It is very easy to accept many seemingly contradictory historical facts or claims if a simple idea is understood - there is a continuous eternal natural flow which includes living and evolving.
On top of that natural flow is an artificial or man-made flow of living and evolving.
Most man-made elements are less energy efficient, where not actively wasteful of energy, and more emotionally stressful and so detrimental for natural evolution. That flow also drastically and short-sightedly prioritises humans at the expense of Nature evolving as a whole. [1]
Evolution is defined as greater optimality and generality and simplicity, by any measure, of a system. Here, Nature herself is a system.
Consider also that purity = directness.
Thus, one's silent inner meditation or attention with eyes closed
is more simple and general and directly beneficial than
other religious or spiritual practices such as
audible prayer in groups in a specific, usually little-understood, language with open eyes and
expensive rituals conducted by other(s).
This silent inner meditation or focus is the highest level of practice in all religions.
All, bar none.
Intermediaries of any religion who claim otherwise do so only to exert control over the adherents.
This self-directed silent inner attention is where Heartfulness/Sahaj Marg starts and ends. This is why it is simple, pure, and light.
With one's own inner focus or attention comes understanding of, and cessation of, those parts of one's man-made flow that are out of sync with the natural flow. Those parts neither extend nor support the natural flow, and in fact, they actively disrupt that flow where they do not reverse it.
All religions and spiritual paths only strive to return to the natural flow of living and evolving. But they have varying degrees of success in teasing out only those in-sync man-made elements and applying them simply, directly, lightly. [2, 3]
In particular, they have failed to understand, accept, or welcome an even simpler idea and rule - each and every one of their adherents, bar none, must evolve naturally through natural+in-sync living if natural evolution is to occur!
This natural and effective evolution can occur only if each one lets go of out-of-sync elements through their daily, nay, moment-by-moment, living.
Natural evolution + in-sync man-made evolutionary activities - simple in practice, but ridiculously complicated in theory.
Learning is natural and simple - babies are the best learners! At the other end of intellectual maturity are the self-realised, again with little ego. They also learn incessantly and daily.
Societal, cultural, and school education is complex - the vast majority of students fail to remember what they are forced to memorise in school.
Experience, facts, and memory are simple. Putting facts into, and taking them out of, a man-made conceptual framework is complex and partially, where not totally, wrong. And, of course, partially right.
Humans are mentally flailing around uselessly and counterproductively most of the time. That leads inevitably to physical activities out of sync with natural evolution.
"Let go and rejoice", says the Isha Upanishad. Nature herself will take care of your evolution!
But then, which son listens to his mother?! Especially a silent, and seemingly ever-forgiving, Mother Nature?
In sum, regain the natural living flow first. Then, carefully, cheerfully, and respectfully, infuse your own man-made flow - light, simple, direct - into it.
NOTES
[1] Extending the prioritisation further leads to a specific group or groups of humans evolving at the expense of other humans. And finally, only if others do not evolve.
[2] The Sufis claim, e.g., that each person's practice must be prescribed by a Sufi according to the contexts of time, place, and people.
[3] J. Krishnamurti states that each person's life must be a unique and unprescribed flow through individual understanding and acting. This, his "Truth is a pathless land."
