Sahaj Marg: A System of Raja Yoga Meditation

BY MANDY KITCHENER

India has been a place of intrigue for me ever since I was a child. I had read of Yogis who buried their heads underground and survived days without food or drink, as well as rich marvels of architecture devoted to love—and who hasn’t experienced the joyous colour and life in abundance that is Bollywood? Yet, first and foremost, it was, for me, a place of contemplation and spiritual reflection.

I had always been interested in meditation and the spiritual life of the East, but had never gone so far as to delve deeply into the subject, which greatly appealed to me yet at the same time overwhelmed me. It was simply on my list of things to do. You know, once I had enough time after my job, keeping my house clean, trying to stay healthy, and of course catching up with friends. In other words, after the social arrangements were fulfilled and comfort was made, then I would have time for meditation…you have be happy first, right? The funny thing is, as soon as I started meditating I actually found more time to do everything—and do it better than I had before. Irony, it seems, has its rewards.

Since I’ve been living in Japan, the proximity and abundance of temples and shrines has served as a daily reminder of spirituality, beauty, and ancient culture. These frequent reminders inadvertently and naturally brought me closer to what would eventually become a regular practice.

After putting it on the back burner for quite a few years, an opportunity to learn more and—Shock! Horror!—actually start meditating, landed in my lap.

When I first met Nithya, the lovely Indian lady living in Nagoya, she asked me why I wanted to start meditating. I told her that I wanted to be natural. I used to irritate myself with how I would react to certain situations and people. I wondered why I lacked the composure to deal with a particular situation in the present, and yet had it in abundance after the said event had taken place. It puzzled me as to why I would be so affected by a particular issue, yet at other times be blissfully unaware of things. I would get lost in my own emotions and easily overwhelmed. My patience was tested repeatedly and my tongue often bitten.

Occasionally I would have the insight to understand that the issue at hand was a result of the ego, but more often than not, I would get sucked into playing exhausting games of manipulation and control. I was tired of over-analysing and wondering if I’d said the right thing at the right time, often mulling it all over long after it had occurred. I wanted to be natural. I wanted to be in good condition, mentally and spiritually. I wanted to have positive, intuitive responses to people, situations, and experiences. So it was with a warm sense of synchronicity that I later found out the name of the meditation I had chosen directly translated as ‘the natural path.’

When I first started meditating, I felt so light and immediately relaxed that it carried through into my day, my job, and my relationships. I found I was calmer and had more patience at work with my students. I seemed to have more space within myself to be able to cope with things. I wasn’t in so much of a rush anymore. I felt grounded, balanced, and the attachment to little things that were a previously a cause for concern or worry started to have less significance. I began to settle into myself in a way that I had only briefly touched upon before. I became able to identify and clarify existing problems and issues easily. Things would, of course, continue to pop up like uninvited guests, but they were dealt with accordingly and in a natural, easy, and simplified way that made life oh so easy and manageable.

There are three main aspects of the meditation style that I chose. These are: morning meditation, evening cleaning, and night time prayer meditation. The thing that initially hooked me to this form of meditation, where I could instantly see improvement in myself, was the cleaning aspect.

Every day I did a cleaning meditation at the end of my working day. I focused on letting go of all the things that had happened that day. All the scenarios, attachment to conversations, and encounters were released, so that every day I could start anew. Meditation gave me an opportunity to start fresh and from a clean slate. The change happened little by little from the inside; small, constant steps toward living naturally and being well.

It’s so easy to get lost and distracted in these days of instant coffee, deadlines, and a thousand and one demands on our time. We get caught up in the everyday business of living, getting by on not enough sleep, and juggling a multitude of tasks and obligations.

We forget how much more there is, how much more there can be. Our acquired habits can take us further and further away from our natural selves. Moreover, our memories become layered from life situations long forgotten, past hurts, and experiences lost to time. But ultimately, it is worth paying attention to our inner condition and gradually, these layers of impressions can be cleaned away.

I was quite nervous before I started meditating. What would I find in that scary, faraway depth of my mind? Would it be a friendly experience? A kind one? Would I be able to just sit there with myself in silence? Would I be able to tune out my thoughts?

A million questions flooded over me, but curiosity pushed me forward. Starting meditation has been by far one of the best choices I have ever made.

From my experience, I would say quite simply these are the things meditation isn’t: religious, boring, tiring, and there are things that meditation is: contemplative, relaxing, and grounding.

You become what you meditate on. So in Sahaj Marg meditation, you focus on divine light; the aim to reconnect with your higher self.

According to Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari, the current guide and guru of Sahaj Marg, it is: “A heart-based meditation and inner cleaning practice, which works in concert to free us from mental and emotional burdens, bringing about lightness, clarity, and an inner balance.”

Nithya and her family have been in Japan for almost five years, helping people to start meditating and supporting them through their journey. If you are interested in trying it, there are other people just like Nithya in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto.

• Nagoya: nithya@izumiconsultancy.com
• Tokyo: viveksjp@yahoo.co.jp
• Kyoto: lamuredominique@gmail.com
• Osaka: livnk@hotmail.com
• For general information: www.sahajmarg.org/homepage