Taken and translated from an article: "
Renegade", by Elodie on her French blog in Europe:
Pour Que Vive Le Sahaj Marg.
Renegade
Among the values which my parents transmitted to me during my education, two of
them helped me build the adult which I became: the freedom to think for
myself and the superiority of the spiritual life over the material life.
It is in this spirit that they met Babuji and chose him as a spiritual master nearly 40 years ago.
My brother, my sister and I were bathed in this environment from a very
young childhood and we have logically adhered to it once we reached an older age. Meanwhile, Babuji was replaced by Chari without it bringing any change in our commitment.
We met our companions (partner?) within the Mission, my parents were
appointed preceptors by Babuji, my brother and my sister-in-law by Chari, the union of
my little sister was blessed by Chari, my older nephews and nieces were
educated at LMOIS (Lalaji Memorial Omega International Schoold). A real "Mission" family, as Chari dreamed.
I had the feeling of belonging to a larger family and one based on the values that I had been taught by my parents.
Sahaj Marg represented everything I aspired to since always, a wonderful
dream shared with my partner and which I was eager to pass on to my
children.
Some grains of sand have jammed up this wonderful drive gear. In 2005, the announcement of Whispers by Chari and the interruption of
satsangh by his son for an auction have been the electro-shock that pushed me
out. I broke with the Mission, I broke up with my family and I also later broke up with my former partner.
First supported by my partner and finally also rejected by my last support, I found myself without family and friends, and terribly alone. Added to this was the fact that I had to admit that I had strayed into a dead end and one totally contrary to my principles. I had been used and manipulated without my knowledge and against my will without my noticing it for many years. It is not the easiest thing to recognize. My family was always - and still is - a willing hostage of a pseudo-spiritual deception, a vast and deadly scam.
I suffered terribly from loneliness and from the difficulty of admitting that I had left myself be abused for so long and so substantially.
My son and daughter were my strength, but what has truly saved me, it is our
exchanges and analyses on this blog as well as the relationships I have forged
with some great spiritual personalities, remarkable in my eyes.
Let there be no mistake, I do not write this to encourage your pity or your compassion, I do not want it. I write this for you who doubt, for you who are wondering if your future is in this sinister mission or outside.
Leaving this sidetrack is an indispensable necessity if you still believe in
spiritual values and if you refuse to serve any longer as a cash-cow to a
crook; but the way to stop the addiction is long and difficult.
Realization is a slow and complex process, although some events may precipitate it. My first questionning of the Mission appeared with insignificant doubts. When I questioned my parents or a preceptor, either I got some guilt-inducing responses questioning my practice, or I ran into a wall. I have now forgotten my trivial questions of the time, but I will never forget the attitude of those who replied to me. I was a bad abhyasi, I was not using the Mission correctly, my love for Chari was not strong enough, etc.. etc..
How is it possible that one thus eludes any questions on a spiritual path? From a preceptor, I undoubtedly would have accepted it. I had more trouble accepting when it came from people which I then took for real friend (s). I absolutely refused when it was my family. It was in total contradiction with the values which my parents had transmitted to me, how could they hold on to such language?
I doubted more and more, incredibly disappointed by the behavior of people I
considered members of this large family which the Mission was then for
me, until the events of 2005, which precipitated me out. Chari demanded from us 250 euros for a book not yet printed and with an unknown subject, based on trust (confidence?). I had no more confidence left and 250 euros for a book the group-purchase of which was
prohibited, as also was photocopying or lending, that is a bit
expensive. The commercial aspect had become too obvious.
My departure and the creation of this blog are not the end of my story with Sahaj Marg, far from it. One does not abruptly go from doubt and loss of confidence to a full dis-endoctrination. There are steps, many steps.
The process is not sudden and total, it is slow, difficult, sprinkled
with doubts and some very personal issues, very sentimentally charged and
very emotional.
It still took me a long time to see Chari as he truly is, and not with the eyes
of a fanatic disciple, enamored of his/her spiritual master.
I have long believed that the excesses of the Mission were due to
individual members who composed it, precisely because of their human condition. Sahaj Marg remained the best spiritual method and Chari was its undisputed master. I still believed in the possibility of a Sahaj Marg rid of its human misdemeanours and hoped to re-render it its noble acclaim.
With the discoveries and the evidence that accumulated on the blog, I was
very much obliged to gradually accept the omissions and lies of Babuji and Chari. I managed the desecrating of Chari by discovering the contents of Whispers it was the final straw that broke the camel's back. The divergent discourses of Sister Kasturi and Narayana
(ISRC) also helped me.
I needed the analyses of
Cricri,
Michael and
Alexis, and the support of 4d-Don,
to understand and accept intellectually that I had succumbed to this pseudo-spiritual trap for suckers, without noticing. My encounters with spiritual personalities from all sides finally demystified Sahaj Marg. This is not a unique and universal method as claimed by Babuji, I am now convinced, and I have much evidence. There are many other spiritual paths which are at least as interesting.
Today, seven years after slamming shut the door on the Mission, I dare say that I have come to a new equilibrium.
The consequences are many.
My family has almost cut its ties with me and I am infinitely sad and
disappointed at their renunciation, even if I do not lose hope of seeing them one day
finally open their eyes to the puppets they have become. I lost all my false friends, but of that, I congratulate myself today.
And for my self-preservation, because one never turns the page completely, I refuse
to meet directly with anyone who had anything to do with Sahaj Marg, near or
far, it is still too sensitive.
After having been much influenced and abused, I am unable to give my full confidence to a
spiritual guide, whatever his merits, it has become for me a basic
survival reflex.
I lost my family and my truly false friends, but over time I developed some new
relationships and true friendships in my surroundings, a thing that
was impossible when I was in the Mission. For that matter, as long as we stay, we do not realize how much the Mission imprisons us and cuts us off from our immediate surroundings.
I lost a Master and a pseudo-spiritual method, but I have met many exceptional spiritual personalities. My spiritual stagnation at the heart of the Mission has ceased, I have again taken up my spiritual quest, I met wonderful guides and found my inner God.
Paradoxically, leaving Sahaj Marg, breaking with the Mission and its master
has allowed me to reconnect with a real spiritual experience and to regain my
freedom of thought. I have finally become myself.
Elodie
.
.
Below is an article on the lineage of the Naqshbandiyya-Mujadidiyya Order, an Indian branch of the Naqshbandi order.
The article gives a clear explanation of the status of this path today - and it's approach for the western mind.
Lewellyn's teacher's teacher was a direct student of Lalaji's newphew, Radha Mohan Lal (Bhai Sahib).
http://www.goldensufi.org/article_eastwest.html
Bob
Comment by 4d-Don, author of this blog:
In the "Golden Sufi" article mentioned (link) above by Bob, footnote (2) claims:
Lalaji, also known as Ram Chandra, became the founder of a Hindu spiritual tradition, the Ram Chandra Mission.
This is not accurate. Lalaji passed away in 1931. Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur (aka Babuji) formed his Shri Ram Chandra Society in 1945. Babuji was a disciple of Lalaji, having met him a few times before Lalaji's death in 1931. In 1930, Babuji was passed over as preceptor and as "region-in-charge" of Lalaji's Sufi organization because of: "Narrowness of heart". Lalaji passed away less than one year later, in 1931.
See Lalaji's letter in "Epitome of Sahaj Marg" in English on Alexis' blog: "La Fabuleuse Epopee du Sahaj Marg", as posted by Dinesh, Lalaji's grandson and dean of NaqshMuMRa Sufi Stream. The content of "Epitome of Sahaj Marg" is also posted here.
See also Babuji's letter of Feb. 15, 1963 posted on Lalaji's grandson's site: NaqsuMuMRa Nexus.
Michael, ex-preceptor of SRCM and Sahaj Marg (under Chari) sent this comment:
I studied Sufism for a while when I left SRCM. In fact I corresponded with and met Lewellyn Vaughan Lee. I spend some time with a 100 year old Sufi who was a direct disciple of Lalaji's.
I've subsequently lost interest in Sufism as there is far too much male based hierarchy imposed upon it. Other than Irina Tweedie, name one widely acknowledged female Sufi teacher...
What I found intriguing about Sufism, however was Sufism's roots which pre-date Islam. Mohammed embraced these wandering mystics as his own and they became a part of Islam. It is likely that these mystics were of the same tradition as the Magi who visited Jesus at his birth. Prophet Daniel of the old testament was of the Magi tradition. The Magi were far closer to Shamans than any formal religion or spiritual practice.
These ancient mystics touched literally every religious movement if not inspired them. Pieces of this ancient knowledge still exists. Pieces of it can be found scattered in Shaman traditions which can be found in every culture in some form or another.
I have found little or none of the remnants of this ancient wisdom in the established religious and spiritual practices. It simply cannot exist there as this knowledge empowers the individual and these organizations seek to dominate and control the masses.
Babuji was correct in stating that a spiritual path can be found in the life of a householder. He failed to offer a practical and meaningful system that empowers a householder to be on that path however as what he established was yet another hierarchical system that forces the "masses" to forgo their own journey and rely on spiritual blessings bestowed upon them by an exclusive and singular master.
Michael