Saturday, November 08, 2014

Message from Michael, Ex-Preceptor of Sahaj Marg on the "Obedience to the Mission"

I received this message from Michael Nov. 3, 2014.  Michael is an ex-preceptor of Sahaj Marg in the Boston, Mass., USA area (1979-1990).  Michael knew Babuji and was appointed preceptor by Chari.  Michael has a blog, Inner Circle of SRCM, where you can read his in-depth views on the early history of Sahaj Marg and SRCM.  Here he tells us what he thinks of "obedience to the Mission":


Nov. 3, 2014

Obedience To The Mission


I approach all my experiences on this life's Journey with gratitude. In my youth, I thought my spirit Journey began in 1979 when I approached SRCM– 19 years old, seeking spiritual training and guidance. Guidance was lacking. The aging Master, inaccessible. Dissension within the group was looming. Yet, within the first few months, I experienced an inner calm in my heart center. This would ultimately be my companion and guide. No experience in my subsequent 10 years in SRCM has held a candle to this early experience. It has remained so to this day, more than 30 years later. I left SRCM in 1990 after much disappointment and betrayal. When the Master demanded I be “obedient to the Mission”, I left and never looked back. In fact, my true Spiritual Journey began at that very instant. I am grateful for the push! I would not trade this Journey for anything. 

I hear from so many current and former SRCM abhyasis who struggle in their effort to achieve something spiritual. Many suffer from trauma inflicted upon them in their association with SRCM, its preceptors and hierarchy. Some struggle with confused thinking and low self esteem. Yet, I believe each and every one has experienced a centered heart early on their practice. The internal struggle results from the pursuit of spiritual achievements beyond the simplicity of a centered heart. That centered heart is the only constant on a Journey that never ends. Further harm is done by demanding obedience to the Mission.

What is the purpose of this obedience? What has this Mission created? Vast real estate holdings? Publications irrelevant to anyone who does not share in obedience to the Mission? What has the Mission done to uplift Humanity that merits obedience to it? The Mission anoints spiritual trainers who are but beginners, with little or no training of their own. Its hierarchy has neither the compassion nor the patience to affirm the divinity that exists in every aspirant's heart. Instead they proclaim that the highest divinity exists only in the one Master, as if nature hoards its abundance in only one heart! They forswear their disciples as merely slaves of wishes, full of grossness, in need of cleaning. 

This behavior is the antithesis of the ancient spiritual truth - The truth, which declares the heart as the true guide, where at its core exists the spark of the Infinite. Only when one affirms this truth does the Infinite Journey begin! When one pursues a spiritual goal, they step off this Journey. They risk mental anguish, trauma and even insanity. Obedience to the Mission is a dangerous distraction. The Mission serves only itself. It serves only to perpetuate myths that perpetuate obedience to itself. The truth is, there exists no divine master to take you to an ultimate spiritual goal, because there is no goal. There is only the Journey itself – which is Infinite, and the heart is the only true guide and Master.

Michael


See also:
Earlier Comment by Michael on his experience with Chari
Inner Circle of SRCM (Michael's Blog) 

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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi really true, but people think they need a mastaer or guide to help them to corss this physical plane and to enter a spiritual realm , like they need a guide to learn driving, swimming, or karate , even like schooling.. so they start seeking a guru...
-saket

4d-Don said...

Hi Saket...

Not all "PEOPLE" seek a "guru" ...

Some (most) "people" seek a priest, an imam, a minister of the "cloth", a (faith) healer, a holy man, etc... etc... even a "doctor"(western) or a "psychologist"... and some even seek among the forces of nature and the "spirits of the dead" and/or their "Mediums". (as some "people" do with Sahaj Marg and their "Whispers from the Brighter World", allegedly received from Babuji now dwelling in the "central religion", and who's messages are channeled by some "Anonymous French Lady Medium" ...)


And that makes up the majority of the "people" of the world ... the "guru" seekers are only a very small percentage of what you call: "the people" ...

And to get a "real" guru is as difficult as getting a real "priest" etc... Try to find an "un-corrupted vessel" so as to assure a "clean product" (as we do with water??). With water, we can wash the glass... but Sahaj Marg, you can't clean Chari because his is the "MASTER"... and the disciple can only "Obey"...

The world of the "physical" (the physical or material plane) is easily corrupted and the "gurus" (Chari and Sahaj Marg) are not immune to that physical corruption ... (see "Sahaj Marg" or SRCM), where the corruption is at the top level of their pyramid of power, and inside the "group" itself, much as the corruption is inside the structure of other religions as claimed by Chari ... ie. the Vatican, Islam, and the other religious structures ...

So good luck...

But I say: Find your ONE-ness on your own and you will have as much chance of finding ONE-ness, as those who seek Salvation or Liberation from others and find the REALITY of the corrupted and what they themselves call the corruption by "matter" (wealth and the "corporate or capitalist system") ... or the self-titled "Masters" of Asia ...

Don....

Michael said...

Spirituality is not like swimming lessons. It is a state of being, not something that is achieved or sought.

When a guru or organization demand obedience, I say run, don't walk away. True humility comes from surrendering to the Journey that is only yours to take. This is not the same as obedience. Spiritual hucksters would have you believe that humility comes from obedience when in fact only slavery is the result.

A spiritual guide can only lend a helping hand or provide a push when one has strayed off their path, but the Journey belongs to you!


Michael

Anonymous said...

thank you don and michael, but can we do meditaoin as we like or think, because i dont want to do lot of trial and error. wanted to know the correct method. asking just to clear my confusion, dont mind...
-saket

4d-Don said...


Hi Saket...

This is not "dogma" but "opinion"..

If you are looking for a Meditation "system", I would start by checking out (or reading) the "orthodox" or the "classical" method of Raja Yoga (aka: the Royal Yoga, the "King of Yoga"), the Yoga of the Mind ...

It is a method credited to Patanjali (from circa 5th Century BCE) for controlling the mind by placing the mind (or focussing it) in meditation on an object or on a point ...

Some (many) practices suggest focusing on the heart (Babuji of Sahaj Marg says to "focus on an (imaginary??) light in the heart" as if the heart was the seat of the soul ... but that is a falsehood ... there are no "lights" in the heart. To focus on the "imaginary" will not reveal "REALITY" or the Divine in ALL. But the adherents will create "fantasies" instead, and as Michael says, that could lead to many emotional or mental problems. (we also know that the heart is not the seat of "emotions" but is merely a "pump" for blood. One should not ask the heart to do the work of the "central nervous system" and the "brain". If the soul or if "SPIRIT" exists, it does not reside only inside the heart but in the "whole" person and more... it probably extends in TIME ... If one "loves or hates" one does not only use the heart but the whole body. Similarly, we don't get a "gut-feeling" by focusing only on the "mid-section". Also, one does not get to see the "future" (or the past) by focusing on the "third eye"... That is part of the SCAM of spiritualism and it is not "SPIRITUALITY"...

But some "meditation methods" suggest focusing on the "third eye"... and everywhere else.

See for a start, here is a general description of Raja Yoga:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C4%81ja_yoga

You will no doubt notice that Raja Yoga (of Patanjali) is a "self-help" system and is very rational ... and it does not oppose any religious belief. But it is only one method and not the only one...

To ask someone "how does one meditate" is like asking someone "how does one pray" ... What is the "right" way to pray?? Hmmm!

Everyone has a preferred way to "commune with either the Divine inside or the "SPIRIT" (not "spirits" ... no "s". SPIRIT is ONE!) or the "essence" (soul?) inside one's self ... there are as many methods of praying as there are groups (religions), if not as many as there are people ...

To be "free" means to search out your own path and not necessarily follow others ... Do not "obey" anyone but yourself or agree to be a "slave", as Sahaj Marg suggests you do, by repeating daily affirmations of your slavishness and/or obedience to the MISSION (and it's leadership??). Or do not every day, brainwash yourself of your "serf-ness", (auto-hypnosis) and expect "FREEDOM" as a result. Do your own research after you have garnered as many opinions as you need.

... then you will find that the "evidence" (not the proof) is in the "Journeying" ... not in the "theory" or the "guarantees" of the salesmen or the proselytizers.

As Michael says: "The Journey is the thing!!"

Or as Baba Ram Das says:
"BE HERE NOW!!"

And soon, we will hear what Saket says ... Right?? lol lol

Neither a leader or a follower of others BE! Simply BE!! Lead (or LIVE) your own Life!!


Don ...

Michael said...

Saket,

There are so many meditation tools to help calm and focus the mind that do not demand your obedience. These are tools however. One can master them, yet still be far from ones Spirit Journey.

What I am saying is that the Journey only begins when you live with confidence that in the core of your heart you are divine.

Experience every moment as a blessed experience on a Spirit Journey that never ends. You can do this immediately. Guidance will come. Tools to navigate the Journey will manifest for every open heart.

....BUT, beware of the hucksters on the Journey who would take your Journey from you! They seek only to take the power from disciples willing to forego their Journey to obediently serve a master.

Stop seeking and BE. Embrace the Journey that is already yours with the wonderment of a child!

Michael

Anonymous said...

dear don and michael,
Thank you verymuch for sharing your experiences and thoughts. its true that Many great saints never had any guru in their life, (buddha, ramana, etc) i got some clarity on this. i may write if i need any further clarifications... :)
- saket