Essence of Sahaj Marg
GREAT MEN are not born accidentally. They are born when the world waits for them in eager expectation. Such is the phenomenon of Nature. At a time when Spirituality was tottering helplessly and the solid materialism had usurped the position of spiritualism in human life and Yogic Transmission had become quite obsolete, the Great Soul of my Master descended down to earth in the form of Samarth Guru Mahatma Shri Ram Chandraji Maharaj of Fatehgarh, Uttar Pradesh. This Spiritual Genius was born on Basant Panchami day, 2nd February, 1873. His life marks the advent of a New Era in Spirituality. He was in fact, Nature's Prodigy and His work in the spiritual field is beyond common conception. He has, practically modified the System of Raj Yog so as to suit the need of the time and the capacity of the people in general. He has made wonderful researches in this science and has made human approach up to the farthest limit possible and practicable for man in the least possible time. He was completely dynamic so much so that even people not following him got transformed by the action of the effect radiating from Him all the while.
There have been great saints of highest calibre in India almost at all times and they have, by their teachings and preachings, tried to guide through to uplift the masses to a higher level of consciousness. But, of all these, One who can foment us by His own inner powers would be the best for a Guide in the spiritual pursuit. It is He, and He alone, who perceived our inner complexities, understands our real needs and knows how to conduct us along the path up of the final limit. Pranahuti or Yogic Transmission is of course the chief instrument He works with. That is the only effective process to introduce immediate change to regularise the inner tendencies of our mind, so as to effect our gradual transformation. Under the present conditions, when the poisonous effect has overshadowed the entire cosmos so as to attack every mind and keep it in a constant state of tumult and disorder, when the senses have all gone out of control and when the individual mind is on the wings every moment, we stand in dire need of such a Personality to take us along, supporting us by His superior Powers. This is what we had in the Divine Personality of the Great Master referred to above. He introduced an improved system of Raj Yog, which later came to be known as Sahaj Marg. The System now followed in the Mission presents an easy and natural path for the attainment of Ultimate. The greatest impediment in the path is the unregulated action of the senses, which have gone out of control. For this, the method of suppression or strangulation hitherto advised under older systems are not of much avail. Really, it is not suppression or strangulation that solves our difficulties but the proper regulation of their actions. The Sahaj Marg System does not advise those cruder methods, which are hardly practicable in the routine life of a man. Under the Sahaj Marg System of spiritual training, the action of senses is regulated in a natural way so as to bring them to their original state, i.e., just as they were when we assumed the human form for the first time. Not only this but the lower vritties, which are working independently, are subjected to the control of higher centres of super consciousness. Hence their perverse action is stopped and the higher centres, in their turn, come under the charge of the divine centres and in this way the whole system begins to get divinised.
Further, the five vikaras (impediments) known as kama, krodha, lobha, moha and ahankar, so commonly talked about in the religious books as serious obstruction in a man's path, are also greatly misunderstood. Of these the first two, kama and krodha come to us from God, while the next two, lobha and moha are our own creation. We cannot give up what comes to us from God but only modify them so as to bring them to proper regulation required for Divine living. I may make it clear to you that if kama is somehow destroyed then intelligence will vanish altogether, because it is closely connected with the intelligence centre. If krodha is destroyed, a man will not be able to proceed either towards God, or towards the world. Really, it is only krodha that excites actions which is, thus, a necessary requirement of an embodied soul. Similar is the case with ahankar or egoism. The word 'I', used for the self, is identified with the body, though, at the same time, it points out the fact that the Living Force in him (soul or spirit as one may call it) is really at work behind the screen. If somehow one is relieved of the ideas of body or the soul even, he gets closest to that one craves for. None of these is in itself bad or harmful; it is only we ourselves who have, by our wrong use of them, turned them into impediments in our march towards the Divine. In their pure state, they immensely help in every walk of life, whether worldly or spiritual. It is not, therefore, for us to condemn or crush them, but to purify them so as to regularise the action.
All these changes in a man's being are brought about under the Sahaj Marg System in a most natural way, through he process of Transmission (Pranahuti). In fact, under this System, the regulation of the mind is the job of the Master and not of an abhyasi. When the individual mind is brought to the state of the cosmic mind, the manas assumes its real form and begins to give proper guidance. Man is a bipolar being. It has got its root, nearest to the Base and the other end towards the world. If, somehow, the individual mind gets moulded towards the cosmic mind, it begins to appear in its true colours. As a matter of fact, the human mind is a reflection of the Kshobh, which set into motion the forces of Nature to bring into existence the Creation. The action started in a clockwise motion; that is why we see everything round in Nature. The individual mind is, thus a part of the Godly mind (Kshobh). If, somehow, we turn its downward trend towards the Base, it will become quite calm and peaceful. But, so far as my personal experience goes, I find that it is only the help of one, of Dynamic Personality, that can turn it towards the Base. It is only the Power and the Will of such a Personality that matters in this respect.
As for the highest human approach, I may say, if by God's Grace one gets into Central Region after crossing all the Rings of Splendour, the very atoms of the body begin to turn into energy and then, further on, to its Ultimate. It cannot, however, be achieved by mere abhyas and self-effort. At higher levels, the conditions are such that even if one ascends a little by self-effort, he quickly slips down because of the strong push from above. So for our entry into higher regions, the Master's help is indispensable. This is in brief about Sahaj Marg and what it presents to the world. Everyone is quite welcome to try and have a practical experience of it.
In Mysore, On December 20, 1964