Sahaj Marg a form of Raja Yoga

Raja Yoga

Rāja Yoga is concerned principally with the cultivation of the mind using meditation to further one's acquaintance with reality and finally achieve liberation.Raja yoga was first described in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and is part of the Samkhya tradition.In the context of Hindu...

, is a heart-based meditation

Meditation

Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....

 system. The essential features of Sahaj Marg system are Meditation, Cleaning and Prayer. The "cleaning" of impressions (called samskaras) is claimed to be unique to this method. Meditation is on the "mere supposition of divine light" in one's heart and it is done for 30 – 60 minutes every morning. Cleaning is done to remove the accumulated grossness in oneself. It is undertaken in the evening after the day's work is over and lasts for 30 minutes. The bed time prayer is 10 minutes.

Practice

Sahaj Marg is offered free of charge to peoples all around the world. Sahaj Marg system of meditation is practiced by over 400,000 practitioners (abhyasis) in over 92 countries.

The daily practice includes:

• Morning meditation on the supposition of divine light in the heart (30–60 minutes);
• Evening cleaning of past impressions (i.e., imagining the day's events evaporating out one's back and being replaced with divine light; 30 minutes);
• A prayer-meditation at bedtime (10 minutes) ;

Weekly practices includes the following:

• Group meditation sessions known as 'Satsangh' are held locally twice a week - Sunday morning and Wednesday evening. Satsangh is translated to association with truth (Sat = Truth and Sangha = association or together or group) Satsangh's are held in many centers around the world ;
• Cleaning sessions or individual sittings with a preceptor (trained prefect) are also available free of charge and they can be scheduled on a one-to-one basis.

Generally individual sittings are taken every other week but if necessary they can be had every week based on preceptor's availability.

History

The organizational body, Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM), was formally registered in 1945 by Shri Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur, it's founder and president, called "Babuji." Babuji was born on April 30, 1899 in Shahjahanpur, a large town in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India and died in April 1983 at the age of 83. As part of the Sahaj Marg spiritual practice, Babuji adopted a technique called pranahuti or yogic transmission, whereby the "divine essence" was said to be transmitted directly into the practicants' hearts in order to speed up their spiritual evolution.

Whispers From The Brighter World

These books consist of a series of messages channeled, from the founder, Shri Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur (aka Babuji 1899-1983), with a few from Shri Ram Chandra of Fatehgarh, (aka Lalaji 1873-1931) who Babuji met a few times before his death in 1931. There have already been three Whispers (books) published.

Controversies and schisms

There are some break away groups and some controversies have spun out on who controls the domain and trademark names of the group after the death of its founder in 1983 (Shri Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur). The court verdict was given in favor of his nominated representative.

Activities

The SRCM is a non-governmental organization registered with the UN DPI (Department of Public Information).