Sahaj Marg, which essentially translates to "the natural path" is the system of practical training in spirituality offered by Shri Ram Chandra Mission.

Its adherents see it as a natural, simple heart-based approach to realizing the presence of the divine within their lives. The Shri Ram Chandra Mission is the main proponent of the Sahaj Marg system.

It claims to be the essence of non-renunciate Raja Yoga (yoga of the mind) remodeled and simplified to suit and help the man of present-day world to achieve the same inner perfection as the Master, which is a synonym for God Realization. The renunciation of Raja Yoga has been replaced by 'detachment' with 'obedience' (the path of the warrior) to the Master being stressed. As with most religions, gathering and accumulation of wealth and power is dealt by 'detachment'.

According to the teaching of this system, God is simple (referred to in the masculine as most religions), and therefore, the way to reach Him must be simple. The disciple just obeys and does the practice and, the Master does the rest. As a disciple does not 'earn' his/her spirituality by acts of goodness, kindness, charity, or service, but is 'transmitted' it by the 'grace' of the Master, thus, the disciple is not responsible for his/her actions and the Master assumes all responsibility for the abhyasis. The Mind is the key instrument in a human being and by proper regulation of mind through meditation under practical guidance and support of a spiritual Master, who erases one's samskaras (imprints on the soul by our past actions) thus cancelling the law of 'cause and effect', one can evolve to the Highest. The Master 'transmits' to the disciple directly or through a 'preceptor' that the disciple sees once a week in a 'private sitting'. There is also one or two group sitting and reading of Master's material every week. There are few rituals and ceremonials. Some of the rituals involve two daily meditations, a weekly 'private sitting' with a preceptor and one or two group sittings per week, visiting groups in other towns and 2 day group meditations on the birthdays of the gurus, and 'long' meditations on other special spiritual days (Christmas, Easter, etc). Some abhyasis burn candles, display the picture of the Master, and organize discussions of the guru's writings. Repeated reading of the Master's writings is suggested. Idolatry is not banned in Sahaj Marg as long as the object of the devotion is the Master and not the preceptor. The disciple can meditate on the form of the Master as long as it is the whole form and not just the bust. The Do's and don'ts are also few and there are no rigid methods

Sahaj Marg is a non-monastic movement. Those who adhere to the practices are referred to as 'Abhyasis' or sometimes 'serfs'; a preceptor is an abhyasi who has been prepared and permitted by the Master to introduce people to the Sahaj Marg system and conduct group meditation. Sahaj Marg calls itself a non-sectarian institution although other religions and/or sects point out that total obedience to a Guru who claims to be 'God's representative' make it sectarian and that one cannot serve or be devoted to two Masters at the same time.

Gurus

There have been three gurus, or Masters, each of whom is believed to have passed on his spiritual condition and teachings to his most capable disciple.

The first guru was Shri Ram Chandraji of Fategargh, affectionately known as Lalaji who became God realized after only 7 months of meditadion. He lived from 1873 to 1931.

His successor (debated.see Yogabhyas site) was Shri Ram Chandraji of Shahjahanpur, who lived from 1899 to 1983 and was affectionately known as Babuji.

The current living guru, born in 1927,(see Dr. Varadachari's Story for comments of Guru-in-waiting before Chari's appointment and consequent law-suits and shism) site: Institute for Ram Chandra Consciousness at is Shri Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari, chemical engineer who in 1955, joined the T. T. Krishnamachari group of companies, thereafter rising to the position of Executive Director of the Indian Textile Paper Tube Company and is affectionately known as Chariji. . Senior Preceptor of the Mission is Shri Bhaskar K. Rao Chief General Manager (Retd.) State Bank of Mysore

Aims & ideals

The Ten Maxims of Sahaj Marg

• Rise before dawn. Offer your prayer and puja at a fixed hour, preferably before sunrise, sitting in one and the same pose. Have a separate place and seat for worship. Purity of mind and body should be specially adhered to.
• Begin your puja with a prayer for spiritual elevation, with a heart full of love and devotion.
• Fix up your goal which should be 'complete oneness' with God. Rest not till the ideal is achieved.
• Be plain and simple to be identical with nature.
• Be truthful. Take miseries as Divine Blessings for your own good and be thankful.
• Know all people as thy brethren and treat them as such.
• Be not revengeful for the wrongs done by others. Take them with gratitude as heavenly gifts.
• Be happy to eat in constant divine thoughts whatever you get, with due regard to honest and pious earnings.
• Mould your life so as to arouse a feeling of love and piety in others.
• At bedtime, feeling the presence of God, repent for the wrongs committed. Beg forgiveness in a supplicant mood,
  
  
  
  resolving not to allow repetition of the same.

Philosophy

The goal of Sahaj Marg practice is complete oneness with God, or the Ultimate. Two unique features set the method apart from all other meditative practices: evening cleaning, by which impressions and complexities are removed from the heart; and pranahuti, by which the master transmits divine energy from his heart in India to the heart of the aspirant. With the assistance of the master, trained prefects (instructors), and the aspirant's own dedicated practice, the promise of spiritual evolution in Sahaj Marg can quickly become a reality although some have performed the practice for up to 25 years and are still materialistic and influenced by egotistical earthly power and not 'god realized'.

Spiritual disciplines

The practice consists of three steps: morning meditation, evening cleaning and night prayer meditation. The rest of the time should be spent in 'constant remembrance' of the Master thinking that all our life is taken over by the Master and all our actions are being done by the Master. The disciple is encouraged to 'please' the Master through obedience and devotion to the Master and his appointees at all times and repeated reading of the Mission's material and going to see him in India or when he comes to a place near you.

• Morning Meditation

"Sit in meditation for an hour thinking that divine light is present in your heart. Some litterature mentions that the disciple can meditate on the form of the Master as long as it is the whole form and not just the bust. Do it in quite a simple and natural way without forcing your mind, never mind if you do not see the light there. Start with a mere supposition, so to say, and sit meditating in one posture with your attention turned towards the heart in a natural way without any effort to concentrate. Try to be unmindful of the thoughts arising at that time."

• Evening Cleaning

"Sit for half an hour with a suggestion to yourself that all complexities and impurities including grossness, darkness, etc. are going out of the whole system through the back in the form of smoke or vapour and that in their place the sacred current of the Divine is entering your heart from the Master's heart. Do not meditate on those things which we want to get rid of like all the attachments to family, friends, pets, country, culture etc..Simply brush them off."

• Prayer-Meditation

0, Master!

Thou art the real goal of human life,

We are yet but slaves of wishes

Putting bar to our advancement,

Thou art the only God and power

To bring us up to that stage.

To Whom is the Mission Prayer Addressed and WhyBabuji himself has written that ultimately He (pointing upwards) is the real Master . . . and all the human Masters who come on this world, on this earth, are His representatives. If that is so, then why do we address the prayer, "Oh, Master" and not "Oh, God". Now today I am giving you the answer for that. Because God, it is a living God who is before you in the form of the Master ..this is an embodied flesh-and-blood divinity . . . who can understand our needs; who can understand our temperaments; who can sympathize with us, being human himself; who can accept our failings, perhaps having failed himself in some way . . .

"We now come to the third thing: the prayer-meditation at night. It is a simple thing. We are advised to sit on our beds for about 10 minutes, repeat the prayer a few times and meditate on the meaning of the prayer. This prayer-meditation is to be done for 10, 15 or 20 minutes and then you go straight to sleep. It should be the last thing we do before the day is brought to an end."

via website

Activities

There are a range of activities:

• Meditation classes conducted through Sahaj Marg Spirituality Foundation
• course materials have been developed.
• Study groups, seminars for disciples and the youth, school curriculum K-12 etc.
• The mission participates in the relief activities during selected times of natural calamities by either collecting money and routing it through Prime Minister's Relief fund or through other organisations involved in the operations. According to their web site, the funds collected may be applied to other projects. The society's does not open their books in India and in most countries to the public.

Major publications

• Quarterly Periodicals
  • Constant Remembrance - in English
  • Sahaj Deepam - Kannada
  • Sahaj Deepam - Malayalam
  • Sahaj Deepam - Tamil
  • Sahaj Margamu - Telugu
  • Sahaj Shishu - Hindi
• The complete works of Ram Chandra
• Basics of Sahaj Marg
• Index of Sahaj Marg Literature
• Psychology and its Role in Spirituality
• Sahaj Marg and Its Children

See also

• Shri Ram Chandra Mission