Who Is Alexis? Why His Focus On Sahaj Marg?

Taken and Translated (With Google Translate) from Alexis' s French Blog: Le Projet Sahaj Marg,


Alexis Said:

To answer all the questions, here are the reasons that attracted me to the Shri Ram Chandra Mission ...

As a young student, I was part of a small group of friends and with them I discovered Sahaj Marg. It was, it seemed, a classical (spiritual) path made up of collective meditation and sittings with a preceptor. I even met Chari, at the occasion of a large celebration. But I obviously do not have the same need of the spiritual quest as my friends, and I did not invest as much of myself (time) as they. My contacts with the SRCM have remain quite distant, and then, they ran out of steam until I finally abandoned the practice altogether. All in all, my adventure did not last two years. Spirituality is not my thing ...

Fifteen years later, a colleague from work during this episode of my life, contact me. He was alarmed, his wife was beginning to meditate in the SRCM. I hasten to reassure him: "This is not a cult, it is not dangerous, it is just meditation, go and see". But his family life was changing very fast. Although he tried to accompany his wife to meditation, she moved away from him, they live in separate rooms. Despite his efforts, the family atmosphere deteriorates. Separation and divorce follow.

Surprised, I resume contact with my old buddies, life having separated us. And I see a bleak picture: they are all divorced, except a couple of followers married by Chari and a friend who has left the SRCM. I am not able to talk about anything with them except Chari, as they all continuously have his name on their lips. They follow him throughout his travels in Europe, they are regularly in India and I see they take no personal decision without first talking to Chari. Finally, they are constantly attempting to convince me to start meditating again, until I'm annoyed. Very disturbing!

My certainties crumble. What then is hiding behind this movement? I thought it trivial, but now, I'm not so sure. I try to learn about it without much success. Although it was declared a "harmful secte" in a parliamentary report, the SRCM is too small and not dangerous enough to alarm and mobilize the government and associations. My friend who has left the SRCM does not want to hear about it, she has turned the page with difficulty, and wants to move on. My colleague is trying to maintain a close relationship with his ex in order to preserve his relationship with his children who have become teenagers. This is a situation that I will find continuously thereafter in my contacts with former members or their family, nobody can or want to testify ...

In contacting these different people, I ended up accumulating a certain amount of disturbing information about this movement. This is what I would have asked for, when I first began to learn about this group. The SRCM presents itself innocuously as yoga and meditation, I have long believed this, and yet the damage is undeniable. What to do? Then in 2000, I threw myself into the water, I gathered the info I had collected in a file that I sent to charities helping victims of "harmful cults". I created a website to try to provide information that was different from the version distributed by the SRCM, the other side of the mirror.

In 2005, Chari slips up. The SRCM, seeking money, multiplies its mistakes and makes errors of communication among its members. The yoke cracked, the tongues are loosened and gradually some outraged followers begin to leave the mission, and dissidents create blogs to express themselves because they are not listened to inside the SRCM. Parents and family members also ... Our knowledge of the SRCM has now considerably increased. Today, I present here the results of our exchanges, research and information. Other blogs express different sensitivities. Discussions are focused on Elodie's blog: Pour Que Vive Le Sahaj Marg.

Everyone is free to make their own choices, but it is preferable to make them when one is well informed.

However, contrary to popular belief among the "abhyasis", I have other interests. The changing world and society has always fascinated me, and we can say that I'm well served at the moment. Even if they have no great rapport with Sahaj Marg, I would therefore invite you to visit my other blogs Transformations and Free Thought. At the crossroads of change and of Sahaj Marg, I am proposing a third and last blog on Spiritual Mutation, now in progress.

Happy Reading!



Alexis' Blog: Le Projet Sahaj Marg

See also for Legal Documents, Interviews of ex-members, and Newspaper Articles, see:

Freedom From Sahaj Marg