The Newsletters
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
Guru Nanaka was born into a Hindu family in 1439 in what is now Pakistan. Following a transformative realisation while bathing in the river Bein, He gave up his career as an accountant and began to travel throughout India teaching, composing hymns and establishing centres of worship known as dharamsalas.
He taught the absolute unity of God; everything is God, and everything is dependent on the will of God; therefore, spirit and matter are not ultimately antagonistic. Spirit is the only reality, and matter is a form of spirit.
“When I saw truly, I knew that all was primeval. Nanak, the subtle (Spirit) and the gross (material) are, in fact, identical,” Guru Nanak said. “That which is inside a person, the same is outside; nothing else exists; by Divine prompting look upon all existence as one and undifferentiated.”
It was a time in India’s history when Mughal domination had led to increasing tension between Hindu and Muslim. Seeing the divisiveness of human religions, He said: “There is no Hindu or Muslim, so whose path shall I follow? I shall follow the path of God.”
With a group of companions He visited Mecca and infuriated a local official who had discovered that the party were sleeping with their feet towards the Ka’ba, the holy shrine of Islam. As they were dragged away, the Ka’ba was miraculously seen to move also. Guru Nanak declared, “God does not live in one place. He lives everywhere.”
Guru Nanak taught that the way to connect with the Supreme is not through the mind or through rituals, but through direct personal experience. Therefore, He emphasised meditation on the Name and Presence of God.
“As fragrance abides in the flower, as reflection is within the mirror, so does your Lord abide within you. Why search for Him without?”
He also made it clear that realisation of Self/God is not possible without the compassionate agency of a true guru:
“The Guru is my ship to cross the world ocean. The Guru is my place of pilgrimage and sacred stream.”
“Let no man in the world live in delusion. Without a Guru none can cross over to the other shore.”
Before His death in 1539, Guru Nanaka chose one of his followers to take responsibility for establishing the principles He had taught. The principles were then passed down through a succession of gurus in the Sikh religion. Sikhism was not initially intended to be a separate religion from Hinduism or Islam but, due to a long period of persecution, it became increasingly distinct.
Graham Brown