Dada Bhagwan Foundation Trust held a spiritual retreat  the weekend on July 16 at the Burlington Marriot in Burlington, MA.  A path to eternal happiness was discovered by A. M. Patel, also known as Dada Bhagwan, and was revealed to the world as Akram Vignan, a spiritual science. Akram Vignan  it is believed leads you to self-realization.

Dada Bhagwan attained self realization in June 1958 at Surat railway station while sitting on a bench at platform number 3. It was about 6 pm and it lasted 48 minutes.  While the Jain principles require a step-by-step purification , Akram Vignan promises instant salvation through the grace of Simandhar Swami, for whom Dada Bhagwan serves as a medium.

The retreat provided a twohour ceremony whereby it is said Self Realization is attained effortlessly. 

At its core, the technique leads you to understand that you are the soul “Sooth Atma” or Pure Soul different from the body. They emphasize that everyone else around you is also a pure soul bound in a body due to Karmas.  Once you realize this, they ask that you work in a transactional manner with the other person’s soul rather than the body and thus avoid accumulating Karmas. 

“Everyone is a file in your filing cabinet. The closer relatives are on the top of the file” said Deepak Bhai, who leads the movement now. “Remember to deal with each file in a transactional manner and put the file away when done” 

“The human souls do the work and God is the light.  Circumstances make things happen. Never have the ego that “I” am the doer,” said Deepak Bhai. He also asked every one to work in the service of humanity in a egoless manner. 

He emphasized the importance of staying away from negative thoughts even for people who may hurt you. “Negative thoughts go one to be part of your Karmas. See people as the pure soul and forgive them if they hurt you. You should also ask forgiveness of those you may have hurt , even in the past. Then your Karmas will be gone and your suffering will go away”. 

The event was well organized. Even through the speaker was Gujarathi they provided Hindi and English translation. 

The value of Satsang was emphasized.  â€œSatsang is a place to nurture your soul. Give 15 days of the year for this” said Deepak Bhai. 

The retreat was inspiring and gave great insights to live a happy life.