The Background
I was 36 years old when I was made the Chief Manager of a fairly large Branch of State Bank of India in Vapi, an Industrial Town in South Gujarat, located at about 180 kms from Mumbai. Workload at the Branch was heavy, but I was otherwise going through an enjoyable phase in my life, with my parents, wife, and two little children.
In State Bank of India, we were supposed to carry out an activity called Community Banking Programme (CBP) every quarter. In one particular quarter, I was lagging behind in my CBP activity. I was looking out for new activities, because the more commonly accepted programme of a medical camp was not working out for some reason.
I reported this to my Regional Manager. He was a Heartfulness Meditator, and he asked me if I would like to do a meditation programme to complete the CBP. I asked him what I had to do. I was told that I had to arrange for a venue and also make sure that enough people attended the programme, which was a sufficiently easy task for me and thus the Meditation Programme was arranged.
The Programme consisted of a talk by another Regional Manager, who was also a Heartfulness Trainer, and after the talk, it was announced that three outstation trainers would stay back in Vapi to give “sittings” to aspirants over the next three days. Each such sitting would last for about half an hour. To initiate an aspirant it was required by the trainer to give him/her three such one to one sittings on consecutive days.
Out of the audience about 20 persons came forward to take the sittings. As a result the programme went on for hours each day and being the Chief Manager and local host, I was duty bound to be present at the venue for most of the time while these sessions were going on.
My Introduction to Heartfulness
At the outset I made it clear to my Regional Manager and the Trainers, that I was not interested in taking up the the sittings. But I was present for hours when the others were being initiated during this period had some informal discussions with the Trainers. I told them that they are fooling people, because nothing could be achieved by two persons sitting with their eyes closed facing each other. Further the idea of a Guru was incompatible with my way of thinking, as I believed that I did not need an intermediary between me and God.
But I was always curious by nature, and so I continued my dialogues with the Trainers to find out what exactly was happening. This went on for some time into the second day of the meditation sessions. Finally one of the trainers suggested me with a little bit of exasperation in his voice, “Instead of asking so many questions, why don’t you take sittings and see for yourself what is happening ?”.
I thought it was fair suggestion. The only rider was that I should sit with an open mind and neutral attitude. I agreed and I took three sittings, with the last session ending on the fourth day.
Well they say curiosity killed the cat, but in this case, I did not feel much during the sessions, though I was a little bit surprised that I could manage to sit on each day with my eyes closed for a duration of about half an hour.
I thought that was the end of the matter. But my Regional Manager was happy that I had taken the sittings,after all. There was a small room at the back of the branch, which was rarely used and he suggested that those who were initiated could meet on Sundays evenings for a meditation session. It was arranged that a Trainer would come from a nearby town to conduct these Sunday sessions.
The invitation from Mr A
I agreed, but I decided in my mind that I was not going to waste my Sunday afternoon naps for this purpose. I had however made arrangements that those who want to come and meditate could do so. I came to know that out of the 20 odd persons who had taken initial “sittings” nobody came for the sessions. One sincere practitioner, Mr A, who stayed with Vapi, would visit me frequently to remind me about the Sunday sessions, and he would also ask me to persuade the aspirants to come, but I was not interested . Workload was also heavy at the branch and I think I was rather impolite with him on occasions. To this day I regret my behaviour.
This went on for about nine months. I had forgotten about meditation, except on the occasion when Mr A would come and meet me. One day Mr A came to my office and invited me to his residence for meditation on the following Sunday to be held at around 4pm. He said that he was shifting to a new house and had arranged a meditation session specially for the occasion. He wrote his address on a piece of paper and gave it to me.
I felt sorry for Mr A because he had been following up with me with a lot of patience for 9 months and told my family members that I would attend the meditation session at A’s house on that particular Sunday. But came Sunday morning and I forgot my intention. On that afternoon after lunch I curled down on my sofa for a nice afternoon nap. Suddenly at around 3 pm , I got up and remembered the event at Mr A’s house. I managed to find the piece of paper on which the address was written. I got dressed and went towards his house. But on the way I realised that I had carried no gift for Mr A and had almost decided to turn back. But somehow I changed my mind, went on and reached Mr A’s place.
The Awakening
I reached Mr A’s house at around 3.45 pm. Nearly 25-30 persons were gathered there. The two Trainers whom I had met earlier during the Community Banking Programme were also present. They were visibly happy that I was able to make it. I was told that it was Basant Panchami, on which day fell the birth anniversary of the Adi Guru ( first Guru ), Lalaji Maharaj. Such birth anniversaries of the Gurus are celebrated as special occasions.
Something happened during the meditation session that transformed me. During the session, I felt as if ice was gently rubbed on my heart and the surrounding areas. I was completely at peace and felt that the entire world had come to a standstill. There were tears in my eyes. Very soon I noticed another significant fact. There were strange faces around me talking in a rustic accent of Gujarati with which I was not familiar. Most of them were from nearby small town of Valsad and neighbouring villages. They could hardly speak Hindi, let alone converse in the English language. By my culture and background, I was completely different from them. Yet I felt most comfortable in their presence, more than I have ever been in my life. I did not want ever to leave the place and move away from the atmosphere.
I spoke to one of the trainers about this condition of mine. He told me that it often happens this way, but chose not to elaborate further.
Things settled into normal routine after that. I rationalised and was inclined to attribute this experience to some kind of response to my mental psyche at that particular point of time. But strangely the same feeling and emotion which I had experienced during and after the meditation session on that fateful Sunday evening , returned to me time and again. I noticed that I experienced the same condition repeatedly, especially when I was in proximity to a dirty public place like the railway station or a stinking toilet. And there were no dearth of such dirty places in a town like Vapi, which your encountered whenever you went out.
For a person whose religious/cultural upbringing and approach was based on physical cleanliness, it was another revelation to me. It occurred to me that my experiences on these numerous occasions following the meditation session on Basant Panchami day, was far more divine and pure than I had ever experienced in my life in more ideal surroundings.
After this I started my practice in right earnest. As soon as I was regular in my practice, this kind of experience stopped.
Nevertheless there were many more experiences of different kinds which kept me bound to the path.
But I always feel that given my back ground, from where I started off, if I could become an avid mediator, so can everyone else. I always remain an optimist.........
Notes
Revered Shri Kamlesh Patel, Global Guide, Heartfulness movement says, " My ideas are to bring every spiritual tradition under one roof. Hope it happens soon."
Heartfulness meditation is a practical technique that can be used in parallel with any other spiritual approach. For further information on Heartfulness Meditation log on to www.heartfulness.org. Find a Heartfulness Trainer near you at https://heartspots.heartfulness.org.
2. Please note that all Heartfulness Meditation sessions including those with a Heartfulness Trainer are always free of charge.