Heartful Living

DAAJI offers us a guide to daily living and human transformation. This series is based on a book written more than 75 years ago, by Ram Chandra, called Commentary on the Ten Maxims of Sahaj Marg, which is still relevant for anyone wishing to evolve to their highest potential in today’s world.

Origins

Some 75 years ago, a holy man in a remote town in Uttar Pradesh in the north of India decided to to put into words some amazing truths that he had received through direct perception from the universe. As a result, he came up with a method by which people could completely transform themselves and reach the highest level of consciousness possible, and go beyond. This method was based on taking the essence of the ancient practices of Raja Yoga, and modifying them for the present era of humanity. His name was Ram Chandra, and we know him today as Babuji.

Here is the preface to his first book, Commentary on the Ten Maxims of Sahaj Marg, which was originally written in the Urdu language, and has now been translated into over 30 languages worldwide:

A Word

In this book I have endeavored to put up in words those spiritual secrets which have up till now come down from heart to heart. But since they relate to direct perception, which depends upon the study of Nature and can be revealed by means of vibrations, it is not only difficult, but almost impossible to express them adequately in words.

“True love cannot be expressed by words. This is the very reality which is inexplicable in any way.”

In this respect, I may therefore say that it is proper for the readers to try to reach up to the real spirit, ignoring the defects of expression and language, and be profited, and help others to be profited by it.

Ram Chandra
8 December 1946

He was eager to share this knowledge with everyone, to help us all experience those elevated states of consciousness that he had experienced. Being a householder he knew that spirituality and materiality are like the two wings of a bird, and no one can soar on one wing alone. He was a humble man of simple means, but in the spiritual field he was a giant, the like of whom no one had seen before. His concern was not for himself, or for humanity alone, but for the whole universe. In order to bring positive change, peace and growth to suffering humanity, he knew that inner transformation was needed. He had developed a simple method that was easy to practice, and that was available to everyone, irrespective of culture, race, age, class, religious belief, education, and sex.

Direct perception through superconsciousness

The discoveries Babuji made were simple but revolutionary in the field of consciousness, much like the discoveries that Einstein made a few years earlier in the field of physics. In some ways these two men were alike. Their greatest ideas came to them through direct perception or inspiration. More importantly, unknown to each other, they were both exploring similar phenomena—one from the perspective of spirituality and the other from the perspective of science. Through his now famous equation E=mc2, Einstein proposed the interchangeable nature of mass and energy, creating tremors in the world of science. But Einstein was limited to the manifested world of physics. Babuji was able to express the inexpressible, and he gave us an understanding that transcends the aspect of interchangeability of mass and energy, writing in a letter to one of his associates:

The energy itself in the long run returns to the Absolute—the cause of the power. The whole of matter, every particle of the body, becomes energy and then goes to its absolute.

Einstein only knew the method to convert mass into energy, and not beyond it. In short, I can say that energy can also be converted into mass and this is a very easy job.

Having only studied up to high school level in rural India, Babuji would not have been taken seriously by those scientists in the evolving field of quantum physics, yet the discoveries he made through direct perception were literally mind-blowing. He not only perceived directly that matter and energy were different vibrational states of the same manifestation, but that consciousness was the basic stuff of creation: Everything created since the Big Bang has emanated from consciousness.

There is a sweet story of a meeting between Babuji and a physicist in London in 1972, through a mutual friend. The physicist did not consider Babuji worth listening to, as an uneducated simple man from rural India, until Babuji proceeded to describe to him in detail the intricate structure and movement of the particles in an atom. The physicist was astounded and asked Babuji how he knew this, to which Babuji replied, “I penetrated matter and I have described to you what I observed.”

During this same period, quantum scientists were spooked by the observer effect—the fact that an observer can affect the outcome of an experiment. Some held the view that it could be because everything is fundamentally made up of consciousness, so the consciousness of the observer will influence the consciousness of the object of the experiment. This idea did not initially go down well with the scientific community and even today scientists are divided on this issue.

The subject of consciousness is now being researched and debated not only by scientists, but also by people in all fields and walks of life. We have come full circle, in fact, as this was also the case in ancient times in many cultures.

The discovery of the Center and the mapping of consciousness

In the meantime, back in the 1940s, Babuji not only demonstrated that we can change our consciousness by a special method of meditation on the heart, utilizing Pranahuti or yogic Transmission, he also went on to discover and map the various incremental levels of consciousness, and what lies beyond consciousness.

Spiritual scientists from ancient India were familiar with the seven chakra system of energy consciousness, and most believed that the crown chakra was the pinnacle of spiritual achievement. Babuji was to change all that. Along with his teacher, another great sage of the 19th and 20th centuries, Lalaji, they together described a more complete chakra system, culminating in the 16th chakra, which Babuji called the Central Region, the source of everything. They had opened human awareness to an entirely different dimension of existence.

Lalaji transmitted the knowledge of the Central Region to Babuji, and also taught him the techniques to master that Region. Based on his own personal research and experience, Babuji then mapped the stages of consciousness, from the most solid levels of matter to the Center. This was the first time in the history of humankind that anyone was able to accomplish such a task.

Meditation is a quantum experiment

Babuji taught a simple method of meditation on the heart, rooted in the ancient traditions of Raja Yoga, yet simplified and modified to meet the needs of modern life. He explained why meditation is the best way to change and expand consciousness. And unlike traditional methods of yoga that took years of austere practice to bring the mind to balance, Heartfulness gave instantaneous results, because of the revolutionary use of Pranahuti.

What happens in meditation? In the last fifty years, scientists have made impressive strides in understanding how meditation impacts our physiology, especially the brain. This has been made possible by advancements in measuring technology, like brain scanning and its ability to pinpoint what function of the brain is improved with meditation. Some of the conclusions are that meditation reduces stress, improves sleep, reduces blood pressure, improves learning and memory, and increases happiness. The human brain is an amazingly complex system and science has only taken small steps in understanding it.

Yogic scientists have known the value of meditation since ancient times. They knew about the observer effect long before science figured it out. In fact ancient texts like the Vedas and Upanishads could describe the various stages of consciousness in meditation that correlate with the brain waves now identified by EEG machines at each stage. For example, the ultimate depth of meditation, a stage called Samadhi in yoga, correlates with the very slow delta waves produced by the brain during deep sleep. Typically it takes many years of meditation to achieve a deep delta state, but Babuji enabled his students to experience Samadhi when they first started meditating.

Each one of us transmits his or her vibration to the universe, and an evolved master of caliber, who is in osmosis with the Center, can transmit the essence of that Center, Pranahuti, into the heart of a student, thus enabling the student to advance faster and more effectively. This is what happens in the Heartfulness tradition.

Yogic scientists also recognized the role of the Central Nervous System in a much wider context than just the brain. The heart, the spinal cord, the connection between heart and brain as two aspects of the spectrum of consciousness, and the consciousness at the cellular and atomic levels, have all been vital components of physiology in yogic science, which modern scientists are now starting to understand.

Each one of us transmits his or her vibration 
to the Universe, and an evolved Master of caliber, 
who is in osmosis with the Center, can transmit the essence
of that Center, Pranahuti, into the heart of a student,
thus enabling the student to advance faster and more effectively. 
This is what happens in the Heartfulness tradition.

Babuji perfected the method of Heartfulness and the science of yogic Transmission as a means to help human beings evolve through the various incremental stages of consciousness. But he was equally clear that this was not enough. Without working on personal development and character, this would lead nowhere, as there would be no integration of the physical, mental and spiritual bodies of the human being. Spiritual transformation is an internal transformation of the vibrational field of consciousness, whereas personality transformation is equally important for the process to be complete.

As a result, his first book, Commentary on the Ten Maxims of Sahaj Marg, is a practical guide for both—how to live our lives in harmony on a daily basis. The maxims follow the 24-hour daily cycle, starting with waking in the morning, and finishing with going to sleep at night, guiding us in all areas of living. For that reason, this series is called “Heartful Living.”

It  may surprise you to know that at the time Babuji wrote his book on the Ten maxims in the 1940s, there were just a handful of books published in the area of self-help, including the hugely popular Self-Help by Samuel Smiles, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, As a Man Thinketh by James Allen, and How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Babuji was the first author in this era to give us a comprehensive guide to living by incorporating the five key elements of self-development: an effective practice, essential values, regulative behavior, leadership, and continuous improvement (see diagram 1). Within those five elements there are also ten principles. Even today, only a handful of books offer such a rich and all-encompassing road map to a fulfilling life.

The five elements and ten principles of self-development

The ten principles for living follow a daily cycle and inherent sequence, which unfolds like a flowering. At the center of this unfolding is the practice. It is the practice that triggers the flowering of consciousness. And it is the first thing that we do in the morning, preparing us for the day, setting the tone, and centering us for what is to happen. As consciousness expands, and purity and simplicity emerge, we are able to peek into our essential nature and start relaxing into our inner being. Our thoughts and actions are then guided by the essential values of the heart.

The next segment of  the unfoldment is behavior. When we are established in the state of being, our behavior resonates with that state. As being and doing reinforce each other, our consciousness evolves naturally to a level where we want to help others. Hence the capacities and qualities of leadership unfold naturally. The last segment of the unfoldment is continuous improvement which consists of daily review and corrective action before sleeping at night. This framework is dynamic and fluid. All the segments are co-emergent and seamless. It is holistic, a complete system, a living guidance. As we grow, our work itself becomes our teacher.