Sahaja Meditation in the USA

Before I started Sahaja Meditation, I could no more express pure love to someone as will my hair to turn purple. I had no idea what “pure love” was, to begin with. And I was terrified of letting anyone “in”, of letting anyone really know what was happening inside me. (I was convinced it would be horrifying to them to find out about all the inner torment and resentment.)

In Sahaja Meditation, I can say from my personal experiences, our awareness expands and deepens. It becomes subtle and very sensitive. We come to know how we are — for real — inside, and how the people around us are — for real — inside. So now, when I meditate with my friends, there is no need to “tell my secrets”. They are completely aware of my strengths and weaknesses. In the state of meditation, their nervous system, their brain, knows everything about my inner being. And I know everything about them, too. Not the exact content of their thoughts, but I can tell when they are thinking, and when their mind is at rest.

I was talking with a friend. We both practice Sahaja Meditation. She’s been practicing it for less than ten years. I’ve been practicing it for over twenty-five years. Sometimes I get frustrated, because, even though I have changed a lot, and am nothing like the person I was before I started meditating, I still aspire to be an even better person: more self-disciplined, more expressive of my love, more productive. I was expressing this frustration with the friend, and she said, “growing slowly is better than going backwards.”

That put it in perspective. We’re talking real growth, real change, not a superficial layer on top of a rotten core. Real change takes time — in some people. The bitter, lonely, friendless, angry, nasty, confused, rudderless, lost soul I used to be, is not the person I am today.

Being with a “silent” person, a person enjoying a state of inner calm, my mood is usually uplifted. (“Usually” means it’s always my choice if I want to open my heart to my friend’s compassion and acceptance or not, if I really want to embrace life, if I really want to let go of my stubborness and ego.) In this mood, it’s not just that things could be better, I am certain that they will be better.

All I have to do is stop fretting and obsessing about the apparent “obstacles” to my life goals. Instead of being a magnet for negative ideas and bad feelings, when I am with someone who practices Sahaja Meditation, I turn into a magnet for positive ideas and good feelings. I end up being inspired, recharged, and energized.

One of the coolest things about knowing other people who also practice Sahaja Meditation is the friendships that develop.

With some of my friends, who don’t know how to empty their minds of excessive thinking, when I want to give love to them, and open my heart to them, I also open myself up to accept and absorb whatever problems they have at that moment. I reflect what they are feeling, and it affects me. If they are upset, I can try to cheer them up, but if they are not able to stop thinking I can’t really help them very much. Maybe I can extract a brief grin out of the person, but their worries continue.

However, with someone who regularly tries, like me, to empty his or her mind of useless thoughts, who strives to become “empty” and quiet inside, interactions are very different.

Getting close to someone who is quiet, who is able to connect with their inner potential, means I feel and enjoy their best qualities. We seem to bring out the best in each other. After talking frankly about our problems, we start to get above the problems. We start to see them from a bit of a distance. We start to see how our over-thinking has made us crazy. We don’t need to offer any deep insights to each other; we see and understand where we are, in reality, just by having our inner goodness (wisdom, depth, self-awareness, honesty) reflected back.