{"id":672,"date":"2008-06-28T18:24:57","date_gmt":"2008-06-28T07:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sahajayoga.com.au\/news\/?p=672"},"modified":"2008-06-28T18:24:57","modified_gmt":"2008-06-28T07:24:57","slug":"a-long-and-winding-road-my-journey-in-sahaja-yoga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sahajayoga.com.au\/news\/2008\/06\/28\/a-long-and-winding-road-my-journey-in-sahaja-yoga\/","title":{"rendered":"A Long and Winding Road"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Pathway\"<\/a>I had tried a few of the New Age therapies around in the early ’90s, including affirmations, re-birthing, kinesiology and counselling, among others, but none of them seemed to fill the void, or answer my questions, or explain the mysteries of life, or even help me to feel better.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I wanted to learn to meditate so I could find peace of mind and\u00a0equanimity, to improve my health, to become a better person and to satisfy a longing for knowledge of the truth about life, about the world.\u00a0 As Sahaja Yoga was free, I felt like I had nothing to lose.<\/p>\n

I went to a program at the local Arts Centre.\u00a0 The people at the program were friendly and helpful, and I could see that some of them were very impressive in that they were very nice, kind, sincere, balanced, and strong within themselves without being egotistical or aggressive.\u00a0 I liked the fact that there were no rules to follow, and that you find the truth within yourself in Sahaja Yoga.\u00a0 It was different and interesting and I really enjoyed the Indian classical music.\u00a0 I was keen to find out more about the chakras and how to meditate.<\/p>\n

Shri Mataji came to Canberra and gave a public lecture shortly after I went to my first meditation class.\u00a0 I was very impressed and thought she was an amazing person \u2013 strong, compassionate, wise, intelligent, funny, witty, passionate, knowledgeable, kind, refreshingly honest and direct, and I was surprised by her independent and original thinking.\u00a0 I felt inspired to give Sahaja Yoga a serious trial.<\/p>\n

My curiosity was aroused and I was intrigued by Shri Mataji\u2019s lecture at the public program, as well as by her talks on the videos we saw at the local programs.\u00a0 I was particularly interested in what she said about Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity, and about Lao Tse, Confucius, Abraham, Moses, Zarathustra and Socrates, and about realised souls like Mozart, Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Einstein and Gorbachev.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I was amazed to find that the techniques I learned at the meditation classes really worked!\u00a0 I was very motivated and in the beginning I used to meditate for\u00a0five minutes every morning when I woke up, and at night I would footsoak, use candles to clear the left side for\u00a0five minutes and then meditate for\u00a0five minutes.\u00a0 I found that I felt better!\u00a0 I felt better physically.\u00a0 Emotionally I felt stronger. I was worrying less, sleeping better, felt happier.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And it was fun!\u00a0 Sahaja Yoga is fresh, alive, always different, never boring, never the same.\u00a0 It is always interesting and full of variety.\u00a0 I found small miracles started happening, making my life flow more easily.\u00a0 If I needed to speak to someone, they\u2019d phone me, and if I became aware that I needed to buy something, it would be on special.<\/p>\n

After doing Sahaj meditation for\u00a0thirteen years, I spent\u00a0seven weeks at the Sahaja Yoga International Research and Medical Centre at Mumbai in India.\u00a0 Here I learned more clearing techniques and had the opportunity to spend\u00a0each day in clearing, meditation and introspection.\u00a0 I learned a lot from the teachers or doctors at the Centre and admired their dedication and selfless work in helping the people who went there.\u00a0 Since that time I feel I have gone through another deepening in my meditation and in my understanding.<\/p>\n

I continue to be inspired more and more by Shri Mataji, by her selfless and tireless work for the spiritual evolution of all people, to help them find love and truth and genuine happiness, to help them become better people and to relieve their suffering.\u00a0 I have been helped so much myself that I want to help others find the same peace and joy that I have found.\u00a0 I enjoy listening to her lectures and am always finding new things I hadn\u2019t heard before.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I continue to feel better, emotionally stronger and to have better self-esteem and more peace of mind.\u00a0 I sleep well, worry less and\u00a0cope better with stress,\u00a0I\u2019m not buffeted around by my emotions and I\u2019m less affected by others\u2019 opinions of me.\u00a0 I am more optimistic and hopeful.<\/p>\n

I enjoy meditating more and more and find it more and more helpful in my life.\u00a0 I find the clearing techniques helpful and have got to know myself much better through clearing and through meditating: why I react as I do, how I can act differently and more constructively.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I have better judgement, I feel more certain about the right thing to do, have better judgement about people and situations, and am not swayed so easily by other people.\u00a0 I find meditation helpful in finding the right solution to any problems that arise.<\/p>\n

I feel satisfied and content with my life.\u00a0 Material things are not so important and minor inconveniences don\u2019t worry me so much.\u00a0 I feel like the emptiness inside has been filled by the knowledge of the whole.\u00a0 I feel like the mysteries of life have been answered.<\/p>\n

I am still fascinated by learning more about Sahaja Yoga and about how it fits into the scheme of things, the way it is an integral part of the intricate web of life, how it permeates into everything, how it is the basis of life itself – science, nature, the absolute, the ultimate truth.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s continually heart-warming to see the wonderful qualities in the realised souls, the Sahaja yogis \u2013 the love, the kindness, the integrity, the truthfulness, the simplicity, and each one\u2019s particular talents and abilities.\u00a0 I enjoy seeing the variety of their different life journeys, all leading to the same destination but travelling there by many different roads.<\/p>\n

The love, kindness and blessings showered on me, the love I feel for others, the nice feeling of being able to forgive, and the warm feeling of seeing others express their love towards me and towards others never cease to amaze me.<\/p>\n

I enjoy seeing the myriad ways beauty is expressed by realised souls in music, dance, literature, art, craft and architecture.<\/p>\n

In a world where there is so much cynicism, so much dishonesty and trickery, so much cruelty and hatred, Sahaja Yoga gives me the strength to continue to behave with integrity and honesty and kindness.\u00a0 It also gives me the strength to cope with adversity and to maintain my equanimity in the face of so many threats \u2013 natural disasters, climate change, wars, disease, terrorism.<\/p>\n

Sahaja Yoga gives me hope for the future.\u00a0 If many people take to Sahaja Yoga all the world\u2019s problems can be solved.\u00a0 Just as Sahaja Yoga has transformed my life it can transform the lives of others.\u00a0 Sahaja yogis don\u2019t add to the problems of the world; they help to solve the problems.\u00a0 They are also able to help and support others.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0heartily recommend Sahaja Yoga.\u00a0 Try it!\u00a0 You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.<\/p>\n

Kay Alford<\/p>\n

(Photograph: Vishnu Bonneau)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had tried a few of the New Age therapies around in the early ’90s, including affirmations, re-birthing, kinesiology and counselling, among others, but none of them seemed to fill the void, or answer my questions, or explain the mysteries of life, or even help me to feel better.\u00a0 I wanted to learn to meditate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[42,10,12,16],"tags":[164,334,652,426,448,452,654,537],"class_list":["post-672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-42","category-meditation","category-personal-experiences","category-shri-mataji","tag-chakras","tag-love","tag-meditation","tag-realised-souls","tag-sahaja-yoga","tag-sahaja-yogis","tag-shri-mataji","tag-truth"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4h1Q1-aQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sahajayoga.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sahajayoga.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sahajayoga.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sahajayoga.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sahajayoga.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sahajayoga.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sahajayoga.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sahajayoga.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sahajayoga.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}