Fast Track

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Introduction

The story of evolution is a vast one and the process of an individual's spiritual evolution would normally take some time. So, there can be no overnight solution to offer. The good news is that once a genuine individual transformation has started, it may work quite quickly for some people. No doubt changes could be quite slow or a little confusing for some other people.

One needs a degree of rational focus but not any sort of campaign of mental acrobatics. The conscious mind is not the source of any progress and the mind can easily obstruct a living process, which is built into the body. From a spiritual perspective, Mindfulness techniques, including Mindfulness Meditation, are broadly lost causes. They are, however, quite well established money making disciplines. The magazine Scientific American wrote in 2017 that Mindfulness Meditation and training had become a 1.1 billion dollar industry, in the USA alone.

Two key aspects are intellectual understanding and practical experience. But neither of these require a significant amount of thinking or concentrating or believing. Blind faith is not required. However, one should be alert about how life is changing and about what is being experienced by the central nervous system.

There are many alleged paths to spiritual evolution, sometimes referred to as enlightenment. In the majority, even in long-established traditions, there is a suggestion that almost a sort of military campaign and great determination are required. For hundreds or thousands of years, this misleading guidance has been transmitted. I say, firmly, that it is important to discover matters first-hand, as a living process, instead of listening without question or without suspicion to other people. Those others, in truth, may have achieved nothing. How can you know in advance? 

For a fairly swift rational appreciation, however, there are some public speeches by Shri Mataji which are extremely detailed or focused and can cover quite advanced topics. She spoke according to the needs of the moment.  Perhaps a new aspect was ready to be presented, or the audience may have contained some people who were able to appreciate and absorb subtle information or subtle energies.

Here are some transcripts from public sessions:

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi 3rd November 1980. Caxton Hall, London.
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi 22nd October 1979. Caxton Hall, London.
A third speech will be selected, to make five here. Perhaps Caxton Hall, 11th May 1982. An encyclopedic speech but might not be focused enough for the current context. Perhaps Houston 22nd September 1983 [ Comforter ] or St. David's Hall, Cardiff in 1984 or San Diego, 29th May 1985 or Porchester Hall, London, August 1989. To be decided.
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi 25th June 1993. Royal Albert Hall, London.
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi 14th July 2001. Royal Albert Hall, London.

Practical Guidance

There are some straightforward instructions on a page from the website Yoga for India. And the points below are also quite important:

"We cannot meditate. We only can be in meditation. When we say we are going to meditate, it has no meaning. We have to be in meditation. Either you are inside the house or outside the house. You cannot be inside the house and then say that:  'Now I’m outside the house.' Or, when you are outside the house you cannot say:  'I’m inside the house.' " Shri Mataji. New Delhi, India, 1976.

"There is no technique. When I say there is no technique, people do not want to believe it, because technique they want... ... ...It is impossible to explain to people that there is no technique." Shri Mataji. Hampstead, London, 1980.

"Please, close your eyes. Just close your eyes. It’s going to work out in no time today. You don’t have to try anything, that’s one thing. You don’t have to try. Just leave your attention free, absolutely free. Do not try anything. If thoughts are coming, I’ll tell you what is to be done but just don’t try anything. Normally most of you will feel the thoughtless awareness, that’s the easiest thing." Shri Mataji. Caxton Hall, London, 1980.

"Now about meditation, you don’t have to meditate. You are in meditation, where you become thoughtlessly aware. When you are in the present, spirituality starts growing." Shri Mataji. Sydney, Australia, 1992.