HYDERABAD: Kanha Shanti Vanam may not ring a bell immediately, but talk about Sahaj Marg Raj Yoga meditation and Daaji, the man who has led thousands of seekers onto the path of self-discovery through meditation, and you know we are talking about the spiritual retreat that beckons everyone with its green environs and peaceful vibes. Set in the lap of nature amidst the lush green fields of Chegur village, Ranga Reddy District (25 km from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad), Kanha is an integrated township with a Spiritual Retreat Centre at its heart surrounded by residential colonies. Those who have visited this facility call it “The high place in Hyderabad, which is charged with vibrations capable of working wonders.”
Who can visit the ashram
All seekers of spirituality from around the world are welcome to come and meditate in the purity and sanctity of the divine atmosphere of Kanha Shanti Vanam. The ashram offers free stay and food for seekers (it is refreshing to note that they don’t discriminate against single women either) who want to learn to meditate and spend a weekend to detox themselves and take part in a mass meditation session.
Community of seekers
The retreat centre is designed to facilitate extensive spiritual training and mentoring programmes that aim at promoting personal inner experience and providing opportunities to learn and contribute. Currently a considerable amount of building and construction work is being quietly carried out maintaining the peace and tranquility of the Ashram.
This includes construction of dormitories and dining for 5,000 people, meditation hall, kitchen, toilets and other facilities that could host a spiritual gathering of over 50,000 people for a few days. In the last couple of years over 50,000 plants have been planted and are being nurtured in this divine atmosphere. For the Gen X who love their apps, they also have the Heartfullness app available in Play Store. “We want to be inclusive,” says Daaji, the man who’s idealogy resonates across the ashram.
What is Heartfulness meditation
The Heartfulness Workshop is designed to give one a practical experience with meditation on the heart. The workshop lasts 1.5 hours and consists of three guided exercises. Participation is free. Says Daaji, the man who is the soul of the centre, “By tuning into our heart, we learn to be centered in our highest self. Strengthen that connection and cultivate an inner knowing that wisely directs and guides our lives. Grow to face the challenges of life with courage and acceptance. Live by the heart, and become what we’re meant to be. One can feel the lightness and joy of your true nature.
Heartfulness meditation is simply taking the time every day to tune into that internal presence. In a short while, you’ll learn to remain connected to that gentle support throughout the day. There are no prerequisites other than basic mental health and an attitude of openness and wonder. Heartfulness.org does not serve or represent any commercial purpose.” The Gen X knows only about wi-fi hotspots. But Daaji helps them connect to their heartspots.
Seeking ourselves
Spirituality is the search for a higher experience of ourselves. “Experience is the source from which real knowledge begins. Heartfulness is a path to experiencing your inner self. Meditating with someone who has the capacity of transmission can help you explore the Heartfulness practice more deeply,” say the teachers. One ca register online or on the app and ask for assistance of yogic transmission. So much can be said about its benefits, but your experience will reveal more than volumes of literature can possibly convey. You will be contacted by a Heartfulness trainer through email and will be guided through three or four meditation sessions on consecutive days. The meditation sessions can be conducted remotely or in person, as mutually convenient. There are no charges for the Heartfulness practice, the meditation sessions, or any teaching offered through this website. Details: workshops@heartfulness.org
Calling upon Daaji
Kamlesh D Patel is an original voice in an ancient tradition. Known to many as Daaji, his teachings on Heartfulness Meditation arise from his personal experience, while reflecting his deep spirit of enquiry and respect for the world’s great spiritual traditions and scientific advancements. Heartfulness is a simple meditation practice for the modern seeker. It promotes wellness and balance by integrating life’s spiritual and material aspects, using the rare feature of yogic transmission – the key to its transformative potential.
Born in Gujarat in 1956, Daaji displayed an early interest in meditation and spirituality. He started Heartfulness Meditation at the age of 19, while studying to be a pharmacist. Soon after, he met his Guru, Shri Ram Chandra (Babuji), the second guide in the Heartfulness lineage and the founder and first President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission. After graduating with honours from LM College of Pharmacy in Ahmedabad, Daaji married and moved to New York City. There, he and his wife raised their two sons, while he steadily built a successful pharmacy business.
At the same time, Daaji continued to pursue his love of meditation as a devoted disciple of Babuji’s successor, Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari (Chariji). Over the years, Daaji played an increasingly active role in the Heartfulness Movement, both organisationally and by spreading its message and teaching its method. In 2011, Chariji selected Daaji as his spiritual successor. As the leader of the Heartfulness Movement and President of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission, Daaji now fulfills the many duties of a modern-day guru, travelling widely and extending his support to seekers everywhere.
Daaji firmly believes in nourishing today’s youth with practical self-management tools and universal values. Daaji has followers across the world and the European seminar that took place in October had thousands of perceptors and meditation practitioners descend upon the ashram to seek themselves.
As a self-professed student of spirituality, Daaji devotes much of his time and energy to his personal research in the field of spirituality and consciousness, and regularly shares his findings through public speaking engagements, his website and social media platforms, and in broadcast, print, and digital media. Daaji advocates bridging ancient tradition with modern scientific understanding, and has assembled a team of one hundred scientists to research the physiological and genetic effects of meditation and yogic transmission. He often says, “You are the experimenter, the experiment, and also its result.”
Brighter Minds
Brighter Minds programme was launched in February 2016 at the ashram with an objective to explore the brain stimulation to enhance cognitive abilities in children. Brighter Minds programme is a result of extensive development and Research on the tools, techniques and methodologies. Available at 150 learning centres across India, they have a global base of 750 trained facilitators through which we have reached out to more than 2,500 children.
At Brighter Minds, children undergo several activities to improve their cognitive abilities. · Exercises to regenerate neurons: Specially designed physical exercises are used to stimulate Neurogenesis, the ability of the brain to regenerate neurons as well as the production of major antioxidants which protect brain cells against free radical damage.
Exposure to entrainment music: extremely low-frequency music is used to stimulate and enhance brain connections and bring the electrical pulses in the brain (brain waves) to the alpha and theta states which is better adapted for learning and memory. Eyeball exercises: To reconfigure the neuronal circuits between the right and left hemispheres of the brain, eyeball and hand coordination exercises are used to enhance overall brain functions. Children
develop improved focus, retention, comprehension, calmness and emotional stability.
Green Kanha - Nature as its soul
Kanha volunteers take the environment seriously. They have a dedicated team headed by a plant experts who ensure that even trees that are cut on highways to accommodate roads are brought in time and replanted in the premises and taken care of. Around 20 Banyan trees of an average age of 30 years have also been brought in and have been planted in various identified green spaces of the residential colon.
The tree planting reached a peak during the European seminar in October, with hundreds of volunteers planting and weeding in the early mornings and evenings every day.
The in-house nursery is spread across a 5 acre area in the Southeast section of the Northern half. It has over 20,000 sqft of green net shaded area. The nursery has been able to house as many as 2 lakh saplings at one point. As of January 2017 there are over 125,000 saplings/plants for in-house use. The ashram peripheral road on the eastern and southern side is designed to have grown up trees acquired through translocation from various places. These trees would have otherwise been cut for wood. The rocks and lakes are sacred and the ashram has been built around these natural elements.
For details on visit, stay or volunteering opportunities, write to Kanha.info@srcm.org