You can recognize who is real and who is not if you try their system. So far Sahaja yoga works perfectly.
[QUOTE=Surya Deva;48495]I did not really go with any expectations. I gave it a fair trial for a few months, despite several red flags going off, and eventually I left and so did my friends who I introduced to it. Here are some of the reasons why I left
- I was told that I was already self-realised from day one, after some guy put his hand over my head and claimed he could feel the “cool breeze” I then realised everybody that came there was told the same.
- We were told to meditate by pointing our hands towards a picture of Sri mataji, and we would feel vibrations by doing it. Those of us who did not, were told we were not sensitive enough yet.
- We were told pure dogmas of what was right and what was wrong. I was told the Dalai Llama was a fraud/trickster. When I asked how do they know that? They said, “feel the vibrations” We were told to reject all of the traditions we were currently following and follow everything they say to a T. One of the teachers there recounted a story of his visit to an Ayurvedic doctor which was going very well, until the doctor told him he was a part of some spiritual group(on their blacklist) He then vomited and blamed the doctors “negative vibrations”
- In a going deeper meeting I was told to reject all science and reason
- Non-vegetarianism was encouraged. I was criticised for being vegetarian.
- They claimed Shri Mataji was the incarnation of the divine goddess(a book I acquired from them had portrats of Krishna, Jesus, Virgin Mary, Shiva, Kali with Shri Mataji’s face) including
popular Sanskrit mantras each amended with a line praising Shri mataji - Shrimataji claimed to have opened up the crown chakra for all of humanity in 1970 allowing everybody to get full liberation. Prior to her, nobody got full liberation.
- The rituals were hokey
- I was constantly preached at and so were all my friends.
- At a going deeper meeting we were shown a brainwashing video of Shrimataji’s greatness[/QUOTE]
I think for you Surya, because you have a lot of knowledge to begin with, I would definitely go for Ajna practice. When you work with Ajna you can see your progress. There are set scenes that you will be presented with, these indicate progress, most you look past to the next scene. I harp on about the inner Guru but this is highly significant and should be aimed for.
The greatest thing that I have ever achieved is knowing how to open this chakra., It was the turning point where I realised that all the spiritual talk in the world has some basis of truth.
E.G.Master Buddhas main weakness, that he had trouble with,was lust. This is mentioned by stating that he was presented with dancing girls, on various occasions, who I might add are very alluring for a man to see.(when you see one or more, you must be unmoved and look past the scene, not get absorbed in it)…these dancing girls are an Ajna presentation. Now anyone without knowledge of the Ajna will just see this and many other stories as fanciful or at least have a hard time believing and this must be true in Hinduism and in other religious text where the Ajna Chakra sights are being explained by the author/s.
The dancing girls were an Ajna meditation indication he hadn’t mastered his lust…What better way to be told!
He also was presented with many other things that you can read about, all Ajna sights. There is one that mentions all the Ajna sights he was presented with just before enlightenment, he was unmoved by what he saw eventually and this led to the enlightenment…
So this is a very interesting area of spiritual practice and I know you will relate to it better.
I would find an [B]expert[/B] in it and learn from them. I would not go for a large group set up, its peace you need…,I think this is why Buddha sought a smaller set up. I wouldn’t go for any worshipping of anything. I see it as a highly personal drawing inwards in peace of the person you are now, and practising only a few useful things as and when you think you need them. Taking advice from a Master but also being able to measure clearly your own progress. When you locate the inner guru or when the inner guru presents to you, you will notice that your senses are just around you and not extended outwards. Its a little difficult to explain.
One other point is it helps if you are happy…if you are not satisfied with what you are doing this will definitely inhibit progress. Your focus will be drawn to inner complaining and doubt…
Hope it offers some ideas to consider.