
Meraj or Ascent
“The
most important thing for a Muslim (a person who has
surrendered his will to the will of God) is that he
should try to achieve or attain his ‘MERAJ’ or ASCENT.
Unfortunately, this achieving of one’s ascent has been
completely sidelined by Muslims. They are more
involved in superficial things, erroneously believing
them to be very spiritual. For example, trying to earn SAWABS (MERIT), arguing how long their beard should be
or how they should stand and where their hands should
be during SALAH (NAMAZ), the five obligatory prayers a
Muslim must perform daily. They have become fanatical,
trying to convert the whole world to Islam when they
themselves have lost the true meaning of it. Prophet
Mohammed said, "Salah is the Meraj for the believer,’
meaning, that if performed properly, this Salah or
prayer (in fact, it is meant to be meditation) will
ultimately lead you to your Meraj or Ascent.
It
is only after getting self-realization, which happens
spontaneously in Sahaja Yoga, that one understands
Islam correctly and experiences ASCENT/MERAJ.
The Quran and the Hadith speak specifically about
Meraj.
In the first chapter of the Quran,
‘SURAH FATIHAH,, which means the opening chapter (a
Muslim recites this 48 times during his/her obligatory
prayers), it says:
‘EIH DEENAS SIRAT AL
MUSTAKEEM
SIRAT AL LADEENA ANA AMTA ALAIHIM
GAIRIL MAGDUBI ALAIHIM WALAD DUA’A LIN’
Which
means:
SHOW US THE STRAIGHT PATH
THE PATH ON
WHICH YOU HAVE BESTOWED YOUR FAVOURS
NOT OF THOSE
WHO HAVE INCURRED YOUR WRATH AND HAVE GONE ASTRAY
Al-Quran, Chapter-1, Verses 6-7.
It clearly
states that we have to be on the straight path where
God bestows His favours. The diagram of a yogi in
meditation clearly shows the left, right and center
channels. It is on the central channel, called in Yoga
the Sushumna Nadi (Sirat al Mustakeem), that all the
Chakras (spiritual centers) are situated. Once
enlightened by the awakening of the Kundalini, you get
your ascent. Then all the favours of God Almighty are
bestowed upon you. When this awakening takes place a
person becomes his or her own Master or Guru, making
it difficult to go astray and hence incur "God’s
wrath."
In the Hadith, Prophet Mohammed said
that one has to walk on the central path and not to go
to the right or to the left. This means that one has
to be not only in balance but must maintain it. Being
in balance is well understood by Sahaja Yogis. Two
channels, the right and the left, are from where our
desires and actions arise. When these desires or
actions dominate, a person becomes unbalanced and
loses control. This imbalance causes a lot of
disturbance. A person, who is in the central channel,
is not dominated by desires or actions but surrenders
everything to God. They firmly believe that God takes
care of everything. By staying in the center they are
not disturbed by the many things happening in today’s
hectic and stressful world. This is only possible when
one has surrendered to God completely. This is why
Prophet Mohammed has told his followers to be in the
center balance.”
Javed Khan,
Islam Enlightened