I Was A Monk For 12 Hours — Here's How I Found The Right Spiritual Path

Given the vast expanse of the inner journey, you may wonder again whether the journey to the Center is possible within your day-to-day life. Perhaps it feels too lofty or aspirational.

You may think, It’s easy for you, Daaji, to believe and experience, since you have devoted your life to practicing Heartfulness and guiding others. But what about me? My life is busy. I have many responsibilities and preoccupations. Is it possible?

I wanted to get away from all distractions and focus all my energy on self-realization. So, one fine morning, I left home.

I had no money in my pocket. My only belongings were the clothes I was wearing—a cotton shirt, trousers, and a pair of sandals. I quietly sneaked out and went to an old temple of Lord Shiva, near the river in my village, as the chosen spot to begin my holy journey.

When I arrived at the temple, I was delighted to see a group of aghori babas resting at the temple. I hadn’t seen aghori babas hang around at the temple before, and I took it as a sign of approval of my decision from the Almighty. All day I hung around this group and I noticed that an elderly person was their group leader, and everyone else took directions from him.

By late afternoon, the leader called me to him. Despite his fiery appearance—locks of hair and blood-orange robes—when he spoke, I was surprised by the affectionate voice concealed behind his gruff exterior. When I went closer to him, without asking anything, he said, “Dear son, go back home.”

His voice had enormous confidence and regret. I looked into his eyes, and they were drowned in sorrow. He said, “I have been an ascetic for fifty years and I cheated myself. I have not achieved anything spiritually; now I am a beggar roaming the streets from one temple to another. Even if I wanted to, I could not go back home now. Everyone at home has forgotten me. And suppose I did go back, for all these years of asceticism, I have nothing to show for it.”

I had no logical argument to refute this man’s life experience. I took his advice and walked back home. After a grand span of twelve long hours, my monkhood ended!

I sheepishly slipped back into our home and realized that no one had missed me. They all assumed I was having fun during the summer break!

That same year, those prophetic words of the elderly Baba came true. A few months after our encounter, I started on my spiritual path with Heartfulness and have never looked back.

Which is not to say that I just traded one path of ascetic spiritual devotion for another. Remember the image of the bird with two wings: the worldly and the spiritual? I have spent almost five decades on this path, and life has continually offered me opportunities to integrate spirituality into every strand of my life.

In 1981, I arrived in America as an immigrant with twenty dollars in my pocket—the proverbial story of an immigrant landing on the shores of opportunity. Over the years, my wife and I raised a family with two boys, and we had our share of tough times making ends meet.

Answers to complicated decisions like managing working capital, ordering inventory, and capacity planning would flash by me in meditation.

When patients came to me, I dispensed the medicines and along with it the caring connection that many still remember even though I haven’t filled a prescription now in decades.

But it gives me the strength and endurance needed to gracefully accept them and learn the life lessons they bring my way.

Across the globe, millions today practice Heartfulness. Everyone has their unique journey, but what’s common is the goal and the practice that takes us there. The practice makes it easier to infuse your heart into all aspects of your life.

Centering in the heart, we interiorize ourselves and become loving, accepting, and empathetic.

"Interiorization," one of the many fruits of meditation, helps us recognize the heart as the central, sacred place one should operate from. In our daily life the heart becomes the habitat for our integrated development.

The secret is finding a practice that integrates seamlessly into your daily life. Understanding comes from experience, and experience comes from practice.

We often think of spirituality in opposition to science, but I do not believe this to be the case. One of the definitions of science is the application of reason to experience. Spirituality is, at its core, an experience, and there is much to be gained by applying the same careful observation and logic to our spiritual lives.

You wouldn't continue a diet plan if it doesn't help you. You wouldn't spend time on a course if it didn't help you improve your skills. Why should it be any different when you work on your spiritual anatomy? Your inner progress should be measurable. For this, we borrow from the scientific method. In the scientific method, we take a hypothesis and then conduct experiments to prove whether the hypothesis is true or not.

Apply the same approach to spirituality. Whatever I teach, take it as a hypothesis. Your heart is the laboratory. Experiment there and measure your experience. Arrive at the truth through your own encounters. Until then, it's only a theory, a belief that you uphold.