1. SELF DEVELOPMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF SPIRITUALITY AND A PRACTICAL APPROACH G L Bajaj, Delhi This course designed by uconnect@srcm.org Facilitator – Class 8 – Natural Path Speaker - Date –

2. Recap  Topics covered thus far Various systems of Meditation  Topics from the past two sessions Theories of life Need for meditation  This week Natural Path or Sahaj Marg Practical session of Meditation

3. “Spirituality is the essence of every religion; it is the common denominator that unites all faiths and beliefs in one human aspiration toward mergence with our divine source. When we worship an external God, there can be a sense of distance, separation and even alienation. Spirituality focuses our attention on the divine residing in our own hearts. This reveals God in a new light, of proximity and intimacy. Being within us, such an entity is readily accessible. All that spirituality seeks is oneness with God or Self, urging us to focus the mind inwards and to approach this inner presence with love. -Shri. P. Rajagopalachari (Chariji)

4. How to choose a system of Meditation? “When a student is ready, a teacher appears?” A life of wonder and inquiry An introspective nature Some inclination towards spirituality The Willingness to practice How to recognize the Teacher & a system for me? By Experiencing Self-Transformation Try sincerely for 3 – 6 months

5. The objectives of this system of meditation To recognize and experience the Divine nature of Soul Mastery over the self To remove obstacles from our progress To develop a set of attitude conducive for Balanced life The Practice Morning Meditation Evening Cleaning Night Prayer Science of Natural Path (Sahaj Marg)

6. Morning Meditation Same time and place daily – morning time is the best Sit in a comfortable posture Say the prayer in heart whole heartedly Put a thought that your heart is filled with divine light Ignore thoughts. Center back on the original thought again Meditate for 30 minutes to one hour

7. Rationale for Meditation Why Divine Light? God can not be defined The quality without duality is Divine Light To become one, we need something without duality Why heart? Heart is the seat of the Soul It is the center of feeling Transmission (Pranahuti) is received at the heart It is circulated to the entire body by vascular system – so whole system gets divinised

8. Evening Cleaning Time - After the day’s work is over Sit comfortably, preferably same time & place Think all the impurities, grossness, complexities, impressions, heaviness are going away in the back In the form of smoke or vapor and In its place Divine energy is entering your heart Apply will power through-out the process After 30 minutes you will feel lighter and fresher

9. Rationale for Cleaning Our current personality is the sum of our past impressions We need to remove unwanted impressions to normalize our lives and expose the divinity inside us Daily cleaning removes the daily impressions Deeper Cleaning is done by prefects This is done during individual sittings of meditations with prefects fortnightly One feels lighter over time and Personality changes over a period of time

10. What is the Prayer? Oh Master! Thou art the real goal of human life We are yet but slaves of wishes putting bar to our advancement Thou art the only God and power to bring us up to that state Meditate on the meaning of the prayer

11. Night time prayer meditation Done before going to bed 10 – 15 minutes Statement of facts – Your goal, obstacles and who can help you as you practice meditation and cleaning Helps in stress free sleep Prepares you for next day – fresh and lively

12. Need for a Guru Guru or Master One who shows you the way or a torch bearer Guru is more than a teacher – Guide. They walk with us in some sense, showing us the way The need for the Guru grows as we grow spiritually Shankaracharya – 3 rare blessings Human Birth, Intense Desire for liberation and association with a Guru

13. Teacher ( Guru) The teacher of teachers, you know, is only God. The second teacher is the guru. The third teacher is your life. For those who have no access to God or guru, life teaches very capably, provided you take life as a lesson to be learnt, to be mastered, and from which we have to evolve into what I would like to call a knowledge-less universe or world, which Sahaj Marg calls the Brighter World. - Shri. P. Rajagopalachari (Chariji)

14. Procedure for Starting Sahaj Marg Sign up – Write your name, Group number, phone and email ID We will contact you and help you start You will have three meditations sessions called “Introductory Sittings” from a trainer called “Prefect” We will teach various aspects of the theory and practice behind Sahaj Marg over the coming weeks There is NO money charged ever for the practice

15. Practical Session 20 minutes of Meditation

16. Next week Sum up the session Next week – “Integration”