2006/11
A beautiful daughter, beachside home, family and friends close by, a well-paid, part-time job within walking distance of home and a great social life that came with free babysitters – that was my life before I came to Sahaja Yoga. Compared with our previous home, a small cramped house in inner Sydney, I felt as though I was on a permanent holiday. However, I kept yearning for something else. I described it once as wanting to find my spirit’s home.
When I told a friend about this yearning she brought me the local paper to show me an advertisement about a Sahaja Yoga program, complete with Indian music, food and meditation. It was a four-week course at a library in a nearby suburb and it was free. It sounded great and I told my friend that I would go.
I was not a “new age” person and knew nothing about the Kundalini or self-realisation. I did, however, have dreams from time to time that were premonitions. These dreams always left me with a strong awareness of their message when I awoke.
I had a strict deadline at work and, as usual, was behind schedule. So, the day before the program I decided not to go. However, that night I had one of those dreams. I dreamed I was at the library walking around with a pile of books in my arms. I came to a doorway and looked in. There were two men standing in the room getting ready for the Sahaja Yoga program. I kept walking. When I passed the room a second time, the two men approached me and asked if I was going to the program. I said that I couldn’t because I was too busy. One of the men smiled at me and said, “What a shame! Because you think you are so busy, you will miss out, and this is just for you. It is what you are looking for.” When I awoke the next morning, I remembered the dream and knew that I had to go to the program.
As I got there, I was puffing away on the last of my daily packet of cigarettes.
When I walked in, I was dumbstruck. The room was exactly as it had appeared in my dream and, amazingly, two of the men present were the same ones who had approached me in my dream!
When the presenter was explaining the process of self-realisation, I found it very difficult to believe and decided to leave. However, as I was about to leave, a video began. It was Shri Mataji. I couldn’t take my eyes from Her, and Her opening words captured my attention. She asked us to keep an open mind like a scientist and to see for ourselves how it works. I decided to listen. Every word that Shri Mataji uttered, provided the missing pieces of the jigsaw that formed my life. I hung on Her every word.
Before I knew it, I was doing exactly as I was told to get my realization. When I held my palm over the top of my head, I felt the cool breeze that I had scoffed at in the beginning. It was there! I felt transformed, but I didn’t realise the magnitude of this transformation until later, when I realised I had forgotten to buy my essential packet of cigarettes.
I saw another friend on the way home who exclaimed, “Whatever you’ve had, I want a ton of it! Look at your eyes! You look amazing!”
Unused to such a greeting, I mumbled something about a wonderful meditation program and raced home to see for myself. When I looked in the mirror, I saw that I had a glow and my eyes were sparkling. My whole face looked softer. I had changed! My spirit had come home.
I continued to meditate and, before I knew it, nights on the town, alcohol and smoking were replaced with peace, joy and an amazing feeling of contentment. I am forever grateful to Shri Mataji for finding me.
LB
When you meditate, try not to … make some sort of a function out of it. No. Meditation is something silencing yourself, silencing your thoughts and the going to that deep ocean which is within you…
But supposing you don’t do that; if you don’t meditate, I can make out immediately those who are meditating and those who are not – it’s not difficult for me. Those who do not meditate are always hesitating; they are confused; they can’t understand.
And that’s why meditation is the most important thing in Sahaj Yoga. Just like a light burns, in the electricity flowing in it, you can say, or … because of the candles, in the same way meditation is a continuous availability of the Divine force.
Shri Mataji, 2002
Willoughby Council in Sydney have asked Graham Brown to participate in their annual “Artists Weekend”.
This year Graham will be showing five small paintings at the Northbridge School of Visual Arts, 307 Sailors Bay Road, Northbridge. They will be on display only on Saturday 11 November and Sunday 12 November between 11.00 am and 4.00 pm.
The paintings can also be seen on the website http://www.iriscroll.com/.
Tension is very easy to absorb. Day-to-day rush and bustle become standard rhythms. Even the abrasive speed of images and information on television transmits a buzziness that is hard to shake off. Ours is a speedy world. And we often become slaves to it. Ease and well-being we long for, but they are hard to find. We can search the world and catch only glimpses. The only way to gain, and hold, such rewarding grace is by turning inward. Inside each one of us we have, born within, the source of balance and peace and well-being for which we yearn. Each and all of humanity has a built-in well-spring of relaxation, health and freedom. It’s part the life force in us. It’s the foundation on which we build joy and love.
To begin this journey towards balance and security, we must gain our self-realisation, a very singular experience with a thousand names. Every language, every society, has a label for the Realisation of the Self – enlightenment, moksha, union, illumination, rhu, yoga – but ultimately they are all one thing, the joining together of the essence of our being with the universal power of creation. It’s an on-going part of the “big bang” that started billions of years ago.
The experience of self-realisation is developed, deepened, given power to overcome problems, by meditation. And through Sahaja Yoga this self-realisation can be gained and the basics of profound meditation absorbed. In an almost effortless and inexpensive way (Sahaja Yoga does not charge) peace and well-being can be brought into day-to-day life.
The founder of Sahaja Yoga is Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi. Since 1970 She has been touring the world giving to those who seek it, self-realisation and knowledge of the techniques that bring about peace of mind, a deeper understanding of Divinity, health and a balanced life.
Self-realisation has been the aim of seekers for millennia. Until recently it was very hard to gain; sacrifice and many years’ dedication were required. But now, through the discoveries and grace of Shri Mataji, all that is needed are the desire for it and congenial circumstances. Once gained, this gift of self-realisation can be passed on to others. The more self-realised people there are in this world, the greater are the chances of peace, more relaxed life-styles, greater trust and collective respect.
Brian Bell