My association with Heartfulness began like a meandering river, with my life’s path swinging in and out of it, at times barely touching it. The earliest encounter I had was hearing about Heartfulness and then meeting practitioners, which left me curious about the method. The third encounter was meeting Chariji, the third Heartfulness Guide, even before I started practicing. Then the decisive swing of my life’s path brought me to a trainer who offered me three introductory sessions to learn meditation, which I took willingly. But I could not yet start practicing on my own. Finally, thirteen years ago, I was at a stage in life where I felt a yearning to try meditation and so I started.
I was fortunate to have around me a few dedicated practitioners who influenced me to practice in earnest. I followed all the heartfulness practices diligently, attended Heartfulness gatherings, and read books and watched DVDs that supported my practical experience with the theoretical and philosophical knowledge on Heartfulness.
Then suddenly things changed in my life. I got a new job and had to move away to a new location. My new settings were extremely demanding. I found myself working around the clock. In the initial phase of this new job, I clung to the practice. Then there were times when I missed doing some aspects of it for sheer lack of time. For example, there was one particular year when being able to sit for even ten minutes of undisturbed meditation during the day was an achievement.
That year I also noticed something miraculous: I felt I was being helped to find those ten minutes for meditation in my hectic schedule. I felt unconditional love and tenderness every time I connected myself consciously with my heart, often with tears, wondering what I had got myself into. Wasn’t it the career that I had always wanted? I loved my job, and I still do, but in trying to do it sincerely I had given up all of my daylight hours to it.
I wrote to the current Heartfulness Guide, Daaji, saying that I could not find time to do my practice. He replied kindly asking me to continue the best I could. Then things changed again: my job stabilized after the initial years. I was able to do my work with less effort and, on some days, I was simply gliding through smooth waters! I resumed my practice in its entirety.
Reflecting on my journey so far, one thing stands out: Those early days of sincere dedication to the practice were the times when I dived the deepest, and it laid a solid foundation within me. In diving to inner depths, I had gathered priceless pearls that would enrich my life in unfathomable ways.
–Charu Sharma
