soul, and come back as our reaction patterns when the environment presents itself, this gives the scientific basis of our existence. If we have to form such impressions which are to be conducive to that quality of the soul, then we have to think of that impression which is going to do that. Meditation means to continuously think of something, or to rest upon one thought. We have to pick a thought to mediate upon, which will be conducive to promoting that quality of that soul. So, this is where the scientific basis of the need to meditate comes from.

Raja yoga meditation, which gives a lot of importance to the mind, says that you start meditating to become divine. That which becoming you don't regret, or becoming which there is no contradiction between what you have become and what the soul wants you to become. It is a progressive approach towards that retention of harmony, or that regaining of the integration of body, mind and soul. So, in raja yoga meditation we meditate to become divine. Is the quality of the soul to become divine? Perhaps!

We have to now understand the soul in terms of divinity. Divinity can be explained in terms of the furtherance of human qualities. All of us would like to be loved, all of us would like to love, all of us would like to be kind, and would like others to be kind to us. If this is so, then we should start forming those qualities ourselves. We have to become that--that which is divine, and which is totally consistent with what we expect from others. There is a harmony, which is a foundation for the whole basis of meditation here.

I'm happy to say that even though we all wonder and worry if meditation is scientific, if spirituality is for the intelligent people, all of us go looking for love, looking for kindness. This explains the reason why what we search for through our intelligence need not necessarily be what we look for. Here also there is this dichotomy or disharmony in what we are going after and what we are looking for, in simple terms. It again comes down to this process of integration.

Spirituality is the science of integration, which integrates the purpose of life with the search and activity of life, which integrates the quality of the soul with what the mind should aspire for, which integrates what we expect from others with what we are ourselves becoming. So this is the foundation of spirituality and this is what raja yoga meditation as a practice offers.

The Masters of Sahaj Marg with photo

The Masters of Sahaj Marg

Shri Ram Chandraji Maharaj "Lalaji" (1873 - 1931) Shri Ram Chandraji Maharaj "Babuji" (1899 - 1983) Shri Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari "Chariji"

Sahaj Marg Raja Yoga Meditation

***Sahaj Marg (the Natural Path) is the system of practical training in spirituality offered by Shri Ram Chandra Mission. It is in essence the well-known old raja yoga (yoga of the mind) remodeled and simplified to suit and help the man of present-day world to achieve inner perfection, which is a synonym for God Realization. According to the teaching of this system, God is simple and therefore, the way to reach Him must be simple. Mind is the key instrument in a human being and by proper regulation of mind through meditation under practical guidance and support of a spiritual Master, one can evolve to the Highest. There are no rituals and ceremonials. Do's and don'ts are also few and there are no rigid methods of austerity and penance.

The Sahaj Marg system is specially developed for the average householder. It teaches that normalization of all functions leads to saintliness. Every faculty in-built in man has its legitimate function and must be used in the performance of that function. Therefore, celibacy is not prescribed but a normalization of the generative function is essential. It is in the world of family that almost all of man's powers are perfected. Therefore, this system does not recognize differences of race, differences of sex, or indeed any other differences between individuals, and all are qualified to practice it, the sole qualification being willingness to participate in it.***