Hope, as they say, swells eternally in the human breast.

Daaji, also known as Shri Kamlesh Patel, the President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission, is hosting a Global Spirituality Mahotsav-2024 from March 14 to 17 at Kanha Shanti Vanam, Hyderabad, to promote peace worldwide.

He expects over 75,000 people to attend the conference.

Daaji may be proceeding cautiously in his efforts to introduce Heartfulness Meditation to the world, potentially inviting scrutiny from certain long-time followers of Shri Ram Chandra Mission.

Those individuals have been part of the organization since its establishment in 1946 by Babuji Maharaj in honour of his Guru Lalaji Maharaj, who shared the name Shri Ram Chandra.

The teachings of the Spiritual Hierarchy of Masters in the Mission have remained relatively unknown, even in India and let alone the world.

It is gaining momentum under the unconventional guidance of Daaji.

He has brought many things out of the closet beginning with some practices in the Mission like meditation on the divine light in the heart.

The Mission frowns upon idol worship.

Daaji has given it a new twist.

He may not believe in murti pooja but is willing to accept it in others.

It is one of the paths toward the godhead like bhakti or chanting of mantras in the absence of proper understanding of God.

Once devotees become exposed to the way of Sahaj Marg, they give up on their own

The belief is that God dwells in the heart of every human being.

If one must worship, one should him in the heart, not in temples, churches, or mosques.

He is a formless being.

Giving shape to Him in a stone is a distorted representation of God.

People worship the stone rather than God himself.

Their hearts turn to stone.

As you think, so shall you become.

Babuji, the founder of the Mission, summed it up years ago.

If you meditate on the ocean, you will get nothing but salt.

Salt is the essence of the ocean.

Hardness is of the stone.

So, if you worship the stone, you will become stonehearted.

It is easier to worship the Stone Deity, rather than the Godly heart.

He cannot demand anything from you but the Heart of God can.

The Deity is located in a place like a temple, church, mosque, synagogue, or even in a puja room of the house, but God is everywhere.

He is space.

He is in everyone’s heart.

None escapes his scrutiny.

People are afraid to go in front of their Master.

They think God is in his heart.

They ignore he is in their heart, too. 

People do not want to believe that.

If they did, they could not do whatever they wanted.

God would witness it.

Once people come out of the temple, they forget the deity but cannot God. 

He is within you.

The Stone God is preferable over the Heart God.

The Deity cannot make you feel guilty, but God can.

Limiting the deity’s reach to the puja room, temple, church, or mosque allows one to lie, deceive, and even kill outside it.

With God in the heart, they cannot ignore Him, let alone tell Him to shut up.

It is what they do when they walk out of a religious place.

The same might be happening with some Mission practitioners, too. 

Meditation, like worship, becomes ritualistic if practitioners do not evolve spiritually.

It is for this reason that Daaji has opened the doors of the Mission and established Heartfulness Institutes worldwide to guide more people on the Sahaj Marg Path. 

He often looks the other way when it comes to the use of Zumba dance, Brighter Minds, and Blindfold reading workshops, as well as offering almost five-star hotel-like facilities within the premises of Kanha Shanti Vanan to spread his message.

He wants more and more people to join the Mission.

He wants people to worship God in the heart rather than in the stone.

He faces criticism from traditionalists in the Mission.

The worry he is watering down the teachings of past Masters.

Nothing deters him.

He does nothing about it, only keeps putting his best foot forward and forgets about the results.

As Gita says, one can have control over one’s actions but not their results.

“One has no choice but to do the right thing,” Shri Rajagopalachari, his predecessor, said.

Daaji is doing that.

He is leading his followers from the past to the present, urging them to concentrate on their Master rather than him.

If your Master cannot do anything for you, this Daaji cannot either, he said in a casual conversation.

It remarks illustrate a commonly held view in the Mission that if God does know he is God, how can a human being know he is a Master. He would not be Master then, nor would God be God. He would be just another human being.

As Osho said, a Master has gone to the peak and comes back to take others.

It is for people to know he is a Master and not Him.

For Him, it is enough to know he is another human being, with his likes and dislikes.

Daaji may not be taking his followers to the top of the mountain but even higher than any peak, depending on one’s capacity in the practice of Sahaj Marg principles of evolution on the spiritual path with a little help from him whenever necessary.

No master can do anything for anyone if that person is not ready to help himself or herself.

Assistance was required to organize the Spirituality Mahotsav-2024, and he graciously provided Kanha Shanti Vanam for the event to the Ministry of Culture of the Government of India.

The world is currently in a state of turbulence, making the theme of transitioning from Inner Peace to World Peace particularly fitting for the Mahotsav.

Tranquillity has been hard to attain since ancient times.

What people believed has not achieved global peace. Instead, it has led to further conflict.

If people worship Alexander the Great as the world conqueror, they encourage someone to emulate him.

He could be a hero to the Greeks who enjoyed the spoils of the wars but to the rest of the world should he be that?

Individuals must cultivate a fresh mindset.

They must keep up with the times, not with the past.

People take birth, grow up, marry, grow old, and die, only to be born again for ages,

Nothing has changed.

Nothing will.

After Swami Vivekananda’s address in Chicago in 1893, not much happened!

People continue to commit acts of violence in the name of God and religion, as seen in the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

Even the revered text, the widely praised Gita, failed to bring about any change.

Sin is a greater unifying force than virtue.

The virtuous debate means and ends as they will do so in the Mahotsav as well, the sinners unite to benefit from their collusion.

This conference, too, shall pass.

Every crime that occurred during the Mahabharata war is still occurring today and will continue to do so.

Spirituality is reserved for a few.

They pass away unnoticed and uncelebrated, far from the spotlight.

How many conference participants have spoken out against the atrocities committed by Israel?

If they do, they will attack each other and behave like men in the streets.

It is not a dog-eat-dog world. Nor is it in the spiritual world unless one feels threatened.

Two luminaries recently argued over whether one should lie down or no on Shivratri night.

If the two had confronted one another over it, both would have probably kept quiet,

Silence is the language of God, isn’t it? Or would have gone into an extended explanation to cover their respective stands.

Language is a means to conceal one’s thoughts., isn’t it?

Unfortunately for the two, the questioners asked each one separately, and out came the vociferous replies.

One said those who believe one can lie down are idiots and would not ask a donkey to sit up straight, the other rebukingly asked where is it written in the scriptures one cannot.

Strong words from the two Gurus.!

If asked Daaji would have probably said if one felt like resting one could lie down as it was of no use sitting straight for hours at a stretch when the body was tired, it would be unnatural.

It is not the Sahaj Marg way to go against nature.

He even recommends not forcing oneself to meditate if one does not feel like doing as it would do more harm than good when one is not ready to do so.

After the conference, most participants will leave with a sense of false satisfaction. They have contributed their best efforts to world peace.

Most will continue as before with their religious empires to protect. 

They cannot antagonise the government of the day.

Baba Ramdev, one of the participants, did.

He faced the wrath of the Congress Government.

He had criticised it for rising prices of petrol and other commodities.

He now defends the government over the same thing.

Two others of his ilk, Sadguru of Isha Foundation and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of Art Of Living, are known as the supporters of BJP among the farmers, agitating for minimum support prices for their support.

During the last agitation, Sadguru said only some people in Haryana and Punjab are protesting but not in the South. He overlooked the fact only people who have a little money can afford to protest. The poor farmers in the South cannot. They have little money to lose.

The other, Sri Sri Shankar remarked only a few are protesting in the current agitation on the Shambu border between Punjab and Haryana.

They cannot risk losing sponsorships, donations, and the support of the Government of India to keep out of trouble.

It is nothing new.

In the past, too, the Gurus and Heads of religious institutions have seldom gone against that the powers that be. Their prosperity is based on the patronage of the rulers of their times, who in turn have condescendingly tolerated them as long as they have not gone against them or used religion as a tool to garner support to fulfill their territorial ambitions.

Christian and Muslim rulers did it to invade countries and kingdoms and plunder the wealth of nations. 

Only Hindus did not do it.

They were too busy fighting their brethren,

But there are a few examples though of Indian kings killing people in the name of religion.

Ashoka the Great allegedly killed 60,000 Jains to impress the Buddhist King, while Pusphyamitra, the Hindu king, massacred thousands of Buddhists to prevent the spread of Buddhism in its birthplace. Despite this, Buddhism remains the religion of millions in neighboring Asian countries.

One does not know what Daaji thinks about these worldly matters. It could be a projection of one’s thoughts.  One could end up being ostracised, landing in jail, or end up facing a defamation case one.

Daaji is seen frequently doing puja in front of Lingam and offering flowers to it in obeisance and interacting with Government officials who incidentally happen to be BJP supporters, they could have been Congress, too had it been power but inviting somebody to inaugurate a sports meet in Kanha Shanti Vanam, someone who had raised slogans from the state at an election rally

It escapes understanding when the concerned had raised slogans asking what should be done to the traitors of the country and they had shouted back to shoot them.

But as per the diktats of the Mission, one is not supposed to do everything a Master does. He may have his commitments and compulsions. His followers do not. They do not have to emulate him every which way. It is fraught with danger.

The famous Neem Karoli Baba, Aghori Sadhu, had taken a handful of LSD tablets in front of Ram Das and Steve Jobs? What would have happened if they had followed his example? They would not have lived to tell the tale and become his followers.

After taking those tablets, the Baba told them kuch majha nahi aiyya

The two realised the bliss Baba was talking about was nothing like the one induced by the consumption of one or two tablets they took to achieve it.

It was beyond the capacity of a handful of LSD tablets.

So, one would not want to be in his footsteps every step of the way. One could never know what is going on in his mind or behind the scenes. He could be interacting with the Hindutvas to bring about a change in their thinking.

If you cannot beat them join them and let them interact with you,  Who knows they might veer to your way of thinking.

Babuji was right when in a letter to the UN assembly stated that individual peace is essential for world peace, although there is a fallacy in this, too.

Inner peace cannot be achieved if the outer world is in turmoil.  The inner disturbance reflects what is happening in the external world.

How can there be peace within if it is not present outside?

Both cannot exist independently of one another.

Only on one condition can there be inner peace?

Using drugs, self-induced hypnosis, deep meditation, and chanting of mantras can lead to becoming insensitive to your surroundings. You may end up living like the Walking Dead, moving through life as a zombie.

It is no use living like that.

You might as well be dead than alive.

Daaji delegates fostering inner peace to practitioners under his guidance, shifting focus from comparing historical figures to emphasizing present circumstances for true peace attainment.

If religion and spirituality are personal choices, why do Christians, Muslims, and Jews claim that their religion is the only one?

Hindus never asserted their religion as superior to others or labeled them as heathens or kafirs, but this has changed over time. Hardline Hindus now proclaim Hinduism as the best religion, aspiring for India to be the Vishguru. Under their influence, India is heading towards further conflict.

If Indians are not careful, there will be a Palestinian and Israeli-like situation in the Indian subcontinent sooner or later.

Peace is a pipe dream as long as political parties and the governments of countries are based on creating new grounds for conflict in others to remain in power or get into power.

Nobody can wish away 20 crore Indian Muslims, no matter how they behave. And Hindu fundamentalists want to bring another 20 crores from Pakistan into their fold by talking about Akhand Bharat when they have not learned to live with local Muslims.

All our religious and spiritual leaders have failed.

Did Buddha, Mahavira, Jesus, Mohammad, Dalai Lama, and Guru Nanak – bring about peace in the world by attaining inner peace?

On the contrary, Yeshua created more disharmony in the world by declaring Jews as the chosen ones, leading them to commit every conceivable atrocity in the name of their God in Palestine.

Jesus is best left unmentioned.

His followers eagerly await his return to establish peace instead of acting upon it themselves.

All religious leaders come and go.

They each have their agenda.

If there was one God, what kind would he be, a schizophrenic?

One group, known as Muslims, he invites to pray at Al Aqsa Mosque, while another group, known as Jews, he invites to inhabit the land between the river and the sea that he promised to them over two thousand years ago.

It prepared the ground for eternal conflict between the two sets of people.  Only a human being could do that wanting to enjoy his importance.

“Let me mediate between the two of you,” he seems to be saying like the US Administration.

Every time there is an issue between India and Pakistan, it offers to mediate.

It is good India, the emerging superpower has always refused, which in itself could be grounds for another conflict.

No superpower as deeply entrenched as the USA would allow that to occur. It might incite Pakistan against India or back any insurgent group in India.

It’s time to abandon the singular focus on God and challenge the dominance of the US administration. Would either God or the US government truly desire peace? God would diminish in significance, as would the US administration. Worship towards God would cease, losing all followers. Whether in a temple or a distant heavenly entity, no nation would procure arms from the USA, potentially leading to economic collapse.

Their existence is based on conflict.

It is a fallacy that God created Man in his image to enjoy his creation.  He created Man because he wanted somebody to praise him

Man got lost in his creation and forgot him.

To make Man remember God, he created woman.  Is not Man running always towards God to ask him if that was the woman he had created for him?

And God with his all-knowing smile said just think.

Man thought.

He took the leaf out of the book of God.

He created the concept of beauty in the woman.

Women are running to men to ask them if they are beautiful.

Can there ever be peace between a man and a woman?

The man wields the threat of calling her ugly while the woman of not surrender her body to him if he does not call her beautiful.

The two together make a battlefield of their bodies.

Sahaj Marg, the natural path, the easy path, or the middle path is the way to peace.

Daaji is presenting its philosophy in a natural way to everyone, regardless of their wealth, through the four-day Mahotsav-2024. Attendees are encouraged to experience it for a minimum of three months. If there is no perceived change, they are free to leave.

The promotion of Sahaj Marg is a spin-off from Mahotsav 2024, not peace. It is a calculated move by the BJP government to align itself with the revival of Hinduism in the Indian mindset to secure the majority of Hindu votes in the forthcoming national elections.

Truth is a pathless land.  There is no one path to it.  There are paths and paths.

The Israelis believe that eliminating all Palestinians from their land will bring peace by eradicating Hamas militants, overlooking one fact that each Palestinian killed adds to the number of survivors among them.

The wounded and so wounded seek revenge.

Initially, the suicide bombers were Christians, not Muslims. It is incorrect to view the Israeli conflict as solely against Muslims; it targets the native people of the region.

How is it going to end, nobody knows. But there is light shining in the darkness.

People worldwide, including conscientious stricken Jews, have been protesting and demanding a ceasefire regardless of who initiated the conflict in the Middle East. Whether it was Hamas on Oct 7, arriving on hang gliders with weapons, or Jews in 1948 during the Nakba resembling the Holocaust, displacing Palestinians from their land, or the conflicting demands from God on both Palestinians and Israelis.

The senseless killing must stop.

One wishes Daaji and the group luck in their endeavour to achieve world peace.

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