Integritus Prime

New friends in India have been asking me recently, “So you came to India pretty suddenly, what happened?”

I did. Here’s the story – after one heartfulness “sitting” in Fiji late last November from Sashi Kiran, the founder of the award-winning nonprofit FRIEND, I felt like my heart would explode. I was blown away that it was so intense, because I’ve been meditating for 13 years and thought I knew a thing or two about meditation.

Sashi mentioned I needed more cleaning and she spoke of an ashram in India. I didn’t know what “cleaning” meant.

Based on Sashi’s advice, I did 3 heartfulness master classes online with the leader of the movement, Daaji, and used the app to meditate, but I didn’t feel the same as before. No profound sensations in my heart.

So, I told Sashi I would not be going to India.

Then, I got busy with my book and speaking tour in Sydney, and then Gold Coast.

When I returned to Fiji in early January, three people I hold in high esteem had reached out and told me me I must go to India. It was their intuition, and they didn’t know I was in talks with Sashi, so I knew I must go. I was being called.

I booked my flights to India within two weeks of my return from Australia to Fiji, after informing Sashi of my changed plans. Sashi helped me a lot by connecting me with accommodation and other staff at the ashram. I booked my travel on January 20, and landed in India on January 26.

At 4am on Januay 27, I set foot on the property of Kanha Shanti Vanam. For that story, tune into my show, Mornings with Marilyn.

I have much more to say about my time in India, but let’s begin with the most important basics. What is heartfulness? It is a meditation technique with four parts:

1. Relaxation: I found it similar to the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) body scan, except shorter, and quite effective. It is a short guided meditation to relax the body and mind. The idea is to be relaxed before we start meditation. Makes sense.
2. Meditation: Meditations are called sittings and there are two types:
   1. Sitting with a preceptor or trainer: In this situation, you, the abhyasi (seeker), sit facing a preceptor who gives you yogic transmission, or pranahuti, which is the cornerstone of heartfulness. Yogic transmission is a channeling of energy to you via the preceptor to clean away pain and what we call samskaras, the impressions left in the heart by judgments, likes and dislikes, and many other emotions that we tend to carry around like baggage. During this meditation, you gently carry a supposition that the divine light of source is in your heart. You’re not required to visualize it, simply hold that idea and focus your attention on the heart. When we do a group sitting with a preceptor, it’s called a satsang. Sometimes, you will notice sensations in the heart and/or body. Sometimes, it’s very subtle and you don’t notice anything. Yogic transmission is working anyway.
   2. Sitting alone: You can sit with the same supposition of divine light in your heart.
3. Cleaning: This is a visual technique where you visualize impurities and complexities you’ve accumulated during the day (that argument you had, or stress, or anything else weighing you down), escaping your spine in the form of smoke. You do this for 20-30 minutes at the end of the day, or until you feel lighter, and then visualize white light entering your body from the front. Over time, I’ve noticed the immediate effects of this technique, and these days I don’t need to do it for very long to feel the benefit.
4. Prayer: A prayer to the “master” of the heartfulness movement is recommended before bed, with a 15-minute meditation on that prayer. I found the prayer a little difficult to get into, because I don’t believe in masters, but the living master, Kamlesh D. Patel or Daaji as he is called, interprets it as the master, or God, in yourself, which I love. I learned from other preceptors and abhyasis (seekers), that the prayer may also include sentiments like: may all experience peace, may known and unknown burdens be lifted, may forgiveness and love go to all those who have wronged me or I have wronged. I love these sentiments, and I think they are wonderful to focus on every night.

I learned a lot about heartfulness, aside from the meditation itself, which is the most important part – practice. If you’re interested in learning, find a local preceptor near you, use the app, or try these masterclasses from Daaji.

I also learned about the Heartfulness Institute, which is spreading awareness and increasing the membership in the heartfulness movement, and the Heartfulness Education Trust, which focuses on spirituality-based education. Basically, the movement is expanding and there are many initiatives happening that aim to support individuals and communities become more joyful. The movement started out as Sahaj Marg (the natural way), through the Sri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM), which was founded by the second master in the movement, called Ram Chandra, affectionately known as Babuji, who named it after the first master of the same name.

I saw and experienced this joy, while at the ashram, especially during a 20,000+ celebratory gathering called a bhandara. I learned so much from nature and my volunteering experiences, as well as the amazing people I met and befriended. I also had the good fortune to support a new nonprofit, affiliated with heartfulness and ambitious in its intended service to the globe, as well as very innovative in its approach. Stay tuned to hear more about all this and more on my adventures in India, and let me know if you want me to focus on anything in particular about my experiences in upcoming posts.