After his trip to Navsari, Daaji made his way to Vadodara, stopping briefly in his hometown of Bharuch. He conducted a meditation session there before taking some rest. In the evening, Daaji met with local practitioners before continuing his journey. A two-hour drive later, he arrived in Vadodara at night, where he led another meditation session before concluding his day.

6 August, Daaji’s speech at Sir Sayajirao Nagar Gruh

An open house was organized at the auditorium at Sir Sayajirao Nagar Gruh to invite seekers of spirituality to experience meditation with Daaji. The audience was packed with many guests, invitees, and Heartfulness practitioners from Vadodara and nearby centers. After the meditation session, Daaji released the Gujarati translations of his books The Wisdom Bridge, Spiritual Anatomy, Yearning of the Heart, Vol 1, and the workbook of the HOPE program (Heartfulness Odyssey for Personal Excellence, a unique spiritual development program with curated themes and curriculum based on Heartfulness philosophy and practices).

Daaji then answered questions collected from seekers prior to the program. Here are some snippets from the Q&A session.

Q: I recently encountered the 7 Hermetic principles: mentalism, correspondence, vibration, polarity, rhythm, cause and effect, and gender. They seem to describe fundamental aspects of Reality. I am curious to understand how deeply the core teachings of our [Sahaj Marg/Heartfulness] Masters resonate with these ancient principles?

Daaji: These comparative studies of the ancient wisdom and Sahaj Marg are not at crossroads with each other. Anything that is natural, that was natural, will always remain natural in resonance. So there is no need to compare. 

Q: When we apply the concept of the spiritual condition of ‘living dead’ in our lives, how do we handle situations that arise with family and friends during this condition? 

Daaji: Those in the ‘living dead’ condition wouldn’t even have such worries to begin with!

To the one who is already living as if dead, why would he/she care about what others say? This condition arises naturally, automatically: it cannot be artificially

induced. It is not that you will have anesthetized yourself; you will not lose

feelings of affection, care, compassion, or become insensitive to the world.

The state of ‘living dead’ is a very high spiritual condition. Many people

adopt a defeatist attitude and say, “I am going to live, but like a dead

person.” But that is helplessness. When this ‘living dead’ condition emerges

from within, when one is moving towards nothingness, an automatic development

of Godliness occurs, and at that point, all questions dissolve. And life goes on: you do your work, you fulfill your duties and so on.

Q: How can we manage our EQ (Emotional Quotient)?

Daaji: People who meditate every day develop a rhythm: their inner machinery keeps going. If you try to balance your EQ, say for example, when a dear one passes away, then you will fail. (But I think that the person asking this question is asking about a different matter; perhaps his girlfriend has left him.) So instead, recognize your emotional turbulence, write in your diary exactly what is happening to you emotionally, express it to the Master through the heart, and see what happens over a few days. Rather than seeking answers through words, heed the answers that emerge from the heart: they are always correct and will propel you forward.

Daaji delivered his speech mostly in Gujarati, and the following are translated excerpts.

• Children absorb unexpressed, unspoken feelings from their parents. So as parents, we have to be careful even in our thinking. Curb those feelings in the presence of children. Don’t express them. Hence the importance of a meditative mind. It has a tremendous impact not only in your life, but in the lives of all those associated with you. The vibrational field you carry affects everyone.
• An angry person is toxic. Look at yourself in the mirror when you are angry: it will reveal everything. How ugly a person looks when he/she is angry!
• In the Vedas and Upanishads, it is mentioned that God is omnipresent. So it says, “Worship the sky, worship the rivers, worship the mountains, etc.,” but the rishis [sages] wrote this after having experienced [the presence of God]. And that is when they felt like bowing down in prayer. Nowadays everyone bows down, but without real experience. They don’t know whom they are bowing down to in prayer. It is like sending an email without an address! When will it ever reach?