Meditating on Why I Meditate

So what gets an agnostic meditating? In my case, it was principally a strong desire to be like James Bond. Funny how you sometimes do all the right thing for all the wrong reasons. :)

So when I was introduced to Sahaj Marg during a conversation with a co-worker, with all the maturity of the 21 year-old that I was, I though: "The ladies'd love a guy who's deep and into all this spiritual stuff". Boy, was I deep!

A little bit on the co-worker who introduced me to Sahaj Marg - Let's just call him Icicle (Not his real name): A graduate of a top engineering college, this dude seemed to have ice water coursing through his veins. Nothing ever perturbed him. He worked for the toughest boss in my company. Everyone in his group seemed to be cultivating thriving ulcers staying out of trouble with this boss. Yet, Icicle would be cooler than a wind-lashed mountain top in an arctic winter - You get the picture! NOTHING bothered him. What's more, he did really well at his job

Contrast that with me - A graduate of a crappy private college who'd been hired only because his Dad worked there once, I seemed to be perennially struggling to not have my behind handed to me on a daily basis. So the achievements of my buddy , Icicle were impressive as hell. I asked him what's the secret sauce in his all-weather calmness. He old me all about Sahaj Marg meditation and the Shri Ram Chandra Mission. Now Icicle (still not his real name) is no adrenaline-injecting sales pitchman. Yet, he did get even shallow 'ol me very very enthused by the idea of meditation. He'd been meditating for just maybe three years when I met him. Yet, when you stood next to him, you sensed an inner calmness and equanimity that was enviable in a rough & tumble workplace like ours.

Further contemplation after our talk brought thoughts of the additional benefits outlined above. Sure, there were spiritual benefits of being finally able to get closer to my creator. But way more important in my 21-year old mind were the benefits of becoming this James Bond-like fearless dude who makes cool wise cracks in the face of danger where mere mortals are running to their Mommies! The thought of it all was exhilarating to this tiny mind of mine!

Read on about how things turned out!

Billi on Hajj???

What the heck does that title even mean? Well, if you don't happen to be one of the 20% of humanity that are Indian, you'd be justified in asking that question.

There's a popular Hindi saying that goes "Sau chuhe khaake billi challi Hajj pe" that literally translates to "The cat ate a hundred mice and then went on a pilgrimage to Mecca" (Billi = Cat; Hajj = pilgrimage to Mecca). It's a sarcastic reference made to a person that puts on a holier-than-thou attitude inspite of having a way-less-than-pristine past. However, the way I see it, it could also have a positive connotation - It could be a reference to a person that has turned a new leaf. I'd like to think that I am such a person. Atleast that's what those near and dear to me, whose opinions I trust, have told me.... That I've changed a lot over the last decade, (almost) all of it for the better.

If that is the case, I wasn't able to do it without help - A lot of help infact! I credit the Sahaj Marg system 100% for all of these changes. This is an ancient system of yoga meditation. It has no pretensions about being anything but a spiritual system. Infact, it has no pretensions whatsoever as far as I can tell, and expects it's adherents to display a similar simplicity. It is taught by the Shri Ram Chandra Mission, named after it's founder.

The weird part is that none of these changes were enforced from outside - They all arose from my own deep-seated wish to change myself for the better. And this wish was continuously nurtured by this system of meditation.

On these pages, I hope to share my own first-hand Sahaj Marg experiences with you. Read on and let me know what you think. Hasta la vista, baby!
:)