Spirituality: A novice’s journey in Sahaj Marg

It’s been nearly two years I have joined in Sahaj Marg system and I would like to share my experiences on ‘why’ I joined Sahaj Marg and ‘what’ are my encounters after joining this system.

Before joining Sahaj Marg I tried couple of other systems – I practiced Simplified Kundalini Yoga (SKY) for 6 years but my experience revealed that there’s not much expected progress happening in my meditational journey and my practice was also not regular. However the positive points of the SKY system is that there's no commercialization involved and the asanas (physical exercises) taught are good in maintaining the health. Since meditation (rather I say realization) is my high priority I have no other option but to quit this system to look for a better one.

Next I tried with Sidha Samadhi Yoga (SSY). This system heavily depends on pranayama (a sort of breathing exercises) and little bit emphasis on meditation. Here too, I haven’t seen much progress with my meditational appetite and therefore I have to quit this system.

My quest for realization continued and I was searching for alternative system which assures me of spiritual progress. I have read a lot of literature of other systems like Isha Yoga, Art of life, Osho and many more. But none of these articles convince me on the concept of God Realization and ‘how’ to achieve them. Most of them are confined to the trilogy of Hindu gods – Siva, Vishnu, Brahma and other common topics like moksha, karma and etc. During the course I happened to read the literature of Sahaj Marg written by Shri Babuji. I have read the books – ‘Reality at Dawn’, ‘Efficacy of Raja Yoga’, ‘Ten commandments of Sahaj Marg’, ‘Philosophy of Sahaj marg’ and others. I found the literature really useful and felt the practical approachable of God realization is possible now.

Now that I am convinced with the teachings of Sahaj Marg, one fine day I decided to join in the system and took the first initiation. After taking the first sitting of initiation, the next day morning, I sat for meditation and WOW! What a fantastic and memorable experience I encountered. I came into a state where I am completely in sleep but I am still fully awake which I never underwent previously. Within a week I realized that the previous meditation journey which was going on snail’s pace now suddenly entered the fast track formula one race. I‘ve got my answer now – yes this is the system I am looking, which can take me to reach my goal of God realization.

The other positive aspect I noted is that there’s no commercialization involved in this system. I also observed that some people who have joined in this system are practicing for more than 40 years. This indicates the faith and satisfaction in the system, less attrition rate unlike other systems.

After started practicing this system, I observed many changes in my meditational and other aspects of my life. Most of you might have experienced much more than this, still I would like to share my novice experiences. For the sake of convenience, I have categorized in the following categories –

 Meditational experiences:

•  As stated above, the day one, I experienced a fully awaken and fully asleep condition.

•  Within two weeks of my initiation, couple of times I observed some sensations at the chakras of mooladhara (below navel position), anahata (heart), visudda (neck), agna (between eye brows) and sahasra (upper part of the head). I am not sure if this is ajapa condition.

•  Numerous times I experienced the Samadhi state in meditation wherein I don’t know where I am and what I was doing.

• If not I am in Samadhi state, I experienced a dream state where I forgot myself and felt I am in a different world altogether.

• Sometimes after completing the meditation, my body used to shake and unable to bear the transmission I used to lounge down and sleep. In such cases, I could regain my normal state after 15-30 minutes only.

• Many times I felt I became light and one day I felt myself like a walking feather after returning from the group meditation.

• Of course there were times I didn’t get any transmission for days/weeks. I enquired on this condition and came to know that during such period cleaning might be happening, so no issues.

• During the initial days of practicing I observed high transmission levels and now a day I am experiencing subtleness in the transmission.

Cleaning experiences:

·         During the initial days of my practice I observed lot of grossness in my head. Upon regular practicing of cleaning I observed that the grossness started diminishing gradually. Now I feel only a minor portion of grossness in my head.

Experiences in Dreams:

Before I jump into my dreams experiences, I would like to clarify the difference between a ‘normal dream’ and a ‘spiritual dream’. We don’t feel any transmission in the sleep for normal dreams but for spiritual dreams I used to get a transmission. Having said that, following are some of my dream incidents –

• I received some jerks during certain dreams. It will be like some external force entering in to my body. Initially there was some resistance with my body in the sleep but the force/power still managed to enter into me. After that I felt very light indicating a positive sign.

• During the initial dreams I was swimming in a mud filled oceans with lot of dirty creatures around me, and later on I dreamt swimming in crystal clear water. Again during such dreams I will be in a trans missive state.

• In another dream, I left the body for few seconds and returned back to occupy my body.

• The best part of the dream is that one day I received transmission during my sleep and received a message stating that the transmission is given by both Lalaji and Babuji.

I may be totally wrong in assuming these dreams but still I feel these are related to my spiritual state. Such dreams also motivate me that I am going through a right direction in my spiritual journey. As long as there’s no harm in this, I can enjoy such experiences.

Health benefits:

Since my job involves lot of stress, I used to suffer from Asymmetric Bowel Syndrome, an health issue where I used to have loose stools if I take some spicy or junk food. After taking up the Sahaj marg system, I observed gradually this is cured. Prior to this I tried many medicines but didn’t found any permanent relief. Now I am happily relieved from this disorder.

I also often suffered from cramps in legs but now it is largely under the control after practicing this system. Thanks to the hidden medicinal benefits available in the system.

Nature instincts:

I may be totally wrong or you can assume hallucination but I observed the following two nature instincts after joining this system –

• One day when I am travelling from Vizag to Araku and after reaching the outskirts of Araku, I observed a change in the climate in terms of grossness. I felt that particular place is serene when compared to other places.

• I can able to perceive the grossness on the faces of persons; it means I can recognize who’s a serene person, can be trusted and who cannot. To confirm this, I started observing the behavior of the person and came to know that my examinations are true.

Concluding on my experiences, I still feel I am a novice in the field of spirituality. I still have few negative aspects in me and currently focusing on purging them. By the benevolence grace of master, I hope one day I can overcome them. That’s make me to qualify as a true discipline of Sahaj marg. And I believe, the day I become a ‘true’ disciple, my actual journey towards realization will start.

Disclaimer: All views expressed are based on my personal experiences and doesn’t intent to damage or endorse any other person’s opinions/beliefs.

Meenakshi Ponnudurai - మధుర స్వరం: మీనాక్షి పొన్నుదురై

ఆఫిసు నుండి ఇంటికి నాకు ఒక గంట ప్రయాణం. రోజు ప్రొద్దున, సాయంత్రం కారులొ FM రేడియొలొ పాటలు వింటు ప్రయాణం సాగించడం పరిపాటాయిపోయింది. క్రొత్తవి, పాతవి, హింది, తెలుగు పాటలు వింటుంటాను. ఈ  మద్య వస్తున్న తెలుగు క్రొత్త పాటలు ఎంత కర్ణ కఠొరంగ వుంటున్నాయొ, అంతే కఠొరంగ వుంటున్నాయి రేడియొ జాకీల (RJ) గొంతు. చాలా మంది RJ లు శ్రోతలని చులకన చేస్తు  మాట్లడటం, మేము చాలా తెలివైన వాళ్లము, శ్రోతలు పని పాట లేకుండా ఫొన్ లు చేస్తారనె ధోరణి కనపడుతుంది. ఇంకొందరైతె అమ్మాయిలతొ చక్కగ మాట్లడతారు, అబ్బాయిలతొ అయితె సంభాషణ పెద్దగ చేయారు. శ్రోత  ఎవరైన సరె కుల్లు హాస్యాలు ఆడనీకి మాత్రం వెనకాడరు. ఒక్క మాటలొ చెప్పాలంటె ఘోరం అనె పదం ఒకటి చాలు, మిగత ఎంత రాసిన వృదా ప్రయాసె.

ఇలాంటి సమయాల్లొ నాకు బాగా గుర్తు వచ్చేది మీనాక్షి పొన్నుదురై గారు. కాస్త పాతతరం తెలుగు రేడియొ శ్రోతలకి ఈమె సుపరిచితురాలె. నా ఊహ తెలిసినప్పటినుంచి అంటె 1980 నుండి 1990 వరకు వీలు దొరికినప్పుడల్ల మద్యానం 2.00 నుంచి 3.30 వరకు శ్రీ లంక బ్రాడ్ కాస్టింగ్ (SLBC/ సిలోన్ రేడియొ అని కూడ అనేవారు) వారు ప్రసారం చేసె తెలుగు కార్యక్రమలు వినేవాడిని. అందులొ మీనాక్షి గారు తెలుగు కార్యక్రమాల అనౌన్సర్. ఆమె గురించి ఎంత చెప్పిన తక్కువే, అయినా ప్రయత్నిస్తాను.

మీనాక్షి గారిది మధురమైన గొంతు, అసలు ఆమె వేసె పాటల కన్న ఆమె మాటలె ఇష్టం. ఆమె అద్బుతమైన కంఠం ఒక్కటే కారణం కాదు, ఆమె మాటల్లొ వుండే ప్రేమ, ఆత్మీయత వర్ణించలేనిది. ఆమె మాట్లడుతుంటే, నేను రేడియొ లొకి దూరి ఆమె దగ్గరె కూర్చుని పెదరాశి పెద్దమ్మ కధలు చెబుతుంటె పిల్లలు ఎలా వినేవారొ అలా ముగ్దుడనై వింటు వుండి పోయె వాన్ని. నాకు ఎంత ఇష్టమంటె వారం పొడుగున ఎప్పుడు ఏ కార్యక్రమం వస్తుందొ ఒక డైరి లొ రాసుకున్న ఒక సారి. క్రింద పట్టికలొ సరదాగ ఇస్తున్నాను.

సోమవారం: భక్తిరంజని, చిత్రలహరి, అక్షరమాలిక, గానామృతం.
మంగళవారం: గానసుధ, వాయ్స్ ఆఫ్ ట్రూత్, ముత్యాలపందిరి.
బుధవారం: శబ్దలహరి, గానతరంగిణి, బృందగానం, గానామృతం, నా అభిష్టం.
గురువారం: నేటి జంట, వాయ్స్ ఆఫ్ ట్రూత్, సంగీత వాహిని, ప్రేమ వాణి.
శుక్రవారం: చిత్రగానం, వాయ్స్ ఆఫ్ ట్రూత్, గానలహరి, ప్రేమవాని.
శనివారం: మీరు కోరిన పాటలు, వాయ్స్ ఆఫ్ ట్రూత్, మన్నా వర్తమానాలు, అమృతవాణి.
ఆదివారం: అక్షరమాలిక, వాయ్స్ ఆఫ్ ట్రూత్,  మీరు కోరిన పాటలు, క్రీస్తు స్తుతి.

వీటిల్లొ కొన్నింటిని ఇప్పుడు FM రేడియొలలొ కూడా నఖలు చేసారు. వివిద భారతిలొ వచ్చె హరివిల్లు కార్యక్రమం వీటి నుంచే ప్రేరణ పొందిందని చెప్పచు.

"లైఫ్ ఈజ్ నాట్ ఎ బెడ్ ఆఫ్ రోజెస్" అనె పదం బాగ వాడడం గుర్తు, అలాగే మను చరిత్రం, అబ్బాయి అమ్మాయిల మద్య స్నేహాలు, గొడవలు గురించి చెప్పేది. ఆమెకు తరచుగ రాసె ఒక శ్రోత టి. ఐ. జి. ప్రేమ కుమార్ ఉత్తరం చిరునామతొ సహా చదివేది. నేను ఉండబట్టలేక ఒక సారి ప్రేమ కుమర్ గారి చిరునామ రాసుకుని, ఉత్తరం కూడ రాసాను. కొన్నాళ్లకి అతను ప్రత్యుత్తరం రాసారు. తెలుగులొ అంత చక్కని దస్తురి నేనింత వరకు చూడలేదు. అతను వయసులొ నాకంటె చాలా పెద్దవాడు కావడంతొ మా స్నేహం ఒకటి రెండు ఉత్తరాలకె పరిమితమయింది. ఆలాగె వీలుంటే శ్రీ లంక కి వెళ్లి ఆమెని కలవాలానే కోరిక బలంగ వుండేది. కాని ఇంకా విద్యార్ది దశలోనె వుండెవాడిని కాబట్టి ఆ కోరికని మనసులోనె దాచుకున్నాను. ఇదంత ఎందుకు చెబుతున్నానంటె మీనాక్షి గారి మధుర స్వరం నన్ను అంతగ ప్రభావితం చేసింది.

కొన్ని పాటలు వేయడంలొ మీనాక్షి గారి ముద్రణ కనపడేది. ఆవి ఏ ఇతర రేడియోలలో వచ్చేవి కావు. మచ్చుకి ఒకటి -  నవమొహిని చిత్రంలొ - 'సుందర రూపం, చందన దీపం' అనె పాట నేను మరే స్టేషన్లో వినలేదు ఒక్క సిలోన్ రేడియోలొ తప్ప. ఆలాగె ఒకోసారి సినిమా చిత్ర కధనాన్ని కూడ ప్రసారం చేసెవారు.

ఇంకొక మధుర జ్ఞాపకం ఏమిటంటె ఒక సారి మీనాక్షి గారు ఒక పాట అనౌన్స్ చేసి ఇంకొ పాట వేసారు, వెంటనె తప్పు తెలుసుకుని వేరె పాట వేసారు, అది కూడ అనౌన్స్ చేసిన పాట కాదు. అప్పుడు మీనాక్షి గారు ఏ మాత్రం తడబడకుండ  -  'ఏంటి ఏమయింది ఈమెకు అనుకుంటున్నారా? మరి పరిగెత్తి పరిగెత్తి రికార్డ్ లను పట్టుకొచ్చి వెయ్యడంలొ ఒకోసారి ఇలా జరుగుతుంది ' అని మన ఇంట్లొ మనిషితొ ఎలా మాట్లడాతారొ అలా ఆట్లాడింది. ఆ తరువాత సరి అయిన పాట వేసారులెండి.

బెర్హంపూర్, ఒరిస్సా  నుండి చాలా ఉత్తరాలు వచ్చేవి. ఒకో సారి శ్రోతల నుంచి ఉత్తరాలు రావట్లేదని చాలా బాధపడేది. " ఇంకెన్ని రోజులు నేను త్వరలొ రిటైర్ అయిపోతున్నాను, ఎక్కువ రోజులు ఇబ్బంది పెట్టనులె" అని కూడ ఉడుక్కునేది. ఇలా ఎన్నెన్నొ మధుర జ్ఞాపకాలు. అలాగె తెలుగు కార్యక్రమలు ముగించినాక వచ్చె "నమస్తె కైవలి" అనే మళయాల కార్యక్రమాల ఆరంబ పాట, "లతిఖా" అని అనౌన్సర్ ని  పిలవడం ఇప్పటికి మరవలేను.

అంతర్జాలంలొ ఆమె గురించి చాలా శోధించాను, ఆ మధుర కంఠం ఎవరన్న రికార్డ్ చేసి పెట్టరేమోనని, కనీసం ఆమె ముఖ చిత్రం అయిన దొరుకుతుందేమొనని. కాని నా ఆశ నెరవేరలేదు.  అయితె ఆమె మరనించిందన్న వార్త మాత్రం దొరికింది.
 "On 22.07.2001, that last working day in her life, before she left Studio No. 9 at the SLBC, she reminded listeners of her tryst on the following day to speak on the matinee idol and great Thespian, Shivaji Ganeshan. Sadly, she never made it. At nine o’clock on the following morn, she peacefully passed on in her mid-seventies"
Mrs T. S. Sameer, Kannada announcer, SLBC.

నేను మరి కొంత మంది మంచి రేడియో అనౌన్సర్ లని విన్నాను - వారిలొ హైదరబాద్ రేడియో స్టేషన్లొ కార్మికుల కార్యక్రమంలొ వచ్చే చిన్నక్క, ఇప్పుడు పాడి పంటలు కార్యక్రమం నిర్వహించె కె. విజయ, బిగ్ ఎఫ్. ఎం లొ వచ్చె నీలేష్ మిశ్రా (యాదొన్ క ఇడియట్ బాక్స్), బినాకా గీత్ మాల అమీన్ సయాని, తబస్సుం లాంటి పెర్లు కొన్ని. వీళ్లందరివి కూడ మంచి గొంతులు, కాని మీనాక్షి గారిలోని వున్నంత ఆత్మీయత వుండదు. 

మీనాక్షి గారు - మళ్లి జన్మంటు వుంటె మరల మా అందరికి చేరువ అవ్వరు!

Weekend Trip: Kotipalli cheruvu, Ananthagiri Hills near Vikarabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Date of Journey: 07-Jul-2013 Distance from Hyderabad: 100 kms. Start Time: 9.30 AM Return Time: 7.30 PM Accommodation: Not required.

Hi, I would like to share my experiences of weekend trip to Kotipalli cheruvu/reservoir and Ananthagiri hills located near vikarabad. I was searching in the net on weekend trips from Hyderabad and came to know about Kotipalli cheruvu and decided to explore the location. As usual my family will be ready to accompany me and we were ready at home by 8.30 and had a heavy breakfast. My wife also prepared the food stuff for lunch as I told her don't expect good hotels in the journey. At 8.30 my younger daughter requested to attend the parent's meeting also and by the time we concluded the meeting it was 9.30 AM. So we started from Balanagar and taken the route of high tech city --> outer ring road--> exit at appa junction--> Narsingi junciton-->Chilkur--> Chevella and Vikarabad. Before chilkur there's a Mrigavani Deer park and bird santuary is located. We haven't planned this visit, but one can include a short span of time there if properly planned. The route is a double lane road with no dividers and the road conditions are OK. The good part of the journey is that there's little sun shine with cool breeze. After chevella, either side of the roads are filled with lush green trees and get thicker as we reach the vikarabad. We can see beautiful banyan trees with the branches [tarzan ropes] dangling from the tree. We made a small halt and my daughters dangled on the branches. With few haults here and there, we reached Ananthagiri hills around 12.30 PM. On the way we passed through the TB sanctorium and reached the temple. Hanuman statue welcomed us and we parked the vehicle at the premises. I enquired with the parking guy on the places to visit here. He replied to visit the temple, and take the route to the next lane near the temple where one can find the temple pond (called as Koneru in local language) and further away leads into the deep forest. Some one who's interested in the trekking or forest walk can explore this part. After the quick darshan, we reached the pond. The water is not good and hence we dropped the idea of enjoying in the water.Next we moved little deep into the forest and explored the tress and rocks. The dangling huge branches and rocks is a visual delight. After spending around half an hour we returned back to our car. We started to Kotipalli river and it is around 10 kms from the temple. After Dharur villgae we took a right turn and suddenly the roads appeared deserted with no man's land. After going through 4-5 kms we encountered small village there we enquired the route to the lake and came to know that we took a wrong route. So we returned and followed a small metal road lane (kaccha road) near a masjid sign board. After travelling for a kilo metre we found the lake. I was amused by the size of the Kotipalli river. With its huge length,breadth and fresh water and cows grazing at a distant place is a visual delight. The good part is that we can take the car nearby the shore. The area seems to be not a popular tourist spot as the crowd is very less. We picked a spot where rock boulders are immersed in water yet suitable to sit and dip our legs in the water. My daughters started shouting in joy and quickly jumped into water. I too couldn't resist and joined them in the water. After playing in water for one hour I returned to bank. Now the time is around 2.30 PM, I started feeling hungry. Listening to songs from the car deck and in a lake cool breeze I had completed my food on the banks of the rivers . My kids played for marathon two and half hours in the water and finally I asked them to return. They quickly came to banks had few bites of food and jumped into the waters again. They spent another half an hour and returned back to car. After drying up thenselves and changing their dresses we returned to Hyderabad. We lost the way at Vikarabad and had to return back and took the correct way to Hyderabad. The kids were exhausted and fall asleep in the car. Near Chevella rain has started and marking the completeness of our journey. Listening to old hindi and telugu songs I reached Hyderabad around 7.30 PM. Overall it was a fantastic experience. I had visisted Godavari river in Bhadrachalam, Basara, Rajamundry and other popular places in Kakinada but I never found such a big clean lake similar to Kotipalli. All these were filled with dirt and huge visitors. Kotipalli is extremely good with fresh water, huge size and located in a serene place with less people. The other lake I was impressed is Ramappa lake near warangal. This was also a huge fresh water lake but no bathing is allowed there.

Childhood memories: My Friend Sridhar.

I would like to share some of my child hood memories.  I will start my experience with one of my childhood friend named ‘Sridhar’. 

The incident which I am going to narrate happened when I was studying in 6th class (1982). During those days I was residing in Hyderabad, India and ours is a lower middle class family. We used to stay in Kaladera colony near Malakpet, Hyderabad. This colony is a Government quarters and pretty middle class people used to reside. There’s nothing much to boast about its exquisite except our colony mates.  

In those days it was rare to have pocket money for the children. In fact there was no such concept available and even though it is there we were not aware of it. Our greatest achievement in spending the money is to spend the 5NPs, 10 Nps and rarely 25 Nps.( NP = Naya paise which is no more exist now). With that meager amount our bliss used to confine to buying few peppermints and chocolates. The elderly boys in the colony and high privileged boys used to carry 50 NP or maximum of 1 rupee. They were the proud guys in the colony and as juniors we were envious about their money spending. For us most of the entertainment was through playing marbles, cricket and other local format games. So naturally we were not exposed to the money made luxuries.

At this juncture one boy named Sridhar who is one year elder to me, used to carry lot of money with him. Some time he used to flash bundle of new 1 rupee notes to all of us. Our jaws used to drop seeing that much money. Even the elder boys used to give him special treatment so that they can enjoy few free food items which he would buy for the friends. I was envious and also regret why I am deprived of money.

My friends used to tell me how Sridhar has purchased some food items and drinks from the local stall and offered to them. I used to curse myself that why I was not present during such occasions. But there was no delay in my luck. One day during the summer holidays I and Sridhar met in the play ground. It was around 5 PM in the evening, Sridhar came to me and offered to go to a hotel and have some food items. I was delighted with the offer but asked him suspecting -

                “I don't have any money to pay in the hotel, how about you?"

                “Don’t worry I have money and I will pay for you also" replied Sridhar flashing his new 1 rupee bundle to me.

With a watering mouth I followed him like a food starving dog. At that time there's only one hotel in the Nalgonda 'X' roads. This is now replaced by a petrol bunk. Sridhar ordered two plates of 'Aloo bajji' (potato based puff) and the waiter brought them for us. I was thoroughly enjoying the Aloo bajji as this is the first time I am having my food outside my home. We were about to finish the dish and at that time Sridhar proposed to me -

                "How about running away without paying the food bill?"

Hearing this, I was little bit shocked and after recovering, I replied “what’s the need for skipping the bill when you have money. Let’s pay ?" For this he reluctantly agreed. 

After finishing the food, Sridhar went towards the wash basin and washed his hands. I too followed him and washed my hands. Suddenly I observed that Sridhar ran away from a small outdoor which is nearby wash basin. I was horrified  and I don't have any option but to follow him. The waiter who was observing us shouted and started chasing us.

I ran fast and crossed Sridhar. Without looking back I ran upto Konark theatre from Nalgonda. Even today I wonder how I was able to run so much distance. I think the distance will be around 4-5 kms. After reaching Konark theatre I felt that now I am safe and with a weak heart I looked back. Thank God! No one was following me and I confirmed that I am safe. I didn't see Sridhar and the waiter also. Slowly I returned back but cautiously avoided the hotel route and reached to my colony through a different route. Throughout this episode I was puzzled why Sridhar wants to skip the bill when he has money.

I came to house, relaxed and narrated the whole episode to my elder brother. He laughed and said that there's an extension to my story. I curiously asked him what it is. My brother told - “my friend [who knows me and Sridhar] was near the hotel when this episode happened to you. The waiter chased and caught Sridhar and brought him back to the hotel. At the hotel all the staff members foul mouthed on Sridhar and finally he paid the bill and left the hotel." I was relieved hearing this and laughed heartily.

After this episode, all the colony mates know about Sridhar's infamous incident and they started avoiding him. Thereafter he wasn't so popular in the colony.