A discovery to bliss

I had never seen a Christmas celebration such as this one - around 17,000 people from across the country and several foreigners, meditating, singing bhajans, narrating tales…

I had never seen a Christmas celebration such as this one - around 17,000 people from across the country and several foreigners, meditating, singing bhajans, narrating tales…

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We were at the Sahaj Yoga Shivir in Nargoal, Gujarat. Doctors, IAS officers, retired army officers narrated their lovely stories. A first-timer, it was my turn to listen in full attention and awe. They were mostly tales of miracles and life-changing and thought-provoking experiences. But I am not going to repeat those. Any truth, once removed from its narrator, acquires an element of fiction; and I'd rather stick to the facts.

I discovered Sahaj Yoga two months ago. Someone I know told me of a simple yogic meditation that was apparently a recipe to handle the mundane but mountain-like stresses of urban life. And so I got started.

What I discovered in the next few weeks was that Sahaj Yoga lived up to its name. While I am not qualified to do a comparative study, I can say in Sahaj Yoga I found what I was looking for all these years.

The meditation itself is simple and was conceptualised (by Sahaj Yoga founder Nirmala Devi in 1970) in a way that you end up questioning yourself and in the process counselling yourself. Another thing that appealed to me was that instead of some kind of self lacerating exercise, this one stresses on forgiveness and kindness to one's own self as well as to others.

So, what does it do for me? At the end of every session, I feel that someone has turned on the 'exhaust fan' within me. Eyes shut, mind semi-blank (it is very difficult not to let a single thought cross your path), and the spirit willing to forgive and forget, the fumes of anger, hopelessness, disappointments seem to dissipate.

Also free from any kind of set format, Sahaj Yoga in recent months has come to be my 'portable spiritual gymnasium'. And, like any good gymnasium, it too gives you more power.