Daaji began his day with a walk in the rainforest surrounding his house.

After breakfast, at around 9 a.m., he had a meeting with Sudhir Marwaha regarding civil work. In a short while, they were joined by Lalita Sreenivasan, N. Sreenivasan (Chinu bhai) and a few other seekers. Daaji conducted meditation for the group between 9.40 and 10 a.m.

After meditation, Daaji came up with a novel way to cater to the spiritual needs of the practitioners visiting Kanha and make their stay purposeful. He was keen to see every practitioner immerse themselves in their practice while in Kanha and leave with a special spiritual state within them.  

He asked Chinu bhai to arrange for dedicated preceptors who would be willing to give every visiting practitioner two or three sittings in addition to group meditation sessions. Daaji suggested designating one local preceptor for each group of individuals or a family so that they are able to develop a personal rapport with each other and interact deeply.

There was an e-mail regarding how to rise above problems and challenges. Daaji replied:

The art of ignoring

Babuji was asked several times by practitioners regarding problems at home or the office. His response to all such queries was simply “Ignore.”

The genius of dear Babuji plays out in the most unassuming ways. His teachings are so simple and easy to implement without any thinking on our part. His main prescription for troubling thoughts during meditation has always been, “Remind yourself that, ‘I am meditating on the presence of Divine Light.’ Do not pay attention to these uninvited thoughts.” Ignore them, as it is the attention that fuels their presence. Likewise, when we extend this principle to thoughts and problems in day-to-day life, the result will be the same. Of course, it is not about carelessness toward the needs of the family or toward difficult tasks. The solution naturally emerges when we rise above the problem. For that, we have no other choice but to let go of the issue from our minds.

Meditation happens when our central focus is on the presence of Divine Light. Peripheral pulls can be in the form of inner noise in the form of thoughts or outer noise in the form of various sounds. It is in the mastery of ignoring them that we learn to ignore other so-called issues or problems during our daily activities. This helps us to remain meditative. Such a state further deepens our experiences toward enlivening, intensifying, and creating oneness, and finally establishing our union with the prevailing condition. But what can be done when people use meditation like going to the toilet? They forget, leaving the inner state that develops after meditation in an ocean of unawareness, which never gets a chance to come on the radar of consciousness.

When we practice ignoring unwanted thoughts, we become ignorant, the state of Avidya, which is true knowledge. Any knowledgeability creates tunnel vision in us, which is detrimental to a seeker of spirituality. Where is the expansion when we remain fixated? You can find a more interesting explanation in Truth Eternal about ignorance. 

Daaji rested for a while after the morning activities.

In the evening, Dr. Raja paid a visit and joined Daaji for a walk. They went around various plantation sites of the ashram. The walk was interspersed by short halts to greet and chat with a few seekers, including Samyukta Ghosh from Mumbai, Jacky Baroukh from France, and Maulik from Gujarat.

At around 7.30 p.m., Daaji bade goodbye to everyone and engaged himself in Yoga exercises with Yoga trainer Bhushan from Kanha. Later, Dr. Raja joined Daaji for dinner. 

After dinner, Daaji enquired about the status of his upcoming book, The Wisdom Bridge. Incidentally, the editor had sent several updates on the book for his review. Daaji asked for those to be read, including a new chapter on humility, which he had dictated earlier. He was pleased with the overall shape the book had taken and later suggested a few changes.

The reading went on till 11 p.m., after which Daaji went to rest.