As I walked out of the lift in
the 7th floor of the apartment, I was a bit confused where exactly
the flat that I was supposed to go to was located. I looked around. Yes, there
was certainly one board hanging, but I barely read the board. I rushed to the door of the nearest apartment.
It was not the one I was looking for as it was closed and there were no lights
in the house. Then I looked at the apartment just in front of it. That also did
not seem to have any life. I turned back and then I saw the apartment I was
supposed to go to.
There was a man standing in the
corridor and speaking to another person who probably had just arrived there. I
just stood there looking around till their conversation was over. On the door
of the apartment were stickers proclaiming various things –Life Coach, Tarot
reader, Angel Healer etc. I studied G, who was bald and
very fair. He was somewhat stout and not very tall, but of medium built. His
name gave away that he of course was from the North. Could be Delhi, UP or
Punjab. Apart from the smile on his face, he was wearing a White Kurta and blue
pajama. It being winter, he was also wearing a blue Nehru jacket.
We said Hi-Hello and I just went
in to his apartment. He did not ask me why I was there, nor I told him my
reason to be there. There were about 5 other men in the hall. Some of them were
seated on the sofa and some on a chair in the far end of the hall. G asked me
to sit on the sofa.
The room was sparingly decorated.
The main color of the room was yellow, but the front wall was a bright orange.
Against the Orange wall, was a wooden showcase. On the right hand side shelves
of the showcase, there were piles of cassettes. Old Hindi song cassettes from
the 80s and 90s when the tape recorder took the pride of place in middle class
houses. There were some decorative pieces. Some lights and a small water
fountain were placed on the left side shelves. The middle portion houses a wall
mounted TV. Below it was a sound system connected to a phone. A soft meditation
music was playing on it.
The top of the showcase was quite
interesting. There were many indoor plants known as money plants. There were
couple of other variety of plants as well. But the surplus of money plants was
striking out. And all these plants were placed in water in different types of
beautiful liquor bottles.
Slowly, few others also trickled
in. 3 more gentlemen and 3 ladies.
Till all the people came in, G
was speaking to some people and I was unable to get the context. Once everyone was there, G
started the guided meditation. He explained that we will do 4 levels of
meditation. The music was put on. We were asked to come down and sit cross
legged on the floor. There were yoga mattress spread on the floor. Some people
who has back problem wanted support. G said as long as you keep your spine
straight, whether with support or without, it is ok.
Having sat he told us to start
the level 1 of meditation, which is take a deep breath in. Notice how it goes
in. Then breathe out. Notice how it comes out. He asked us to breathe through
the gut and not the chest. He said, your thoughts may wander here and there.
But just try to bring your attention to your breath. He asked us to count up to
21 using the fingers.
Once everyone was done, he asked
us to bring our consciousness to the present and slowly open the eyes. He asked
how was the feeling. Anyone wants to share anything. No one had anything to
share.
Then we went to level 2 of the
meditation. He asked us to take deep breath through nose making a nasal sound
(ham) and then breathe out through nose
making sound (sa). The count remained the same at 21.
I somehow finished my 21 breathes
quickly and opened my eyes. The others were still breathing. After some time,
they stopped. I was looking around. But most of the others still had their eyes
closed. Then G asked them to return to the present and slowly open their eyes.
Some of the folks rubbed their palms and put it over their closed eyes, before
opening the eyes.
2 other people joined then. G
asked them to join the meditation. We were told how to do the level 3. It was
to take a deep breath through nose, making a sound, and breathe out with a mild
force through mouth. Same, 21 count.
The there was the Level 4. In
this, one had to take a deep breath through nose, keep hold it in for 2
seconds, then breathe out with a mild force through mouth for count of 21. I
was sure most people were not counting as they kept on doing this long after my
count was over.
The G asked the usual questions.
What did you feel? Is there anything you want to share. Some people said they
felt very good. Felt relaxed. G told that each level of meditation opens new
doors. He asked us to note the type of sleep that we will get in the night. He
asked if we were ready for level 5 of meditation. Most said yes.
Level 5 he said is the Om
meditation. Om, he said, as I had even read somewhere earlier is the sound that
the universe makes. It is claimed that NASA has been able to even record this
sound. Not sure how true this is. However, he turned down the volume of music.
Asked us to breathe deep and say Om together. While saying Om, he asked us to
focus our attention on the third eye. The chorus that was generated was not in
synch. Some people started early, some late some finished early some late. It
was interesting to hear. For some repetitions I did not say Om but listened to
all others how they were doing. This was supposed to be done 21 times. But I am
sure the folks did not count and some went as long as almost double the number.
After it was over, he asked how
people felt. One of them said he felt a tingling in the forehead. Someone said
he could see a blue light in his forehead. Someone else was feeling
uncomfortable. G said all this is good. This is how it is supposed to be. Neither did I feel anything nor say anything.
After the meditation, there was a
round of introduction. G asked everyone to tell their names, what they do and
any experience in meditation.
People went one by one. Some
people did not have any experience in meditation. Some had done Kundalini
meditation and Raja Yoga meditation. One impatient young man asked if
he will get what he wants and how soon will he get it. G replied that he has to
ask, then Believe and he will receive it. He has asked. Now he should believe
that he will receive it and it will happen.
When it came to my introduction,
after telling about me, I recounted an exchange that I had with a friend
recently. There was a discussion and my friend said that if you are getting a
first aid kit at your home, it means you are attracting some accident. You will
invariably have an accident. I countered him saying it means if I buy insurance
does it mean I attract death. An interesting discussion followed. G said Yes.
He gave the usual story of putting the thought into the universe. The universe
will decorate and enlarge it and send it back as an experience. Few others
joined the discussion. One person spoke about a colleague in office who always
had advised others to buy life insurance. That chap himself had insurance
though he never smoked or took alcohol in his life. However, he died an
untimely death. The discussion went on to why people take insurance, tax
savings, better investment avenues etc. Finally another person summarized that
you can take life insurance, but do not attach yourself to that. If you attach
yourself to it, you attract it.
At the end, G gave his own
introduction. Seems his life was in doldrums 1.5 years back. His relationships
were not working, issues at professional side, he was on the dumps. Someone
asked him to attend the Heal Your Life workshop. It was life changing for him.
He took more such workshops and his life began to turn around. He liked to
teach others what he learnt and he became a certified instructor from Lay
House. And now he is imparting Laws of Attraction courses to others.
He told about his upcoming
courses, took our phone numbers and email ids, hugged everyone and I
left!
