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Shri Ram Chandra Mission

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Shri Ram Chandra Mission
Founded1945
FounderShri Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur
TypeNon-profit organization
FocusYoga, Spirituality
Area served
Worldwide
MethodSahaj Marg, Meditation
Key people
Kamlesh Patel
WebsiteSRCM

Shri Ram Chandra Mission (also named SRCM offers the practice of "Sahaj Marg" or "Heartfulness Meditation") is a non-profit organization and a spiritual movement. It was registered in 1945 in India by Shri Ram Chandraji of Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. It has its current world headquarters at Kanha Shanti Vanam, Kanha village, Ranga Reddy District near Hyderabad, Telangana.[1][2]

Purpose and practice

The stated purpose of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission is to "awaken the divine consciousness and provide support on the path of human evolution". According to the movement, the form of Raja Yoga practiced, starts at step number 7 of Patanjali's Raja Yoga.[3] It is based on simple and natural means suited to current living conditions and does not involve mechanical methods involving austerity and penance. It is universal, easily practicable and one can quickly get to find oneself from the inside out.[4] The Sahaj Marg system uses the cleansing of the past impressions (also called samskaras), meditation on the heart and the support of a living spiritual master.[5] The role of the spiritual teacher is said to be essential as he is well aware of all issues and all matters of spirituality and has walked the path of realization or enlightenment of the soul, being a Master of the path. He knows what to do for the traveler.[4] He is regarded by the practitioners as a living example, a teacher by his writings and by his words, deeds and being. "It is God who is the true Guru and Master and from God alone we receive the light", wrote Shri Ram Chandraji in his book Reality at Dawn.[6]

SRCM offers its services of Sahaj Marg system of meditation to all seekers without any bias of religion, nationality, color, race, gender, caste or class. There are no fees charged by SRCM at any stage of spiritual practice.[7]

Organization

The current president of Shri Ram Chandra Mission and spiritual Master of the Sahaj Marg system is Shri Kamlesh Patel (b. 1956). This includes SRCM USA, which was registered in California in 1997 (SRCM California-1997) and SRCM India, which was registered in Lucknow, India in the year 1945 (SRCM-Shahjahanpur-1945). SRCM was named after the Adi Guru Shri Ram Chandraji of Fatehgarh (aka ‘Lalaji’) and was founded by his successor Shri Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur, affectionately known as Babuji (1899 - 1983). He was succeeded as president and spiritual Master of SRCM by Shri Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari, affectionately known as Chariji (1927 - 2014). Following the death of Chariji on 20 December 2014,[8] Shri Kamlesh Patel has become the third president of SRCM and the fourth spiritual Master of the Sahaj Marg system.

Babuji was taught by Shri Ram Chandra of Fatehgarh (aka ‘Lalaji’), the Adi Guru of the Sahaj Marg system. Although Babuji met Lalaji merely a few times physically, Babuji eventually became his spiritual successor.[9] Lalalji rediscovered the ancient yogic method of spiritual training based on yogic transmission of divine energy called Pranahuti.

The Shri Ram Chandra Mission is now present in over 120 countries on all continents. Books published by SRCM have been translated to over twenty languages and read widely across the world.[10] The Spiritual Hierarchy Publication Trust (SHPT) was registered on 8 April 2009, with its headquarters at Kolkata, India. The SHPT undertakes all publication activities under license from the Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM) and the Sahaj Marg Spirituality Foundation(SMSF).[11]

Activities

The Shri Ram Chandra Mission, registered in India in the year 1945 and having its world headquarters in Chennai, India, is an NGO recognized by the United Nations Department of Public Information (UNDPI) as a "non-profit organization" in Denmark, the United States and India.[12]

SRCM in collaboration with the United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan hosts the 'All India Essay Writing Event', an annual essay writing event for school and college students across India, where prizes are awarded for national and state level winners. In 2014, a total of 1,85,751 students from 11,857 schools and colleges across the India took part in this annual contest.[13] In 2017, the event was hosted with participants writing essays in English, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu.

Shri Ram Chandra Mission, Kanha Shanti Vanam, was awarded the `Haritha Mitra' (Green Friend) Award by the Telangana government in 2016, in recognition of exemplary contribution to the greening movement undertaken by the Government of Telangana by Deputy Chief Minister Mahmood Ali of Telangana State, India.[14]

In December 2017, Ram Nath Kovind, the President of India, E.S.L. Narasimhan, Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana visited SRCM's Kanha Shanti Vanam Ashram and planted 100,000th tree with Kamlesh Patel under the Green Kanha initiative.[15][16][17]

SRCM's Kanha Shanti Vanam, a sprawling 700-acre ashram, when completed in a year's time will house a world-class archive, cultural center, a library and a museum all dedicated to narrating the history and current relevance of Yoga. The meditation hall will be able to house close to 50,000 people.[18] Kanha Shanti Vanam is also an ex-situ conservation centre, where rare and threatened plant species are being collected from across India. More than 300 mature trees earmarked for felling because of different road works have been transplanted in Kanha Shanti Vanam. Another 100 coconut trees marked for felling in Tamil Nadu have also been transplanted there.[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Kovind visits ashram near Hyderabad, plants sapling".
  2. ^ "Be calm by positioning in the centre".
  3. ^ "Role of the Abhyasi in Sahaj Marg". Shri Ram Chandra Mission. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  4. ^ a b Golden Jubilee. SRCM. ISBN 2-906219-17-7.
  5. ^ Denley, Elizabet. "A flexible mind" (PDF). Australian Yoga Life. 7. Archived from the original (pfd) on 6 August 2010. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
  6. ^ Sahaj Marg, le Septième Darshana, La Réalité à l'Aube. Infolio. ISBN 978-2-88474-603-8.
  7. ^ Rangarajan, A.D. (31 January 2016). "Proving science behind spirituality". The Hindu. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  8. ^ "21st December 2014". The Hindu. 22 December 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  9. ^ Mayer, Jean-François (1993). Les nouvelles voies spirituelles: enquête sur la religiosité parallèle en Suisse (in French). Lausanne: L'Âge d'Homme. p. 213. ISBN 2-8251-0412-4. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
  10. ^ "Sahaj Marg system of meditation". The Sunday Times. 3 August 2008. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
  11. ^ Spiritual Hierarchy Publication Trust
  12. ^ "Department of Public Information – Non-governmental organizations". United Nations. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  13. ^ "Srikakulam youth shines in essay contest". The Hindu. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  14. ^ Award for green commitment
  15. ^ "Kovind visits ashram near Hyderabad, plants sapling". Business Standard. IANS. 25 December 2017.
  16. ^ "Telangana: Green drive –18 crore more saplings planted than before". Deccan Chronicle. 26 December 2017.
  17. ^ "Observing International Day of Peace". Telangana Today. 26 September 2017.
  18. ^ Kanha Shanti Vanam's Green Initaitive
  19. ^ Rare and threatened plant species are being collected at Kanha Shantivanam
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