Patanjali's Raja Yoga vs Chari's Sahaj Marg (tm)

From the writings of Ram Chandra (Babuji), the founder of Sahaj Marg which is found on the site of the SRCM (California-1997), the schism led by Chari, under an article called: The Role of the Abhyasi ...

Comments and insertions into the text of other authors by 4d-don are in "red italics"




The Role Of The Abhyasi (by Babuji)


Section: B. Practical

3. Meditation

Under the Sahaj Marg system of training we start from dhyan, the seventh step of Patanjali yoga, fixing our mind on one point in order to practise meditation. The previous steps are not taken up separately but they automatically come into practice as we proceed on with meditation. Thus much of our time and labour are saved.



According to this statement, steps number 1 to 6 inclusively of Patanjali's Raja Yoga, "are not taken up seperately" but are supposed to "automatically come into practice as we proceed on with meditation".

What are these steps? Has anyone "automatically" begun to practice these "missing" or "lost" steps? Is this another "lie" or a "false claim"?? Does it not sound like the "fast-food" industry's claim: "Eat our processed "fast food" and you will get healthier "automatically" without having to do anything ... EASY!!"

With Sahaj Marg (tm) you will, they claim, "automatically" develop a "code of conduct" by starting at step #7 of some other not-practiced system, Raja Yoga, created by someone else, Patanjali! Huh?? That is not what we see from the "outside"!! That claim is thus a "butchering", and hence displays disrespect for Patanjali's Raja Yoga system, and for all who practice his REAL Raja Yoga fervently. And that claim is also an example of a wrong "conduct" ... without any "code" !!


P.S. Notice how "honesty" and/or "truthfulness" are important in Patanjali's Raja Yoga, unlike in Sahaj Marg(tm) where "obedience" is the most important criteria, even obedience to immorality such as lies and general "historical revisions and dis-honesty", and killing, even to "killing your mother" for no reason except that it was asked by the Master (according to Chari in his book: "Heart of the Lion" ... See section: On Choosing a Master ) ... You will not find such blatant and "corrupt morality" or immorality, in Patanjali's Raja Yoga.

Also with Patanjali's "eightfold" path, the mind is used to its full potential and is not "demonized"... unlike Sahaj Marg's obedience where the "serf" is to suspend logic so as to be able to obey to the point of agreeing with "killing your mother", if for no other reason than it was asked by the GURU ... or by any other person who creates such manipulative illusions of "authority", and then claim it as DIVINE or a gift!

We don't need more teaching of how to divide and "how to kill without thinking" ... we need to learn to "love" and "unite"! Everyone knows that except the Sahaj Marg (tm) adherents ... (such as in "stuck", with an adhesive, a glue, an opiate, etc...)

The eight limbs of Raja Yoga or Ashtanga (eight limbed) Yoga are:

• Yama – code of conduct, self-restraint
• Niyama – religious observances, commitments to practice, such as study and devotion
• Āsana – integration of mind and body through physical activity
• Pranayama – regulation of breath leading to integration of mind and body
• Pratyahara – abstraction of the senses, withdrawal of the senses of perception from their objects
• Dharana – concentration, one-pointedness of mind
• Dhyana – meditation (quiet activity that leads to samadhi)
• Samādhi – the quiet state of blissful awareness, superconscious state.

1. Yama or the Patanjali "code of conduct and self restraint" is most certainly not adhered to "in spades" in Sahaj Marg (tm), either by the leadership (Chari, Krishna, Santosh, and the other wealthy businessmen and the "henchmen", etc...) , or for that matter, by the abhyasis and/or the preceptors that I know. It is also not witnessed in the way some of the abhyasis and/or the preceptors deal with one another or with their families (allegedly disrespecting or separating from their families, and spending much of their family's wealth on the 3M's (Mission, Method, Master) and not on their real families, their children or their grand-children, the poor, the sick and the marginalized of their own cultures, etc...).

Adherents to Sahaj Marg (tm), act much more like self-serving or narcissistic "addicts" looking for their regular "fix", repeating the "company line" with exact same words, like zombies. Nor is it witnessed in the opulent structures (Ashrams, retreats) that the SRCM (California-1997) builds or purchases (marble, lions, manicured (natural??) lawns, larger than life busts and icons (of themselves) everywhere, retreats for the well-to-do, etc... etc ...

Beginning with the lies about Lalaji's role in Sahaj Marg, to the schisms ad infinitum, and the many inner squabbles, we can now see why this step had to be "ousted" and never mentioned again ...

But we will bring it up and shine a light on it, to the shame, and eventually for the healing, of the corruption in the MISSION ...

Read well, all old "cougars" who chase "young studs", all who play "match-maker", all proponents and practitioners of "tantric yoga" and other so-called "alternate therapies", and those who would use violence to take-over ashrams ... (there are cameras everywhere!!)


Yama (restraints) consists of five parts: Ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (truthfulness), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (sexual abstinence unless intentionally procreating) and Aparigraha (non-covetousness).

Ahimsa is perfect harmlessness, as well as positive love. The five directives of Yama lay down behavioral norms as prerequisites for elimination of fear, and contribute to a tranquil mind.

According to the Founder, Babuji, Sahaj Marg will not bring PEACE but a "yearning" or a "restlessness", not a "tranquil" mind as Patanjali's Raja Yoga ... Hence the cancerous growth of Chari's goal-driven SRCM (California-1997) with his "evangelist" preceptors who would conquer the world for Sahaj Marg (tm) to please the megalomaniacal desires of their Master, Chari. ... Once the world is "conquered", then will the Sahaj Marg (tm) abhyasis have a "tranquil" mind? But will they finally BE at peace? ... ;-)) How many religions have and/or preach the same "goal" ... UNIQUE? NOT!!

The religious dream of "conquering the world" will remain a dream and will never become a REALITY!! The Reality of the ONE-ness and ALL-ness of SPIRIT-uality will not allow it ... ONE is ALL ... All paths lead to ONE and ONE-ness ... We are already ONE!! There is no goal to achieve or anything to "conquer"!!

There is just: SOMETHING TO REALIZE! No rituals or unique and/or special "method"!!


2. Niyama or observance of the five canons: Shaucha (internal and external purity), Santosha (contentment), Tapas (austerity), Svadhyaya (study of religious books and repetitions of Mantras (... not of "whispers" from the dead, channeled by a MEDIUM), and Ishvarapranidhana (self-surrender to God, and ITS worship ... not to a Mission, Method, Master). Niyama, unlike Yama, prescribes mental exercises to train the mind to control emotions.

Does that mean disrespecting all other religions and insulting them or calling them "corrupt" etc ... or attacking the Ashrams of other Preceptors or the Family of the Founder?
Newspaper articles report such "attacks".

Does anyone at SRCM (California-1997) know the meaning of the word: "austerity" (tapas)?

Who "automatically" uses a "mantra" at Sahaj Marg (tm)??

When is the last time any abhyasi has observed these religious canons "automatically" ?



3. Asana or integration of mind and body through physical activity... That does not mean work at the Ashrams and retreats for the "well-to-do" for free ... while neglecting your own homes and families, as well as the poor, the sick and the needy around your own cities, cultures and countries ... Has this grown from your practice of Sahaj Marg (tm) and the "imagining of a light in your heart" ? Light is "MATERIAL" ... not SPIRIT!! Imagination is "not real" ... How can Abhyasis claim to become ONE as they still "disrespect" their families and other RELIGIONS or MINORITIES?

Are any adherents to Sahaj Marg (tm) going to lie and pretend that they are really practicing Raja Yoga "automatically", as many others who, apparently like fools, according to Sahaj Marg(tm), really practice the REAL Raja Yoga? How disrespectful of the true adherents to the Raja Yoga of Patanjali!

There are two main definitions of asanas:

• Yoga Vyayam (dynamic exercise), and:
• Asana in the sense of a posture that one can hold for a period of time, staying relaxed and with normal (calm) breathing (or, as some sources say, "without effort").

In Hindi and Sanskrit, Asana means literally "seat", the place where one sits; or posture, position of the body (any position). Asanas (in the sense of Yoga "posture") are said to derive from the various positions of animals' bodies (whence are derived most of the names of the positions). Therefore, according to Yoga philosophy, there are 8.4 million of them (as are living beings on the Earth). 84 asanas are considered to be the main postures, of which the highest are Shirshasan (headstand) and Padmasan (lotus).

The practice of Asanas affects the following aspects or planes of the human being:

• physical (blood circulation, inner organs, glands, muscles, joints and nerve system)
• psychological (developing emotional balance and stability, harmony)
• mental (improved ability to concentrate, memory)
• consciousness (purifying and clarifying consciousness/awareness)

From the Raja Yoga perspective, it is considered that the physical postures and pranayama serve to prepare the body and mind for the following steps: Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi (withdrawal of the senses, contemplation, meditation, and state of expanded or transcendental consciousness, where the activity of the mind ceases and "The Knower and The Object of Knowledge Become One").

4. Pranayama or regulation of breath... Which one of you are regulating your breath? I presume "none"!! Does it grow "automatically", from beginning at step #7 of the "eightfold path"? I would venture a "NO"!!

Pranayama is made out of two sanskrit words (prana = life energy; yama = control or modification). Breathing is the medium used to achieve this goal. The mind and life force are correlated to the breath. Through regulating the breathing and practicing awareness on it, one learns to control prana.

According to Raja Yoga, there are three main types of pranayama:

• purak (inhalation)
• rechak (exhalation)
• kumbhak (holding the breath); which is further divided into:

• antara kumbhak (withholding the breath after inhalation)
• bahar kumbhak (withholding the breath after exhalation)
• keval kumbhak (spontaneous withholding of the breath)

5. Pratyahara the state of the quiet mind or "Nirbija" or the "seedless state" in which there is no mental object of focus (this will not be reached in Sahaj Marg (tm), as the abhyasi is to "imagine light in the heart" ... "light" is a material "object of focus ... Has any abhyasi progressed to "no object of focus"? Come-on ... lie like some of your leadership!! Become arrogant like THEM!)


This process, (it is said) will lead to a spontaneous state of quiet mind, the "Nirbija" or the "seedless state", in which there is no mental object of focus.


Pratyahara is bringing the awareness to reside deep within oneself, free from the senses and the external world. The Goal of Pratyahara is not to disrupt the communication from the sense organ to the brain. The awareness is far removed from the five senses. Pratyahara cannot be achieved without achievement of the preceding limbs (pranayama, niyama, etc.). The awareness comes to rest deep in the inner space, and during this time the yogi's breath will be temporarily suspended. Pratyahara should not just be likened to concentration or meditation, etc. It is a yogic practice that takes on adequacy with the prior 8 limbs as prerequisites.




6. Dharana or concentration or one pointedness of mind.

Real Yoga starts from concentration. Concentration merges into meditation. Meditation ends in Samadhi. Retention of breath, Brahmacharya, Satvic (pure) food (not spicy), seclusion (oh yes?), silence, Satsanga (being in the company of a REAL guru), and not mixing much with people are all aids to concentration. Concentration on Trikuti (the space between the two eyebrows) with closed eyes is preferred. The mind can thus be easily controlled, as this is the seat for the mind (not the "heart" and not with an "imagined light"... pretending it to be "DIVINE"... )

Who in Sahaj Marg (tm) is "automatically" meditating on the "space between the two eyebrows"?? Do the preceptors even know about this and do they "guide" their "serfs" the Raja Yoga way, or does it happen for anyone "automatically", as mentioned by Babuji in his article ? (see above). A real GURU is not the same as a "self-titled" Guru!! And "not mixing with people" is not endless "parties" !!



Conclusion by 4d-don:

It is obvious that Sahaj Marg (tm) is not a Raja Yoga !! The focal point is not the same at all!!

Sahaj Marg (tm) is at best a butchered Raja Yoga starting at the "dessert" to end at the "drink" (tea, coffee?), or at course #7 of an "eight course" meal, but the meal has no entrées, no salad, no soup, or no "main course" ... and most of the real meal never really comes !! The claim is that if one eats the dessert, the full eight-course meal will fill and feed you "automatically", as if you had eaten the full "eight-course" meal! NOT! It's another "fantasy" !!


Sahaj Marg(tm), the trade-marked (commercial) product of SRCM (California-1997) is like the product of Fast Food Joints ... Many promoters and marketers claim their products to be for the "good of all" or "healthy" or "natural", or "easy", but it is really just "Fast Food", marketed for maximum profit. They just claim their product to be "NATURAL" and "easy" of course, but ... do we believe them? Just the naive and the gullible do. "Try it", the marketers say. But you will only know when you get "ill", or in this case, according to their own criteria for "spirituality": DIVIDED !!

They also preach that one should be "simple" but are they? How many cottages and houses, ranches, or hotels, castles can one have before one's life is not categorized as "simple"? They are "developers" after all!!
They can preach simplicity but they can't live it.

As with the DIVISIVE Sahaj Marg (tm): By their Fruit ye will know them!!

Sahaj Marg(tm) so far does not UNITE, but creates divisions where once, there was unity, and Sahaj Marg (tm) has behind it, a trail of broken families and disappointed preceptors who have either been ousted or have left in disgust ... and then there is the recent resignation of the next "GODMAN-to be" Ajay Kumar Bhatter !!! Does that not strike you as "weird"!! What caused that? Is this path not "that important"??

The sheep are lost in the MOUNTAINS and the wolf is biding its time.


To all the naive and gullible abhyasis who were taken in ... and who now try and "take-in" their friends and family ... for a "nationalist" dream of conquering the world ...

The grass was greener where you were before Sahaj Marg (tm) !! But you did not realize it. They (the materialists) were supposed to become simple like you, and instead, you became like them (arrogant and "special", falsely claiming to be in a "unique" practice)!! That is why the SRCM (California-1997) came to get you where you were (their salesmen or their 'judas goats" sold you on Sahaj Marg) !! You did not go where they were, and got "taken in"!! They wanted what you had !! And they still want what you have!! Do you really want to be that DIVIDED and to DIVIDE the world for them, the megalomaniacs, in the name of RELIGION? Yet again ??

HOW UNIQUE!!

Do you really think they can save anyone? Can they even save themselves? Will they, like most businessmen, just continue "business as usual" as the pollution increases and the planet gets "HOTTER"?? Will you be part of their "folly"? How large is your "carbon footprint" now? How much of your "carbon footprint" is created in your search to find SPIRITUALISM (spirits) or ONE, what Chari calls a "male" GOD, and which really exists where you LIVE all the time ... where the grass is GREENER !! And where some of your friends are also saved and GREEN!!

JOIN the SAVED and the "contented" and BE, not "become" as they advise you!! And maybe, you will help the Planet, Gaia!!

ONE and ONE-ness is all around you wherever you are!! And IT is UNITED!



See Also:

Sahaj Marg is not Raja Yoga.
Evolution of Sahaj Marg from Vedic and Yogic Practices



A pearl of Wisdom:

Being Good and Becoming Good are two different things. The Flowering of Goodness is not Becoming Good. Becoming Good is the denial of Goodness.

Jiddu Krishnamurti

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