Guide of Heartfulness Kamlesh Patel (Daaji) addressed RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) at Nagpur sharing his powerful thoughts on nation-building, gaining the true perspective of diversity in India, her role to ‘help the human rediscover humanity’, and the means of ‘creating unity in the individual.’ Besides Daaji, the event was also presided over by Mohan Bhagwat ji – Sarsangchalak of RSS.
Around thousand participants joined the Third Year Officers’ Training Camp (OTC) or the Sangh Shiksha Varg of RSS which concluded today in Nagpur.
The third-year camp, also now called the Sangh Shiksha Varg, was started by RSS founder K B Hedgewar in 1927. It is one of the two most important annual RSS events.
It was the second RSS Sarsanghchalak, M S Golwalkar, who renamed the Officer’s Training Camp as Sangh Shiksha Varg. The annual camp is generally held on the Smruti Mandir premises at the RSS headquarters in Nagpur. It is mandatory for every trainer to have been trained up to the third year themselves. The camps are meant for the age groups 18-45. Those aged above 45 are trained in special camps.
During his Nagpur visit, Daaji threw light on his beginnings at the Arya Samaj Gurukul where he would begin his mornings with ‘shanti path’ and under the tutelage of his guru draw his inspirations for nation-building and building the Self. In referring to India as an epitome of ‘unity in diversity’, he touched upon first trying to understand what diversity means and gaining the perspective of what Reality is.
“Any system that is not maintained, not given attention, will tend towards disorder. The same holds true for how the diversity of thoughts arose and we lost the essence of this fundamental perception. To understand unity, we need to appreciate that diversity is parts of the whole. If we look at Yoga, in its essence, it is nothing but unity – the union of these parts within ourselves and with our Highest Self. Yoga teaches us that unless and until you are –swasthya – settled within yourself, settled in the steadiness of the heart – you will continue to fluctuate in responding to life’s situations,†said Daaji.
Talking about the inclusiveness of India and raising human consciousness, he added, “Throughout the history of Bharat Varsh, the reason we have been able to embrace multiple societies, multiple cultures, and allow them to thrive, is because there was the pervasive wisdom that at the end of the day, we are all One. But the subtlest, most essential test is creating unity in the individual. How can we take all these scattered energies within and bring them together, and allow space for wisdom to arise? The role of India in the world today is to help the human rediscover their humanity.â€
Daaji recommended cultivating the universal qualities of tolerance, sincerity, compassion, contentment, and truthfulness to bring the change in the world. He reiterated the vision of his guruji Babuji Maharaj that every household should meditate, and every household should unite within itself in making the world one big family.
He spoke on overcoming the enemies and negative qualities within oneself resulting from individual choices. “It is essentially greed which is leading to insecurity in homes, in business, and our society overall,†he said.
To make India a beacon of light, Daaji advised to identify and experience the indwelling Source urging everyone to discover what lies beyond ourselves through Ashtanga Yoga and the Yoga Sutras of Sage Patanjali. He said that the onus is on each one of us to get over lofty decrees and arrive at superconscious states and humility to enlighten the society. Earlier this year, Mohan Bhagwat’s visited Kanha Shanti Vanam, the Headquarters of Heartfulness in the outskirts of Hyderabad city. During his visit, Bhagwat not only had hailed Kanha Shanti Vanam’s sustainability activities, but also received the tips and tools to meditate through a one-on-one discourse from Daaji himself.