My Salutations to all the pure souls gathered here at the Ashram on the holy occasion of Mahashivratri.
Today’s program has great importance because today is Monday which is a good day, secondly it is the conclusion of the Deep Meditation Anushthan and thirdly the Samarpan Meditation movement completes 18 years today. 18 years ago promotion of Samarpan Meditation had commenced. From my point of view the movement has matured, it has become an adult. The way in which parents have expectations of their children on them becoming adults, like the children can now vote and behave responsibly. [At this point PP Swamiji got irritated as children were creating a ruckus – he said: parents keep your children quiet and stop them from creating a racket that is why we do not allow children below 12 into the Ashram]. The time has come now to tell you those points which I have not told anyone in the last 18 years. Like when you go to a railway station and sit alone – you do not have to go anywhere nor do you have to receive anyone – you just sit quietly at the railway station observing all the activities at the station. People come drop their friends/relatives and leave – you have no connection with anyone. Observe with a peaceful chitta – you are not going anywhere and no one is coming for you to receive them. Try and experiment in this manner, you will feel very relaxed. During these last 45 days this is the way in which I was observing the goings on with a peaceful chitta. I had peace of mind and I was watching people coming and going to the Ashram. In my room I was alone, so in solitude I thought why not make rooms with a single window for all sadhaks at the Ashram, so that they can come and stay in solitude for as long as they like. What happens in large cities is that they are affected by thought pollution as one’s aura and surrounding comes into constant contact with that of others. When that happens you start thinking, and those thoughts may not be yours at all, those thoughts may be because of the influence of people around you as their thoughts affect you. Secondly, I want to thank from the bottom of my heart all those who directly and indirectly helped me during the Deep Meditation Anusthan and also to congratulate them. In my home I had no control over my body – there was so much energy that I had absolutely no control over my body. Guruma used to come, cook and go in 2 hours, and I would not realise that she had come and gone. I was flying very high like a kite, Guruma brought me back. I got her help hence I came back just in time. The Kutch idol is ready and it has been given life force energy (pran pratishthapan). This is a very special medium - it has its own uniqueness. It has no personal identity - you will find yourself inside it. The Himalaya ka Samarpan Yog’s next volume has already been completed. I have written so many messages during this Anusthan because you wanted me to; it is your thoughts which made me write so many messages. Guruma is taking time to proof read the Himayala ka Samarpan Yog, as she goes into a trance while reading the book. If she takes so much time, I do not know how the other proof readers, translators, printers and publishers will take for this book to come to the sadhaks. Thirdly I came in contact with a lot of birds and came to know and realised that human birth only enables you to set and achieve targets, only man can aim for what he wants to become, in any other living being (other than humans), there is no plan, no target, no purpose. So even if our life is like those birds and animals – without purpose – then what is the use of this birth? We will come down to the level of those birds and animals. There is a banyan tree where I was meditating and I met Gurudev there, I asked Gurudev, “when will my sadhaks progress?” He replied, “as long as you do not place their true condition in front of them, they will not get the right direction. You forgive all the mistakes of your children just as a mother keeps forgiving her child thinking he will grow up and learn and she keeps turning a blind eye to all the mistakes. Similarly you forgive all the mistakes of your sadhaks and do not tell them the truth and wait for them to progress.” I thought that on the occasion of Mahashivratri, Shivji’s Shivlinga, you should get the message of the formless Paramatma. Why not tell you the truth.
If you have to know the truth, there are two types of sadhaks, you judge for yourself which you category you fall under. Most of them are like this, sadhaks come and meditate with their body, meaning, they are simply trying to concentrate and control their mind, meditation is not making an effort, meditation should occur automatically, we are trying to suppress our mind. You are just trying to tie the mind down during meditation, and with great difficulty you manage to tie it down and you expend your entire energy and strength in trying to tie the mind down; and when these forcefully tied down minds are free after meditation, then they become extra fickle. Your tied down minds’ condition subsequently becomes like that of a small child who hears the school bell ring at the end of the day, he leaves the class making a loud racket; and then the mind starts going into very small issues and then one does not know what kind of thoughts of the past begin to arise. This means you are meditating with your body. Thus your first step itself is wrong and everything else that you do is also wrong as your first step is wrong, thus you continue to go on the wrong path. When you reach a state thoughtlessness, then Samarpan Meditation begins. When you meditate with your body you only get ordinary benefits, does the ego dissipate? No! It just changes form, now you say you are a sadhak, the ego has just changed form! As long as you have a feeling of being a “doer” nothing can happen.
The other is forgiveness. How many of you sadhaks have forgiven everybody? Forgiving makes your chitta pure and chaste. You are not forgiving anybody. I come to know of what you are thinking of others – I know all this because of my connection with you through your first experience. You have not forgiven and you have an ego. Thirdly, have you accepted your situation in life? Do you accept both the good and the bad with equanimity? You cannot do this as your vision is very narrow. First learn to accept all the situations, you should be able to accept and if you learn this then only will you progress.
Next, many times in my messages I have written to you about women power, “Kundalinimata” is representative of” women power”. When you are on the spiritual path, your outlook towards women should be pure and that of respect, I cannot see that in your behavior. Women have not received that position in society which they deserve. When I talk of world progress and world peace, and if we exclude women, we are only talking of half the world. Half the world will be without this benefit, you should include them in this. When both the wheels – man and woman are imbalanced there will be no progress in society. Women are doing all the work which man does (in offices, in politics, in medicine, in research, in police, in army, etc) but they do not have the position which they should have rightfully. Women also work against women. Women complain the maximum against other women, there is no unity amongst women.
When you meditate with the body there will be limited benefits – you will feel good, you will have peace of mind, etc. If you look at Samarpan Meditation, you will realise that the situation with which Samarpan meditation started does not exist for you – it started in the Himalayas where there is no thought pollution. So why did Samarpan Meditation start? For the sadhaks to obtain liberation and this methodology was started with liberation as the only objective. Samarpan Meditation was started to obtain liberation – ask yourself how you came into Samarpan meditation. As soon as the discourse commenced your soul got control of the body, you are trying to control the body, which is not what I had taught. Your beginning was good with the experience which you got. But now you have gone on the wrong path. This meditation is to connect your soul with Paramatma. For an ordinary person this is to help have a good life. You have to keep telling yourself, reminding yourself, that you are a pure and chaste soul. On day a hen had come to the Ashram. A peacock’s egg was placed in her nest to hatch, which was dully hatched by her. The peacock baby was growing up till it say a group of peacocks which looked like her and the peacock kid then flew off with its own kind leaving the hen behind. You have forgotten the original soul experience, leave all your efforts and come back to the point that you are a pure soul. Secondly, why are you not holding on to the experience, that is the energy bridge by which you should reach Paramatma through feeling (“bhav”) – the greater the feeling, faster will you reach a meditative state.
There are some people in society who are complete atheists and are not connected to any medium but definitely have faith in the existence of some kind of a superpower. If by accident the medium of a superpower comes into the life of such an atheist and he gets an experience of the superpower then he can get connected to this superpower, because they are not connected with any medium and their slate is still clean. The theists accept God in one form or another. They get stuck to that form and see Paramatma in that form. Do not take hold of any kind of medium. Paramatma is formless and is Universal Consciousness which keeps changing form from time to time. Today our situation is like that of a person whose child was lost for the past twenty years, being searched with the aid of a photo made twenty year back. My dear! Now that child would have become a twenty year old youth, who you cannot identify now with the help of a photo clicked twenty years earlier. If you have to look for him today you will require his latest photograph. Similarly, how will we ever find “Parmatma” with a photo which is thousands of years old? Today’s “Parmatma” will also be an incarnation as per today’s modern age, then only will He be present today, now the question is, if one has to look for Him, how does one look, there is only one way and that is, in the presence of whichever living person your eyes close and your inner eye opens and the soul begins to experience “Parmatma”, then stop your search and seize that divine experience. Then your soul will begin to experience peace and make your soul your “Guru”, as “Parmatma” will give you future guidance through the medium of your soul.
Study all the religions, their Gods, their Saints – they all repeat the same things, Paramatma is one, Paramatma is one. This is humanity, do not speak evil, speak “good” always. All have said the same thing – speak good, do not talk evil of others, by doing this you slowly reach the soul level. Guru Energies have said this thing time and again that patience reduces as intelligence gets developed. The feeling of satisfaction also reduces with greater intelligence levels. Our kids are not as patient as their parents. If after telling you all this if there is no use then how will I light your lamp for which I have come? You have received knowledge of what is good and bad so that no you can know your own faults. Mediums always keep changing with the times. As it is, the Gurus body is ordinary just like that of a plain clothed policeman who is difficult to recognise in a crowd till such time you are not introduced to the policeman. The manner in which we recognise a policeman by his uniform, actually we do not recognise the policeman. The Gurus body is also ordinary, what makes the difference is “Godliness” which cannot be seen but can only be experienced.
The idols are being prepared and consecrated, books are being written and live events are being held – this is all being done for the next generation. You would have seen some painter, he has his own style, which shade to use and while doing this he begins to love his work more than his own life. He will give his all to a deserving and capable student; similarly a singer wants his art and work to outlive his life. He will give his everything, his entire knowledge, skills and techniques to a deserving student. In the same manner the Enlightened Masters in the Himalayas should pass on their knowledge to someone, and the work they could not accomplish, that should progress and that is why they have passed on their knowledge to this medium; and I also came into society to create/develop/train another medium so that it is passed on to the next generation. But I have not found anyone capable enough, hence I am preparing and consecrating idols as the mediums for tomorrow, some soul will come and develop the knowledge in those idols. You too can become a medium, but that is a log process. You have to become like a pipe – its uniqueness is that you put water from one end and it just passes through, you need to become empty and surrender. The word “Samarpan” is the prefix to the word “meditation” in “Samarpan Meditation”, meaning first surrender completely then you will reach a meditative state automatically. Do not make efforts at controlling the mind. You are a pure soul – accept that, once you do that the soul will control the body. Meditation should happen automatically, effort only controls the mind – some sadhaks know all this as meditation happens with a high state of mind which they have already reached. This is the second type of sadhak which I am going to tell you about.
These sadhaks have reached this high state with the expectation of getting spiritual powers. This can hurt you and I will tell you how. An astrologer told someone who had reached a high meditative state that he would die if he ever travels abroad. I used to tell this person to go – and if you go you can do Gurukarya, but he did not go and recently died. He had not travelled abroad at all and while dying he had the feeling of going abroad hence he will have to take re-birth to satisfy his dying thought. Siddhis (spiritual powers) cannot come just like that, even if you gain them you cannot exhibit them nor can you test them. You gain siddhis when you have the right feeling (bhav) and have reached the third level, as you progress and reach the fourth level you will gain siddhis associated with that level, but remember these siddhis come for your protection and not for you to misuse them. It is so, as the siddha purush knows that ordinary man lives half his life influenced by his past birth, and of the remaining half, half he spends sleeping, so man is left with one quarter of his lifetime to attain the “state of liberation”. Now this quarter he has to achieve everything, what a difficult target this is, but an ordinary person does not have this knowledge. Once you reach a high state of meditation you will not get stuck, you get protection and will always be protected. This happens automatically, but this should not be your objective. You can receive information about anyone by just sitting in one place, once you put your chitta on that persons’ aura you come to know everything about that person. This experiment was done by me in London live on TV some years ago, where I took calls and told people of their problems and the causes of those problems while sitting in the studio in London. I was introduced by the compere as a great “astrologer” from India.
Your life’s expectations will be fulfilled automatically; the end aim should not be to gain “siddhis”. There are some sadhaks who are doing this – this is not correct. Observe this and progress and do not get stuck on “siddhis”. Samarpan Meditation will progress based on what you consider yourself to be – a hen or a peacock. If you believe yourself to be a soul or body that is what will manifest – believing is a feeling of the soul. The more you develop this feeling the closer you will be to Paramatma. Paramatma has made a pathway to reach you through energy, through that path and with feeling you can reach Paramatma and after reaching Paramatma you can get that state – which is called “moksha” (liberation). Liberation does not mean death; liberation is that state of meditation which on reaching, in spite of the soul being in the body is freed from the defects of the body, body has no control over the soul and the soul gets full control over the body. Samarpan Meditation is that form of meditation in which you consider yourself to be a soul and thereby reach Paramatma and receive His experience. Meditate regularly, in collectivity and at the center because you are staying in a society which has negative thoughts which affect your way of thinking. Every act, every work which we do we do it for getting satisfaction, satisfaction is the target. You get greater satisfaction when the benefits of your work reach more and more people. When we work for society, any particular society, if we do it based on language the benefits reach the people who understand that language, if we do it for the country then it benefits the entire country. Gurukarya is the kind of work which reaches all people in the world - it has its own network. You will get the satisfaction that the Gurukarya which has been done through your medium has reached a lot of souls. Do Gurukarya with good feeling, as a soul and in collectivity – these are all matters which will develop the feeling of the soul. This is natural as it benefits all humanity.
The other name for Shiva is “truth”. Truth is not bound by language, country, color or state, it is that experience of God which connects all people in the world. Experiences are not different as Paramatma’s love is universal in the form of energy. Samarpan Meditation is the only group which is based on experience of a (one) unique kind. Remember how you obtained your first experience, start experiencing the same again and revive that feeling. Put your chitta on that experience. I won’t tell you what is good or bad in you. Firstly you are a pure soul and secondly you have received Paramatma’s experience. All you have to do is progress - you will have to be a soul and not a body. How you believe yourself to be, based on that, you will experience the change accordingly. The soul does not dissipate thoughts, problems, worries, etc, as all problems are connected with the physical body. You pray for very small things of Paramatma and these are all fulfilled, but all this is temporary. More wants and desires keep coming and you are never satisfied. If you have to get satisfaction, it has to come for the soul. Hence on the holy occasion of Mahashivratri if you commence your practice of believing yourself to be a soul you will definitely progress in Samarpan Meditation and will not ask for siddhis! Thus slowly and surely you will lead a fully satisfied life. This is the need of the day.
In Germany I had met a sadhika who was connected at the soul level with her Guru but could never meet him personally because of the Trustee. When I heard that, I had decided that whenever Samarpan forms a Trust, I would put a limitation of 3 years for the Trustee to do his work and then new one’s would be selected. From April 1 the Trustees will change, and I have been given the job of informing you about the names of the new Trustees:
SSAT Trustees: Mr. Jitendra Patwari,(Vadodra) – Managing Trustee
Mr. Yogesh Trivedi, (Surat) – Trustee
Ms. Atalben Sharma, (Rajkot) – Trustee
YPBSST Trustee: Mrs. Sharmila Patil, (Mumbai) – Managing Trustee
Mr. Ramchandra Kamath, (Goa) – Trustee
Mr. Anil Pagare, (Goa) – Trustee
Mr. Lokesh Joshi, (Kutch) – Trustee
Mr. Vibhav Parikh, (Mumbai) – Trustee
Mr. Sanjeev Agarwal, (Mumbai) – Trustee
Before leaving the stage, PP Gurudev advised us to do our work peacefully. To achieve a good state you should try and attend all the Mahadhyan programs which come one after the other starting with Mumbai, Rajkot and then Gandhinagar. When you go in collectivity there is great progress. Commit yourself to meditate on every full moon day (Purnima). With lots and lots of blessings to everyone.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
MAHASHIVRATRI - 2012, DANDI ASHRAM
I took my mothers’ blessings and left for Dandi at 7.50am. I picked up three sadhaks at Vakola and I was to pick up Shri Purav at Chikuwadi, Borivali where he was having a meeting early in the morning. I was to pick him up at 8.15am along with a vehicle full of new sadhaks who were to follow us to Dandi. I too had wanted to visit the ground where the Mumbai Maha Dhyan will be held on March 7 and this was like my prayers were answered. We tried to go from the highway, missed a turn and were thoroughly lost in the bye-lanes of Borivali East. We ultimately found our way to the ground after repeatedly asking for directions and reached the ground just as Shri Purav’s meeting got over! We picked him along with another sadhika and left for the highway. We again got lost and by the time we reached the highway the new sadhak car had left and Shri Ramnath Kamaths car had also passed Fountain Hotel on Ghodbunder Road, the usual touch-base spot. We decided to catch up at Kamat Hotel just off Manor. We picked up Dr. Ishnath Singh at Vasai and reached Hotel Kamat at around 10.15am. The hotel was packed and Ramnath said that after waiting for 15 minutes they had just got seats. But as we entered a large group got up and we all got to sit together – all divine timing, would you say!?! The rest of the drive to Navsari was uneventful. One group had to check whether bookings made through a third person were available at Supreme Hotel, hence we there first and as it was already 1pm we decided to have lunch while that group checked into Hotel Supreme. After lunch we decided to go to Royal Regency and check in, relax and leave for the Ashram at around 3.45pm. We checked in, relaxed, freshened up and then left for first the Dham and then later for the Ashram. We soaked in the atmosphere at the Ashram – it was already crowded and gave a clear indication of what we should expect the next day. At around 6pm, we saw that Ashram volunteers had started removing the mattresses from the meditation hall and were taking them outside readying for next mornings’ program. Ramnath Kamath and Deepak Tandon said lets help. So we all picked up 3 mattresses each and started carrying them to the designated spot. On our way back, we found that collective energy had worked, as other sadhaks had also joined. I made two more trips and the entire lot of mattresses, were relocated in about 15 minutes flat!
We went for “bhojan Prasad” at around 6.45 pm thinking that we will get the final dhyan in time. As the persons who came for bhojan Prasad far outnumbered those who had registered, the Prasad was being freshly cooked, hence we had to wait. At 7pm we were served by volunteers after which, Deepak Tandon and I finished our Prasad dinner and left for the meditation hall. As we sat down the “Guru Avahan” started – we had just reached in time. After a good last session of meditation, we left for the hotel. In the car park, we saw a group of five who were stranded as their auto had not come. They asked us for a lift, and I told them I could drop them off at Eru circle to which they said ok. It was a tight fit, as we now had ten people in a car made for 7 people. We dropped them off at Eru circle and proceeded. We reached at around 9.30pm. Dr. Ishnath Singh said he will prepare his herbal concoction which he has kind of made me addicted to (I have it every morning at home). He had forgotten to bring jaggery (one of the ingredients) so Shri Pravin Purav, went down to the Hotel kitchen and brought some. In the meanwhile Dr. Ishnath asked me whether I had got a writing pad and pen to write about the event. I said no, no one had told me, and if I write I will be writing my blog. He then told me that my write-up on the Mahashivratri function for last years’ blog was translated by him for the official version (this I did not know till that moment). I was not keen to write though Dr. Singh said he will give me pen and paper. I was non-committal! Dr Ishnath prepared the drink and Shri Purav served it to everyone. After that we sat upto 11pm chatting and sharing spiritual experiences and discussing books. We had a gala time. We retired for the night, saying that we will leave the Hotel at 3.30am so that we could go to Hotel Supreme, pick the other sadhaks and guide the new sadhaks to the Ashram. The idea to leave early was to try and avoid the expected traffic.
Next morning Dr. Ishnath woke up at 2am, I wished him good morning and went back to sleep. He finished his morning ritual by 2.20am, at which point I got up and freshened up with a bath, etc. I woke up Pravin at 2.45am by which time Dr. Singh was well on his way to make his brew. I told him, that I will go down to the reception and complete check out formalities. I called the Supreme Hotel and told the sadhaks there that we will reach the Hotel at 3.45am to pick them up. I then went to the reception asked them to prepare the bill, went out to the car and cleaned the windshield of all the dust and turned the car around for a quick departure. When I went in again to sign the bill, guess what happened! The guy at the reception gifted me a diary – which I saw as a divine indication to write, so I asked the receptionist to give me a pen too! On now being gifted the diary and pen the decision for me to write the Mahashivratri event diary was already taken by divine intervention! So the blog after this one will be the full event report.
We left at exactly 3.30am, reached Supreme at 3.45am, and got stuck as the sadhaks there were not ready. I called them down urgently as I anticipated great traffic with the recent Mahadhyan experience which was a much smaller event. At around 4.05am they came down and we left without waiting for the new sadhaks, telling them to come by themselves as otherwise we would miss entering the Ashram in time. My fears were proved right, as there was a massive traffic jam for about 5km from the Ashram. This traffic jam came into being because of complete lack of discipline amongst sadhaks. The road to the Ashram is narrow and vehicles returning from the Ashram had their way blocked because of vehicles going to the Ashram starting to overtake vehicles and going on the lane for oncoming traffic. This is what caused the jam. We were stuck from around 4.30am to 5.55am. A little bit of self-discipline would have gone a long way in avoiding the chaotic traffic conditions which put tremendous pressure on the volunteers to clear the jam. A lot of good souls got out of their vehicles to help – God Bless them. As we got onto the rough road, we found that sadhaks had got out from their vehicles and were running to reach the Ashram. This made driving really scary as using horns was not allowed. But in spite of the challenges, we reached the Ashram just in time. We took a seat again just in time to catch the Guru Ahavan before start of silent meditation from 6am to 6.45am.
At exactly 7am Pujya Gurudev entered to the sound of conch shells and enthusiastic clapping from the assemblage of around 20000 participants. Pujya Guruma also entered and lighting of the lamp at the hands of Pujya Gurudev took place. After this he sat down to deliver his discourse. After the discourse, at around 8.30am Shri Rambhai announced that Pujya Gurudev will give a personal darshan to all his sadhaks in a Rath (carriage) to be pulled by sadhaks – this was a first! In the meantime, Pujya Guruma’s departure was announced. We were told to avoid joining hands in obeisance but to close eyes and soak in the energy. As the Rath started passing in front of me, tears started rolling down my eyes, as I felt how much Pujya Gurudev wants his children to soak in the real energy. As tears rolled down my eyes, my spine was becoming chill and my fingertips were pulsating with energy with cold vibrations in the center of both the palms of my hands. I kept my eyes closed for most of the time and just soaked in the energy field with a feeling of intense love and awe at what was being showered on Pujya Gurudevs children through his immense Grace. After the darshan, Pujya Gurudev left and we were told that we could participate in “paduka naman” followed by two exhibitions – one of photographs in the meditation hall in the ashram and the other – an Ayurveda exhibition outside. We were told to definitely view these, partake of bhojan Prasad and then leave. As we had a lot of time on our hands we just sat down and chatted and generally enjoyed ourselves in the energy filled environment. As there were long lines everywhere, we thought it prudent to sit down and relax. We had a lot of fun discussing spirituality and also pulling each others’ legs! A volunteer at around 11am asked us whether we had done paduka naman, we said no, to which he told us to go as there was no line. We paid obeisance at Gurucharan and then went for Prasad. We stood in the queue for about 15 minutes, we then went for the photograph exhibition which show cased Pujya Gurudev’s photographs on events and on his life as depicted in his Autobiography. This was beautiful, but we did not get to really enjoy the display because we were made to rush through due to time constraints. We went for the Ayurveda exhibition at around 12.15pm which was very informative and then wound up - located all sadhaks who were to travel with us and left for Mumbai at 12.45am. We stopped for a watermelon break to Vapi, a snack break at Parsi da Dhabha at around 4pm, where we met a whole lot of sadhaks. We had snacks, then left for Mumbai, I dropped off my fellow sadhaks one by one and reached home at 6.40pm with the same feeling of another event which should not have ended – going to the Ashram and returning is always difficult. Hopefully with Mumbai-ites adopting the Dandi Ashram maybe we could in future have some plans where it would be possible to stay at the Ashram for a number of days with permission of the Trust. Jai Baba Swami.
We went for “bhojan Prasad” at around 6.45 pm thinking that we will get the final dhyan in time. As the persons who came for bhojan Prasad far outnumbered those who had registered, the Prasad was being freshly cooked, hence we had to wait. At 7pm we were served by volunteers after which, Deepak Tandon and I finished our Prasad dinner and left for the meditation hall. As we sat down the “Guru Avahan” started – we had just reached in time. After a good last session of meditation, we left for the hotel. In the car park, we saw a group of five who were stranded as their auto had not come. They asked us for a lift, and I told them I could drop them off at Eru circle to which they said ok. It was a tight fit, as we now had ten people in a car made for 7 people. We dropped them off at Eru circle and proceeded. We reached at around 9.30pm. Dr. Ishnath Singh said he will prepare his herbal concoction which he has kind of made me addicted to (I have it every morning at home). He had forgotten to bring jaggery (one of the ingredients) so Shri Pravin Purav, went down to the Hotel kitchen and brought some. In the meanwhile Dr. Ishnath asked me whether I had got a writing pad and pen to write about the event. I said no, no one had told me, and if I write I will be writing my blog. He then told me that my write-up on the Mahashivratri function for last years’ blog was translated by him for the official version (this I did not know till that moment). I was not keen to write though Dr. Singh said he will give me pen and paper. I was non-committal! Dr Ishnath prepared the drink and Shri Purav served it to everyone. After that we sat upto 11pm chatting and sharing spiritual experiences and discussing books. We had a gala time. We retired for the night, saying that we will leave the Hotel at 3.30am so that we could go to Hotel Supreme, pick the other sadhaks and guide the new sadhaks to the Ashram. The idea to leave early was to try and avoid the expected traffic.
Next morning Dr. Ishnath woke up at 2am, I wished him good morning and went back to sleep. He finished his morning ritual by 2.20am, at which point I got up and freshened up with a bath, etc. I woke up Pravin at 2.45am by which time Dr. Singh was well on his way to make his brew. I told him, that I will go down to the reception and complete check out formalities. I called the Supreme Hotel and told the sadhaks there that we will reach the Hotel at 3.45am to pick them up. I then went to the reception asked them to prepare the bill, went out to the car and cleaned the windshield of all the dust and turned the car around for a quick departure. When I went in again to sign the bill, guess what happened! The guy at the reception gifted me a diary – which I saw as a divine indication to write, so I asked the receptionist to give me a pen too! On now being gifted the diary and pen the decision for me to write the Mahashivratri event diary was already taken by divine intervention! So the blog after this one will be the full event report.
We left at exactly 3.30am, reached Supreme at 3.45am, and got stuck as the sadhaks there were not ready. I called them down urgently as I anticipated great traffic with the recent Mahadhyan experience which was a much smaller event. At around 4.05am they came down and we left without waiting for the new sadhaks, telling them to come by themselves as otherwise we would miss entering the Ashram in time. My fears were proved right, as there was a massive traffic jam for about 5km from the Ashram. This traffic jam came into being because of complete lack of discipline amongst sadhaks. The road to the Ashram is narrow and vehicles returning from the Ashram had their way blocked because of vehicles going to the Ashram starting to overtake vehicles and going on the lane for oncoming traffic. This is what caused the jam. We were stuck from around 4.30am to 5.55am. A little bit of self-discipline would have gone a long way in avoiding the chaotic traffic conditions which put tremendous pressure on the volunteers to clear the jam. A lot of good souls got out of their vehicles to help – God Bless them. As we got onto the rough road, we found that sadhaks had got out from their vehicles and were running to reach the Ashram. This made driving really scary as using horns was not allowed. But in spite of the challenges, we reached the Ashram just in time. We took a seat again just in time to catch the Guru Ahavan before start of silent meditation from 6am to 6.45am.
At exactly 7am Pujya Gurudev entered to the sound of conch shells and enthusiastic clapping from the assemblage of around 20000 participants. Pujya Guruma also entered and lighting of the lamp at the hands of Pujya Gurudev took place. After this he sat down to deliver his discourse. After the discourse, at around 8.30am Shri Rambhai announced that Pujya Gurudev will give a personal darshan to all his sadhaks in a Rath (carriage) to be pulled by sadhaks – this was a first! In the meantime, Pujya Guruma’s departure was announced. We were told to avoid joining hands in obeisance but to close eyes and soak in the energy. As the Rath started passing in front of me, tears started rolling down my eyes, as I felt how much Pujya Gurudev wants his children to soak in the real energy. As tears rolled down my eyes, my spine was becoming chill and my fingertips were pulsating with energy with cold vibrations in the center of both the palms of my hands. I kept my eyes closed for most of the time and just soaked in the energy field with a feeling of intense love and awe at what was being showered on Pujya Gurudevs children through his immense Grace. After the darshan, Pujya Gurudev left and we were told that we could participate in “paduka naman” followed by two exhibitions – one of photographs in the meditation hall in the ashram and the other – an Ayurveda exhibition outside. We were told to definitely view these, partake of bhojan Prasad and then leave. As we had a lot of time on our hands we just sat down and chatted and generally enjoyed ourselves in the energy filled environment. As there were long lines everywhere, we thought it prudent to sit down and relax. We had a lot of fun discussing spirituality and also pulling each others’ legs! A volunteer at around 11am asked us whether we had done paduka naman, we said no, to which he told us to go as there was no line. We paid obeisance at Gurucharan and then went for Prasad. We stood in the queue for about 15 minutes, we then went for the photograph exhibition which show cased Pujya Gurudev’s photographs on events and on his life as depicted in his Autobiography. This was beautiful, but we did not get to really enjoy the display because we were made to rush through due to time constraints. We went for the Ayurveda exhibition at around 12.15pm which was very informative and then wound up - located all sadhaks who were to travel with us and left for Mumbai at 12.45am. We stopped for a watermelon break to Vapi, a snack break at Parsi da Dhabha at around 4pm, where we met a whole lot of sadhaks. We had snacks, then left for Mumbai, I dropped off my fellow sadhaks one by one and reached home at 6.40pm with the same feeling of another event which should not have ended – going to the Ashram and returning is always difficult. Hopefully with Mumbai-ites adopting the Dandi Ashram maybe we could in future have some plans where it would be possible to stay at the Ashram for a number of days with permission of the Trust. Jai Baba Swami.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
SCMM 2012 - Mumbai Marathon
I was not as prepared for this marathon as the 2011 edition as I had a niggle in the left knee ligament which had got aggravated due to driving. Nevertheless, regular meditation and a diet of fruits and juice for breakfast and sprouted beans with salad of tomato, beetroot, onion and cucumber with butter milk meant that I had a low carb high protein diet which helped – dinner was two whole wheat breads with cooked vegetables. In fact I was doing 10km in just about 65 minutes. I did the 21km trial run on the Sunday prior to the marathon in 2 hours 25 minutes or so. This year there was no need to visit the physio like last two years and in fact I got her sms wishing me for the run the day before. I just ran 6 km every alternate day and rested on Saturday, a day before the run. I was on a complete protein and banana diet on Saturday.
The morning of the Marathon was also Makar Sankranti and Pujya Guruma was to give her discourse at 7.30am. I woke up at 4 am and was in meditation for 45 minutes, after which I got fresh and started my stretching exercises. This time too I carried the camera in a waist belt pouch along with my cell phone. My wife dropped me off at the Mahim causeway-SV Road signal from where I walked down to the holding area. The holding area was better organized this year at the area below the flyover near the Bandra East fire brigade location. It was already around 5.50am and the run was to start at 6.15am. I did some more stretches and then walked into the holding area. There was a huge crowd as there was no separate area for veterans and the non veterans, so we had to wait in the crowd. Some youngsters started pushing their way through to get to the front of the crowd, I let them pass and enjoyed myself by taking some pictures. There were a couple of young ladies who were running for the first time and one of them said that she could not sleep the whole night in anticipation of the run. This definitely reminded me off my first marathon nine years ago, when I too could not sleep the night before!
At 6.15am the run started with the VIP and elite athletes being sent off first after which us junta was told to go. There was a huge roar along with cat whistles from the runners and off we went. I hit the timing chip mat at around 6.20am. The start was very slow as the crowd took a few minutes to spread out. The route had been tweaked slightly so that it had more fluidity for the runners – a definite improvement! I just let the eager beavers go ahead and kept slowing down and giving myself room, as I definitely did not want to be stamped on nor tripped! This year too, like last year, there was a sight which one would probably only get to see in India! As the run started and progressed onto the flyover to a section which did not have street lights, a whole lot of runners suddenly had weak bladders and you could see an entire line of maybe a couple of hundred males standing to water the shrubs planted on the road divider! This year the run was smoother as the start was straight onto the bridge which was wide enough to avoid bunching of runners and I got off to a smooth running rhythm. We got onto the road leading to the sea link, the broader road actually helped in easing the crowd, with the runners also now spread over a larger area.
I continued to run at the speed I had trained for, this year there was water being distributed at the 4km mark on the sea link which was a big help. Once off the sea link, I continued running along at a decent clip and ran non-stop for around 13 kilometers. At the 10km mark I called my friend Deepak and asked where he was, he said he had just passed the 7km mark. He asked me whether I would wait for him after the finish as that is the only thing which would motivate him to finish. I said sure, and told him to soak in the energy and finish, as this was his first marathon attempt. I did not see any of my office colleagues even on the turn at the sea link! I walked and then ran alternately and was well within striking distance of my best time which I had clocked year before last of 2 hours 30 minutes and 53 seconds. I ran up more than half the Peddar Road hill and then downhill. I had picked up a banana from the volunteers on the road and a packet of glucose biscuits. I took photos on Worli sea face, drank water which was being handed over by volunteers and generally enjoyed my run in peace and tranquility with my Guru for company. There were a lot of consistent runners this year and the mass which was moving at 2.30hrs speed was the biggest I have seen so far. On Peddar Road I tried to take a snap of the elite athletes as they passed by, but I was too slow to get them into the frame! I cheered and shouted along with a whole bunch of other runners as they passed by.
About 5km from the finish as we came onto Marine Drive, I saw the Sun up, and stood at a bus-stop to thank it for its energy and generally offered a prayer for providing the earth with light and energy, before moving on after about a minute. We passed a Gujarati dance troupe which was dancing to Gujarati song and music – the energy which was flowing from there was amazing, I was bathed in cold positive energy. A little further down, a Marathi “lezim” troupe was performing and they were just going through the motions – no energy there! Similar energy I felt at the Navy Band performance at the 18km mark. I had completed only 17km in two hours that meant I had just half an hour for completing the last four. At 7 minutes per km it was going to be touch and go! The last two hundred meters or so, I sprinted and finished the race strongly, and finished two and a half minutes faster than last year. In fact this may be my best time so far, I will wait for the official time for confirmation. I collected my refreshments and finishers’ medal and went off to the corporate challenge enclosure, which had a huge crowd waiting for the dream run to start at around 8.55am. I went to the Asian Heart enclosure for treating my knee ligaments as the crowd at the Corporate Challenge enclosure was too huge. I got into the enclosure and was asked by Poonam, a United Way staffer whether I finished! I joked and said no! I took a short cut and came! I took some snaps and when one of the United Way staffers came to talk, I said it was too boring sitting alone when they asked me whether I would like to play some games. I said I was too old for games but young enough for the marathon. They asked me to play arm wrestling with their staffers with a Perk Chocolate as prize. One by one their staffers came and tried to beat me, but did not succeed. I beat about 5 of them for which I got two Perks, when I said I beat five, they said “utna budget nahi hai” – and I laughed out loud. It was all fun!
Around 9.45am my daughter and wife came and we had another photo session. Around 10.30am Deepak came and met us and we had some more photos taken. As we could not spot any more of our office guys, we decided to leave. We met Isha Kothari, an office colleague and the baby in our office, at about 500 meters from the finish line we egged her on to finish, took some snaps and left for home.
It was very disappointing to see the response from the rest of the participants from Geodesic as about 10 people did not show up, including the HR person. Next year I will not recommend participating in the Corporate Challenge as the attitude of the youth in the office appears to be to care two hoots!
Raising money for Project Crayons and running for them was a pleasure and I thank all those supporters who have helped Project Crayons by contributing to their cause. Thanks everyone and God Bless. See you all next year.
The morning of the Marathon was also Makar Sankranti and Pujya Guruma was to give her discourse at 7.30am. I woke up at 4 am and was in meditation for 45 minutes, after which I got fresh and started my stretching exercises. This time too I carried the camera in a waist belt pouch along with my cell phone. My wife dropped me off at the Mahim causeway-SV Road signal from where I walked down to the holding area. The holding area was better organized this year at the area below the flyover near the Bandra East fire brigade location. It was already around 5.50am and the run was to start at 6.15am. I did some more stretches and then walked into the holding area. There was a huge crowd as there was no separate area for veterans and the non veterans, so we had to wait in the crowd. Some youngsters started pushing their way through to get to the front of the crowd, I let them pass and enjoyed myself by taking some pictures. There were a couple of young ladies who were running for the first time and one of them said that she could not sleep the whole night in anticipation of the run. This definitely reminded me off my first marathon nine years ago, when I too could not sleep the night before!
At 6.15am the run started with the VIP and elite athletes being sent off first after which us junta was told to go. There was a huge roar along with cat whistles from the runners and off we went. I hit the timing chip mat at around 6.20am. The start was very slow as the crowd took a few minutes to spread out. The route had been tweaked slightly so that it had more fluidity for the runners – a definite improvement! I just let the eager beavers go ahead and kept slowing down and giving myself room, as I definitely did not want to be stamped on nor tripped! This year too, like last year, there was a sight which one would probably only get to see in India! As the run started and progressed onto the flyover to a section which did not have street lights, a whole lot of runners suddenly had weak bladders and you could see an entire line of maybe a couple of hundred males standing to water the shrubs planted on the road divider! This year the run was smoother as the start was straight onto the bridge which was wide enough to avoid bunching of runners and I got off to a smooth running rhythm. We got onto the road leading to the sea link, the broader road actually helped in easing the crowd, with the runners also now spread over a larger area.
I continued to run at the speed I had trained for, this year there was water being distributed at the 4km mark on the sea link which was a big help. Once off the sea link, I continued running along at a decent clip and ran non-stop for around 13 kilometers. At the 10km mark I called my friend Deepak and asked where he was, he said he had just passed the 7km mark. He asked me whether I would wait for him after the finish as that is the only thing which would motivate him to finish. I said sure, and told him to soak in the energy and finish, as this was his first marathon attempt. I did not see any of my office colleagues even on the turn at the sea link! I walked and then ran alternately and was well within striking distance of my best time which I had clocked year before last of 2 hours 30 minutes and 53 seconds. I ran up more than half the Peddar Road hill and then downhill. I had picked up a banana from the volunteers on the road and a packet of glucose biscuits. I took photos on Worli sea face, drank water which was being handed over by volunteers and generally enjoyed my run in peace and tranquility with my Guru for company. There were a lot of consistent runners this year and the mass which was moving at 2.30hrs speed was the biggest I have seen so far. On Peddar Road I tried to take a snap of the elite athletes as they passed by, but I was too slow to get them into the frame! I cheered and shouted along with a whole bunch of other runners as they passed by.
About 5km from the finish as we came onto Marine Drive, I saw the Sun up, and stood at a bus-stop to thank it for its energy and generally offered a prayer for providing the earth with light and energy, before moving on after about a minute. We passed a Gujarati dance troupe which was dancing to Gujarati song and music – the energy which was flowing from there was amazing, I was bathed in cold positive energy. A little further down, a Marathi “lezim” troupe was performing and they were just going through the motions – no energy there! Similar energy I felt at the Navy Band performance at the 18km mark. I had completed only 17km in two hours that meant I had just half an hour for completing the last four. At 7 minutes per km it was going to be touch and go! The last two hundred meters or so, I sprinted and finished the race strongly, and finished two and a half minutes faster than last year. In fact this may be my best time so far, I will wait for the official time for confirmation. I collected my refreshments and finishers’ medal and went off to the corporate challenge enclosure, which had a huge crowd waiting for the dream run to start at around 8.55am. I went to the Asian Heart enclosure for treating my knee ligaments as the crowd at the Corporate Challenge enclosure was too huge. I got into the enclosure and was asked by Poonam, a United Way staffer whether I finished! I joked and said no! I took a short cut and came! I took some snaps and when one of the United Way staffers came to talk, I said it was too boring sitting alone when they asked me whether I would like to play some games. I said I was too old for games but young enough for the marathon. They asked me to play arm wrestling with their staffers with a Perk Chocolate as prize. One by one their staffers came and tried to beat me, but did not succeed. I beat about 5 of them for which I got two Perks, when I said I beat five, they said “utna budget nahi hai” – and I laughed out loud. It was all fun!
Around 9.45am my daughter and wife came and we had another photo session. Around 10.30am Deepak came and met us and we had some more photos taken. As we could not spot any more of our office guys, we decided to leave. We met Isha Kothari, an office colleague and the baby in our office, at about 500 meters from the finish line we egged her on to finish, took some snaps and left for home.
It was very disappointing to see the response from the rest of the participants from Geodesic as about 10 people did not show up, including the HR person. Next year I will not recommend participating in the Corporate Challenge as the attitude of the youth in the office appears to be to care two hoots!
Raising money for Project Crayons and running for them was a pleasure and I thank all those supporters who have helped Project Crayons by contributing to their cause. Thanks everyone and God Bless. See you all next year.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
EGO AND SPIRITUALITY
The ego could be called the core or nucleus of the Conscious Mind. Most people spend the vast majority of their conscious time in association with the ego during their waking hours. The ego is the component of personality that is responsible for dealing with reality in day to day life. The ego develops from the individual’s personality and his growth years since childhood in the company of parents. The ego develops and operates on the principle of reality, which strives to satisfy the individual’s desires in realistic and socially acceptable ways. The reality principle weighs the costs and benefits of an action before deciding to accept or reject those impulses.
When you try to analyze the Ego and its subtle manifestations with respect to spirituality, one realises that there are two obvious aspects to ego, namely the life-affirming ego and the life-negating ego. Life-affirming ego is that aspect of consciousness which permits an individual to function in the physical world and the parameters of consensual reality. Life-negating ego is that aspect which considers the ego as evil, an illusion, as imprisoning limitations that need to be transcended.
It can be said that the life-affirming approach to the ego yields better physical and mental health than the life-negating approach. Suppression of natural propensities will only move them underground in the unconscious. We find that checking inappropriate tendencies of the ego coupled with the nurturing of its experience yields a more balanced and natural personality expression. Moreover, the fixation in altered states of consciousness engendered by the life-denying approach can interfere with normalized personality expression.
There are different kinds of egos and they manifest without one realizing its impact at all. Swamiji has said in many of his discourses that having a feeling of not having an ego is also a kind of ego. When one says I feel so sad for so and so person and you end up saying “that poor fellow” – that too is ego in a very subtle form. This is because “I” am feeling bad for that persons’ situation in life. You have to just become a witness – because feeling bad for any person in life is pointless as that person is living his destiny and getting the fruits or stones of his destiny. Similarly, when you feel good for any person to the point where you express it boisterously, that too is the ego in action – because “I” am happy for so and so person. You have expressed overwhelming joy for a certain person – that too is your ego in action. You need to attain a balance and be happy and in bliss regardless of events occurring in your life and in and around you.
It is only through meditation and by becoming a witness to your thoughts that you can try to control your ego. Any anger, joy, jealousy or other extreme emotion is your ego manifesting into your reactive behavior. You will be in a position to eliminate your ego only when you achieve the ability to control your emotions to the extent that you do not get affected by transpiring events – you just become a witness. You may be called hard-hearted and cruel if you do not react the way society expects you to with regard to situations in life. But those reactions are based on societies understanding of events and reactive emotions. One should not get affected by this too – people will have a lot to say, but not reacting or remaining calm with an equitable disposition will help you control your emotions and remain in balance. Remaining in balance in such troubled times is difficult and a huge challenge in the modern world.
Even life-affirming ego will become a hindrance in spiritual growth, when one starts feeling superior about one’s goodness. The idea is to rise above all this and reach a state of non-existence – NOT BEING as opposed to BEING. The moment you reach this high state of consciousness you will have reached the door of salvation and you will be close to seeing the light, as the saying goes. Let us all try to lose ourselves completely so that we can see the light and attain salvation.
When you try to analyze the Ego and its subtle manifestations with respect to spirituality, one realises that there are two obvious aspects to ego, namely the life-affirming ego and the life-negating ego. Life-affirming ego is that aspect of consciousness which permits an individual to function in the physical world and the parameters of consensual reality. Life-negating ego is that aspect which considers the ego as evil, an illusion, as imprisoning limitations that need to be transcended.
It can be said that the life-affirming approach to the ego yields better physical and mental health than the life-negating approach. Suppression of natural propensities will only move them underground in the unconscious. We find that checking inappropriate tendencies of the ego coupled with the nurturing of its experience yields a more balanced and natural personality expression. Moreover, the fixation in altered states of consciousness engendered by the life-denying approach can interfere with normalized personality expression.
There are different kinds of egos and they manifest without one realizing its impact at all. Swamiji has said in many of his discourses that having a feeling of not having an ego is also a kind of ego. When one says I feel so sad for so and so person and you end up saying “that poor fellow” – that too is ego in a very subtle form. This is because “I” am feeling bad for that persons’ situation in life. You have to just become a witness – because feeling bad for any person in life is pointless as that person is living his destiny and getting the fruits or stones of his destiny. Similarly, when you feel good for any person to the point where you express it boisterously, that too is the ego in action – because “I” am happy for so and so person. You have expressed overwhelming joy for a certain person – that too is your ego in action. You need to attain a balance and be happy and in bliss regardless of events occurring in your life and in and around you.
It is only through meditation and by becoming a witness to your thoughts that you can try to control your ego. Any anger, joy, jealousy or other extreme emotion is your ego manifesting into your reactive behavior. You will be in a position to eliminate your ego only when you achieve the ability to control your emotions to the extent that you do not get affected by transpiring events – you just become a witness. You may be called hard-hearted and cruel if you do not react the way society expects you to with regard to situations in life. But those reactions are based on societies understanding of events and reactive emotions. One should not get affected by this too – people will have a lot to say, but not reacting or remaining calm with an equitable disposition will help you control your emotions and remain in balance. Remaining in balance in such troubled times is difficult and a huge challenge in the modern world.
Even life-affirming ego will become a hindrance in spiritual growth, when one starts feeling superior about one’s goodness. The idea is to rise above all this and reach a state of non-existence – NOT BEING as opposed to BEING. The moment you reach this high state of consciousness you will have reached the door of salvation and you will be close to seeing the light, as the saying goes. Let us all try to lose ourselves completely so that we can see the light and attain salvation.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
What is our Cultural Ethos?
Mr. Kapil Sibal says that social networking sites are allowing posts which are against our cultural ethos and hence should be banned, if the posts are not removed. He raises the bogey of religious sentiments being hurt and character assassination taking place through such posts, though I have not heard of any such protest to date. All social networking sites have “report abuse” buttons, which once clicked enable the site administrator to take necessary and appropriate action. Politicians and other public figures are the butt of jokes of cartoonists and spoof artists all over the world, as they provide the best fodder with their brilliant behaviour. Case in point BBC TV serials lampooning politicians – “Yes Minister” and “Yes Prime Minister”, which are all time hits.
Somebody needs to explain to our Honourable Minister that the only thing which is against our cultural ethos is the behaviour of Parliamentarians whose egos expand the moment they are elected by the people, thereby forgetting the people who elect them. The moment they are elected they are inaccessible to the ordinary man for five years – they get vehicles with red beacons, they get armed guards as escorts who follow the minister in a convoy – which stops the traffic so that this so called elected VIP gets to pass. I seriously do not understand why politicians need security the moment they are elected – are they afraid of the people, or is it the case that they know that they will not work and want protection against public angst – see what happened to Sharad Pawar! The reaction of his supporters was to vandalise public property in Pune, Baramati and Mumbai – that is our cultural ethos, I guess!
Parliamentarians do not perform the basic function for which they are elected – which is to legislate. The norm is disruption of Parliament, no healthy debate, jumping into the well of the House in protest, preferably by uprooting mikes and shouting at the top of their voices or walking out in protest – this best suits our cultural ethos I guess. The Lokpal bill has yet to see the light of day for the last 43 years. After Anna Hazare’s agitation, the Parliament has decided on a weak Lokpal Bill, even though the nation wants a strong bill – now protecting the vested interests of Government and their babus is our cultural ethos, is it not Mr. Sibal?
Crores of rupees of tax payer money is spent on building roads and national highways, which end up increasing maintenance cost of vehicles, now that is our cultural ethos! The common man has to bear the burden of increasing prices, heavy indirect taxation for which the government does not provide any service – that is our cultural ethos!
Corruption has become the national pass time with 99% of the public indulging in it. Many who do not want to be corrupt end up paying bribes, as without that nothing happens in this country! The aam aadmi suffers from basic level corruption from low level government functionaries who have been excluded from the ambit of the Lokpal Bill. We might as well say, “chalta hai @#$%^&&” and forget about – because that is our cultural ethos.
How many political families who own sugar factories and big business houses who take loans from co-operative banks and nationalised banks respectively actually bother repaying the loans. The sugar factory owned by our country’s President owes the banks crores. Patil, in 1973, had set up a co-operative bank named Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank, to empower women. The license of the bank was revoked in 2003 by the Reserve Bank of India for alleged financial irregularities. According to reports, one of the reasons listed by the RBI for cancellation of the license was the faulty loan policy of the bank and waivers on loan interests given, among others, to Patil's relatives. The nationalised banks latest NPA report indicates NPA’s of over Rs. 40000 crores. This from business houses whose promoters are filthy rich! This is definitely our cultural ethos.
In India majority religion bashing is the norm and pandering to others is the flavour – now introducing muslims in the other backward class category for government sops and subsidies. When will such cultural ethos change? Can we not abolish reservations by have an economic criteria introduced for support of the poor – based on merit and not on religion or caste. But that would then be against our cultural ethos, I suppose.
Nepotism and dynastic rule has become the norm in this country – every politicians, husband, wife, brother, sister, etc wants to come into politics to loot the nation. Nobody says “ask not what the nation will do for you, but what you can do for the nation”. But I think our politicians and bureaucrats have found an answer to the second question – it is simply loot the nation and make hay while the sun shines! That has become our cultural ethos.
This Government, instead of using growth to lay a secure foundation for the future, and create conditions where the scourge of poverty can be removed, has undermined the prospects for growth. We have high inflation, worrying public debt, slowing growth, uncertain currency prospects, falling investment, crushing interest rates. Not a single one of the big-ticket items the country needs has progressed. Centralisation of governance remains endemic. There is no serious progress on GST. There is an energy crisis looming. With the exception of RTI, there is no meaningful administrative reform. These will not happen without serious investment of political capital. Government processes from finance to environment smack of more discretion than before. Agriculture, except where states have taken an initiative, remains stuck. Corruption is endemic. Evasion of responsibility remains the norm. Every single institution, from the office of the prime minister to the cabinet, stands weakened. The capacity of the system to negotiate conflict and grievances is declining. Bills are languishing in Parliament. The use of state power by the Congress has been ruthless, the corrosion of public discourse unconscionable, and the anti-intellectualism mind-boggling. This I guess is our cultural ethos.
Mr. Sibal talks about cultural ethos when his party is ruled by a foreigner!
Wake up Mr. Sibal before it is too late. Start tackling real governance issues rather than trying to convert India into a police state to satisfy your insatiable ego by trying to achieve the impossible.
Ref:"Tomorrows Battles by Mr. Bhanu Pratap Mehta in Indian Express"
Somebody needs to explain to our Honourable Minister that the only thing which is against our cultural ethos is the behaviour of Parliamentarians whose egos expand the moment they are elected by the people, thereby forgetting the people who elect them. The moment they are elected they are inaccessible to the ordinary man for five years – they get vehicles with red beacons, they get armed guards as escorts who follow the minister in a convoy – which stops the traffic so that this so called elected VIP gets to pass. I seriously do not understand why politicians need security the moment they are elected – are they afraid of the people, or is it the case that they know that they will not work and want protection against public angst – see what happened to Sharad Pawar! The reaction of his supporters was to vandalise public property in Pune, Baramati and Mumbai – that is our cultural ethos, I guess!
Parliamentarians do not perform the basic function for which they are elected – which is to legislate. The norm is disruption of Parliament, no healthy debate, jumping into the well of the House in protest, preferably by uprooting mikes and shouting at the top of their voices or walking out in protest – this best suits our cultural ethos I guess. The Lokpal bill has yet to see the light of day for the last 43 years. After Anna Hazare’s agitation, the Parliament has decided on a weak Lokpal Bill, even though the nation wants a strong bill – now protecting the vested interests of Government and their babus is our cultural ethos, is it not Mr. Sibal?
Crores of rupees of tax payer money is spent on building roads and national highways, which end up increasing maintenance cost of vehicles, now that is our cultural ethos! The common man has to bear the burden of increasing prices, heavy indirect taxation for which the government does not provide any service – that is our cultural ethos!
Corruption has become the national pass time with 99% of the public indulging in it. Many who do not want to be corrupt end up paying bribes, as without that nothing happens in this country! The aam aadmi suffers from basic level corruption from low level government functionaries who have been excluded from the ambit of the Lokpal Bill. We might as well say, “chalta hai @#$%^&&” and forget about – because that is our cultural ethos.
How many political families who own sugar factories and big business houses who take loans from co-operative banks and nationalised banks respectively actually bother repaying the loans. The sugar factory owned by our country’s President owes the banks crores. Patil, in 1973, had set up a co-operative bank named Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank, to empower women. The license of the bank was revoked in 2003 by the Reserve Bank of India for alleged financial irregularities. According to reports, one of the reasons listed by the RBI for cancellation of the license was the faulty loan policy of the bank and waivers on loan interests given, among others, to Patil's relatives. The nationalised banks latest NPA report indicates NPA’s of over Rs. 40000 crores. This from business houses whose promoters are filthy rich! This is definitely our cultural ethos.
In India majority religion bashing is the norm and pandering to others is the flavour – now introducing muslims in the other backward class category for government sops and subsidies. When will such cultural ethos change? Can we not abolish reservations by have an economic criteria introduced for support of the poor – based on merit and not on religion or caste. But that would then be against our cultural ethos, I suppose.
Nepotism and dynastic rule has become the norm in this country – every politicians, husband, wife, brother, sister, etc wants to come into politics to loot the nation. Nobody says “ask not what the nation will do for you, but what you can do for the nation”. But I think our politicians and bureaucrats have found an answer to the second question – it is simply loot the nation and make hay while the sun shines! That has become our cultural ethos.
This Government, instead of using growth to lay a secure foundation for the future, and create conditions where the scourge of poverty can be removed, has undermined the prospects for growth. We have high inflation, worrying public debt, slowing growth, uncertain currency prospects, falling investment, crushing interest rates. Not a single one of the big-ticket items the country needs has progressed. Centralisation of governance remains endemic. There is no serious progress on GST. There is an energy crisis looming. With the exception of RTI, there is no meaningful administrative reform. These will not happen without serious investment of political capital. Government processes from finance to environment smack of more discretion than before. Agriculture, except where states have taken an initiative, remains stuck. Corruption is endemic. Evasion of responsibility remains the norm. Every single institution, from the office of the prime minister to the cabinet, stands weakened. The capacity of the system to negotiate conflict and grievances is declining. Bills are languishing in Parliament. The use of state power by the Congress has been ruthless, the corrosion of public discourse unconscionable, and the anti-intellectualism mind-boggling. This I guess is our cultural ethos.
Mr. Sibal talks about cultural ethos when his party is ruled by a foreigner!
Wake up Mr. Sibal before it is too late. Start tackling real governance issues rather than trying to convert India into a police state to satisfy your insatiable ego by trying to achieve the impossible.
Ref:"Tomorrows Battles by Mr. Bhanu Pratap Mehta in Indian Express"
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Chaitanya Samarpan Dhyan Mahashibir – 7,8,9 November 2011 at Rajkot
We had booked flight tickets for Rajkot almost two months ago. There were five of us initially, of which three dropped out due to personal reasons and only Deepak Tandon and I took the flight. We met a sadhak couple from Juhu center, who were on the same flight. We landed in Rakjot at 6.15am and took the hired cab to the Ashram situated at Sindhavadar which is about 50km from the airport. The drive took us just over an hour. Just as we neared the Ashram, I saw a huge “Trishul” formed in the clouds, which was welcoming us into the presence of divinity. We reached the Ashram at around 7.30am, registered at the registration counter and went into the residential tent. The tent was huge, with the capacity of accommodating 4320 sadhaks.
The Ashram land had been acquired only on September 5, 2011 and PP Gurudev’s residence was constructed in exactly 57 days, and co-incidentally this was PP Gurudev’s 57th birthday. The Rajkot sadhaks, under the very able guidance of Ms. Jigna Gohil (President of the CM 2011 Committee) had done a fantastic job of preparing the land and then making arrangements for the festival. A gigantic effort had been made to appear very effortless under the Guru energies while setting up the entire event. The entire ground had been covered with green carpeting, including the residential area, dining area, exhibition area and the bathroom area. Earlier, at the breaks there always used to be a rush to find one’s footwear, but this time plastic bags were given to put one’s footwear in and we were told to place them below our mattresses, this, with one stroke eliminated the chaos which used to occur while collecting the footwear during intervals and in the night.
The organizers had given color codes for different sadhaks for allocating timings during meal times, so that participants did not have to wait in long queues. This was an innovation, which will stand the organizers of future events in good stead. The walkways were made wider hence between events the movement of people was much easier and smoother without any pushing and shoving. I did not experience any waiting period during any of the days, which actually helped one enjoy the energy filled atmosphere in a very relaxed manner.
After arrival we relaxed in the bedding tent, had lunch at noon, went to visit the exhibitions and then came back and changed to attend the beginning of the function. At 2.45pm we all assembled in the “Sabha Mandap”, and the comperes, (Mrs. Virkar and Mr. Bhatt) started the program in their inimitable style. The pleasure of attending the function was enhanced manifold with the compering par excellence of these two committed sadhaks, who bring such feeling and love into their words, which is truly amazing – God and Guru bless them to infinity. I was getting a faint rose fragrance intermittently, with my eyes shut listening to the introduction. After the introductory talk, sadhaks who had registered for the “havan” were asked to go to the “havan kund” as the “havan” was to start at 4pm and end by 6pm. The other sadhaks were to stay back in the main tent and watch the Kutch Gurupurnima 2011 video of PP Gurudev’s discourse.
We left for the “havan kund” quietly and in a disciplined manner and sat at our allocated places. At exactly 4pm the “havan” function started with Shri Rambhai along with a trained sadhak conducting the proceedings. With the help of authorized helpers, the proceedings started (there were about 100 “havan kunds” with about 350 participants) and the flame was lit to the chanting of mantras. After establishing the deity the main participants at each “havan kund” was asked to stand up. Just as I started standing up, the flame at my “havan” went off and a huge black ball of smoke started coming towards me as I was sitting facing the windward side. I instinctively closed my eyes, thinking that this smoke will go into my nostrils and eyes, making then both water. But as I stood up, I felt a cold ball of energy encircle my head completely (I feel it every time I think of the experience), but I did not get any whiff of the smoke, so I opened my eyes, and saw that the smoke had moved on to my right after hitting the ball of energy and in the meantime the flame had been lit again. As I sat down that ball of energy was with me, around my head and neck, and then left after a few minutes. I felt like I was blessed with the Guru energies making sure that I was not put to any inconvenience. Later I asked Deepak, who was with me at the “havan”, whether he saw this. He replied that he had, but did not know why the smoke veered away! In due course the “havan” function got over, with Shri Rambhai concluding the program, and Shri Ambareeshji and Shri Anuragji, walking around the entire “havan” area with hands folded as PP Gurudev’s representatives. We were given 5 gifts for participating in the “havan”, the Ganesh murti made of brass (very beautiful), the coconut, a guava, Prasad in a packet and a silver coin vibrated by PP Gurudev with His image embossed on it.
After the “havan” we went back to the residential tent, and relaxed before going for dinner. After dinner, we went to the “sabha mandap” for the post dinner program. At 9.15pm the program got over and we retired for the day. I went to sleep and woke up at 2.15am and freshened up, had a bath and got ready for morning meditation. Once I got back, I woke up the others, and after they had their bath, we went for a cup of tea and biscuits at around 4.30am. We got back and at 5.45am went into the “sabha mandap” and sat down for meditation. This was the big day, the birthday of PP Gurudev who is an incarnation sent to earth for showing the path to salvation for millions of souls. The meditation was conducted by Shri Rambhai, I prayed for a “param shunya” state for myself and prayed for PP Gurudev’s well being along with that of his very large family of sadhaks. During meditation, I was getting the fragrance of roses off and on. At 7am, after meditation, we went for breakfast and were told to assemble at 7.45 am as PP Gurudev and PP Guruma were to enter the “sabha mandap” at 8am.
At around 7.45am we entered the “sabha mandap” and quietly went and sat inside to the sound of chants/bhajans being played. My eyes closed and just before PP Guruma entered, my soul told me that Vandaniya Guruma is coming, and as the thought crossed my mind, conch shells started blowing announcing her arrival to the sound of loud claps from the sadhaks. A few minutes later, I again got the feeling the PP Gurudev was coming, and as soon as I got the feeling, the conch shells again blew announcing PP Gurudev’s arrival. The sadhaks clapped very loudly and there was great joy and happiness all round with a lot of love energy flowing in the mandap.
PP Gurudev then began his discourse. He mentioned that he had got his birthday gift in October itself, as he was blessed with a grandson, thus graduating from Babaswami to Dadaswami. He informed us that the grandson had been christened Shri Chaitanya Swami. We all clapped very loudly to show our happiness. He then mentioned that the message of the Gurushaktis was that henceforth Maha Dhyans would take place instead of Maha Shibirs. The last Maha Dhyan was in 2008 and after that for 3 years there was nothing, as in a very subtle manner the Guru energies were preparing for change, the calm before the storm so to speak! The first Maha Dhyan was held during the international retreat at Dandi Ashram in October. The next one will be held tomorrow and he told us to keep our balance and be ready for great spiritual experiences as all the Gurushaktis will be present for the meditation to be conducted by PP Gurudev himself. He went on to explain that the energy which flowed during the 8 days of the Maha Shibirs would now flow in that one hour of Maha Dhyan, to which there was tremendous applause. He informed us that the energies which will flow during the meditation will help in clearing all the chakras in that one hour. Any sadhak whose root chakra was blocked would start coughing as it got cleared and those whose “swadishthan chakra” was getting cleared would cough at that point and so on. He also mentioned that such Maha Shibirs would now take place and that only one Maha Shibir in one city will take place. PP Gurudev completed his discourse and then the comperes announced that sadhaks had decided to gift a Samarpan Rath to S PP Gurudev, whose ribbon cutting he did along with puja. The video shooting of the entire opening ceremony was done and shown to us later. PP Gurudev also blessed the plots where the Ayurveda and Yoga schools were to be built. In the meantime preparations were going on for the birthday celebration, with each sadhak being given a balloon and chocolate. The cake was brought and placed for cutting, along with a huge greeting card prepared by sadhaks. PP Guruma and PP Gurudev then re-entered the sabha mandap to sound of loud claps and to the tune of “jiyo hazaaron saal…..happy birthday to you”. All the sadhaks were waving balloons and singing along, and once the song was over, the sound of balloons bursting like small crackers was heard for the next few minutes. After that we were all given candles, which we lit, and then did “Arati” of PP Gurudev. By now it was almost noon, and the paduka naman program was to start. After about half an hour it was our turn to pay obeisance to PP Gurudev’s lotus feet. I prostrated myself and kept asking PP Gurudev to give me “param shunya stithi”, moksha and to fill my being with love for the entire universe, so that I could become a fountain of love. I was prostrate for about three minutes in a one on one communion with PP Gurudev. I then got up and as I left, after the paduka naman, I looked towards PP Gurudev and felt his eyes follow me as I left the mandap. I was feeling truly blessed with divine energy and I felt deep inside me that PP Gurudev had heard my prayers. We then went for lunch.
After lunch we re-assembled at 3pm and PP Guruma gave her discourse explaining various aspects in her inimitable style, like a mother, with love and humor. Her mellifluous voice always brings great inner joy. She had composed a bhajan which she sang at the end of her discourse in her beautiful voice, to rhythmic clapping from the sadhaks side. Ambarishji then took stage after the tea break and entertained the sadhaks in his humorous style while explaining the importance of yuva shakti and the efforts and innovations in prachar being undertaken by the youth.
After dinner there was a cultural program with dances being performed by various centers. All the dances were beautiful, but the Shiva Tandav dance performed by the Rajkot sadhaks was special as far as I was concerned. As the dance started to the music and chants of the Shiva stotra, the synchronization and movement of the dance made my body go cold with energy, and as the tandav started, Nandi got disturbed and as Parvati Devi was calming Nandi by moving her hand over Nandi’s head, I felt a cold wave of energy on my scalp, like a hand was moving over my head and neck – this happened twice at the exact moment that Parvati Devi was moving her hand over Nandi’s head. I remembered my trip to Dronagiri in July, where I had my first experience of Lord Shiva and Nandi at the Dronagiri temple. After that we retired for the night having only fruits for dinner so that our stomach would be quiet for the Maha Dhyan the next day.
I went into a sleep of the dead and when I woke up completely refreshed it was 2.45am. I went for a bath, returned and woke the others up so that we could be ready well in time for the Maha Dhyan. I submitted the feedback form on the event and then we assembled at 5.45am, and sat down with our chitta on the crown chakra. There was a lot of coughing going on as the energy levels were quite high. Rambhai started the proceedings at exactly 6am, and the lights were switched off – there was pin drop silence and PP Gurudev’s entry could be sensed as He quietly came and sat down. At 6.15am PP Gurudev started the Maha Dhyan with the recital of the Guru Mantra. In the initial 15 minutes I was just getting into a trance, my breathing had slowed down considerably, but was brought out by a sharp laugh by some sadhak very close behind me, which set my heart beat racing. It took me a couple of minutes to calm down, but I could not get into a meditative state, as intermittent coughing and snoring close behind me prevented concentration – my condition is still very nascent and I have not yet developed the ability to completely switch off yet. With PP Gurudev’s Grace it will happen soon. My legs were also cramping up, and at around 7am, again I felt myself entering a meditative state. Now I felt my consciousness expanding and I could hear, sparrows, pigeons, crickets, the sound of running water from all around the locality, the most tiny sound was magnified and appeared to sound close by. At 7.15am PP Gurudev concluded the meditation program, with prayer and “Shanti Path”. We then left the sabha mandap for our breakfast break. We were already into the third day of the program, and time had just flown by in peaceful and energized surroundings.
After breakfast we re-assembled at the Sabha Mandap with the Trustees explaining various aspects of their activities. Thereafter there was a continuation of the cultural program with dance and bhajans being performed by sadhaks from various centers from Gujarat and Maharashtra. At the lunch break, post lunch I went to the exhibition stall again for taking Akash tatva experience. We were explained the concept wherein you becoming thoughtless by praying to the sky and how because of the infinity in space our mind gets dissolved in its infinity, and then we were told to stand with the left hand up just above the shoulder palm facing upwards and the right palm facing down near the hip, to stand with our eyes closed and feel the universal energy. I felt tingling sensation in my palms as I received universal energy through my left hand and then felt the released negative energy going out of my right hand. It was again an experience which was unique. I had experienced this before too, when my paragliding instructor Tom, from England, had made us relax to exorcise the fear of flying by connecting us to universal energy.
After lunch Anuragji gave a very good speech on his experiences and how the affairs of the trust are being managed. The program was altered thereafter and the Question and Answer session to be taken by PP Gurudev being postponed from 4pm to 5pm. As we had a flight to catch, I told Deepak that it would be better if we sit outside and watch the session on TV as the Q & A session was bound to extend beyond one hour. We took our Prasad and then sat for the session in the exhibition stall. The first question was "Why does Swamiji meet the sadhaks?" This question has been asked before many times, hence briefly the answer is, if you do Guru's karya, the Guru will follow you, much like the cow who who will follow you if you carry its calf! The second question on the fear of death was explained very beautifully by PP Gurudev. Firstly you should understand deat, then you can understand fear. One dies with every breath – you breathe in life force and when you breathe out you die. But if you approach life with the a positive approach thinking that every day is your last day then you could tell yourself, as today is my last day, I will meditate,I will not fight with anyone - why fight while dying? today is my last day, I will do some good deed selflessly; today is my last day I will spread happiness and love to everyone and so on. Why should one fear death, as death is just a moving on a transformation of energy from the body into universal consciousness. There are 3 types of death : Physical death - a good doctor can save you, and death can be postponed. Second, Divine Death: A Saint's blessing can delay it. Last Spiritual Death: no one can save you - because after this you are free, you attain salvation.It was about 6.15, when Deepak and I and all the other sadhaks who had booked flights took their taxis and left for the airport. As we left the organisers had kept sadhaks to see us off and invite us again to the Ashram, truly gracious hosts with a lot of love energy! We reached exactly 45 minutes before the flight departed. PP Gurudev showed us again the concept of JIT (Just in Time) management, as with his Grace we caught the flight back to Mumbai.
I would like to mention in conclusion that apart from the Guru energies and universal consciousness which flow’s at all such functions, this time around the experience was enhanced manifold due to the superb event management and phenomenal efforts taken to make the stay comfortable and hassle free for all the sadhaks. May God and Gurudev bless all the organizers and give them Energy to continue doing such great Gurukarya.
I have written this from memory and the sequence may be wrong in some places - I may have missed some things too, for which I apologize – please excuse me.
JAI BABA SWAMI
The Ashram land had been acquired only on September 5, 2011 and PP Gurudev’s residence was constructed in exactly 57 days, and co-incidentally this was PP Gurudev’s 57th birthday. The Rajkot sadhaks, under the very able guidance of Ms. Jigna Gohil (President of the CM 2011 Committee) had done a fantastic job of preparing the land and then making arrangements for the festival. A gigantic effort had been made to appear very effortless under the Guru energies while setting up the entire event. The entire ground had been covered with green carpeting, including the residential area, dining area, exhibition area and the bathroom area. Earlier, at the breaks there always used to be a rush to find one’s footwear, but this time plastic bags were given to put one’s footwear in and we were told to place them below our mattresses, this, with one stroke eliminated the chaos which used to occur while collecting the footwear during intervals and in the night.
The organizers had given color codes for different sadhaks for allocating timings during meal times, so that participants did not have to wait in long queues. This was an innovation, which will stand the organizers of future events in good stead. The walkways were made wider hence between events the movement of people was much easier and smoother without any pushing and shoving. I did not experience any waiting period during any of the days, which actually helped one enjoy the energy filled atmosphere in a very relaxed manner.
After arrival we relaxed in the bedding tent, had lunch at noon, went to visit the exhibitions and then came back and changed to attend the beginning of the function. At 2.45pm we all assembled in the “Sabha Mandap”, and the comperes, (Mrs. Virkar and Mr. Bhatt) started the program in their inimitable style. The pleasure of attending the function was enhanced manifold with the compering par excellence of these two committed sadhaks, who bring such feeling and love into their words, which is truly amazing – God and Guru bless them to infinity. I was getting a faint rose fragrance intermittently, with my eyes shut listening to the introduction. After the introductory talk, sadhaks who had registered for the “havan” were asked to go to the “havan kund” as the “havan” was to start at 4pm and end by 6pm. The other sadhaks were to stay back in the main tent and watch the Kutch Gurupurnima 2011 video of PP Gurudev’s discourse.
We left for the “havan kund” quietly and in a disciplined manner and sat at our allocated places. At exactly 4pm the “havan” function started with Shri Rambhai along with a trained sadhak conducting the proceedings. With the help of authorized helpers, the proceedings started (there were about 100 “havan kunds” with about 350 participants) and the flame was lit to the chanting of mantras. After establishing the deity the main participants at each “havan kund” was asked to stand up. Just as I started standing up, the flame at my “havan” went off and a huge black ball of smoke started coming towards me as I was sitting facing the windward side. I instinctively closed my eyes, thinking that this smoke will go into my nostrils and eyes, making then both water. But as I stood up, I felt a cold ball of energy encircle my head completely (I feel it every time I think of the experience), but I did not get any whiff of the smoke, so I opened my eyes, and saw that the smoke had moved on to my right after hitting the ball of energy and in the meantime the flame had been lit again. As I sat down that ball of energy was with me, around my head and neck, and then left after a few minutes. I felt like I was blessed with the Guru energies making sure that I was not put to any inconvenience. Later I asked Deepak, who was with me at the “havan”, whether he saw this. He replied that he had, but did not know why the smoke veered away! In due course the “havan” function got over, with Shri Rambhai concluding the program, and Shri Ambareeshji and Shri Anuragji, walking around the entire “havan” area with hands folded as PP Gurudev’s representatives. We were given 5 gifts for participating in the “havan”, the Ganesh murti made of brass (very beautiful), the coconut, a guava, Prasad in a packet and a silver coin vibrated by PP Gurudev with His image embossed on it.
After the “havan” we went back to the residential tent, and relaxed before going for dinner. After dinner, we went to the “sabha mandap” for the post dinner program. At 9.15pm the program got over and we retired for the day. I went to sleep and woke up at 2.15am and freshened up, had a bath and got ready for morning meditation. Once I got back, I woke up the others, and after they had their bath, we went for a cup of tea and biscuits at around 4.30am. We got back and at 5.45am went into the “sabha mandap” and sat down for meditation. This was the big day, the birthday of PP Gurudev who is an incarnation sent to earth for showing the path to salvation for millions of souls. The meditation was conducted by Shri Rambhai, I prayed for a “param shunya” state for myself and prayed for PP Gurudev’s well being along with that of his very large family of sadhaks. During meditation, I was getting the fragrance of roses off and on. At 7am, after meditation, we went for breakfast and were told to assemble at 7.45 am as PP Gurudev and PP Guruma were to enter the “sabha mandap” at 8am.
At around 7.45am we entered the “sabha mandap” and quietly went and sat inside to the sound of chants/bhajans being played. My eyes closed and just before PP Guruma entered, my soul told me that Vandaniya Guruma is coming, and as the thought crossed my mind, conch shells started blowing announcing her arrival to the sound of loud claps from the sadhaks. A few minutes later, I again got the feeling the PP Gurudev was coming, and as soon as I got the feeling, the conch shells again blew announcing PP Gurudev’s arrival. The sadhaks clapped very loudly and there was great joy and happiness all round with a lot of love energy flowing in the mandap.
PP Gurudev then began his discourse. He mentioned that he had got his birthday gift in October itself, as he was blessed with a grandson, thus graduating from Babaswami to Dadaswami. He informed us that the grandson had been christened Shri Chaitanya Swami. We all clapped very loudly to show our happiness. He then mentioned that the message of the Gurushaktis was that henceforth Maha Dhyans would take place instead of Maha Shibirs. The last Maha Dhyan was in 2008 and after that for 3 years there was nothing, as in a very subtle manner the Guru energies were preparing for change, the calm before the storm so to speak! The first Maha Dhyan was held during the international retreat at Dandi Ashram in October. The next one will be held tomorrow and he told us to keep our balance and be ready for great spiritual experiences as all the Gurushaktis will be present for the meditation to be conducted by PP Gurudev himself. He went on to explain that the energy which flowed during the 8 days of the Maha Shibirs would now flow in that one hour of Maha Dhyan, to which there was tremendous applause. He informed us that the energies which will flow during the meditation will help in clearing all the chakras in that one hour. Any sadhak whose root chakra was blocked would start coughing as it got cleared and those whose “swadishthan chakra” was getting cleared would cough at that point and so on. He also mentioned that such Maha Shibirs would now take place and that only one Maha Shibir in one city will take place. PP Gurudev completed his discourse and then the comperes announced that sadhaks had decided to gift a Samarpan Rath to S PP Gurudev, whose ribbon cutting he did along with puja. The video shooting of the entire opening ceremony was done and shown to us later. PP Gurudev also blessed the plots where the Ayurveda and Yoga schools were to be built. In the meantime preparations were going on for the birthday celebration, with each sadhak being given a balloon and chocolate. The cake was brought and placed for cutting, along with a huge greeting card prepared by sadhaks. PP Guruma and PP Gurudev then re-entered the sabha mandap to sound of loud claps and to the tune of “jiyo hazaaron saal…..happy birthday to you”. All the sadhaks were waving balloons and singing along, and once the song was over, the sound of balloons bursting like small crackers was heard for the next few minutes. After that we were all given candles, which we lit, and then did “Arati” of PP Gurudev. By now it was almost noon, and the paduka naman program was to start. After about half an hour it was our turn to pay obeisance to PP Gurudev’s lotus feet. I prostrated myself and kept asking PP Gurudev to give me “param shunya stithi”, moksha and to fill my being with love for the entire universe, so that I could become a fountain of love. I was prostrate for about three minutes in a one on one communion with PP Gurudev. I then got up and as I left, after the paduka naman, I looked towards PP Gurudev and felt his eyes follow me as I left the mandap. I was feeling truly blessed with divine energy and I felt deep inside me that PP Gurudev had heard my prayers. We then went for lunch.
After lunch we re-assembled at 3pm and PP Guruma gave her discourse explaining various aspects in her inimitable style, like a mother, with love and humor. Her mellifluous voice always brings great inner joy. She had composed a bhajan which she sang at the end of her discourse in her beautiful voice, to rhythmic clapping from the sadhaks side. Ambarishji then took stage after the tea break and entertained the sadhaks in his humorous style while explaining the importance of yuva shakti and the efforts and innovations in prachar being undertaken by the youth.
After dinner there was a cultural program with dances being performed by various centers. All the dances were beautiful, but the Shiva Tandav dance performed by the Rajkot sadhaks was special as far as I was concerned. As the dance started to the music and chants of the Shiva stotra, the synchronization and movement of the dance made my body go cold with energy, and as the tandav started, Nandi got disturbed and as Parvati Devi was calming Nandi by moving her hand over Nandi’s head, I felt a cold wave of energy on my scalp, like a hand was moving over my head and neck – this happened twice at the exact moment that Parvati Devi was moving her hand over Nandi’s head. I remembered my trip to Dronagiri in July, where I had my first experience of Lord Shiva and Nandi at the Dronagiri temple. After that we retired for the night having only fruits for dinner so that our stomach would be quiet for the Maha Dhyan the next day.
I went into a sleep of the dead and when I woke up completely refreshed it was 2.45am. I went for a bath, returned and woke the others up so that we could be ready well in time for the Maha Dhyan. I submitted the feedback form on the event and then we assembled at 5.45am, and sat down with our chitta on the crown chakra. There was a lot of coughing going on as the energy levels were quite high. Rambhai started the proceedings at exactly 6am, and the lights were switched off – there was pin drop silence and PP Gurudev’s entry could be sensed as He quietly came and sat down. At 6.15am PP Gurudev started the Maha Dhyan with the recital of the Guru Mantra. In the initial 15 minutes I was just getting into a trance, my breathing had slowed down considerably, but was brought out by a sharp laugh by some sadhak very close behind me, which set my heart beat racing. It took me a couple of minutes to calm down, but I could not get into a meditative state, as intermittent coughing and snoring close behind me prevented concentration – my condition is still very nascent and I have not yet developed the ability to completely switch off yet. With PP Gurudev’s Grace it will happen soon. My legs were also cramping up, and at around 7am, again I felt myself entering a meditative state. Now I felt my consciousness expanding and I could hear, sparrows, pigeons, crickets, the sound of running water from all around the locality, the most tiny sound was magnified and appeared to sound close by. At 7.15am PP Gurudev concluded the meditation program, with prayer and “Shanti Path”. We then left the sabha mandap for our breakfast break. We were already into the third day of the program, and time had just flown by in peaceful and energized surroundings.
After breakfast we re-assembled at the Sabha Mandap with the Trustees explaining various aspects of their activities. Thereafter there was a continuation of the cultural program with dance and bhajans being performed by sadhaks from various centers from Gujarat and Maharashtra. At the lunch break, post lunch I went to the exhibition stall again for taking Akash tatva experience. We were explained the concept wherein you becoming thoughtless by praying to the sky and how because of the infinity in space our mind gets dissolved in its infinity, and then we were told to stand with the left hand up just above the shoulder palm facing upwards and the right palm facing down near the hip, to stand with our eyes closed and feel the universal energy. I felt tingling sensation in my palms as I received universal energy through my left hand and then felt the released negative energy going out of my right hand. It was again an experience which was unique. I had experienced this before too, when my paragliding instructor Tom, from England, had made us relax to exorcise the fear of flying by connecting us to universal energy.
After lunch Anuragji gave a very good speech on his experiences and how the affairs of the trust are being managed. The program was altered thereafter and the Question and Answer session to be taken by PP Gurudev being postponed from 4pm to 5pm. As we had a flight to catch, I told Deepak that it would be better if we sit outside and watch the session on TV as the Q & A session was bound to extend beyond one hour. We took our Prasad and then sat for the session in the exhibition stall. The first question was "Why does Swamiji meet the sadhaks?" This question has been asked before many times, hence briefly the answer is, if you do Guru's karya, the Guru will follow you, much like the cow who who will follow you if you carry its calf! The second question on the fear of death was explained very beautifully by PP Gurudev. Firstly you should understand deat, then you can understand fear. One dies with every breath – you breathe in life force and when you breathe out you die. But if you approach life with the a positive approach thinking that every day is your last day then you could tell yourself, as today is my last day, I will meditate,I will not fight with anyone - why fight while dying? today is my last day, I will do some good deed selflessly; today is my last day I will spread happiness and love to everyone and so on. Why should one fear death, as death is just a moving on a transformation of energy from the body into universal consciousness. There are 3 types of death : Physical death - a good doctor can save you, and death can be postponed. Second, Divine Death: A Saint's blessing can delay it. Last Spiritual Death: no one can save you - because after this you are free, you attain salvation.It was about 6.15, when Deepak and I and all the other sadhaks who had booked flights took their taxis and left for the airport. As we left the organisers had kept sadhaks to see us off and invite us again to the Ashram, truly gracious hosts with a lot of love energy! We reached exactly 45 minutes before the flight departed. PP Gurudev showed us again the concept of JIT (Just in Time) management, as with his Grace we caught the flight back to Mumbai.
I would like to mention in conclusion that apart from the Guru energies and universal consciousness which flow’s at all such functions, this time around the experience was enhanced manifold due to the superb event management and phenomenal efforts taken to make the stay comfortable and hassle free for all the sadhaks. May God and Gurudev bless all the organizers and give them Energy to continue doing such great Gurukarya.
I have written this from memory and the sequence may be wrong in some places - I may have missed some things too, for which I apologize – please excuse me.
JAI BABA SWAMI
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Our connection to a living Sadguru and thus to Guru Tattva
Param Pujya Swami Shivakrupandji in his discourses has said that he is non-existence and has reached the state of “Shunya”. He has mentioned that it was Shirdi Sainath who came in his dreams and told him to accept dakshina and then see his Gurukarya increase manifold. In fact in one of his discourses, on the fourth day, he makes you experience Shirdi Sainaths energy! Swamiji has mentioned that you can see your own Guru in Him, and many sadhaks/sadhikas have seen Shirdi Sainath, Osho, Swami Samarth, etc in Him. Swamiji has said that Guru Tattva remains the same, the Gurus change with the times, but the essence is always the same. When we come in contact with a living Sadguru, what does that entail for the sadhaks? At soul level the sadhak has reached a stage for his further evolution, for him to grow further and move into a different dimension. Hence, the sadhak should realize that there are subtle changes taking place within himself/herself, through the Sadguru’s Grace and through his/her own sadhana and behavior in the material world.
Awareness is very important. Be aware of every moment, every breath you take, you should take consciously – as with every breath taken in, God is coming towards you, and with every outgoing breath you are moving towards God. God consciousness, then slowly starts becoming second nature, once that happens you start connecting to Guru Tattva.
What is Guru Tattva? Tattva means essence or element. Guru Tattva, then, means Guru essence or element. In the most complete sense, Guru Tattva is the natural, inexorable mechanism or process by which manifest life moves from a relative state of ignorance of Self to total awareness or Self Realization. The life process of manifest beings is, in general, a movement toward Self-recognition. The lila, or play of manifest life is a game of forgetting and remembering. We forget we are Shiva consciousness, and we slowly remember. If we dedicate ourselves to sadhana, we remember a little faster. Reality, or Shiva, has the capacity to produce experiences we call “duality” or diversity. This capacity to elaborate a world (Maya) is the nature of Shiva consciousness. The creation is not a decision that happened one day. Creation is ongoing in every moment. The creation arises from, within, and is of the primordial intelligence.
Thus once you connect and understand the concept, it becomes slightly easier to start living it in the material world. Staying fully conscious and aware and doing one’s day to day activity without being affected and by living in the present moment, will slowly and inexorably start taking you inside to your inner core. It takes time and once you start going inside and finding peace, then you will start making it a habit and that will immediately reflect on your face – you will find people saying you look fresh, you look peaceful, you look younger, etc.
Ego is another aspect one needs to take into consideration. I have seen some people mention on some web-sites, that so and so web-site is only meant for sayings of a certain Guru. If someone posts some spiritual matter relating to another Guru, which could be of Shirdi Sainath, Osho, Sathya Sai Baba, etc, then some people object, saying that you should post matter only related to that one particular Guru. On a spiritual site, which is open to the public, such small mindedness is the result of Ego. 'My Guru, your Guru', etc… one should understand that Guru Tattva is the same, all Sadguru’s over centuries have spoken the same language, which is the language of love and light and of Universal Consciousness. Thus reprimanding people on a public forum, that to on a spiritual site, is going a bit too far. There is no point in hurting others for posting spiritual matter relating to other Saints - as long as the matter is spiritual, everyone should read and absorb. The energy which flows from a web-site which has lots of diverse spiritual matter is much higher. One just has to open one’s mind and accept everything in love and light. Ego will only make you blind, deaf and dumb…..lets learn to spread love and light and not get bogged down by individualistic opinions and preferences.
Awareness is very important. Be aware of every moment, every breath you take, you should take consciously – as with every breath taken in, God is coming towards you, and with every outgoing breath you are moving towards God. God consciousness, then slowly starts becoming second nature, once that happens you start connecting to Guru Tattva.
What is Guru Tattva? Tattva means essence or element. Guru Tattva, then, means Guru essence or element. In the most complete sense, Guru Tattva is the natural, inexorable mechanism or process by which manifest life moves from a relative state of ignorance of Self to total awareness or Self Realization. The life process of manifest beings is, in general, a movement toward Self-recognition. The lila, or play of manifest life is a game of forgetting and remembering. We forget we are Shiva consciousness, and we slowly remember. If we dedicate ourselves to sadhana, we remember a little faster. Reality, or Shiva, has the capacity to produce experiences we call “duality” or diversity. This capacity to elaborate a world (Maya) is the nature of Shiva consciousness. The creation is not a decision that happened one day. Creation is ongoing in every moment. The creation arises from, within, and is of the primordial intelligence.
Thus once you connect and understand the concept, it becomes slightly easier to start living it in the material world. Staying fully conscious and aware and doing one’s day to day activity without being affected and by living in the present moment, will slowly and inexorably start taking you inside to your inner core. It takes time and once you start going inside and finding peace, then you will start making it a habit and that will immediately reflect on your face – you will find people saying you look fresh, you look peaceful, you look younger, etc.
Ego is another aspect one needs to take into consideration. I have seen some people mention on some web-sites, that so and so web-site is only meant for sayings of a certain Guru. If someone posts some spiritual matter relating to another Guru, which could be of Shirdi Sainath, Osho, Sathya Sai Baba, etc, then some people object, saying that you should post matter only related to that one particular Guru. On a spiritual site, which is open to the public, such small mindedness is the result of Ego. 'My Guru, your Guru', etc… one should understand that Guru Tattva is the same, all Sadguru’s over centuries have spoken the same language, which is the language of love and light and of Universal Consciousness. Thus reprimanding people on a public forum, that to on a spiritual site, is going a bit too far. There is no point in hurting others for posting spiritual matter relating to other Saints - as long as the matter is spiritual, everyone should read and absorb. The energy which flows from a web-site which has lots of diverse spiritual matter is much higher. One just has to open one’s mind and accept everything in love and light. Ego will only make you blind, deaf and dumb…..lets learn to spread love and light and not get bogged down by individualistic opinions and preferences.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Ill Effects Of Female Infanticide And Foeticide
In the news papers we read about the stories of female foeticide or infanticide. The National census 2001 has revealed a shocking picture of the skewed child sex ratio i.e. number of female children per 1000 male children in India. The child sex-ratio in 2001 has gone down to 927 females for 1000 males from 945 for 1000 males in 1991.
Experts say female foeticide in India is mostly linked to socio-economic factors. The girl child has traditionally been considered inferior and a liability. It is an idea that many say carries over from the time India was a predominantly agrarian society where boys were considered an extra pair of hands in the farm whereas a girl was considered a liability. It is quite possible that the practice of female dowry arose as a result of reduction in the number of men in India due to constant warring and the genetic robustness of the female fetus. There are no male shortages now, but the practice continues to thrive. Males are considered heirs to property, thus aggravating the problem.
Historically, in the absence of genetic testing, infanticide was the only inhumane option for discarding the female child. This heinous practice continues today in the southern parts of India where families cannot afford an illegal ultrasound test. People in Punjab, Haryana and other Western states can afford illegal tests to determine the sex of the baby and discard it.
The sharp decline in the sex ratio is a matter of serious concern as it is expected to lead to serious demographic imbalances in the future. There is no doubt that this practice, if continued, will shackle the very social fabric of our nation. As females drop in number in a society, society gets destabilized. Similar destabilization, violence and lack of progress is observed in polygamous societies, where females are treated as properties and the source of all violence is to "acquire and control" females.
The attack on the foetus does not begin in the womb - it begins in the minds of human beings; and that's why we need to change the mindsets of the people. The only way to eradicate this evil is to start educating the Indian public that daughters are equal to sons and deserve the same opportunities whether it comes to education, employment or inheritance.
Experts say female foeticide in India is mostly linked to socio-economic factors. The girl child has traditionally been considered inferior and a liability. It is an idea that many say carries over from the time India was a predominantly agrarian society where boys were considered an extra pair of hands in the farm whereas a girl was considered a liability. It is quite possible that the practice of female dowry arose as a result of reduction in the number of men in India due to constant warring and the genetic robustness of the female fetus. There are no male shortages now, but the practice continues to thrive. Males are considered heirs to property, thus aggravating the problem.
Historically, in the absence of genetic testing, infanticide was the only inhumane option for discarding the female child. This heinous practice continues today in the southern parts of India where families cannot afford an illegal ultrasound test. People in Punjab, Haryana and other Western states can afford illegal tests to determine the sex of the baby and discard it.
The sharp decline in the sex ratio is a matter of serious concern as it is expected to lead to serious demographic imbalances in the future. There is no doubt that this practice, if continued, will shackle the very social fabric of our nation. As females drop in number in a society, society gets destabilized. Similar destabilization, violence and lack of progress is observed in polygamous societies, where females are treated as properties and the source of all violence is to "acquire and control" females.
The attack on the foetus does not begin in the womb - it begins in the minds of human beings; and that's why we need to change the mindsets of the people. The only way to eradicate this evil is to start educating the Indian public that daughters are equal to sons and deserve the same opportunities whether it comes to education, employment or inheritance.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
How I got re-connected to Mahavtar Babaji
I had mentioned in my blog on the visit to Dronagiri that the events leading upto the visit would be documented later. Here it is.
When I was in college (in 1981) my sister-in-law had taken me to Yogoda Satsang Society (YSS) which was formed by Swami Paramhansa Yoganandji in Mumbai. I had on an impulse subscribed to YSS and their Kriya Yoga course. At that time, though I had a spiritual bent of mind, I did not find the idea of writing exams on spirituality too appealing, what with college exams and CA exams! I thought it would be a bit too much! I did pick up an “Autobiography of a Yogi” and read it, wherein was my first brush with Mahavtar Babaji, who is the Guru of Swami Paramhansa’s Guru’s Guru, namely the Guru of Sri Lahiri Mahasayaji. I have read this book three times since, and every time I have always been fascinated when it came to the passage on Mahavtar Babaji, though the whole book, when read again and again throws more and more light on various aspects of spirituality. It just depends on how ready you are to absorb the true meaning of what has been written by the Yogi.
In April this year, a friend of mine called me and told me that he has mailed me a link which gives details about Mahavtar Babaji’s caves in Dronagiri and how to get there. He said that we should plan a visit to the caves, to which I replied that we should do it before the start of the monsoon. That same day, a colleague was sitting in my cabin at office, when a lady colleague who has got a reputation as a palmist came on our floor, and I mentioned in passing to my colleague that she is a good palmist. My friend was very interested and he went to meet her to see what she had to say about him. Later they called me too, and I also showed my palm and she told me certain things about taking care of my health, when I mentioned to her that I have been running the marathon for the last seven years and I have been practicing meditation twice a day for the last two years, hence I am not too worried about my health. To which she replied, in that case I should go to Babaji’s caves, to which I asked her whether she is referring to Mahavtar Babaji’s caves at Dronagiri and she said “yes”! That was the second indication, later in the day I was just browsing through a spiritual video and the last image which came and stayed was that of Mahavtar Babaji, it was too much of a co-incidence and I felt that Babaji was now definitely giving signs that we should go to the caves.
In May, I had gone to Kerala for a CA conference and on our way back, we stopped at Adi Sankaracharya’s math for ‘darshan’. I later came to know that Adi Sankaracharya is also a disciple of Babaji. Next day was my flight to Mumbai. At the airport, I was waiting for my flight when on an impulse I decided to visit the small book shop in the waiting lounge. As I stepped into the lounge, the only book which came in sight was “The Voice of Babaji- A Triology” by V.T. Neelkanthan. I zeroed in on the book and as I took it into my hands, a bolt of very cold energy passed from my scalp (sahastrar), through my body and into the ground, leaving my body encased in a cocoon of cold energy. It was like I had just been touched by Babaji. I was overawed by the experience, just bought the book and sat with it in my hands with my eyes closed, just cherishing what I had gone through, just a few moments ago. Every time I relive that memory the body goes cold again as the energy starts flowing!
Just before leaving for the Himalayas in June, I was going from office to home, when on an impulse I decided to stop at wholesale book shop close to my house, thinking that I would get some more books on Babaji. I walked into the shop, and just went to a dark corner in the shop, where the lights had been switched off, and I started browsing in the dim available light, and there again I saw books on Babaji, I picked up Babaji and the 18 Siddhas by Marshal Govindan and left. It was like I was being magnetically drawn to Babaji. I purchased four copies of the book for myself and the other three spiritual seekers who had booked their passage to visit the caves and left.
Just a day before leaving for Delhi, I got the YSS newsletter, in which the first quote was that of Babaji, along with his photo. I knew we were blessed and our journey to visit the caves would be peaceful and successful, without any hassles. And that is how it turned out to be.
JAI BABAJI
When I was in college (in 1981) my sister-in-law had taken me to Yogoda Satsang Society (YSS) which was formed by Swami Paramhansa Yoganandji in Mumbai. I had on an impulse subscribed to YSS and their Kriya Yoga course. At that time, though I had a spiritual bent of mind, I did not find the idea of writing exams on spirituality too appealing, what with college exams and CA exams! I thought it would be a bit too much! I did pick up an “Autobiography of a Yogi” and read it, wherein was my first brush with Mahavtar Babaji, who is the Guru of Swami Paramhansa’s Guru’s Guru, namely the Guru of Sri Lahiri Mahasayaji. I have read this book three times since, and every time I have always been fascinated when it came to the passage on Mahavtar Babaji, though the whole book, when read again and again throws more and more light on various aspects of spirituality. It just depends on how ready you are to absorb the true meaning of what has been written by the Yogi.
In April this year, a friend of mine called me and told me that he has mailed me a link which gives details about Mahavtar Babaji’s caves in Dronagiri and how to get there. He said that we should plan a visit to the caves, to which I replied that we should do it before the start of the monsoon. That same day, a colleague was sitting in my cabin at office, when a lady colleague who has got a reputation as a palmist came on our floor, and I mentioned in passing to my colleague that she is a good palmist. My friend was very interested and he went to meet her to see what she had to say about him. Later they called me too, and I also showed my palm and she told me certain things about taking care of my health, when I mentioned to her that I have been running the marathon for the last seven years and I have been practicing meditation twice a day for the last two years, hence I am not too worried about my health. To which she replied, in that case I should go to Babaji’s caves, to which I asked her whether she is referring to Mahavtar Babaji’s caves at Dronagiri and she said “yes”! That was the second indication, later in the day I was just browsing through a spiritual video and the last image which came and stayed was that of Mahavtar Babaji, it was too much of a co-incidence and I felt that Babaji was now definitely giving signs that we should go to the caves.
In May, I had gone to Kerala for a CA conference and on our way back, we stopped at Adi Sankaracharya’s math for ‘darshan’. I later came to know that Adi Sankaracharya is also a disciple of Babaji. Next day was my flight to Mumbai. At the airport, I was waiting for my flight when on an impulse I decided to visit the small book shop in the waiting lounge. As I stepped into the lounge, the only book which came in sight was “The Voice of Babaji- A Triology” by V.T. Neelkanthan. I zeroed in on the book and as I took it into my hands, a bolt of very cold energy passed from my scalp (sahastrar), through my body and into the ground, leaving my body encased in a cocoon of cold energy. It was like I had just been touched by Babaji. I was overawed by the experience, just bought the book and sat with it in my hands with my eyes closed, just cherishing what I had gone through, just a few moments ago. Every time I relive that memory the body goes cold again as the energy starts flowing!
Just before leaving for the Himalayas in June, I was going from office to home, when on an impulse I decided to stop at wholesale book shop close to my house, thinking that I would get some more books on Babaji. I walked into the shop, and just went to a dark corner in the shop, where the lights had been switched off, and I started browsing in the dim available light, and there again I saw books on Babaji, I picked up Babaji and the 18 Siddhas by Marshal Govindan and left. It was like I was being magnetically drawn to Babaji. I purchased four copies of the book for myself and the other three spiritual seekers who had booked their passage to visit the caves and left.
Just a day before leaving for Delhi, I got the YSS newsletter, in which the first quote was that of Babaji, along with his photo. I knew we were blessed and our journey to visit the caves would be peaceful and successful, without any hassles. And that is how it turned out to be.
JAI BABAJI
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Corruption and Terror - A connection?
I have been reading and watching with deep consternation the repeated assaults on the innocent public by terrorists who are out to kill for whatever cause they support. Terrorists basically are brain-washed robots who have been suckered into an ideology and are used by their controllers to achieve their so called ambitions. That may be a bit simplistic as some of the terrorists are in it for the money and the adrenaline high it gives, but killing people randomly is too cowardly an act to be justified or condoned.
Where is the connection between terror and corruption you may well ask! After Mumbai was held spell bound by the antics of the half dozen terrorists from across the border that attacked VT and the Taj and Oberoi hotels, the Maharashtra Government immediately ordered 28 high speed patrol boats for the coast guard at a cost of Rs. 250 crores over and above 20 boats allotted by the Central Government of a total sanction for 58 boats. Of these boats as of date only 8 boats are operational to patrol a 700 km coastline. Why you may well ask! You know when the government purchased the boat they forgot to check whether they had the skilled manpower to operate these boats, so instead of training the required number of people and getting the boats operational, the government decides to keep the boats rotting in the docks! Now after investing so much money in the boats, how does one milk more money for the party/politician coffers? Well you have maintenance and repair contracts for brand new boats which are rotting in the docks!
Take the case of blasts in Delhi and Mumbai, the government has time and again said that they will have CCTV’s installed and the monitoring mechanism in place to deter or at least use them to identify potential terrorists. What happens the whole plan goes into limbo because of red tape or some greedy bureaucrat / politician not sanctioning it as he is not getting his cut! Till the next bomb blast happens!
I think as the citizens have taken to the streets against corruption, so they should again come out to make these moronic politicians see the light of day and force them to implement strong measures to tackle or deter terrorist attacks. We are now so used to these attacks that we do not bother at all, because the day to day struggle to meet two ends meet in these times of high inflation is too much. The government terrorizes the citizens through high costs while those in government enrich themselves and protect themselves with Z-Class security. They should forego security and try to provide security to the citizens rather than massage their egos at public cost.
Each preventive measure against terror gets marred and blocked in red tape and corruption. Why should the public bear this with fortitude all the time? None of the terrorists have been punished so far, all this encourages the adversary to attack again as the perception is India is a soft state! The person who killed a prime minister is still in jail, and asking for mercy. We have justice delivered but no action taken by the government in that case. We have the attacker to Parliament still not hanged, Mr. Kasab is the guest of the state, and crores are being spent to keep him alive whereas farmers are committing suicide because of their desperate situation. So where is the justice? I am of the philosophy that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, but in extreme situations where national integrity and security is at stake, then don’t you think one should execute the perpetrators of cowardly crimes against humanity and send a strong message to these cowards that we will not take things lying down!
If we cannot do that, then at least let’s make an example of all those who delay or block acquisition of equipment to prevent or monitor and track or protect the nation and making operational such equipment with trained manpower to handle the same. Let’s hang these bureaucrats / politicians as they are the guys who are safe and steal public money while the aam aadmi dies on the streets!
Where is the connection between terror and corruption you may well ask! After Mumbai was held spell bound by the antics of the half dozen terrorists from across the border that attacked VT and the Taj and Oberoi hotels, the Maharashtra Government immediately ordered 28 high speed patrol boats for the coast guard at a cost of Rs. 250 crores over and above 20 boats allotted by the Central Government of a total sanction for 58 boats. Of these boats as of date only 8 boats are operational to patrol a 700 km coastline. Why you may well ask! You know when the government purchased the boat they forgot to check whether they had the skilled manpower to operate these boats, so instead of training the required number of people and getting the boats operational, the government decides to keep the boats rotting in the docks! Now after investing so much money in the boats, how does one milk more money for the party/politician coffers? Well you have maintenance and repair contracts for brand new boats which are rotting in the docks!
Take the case of blasts in Delhi and Mumbai, the government has time and again said that they will have CCTV’s installed and the monitoring mechanism in place to deter or at least use them to identify potential terrorists. What happens the whole plan goes into limbo because of red tape or some greedy bureaucrat / politician not sanctioning it as he is not getting his cut! Till the next bomb blast happens!
I think as the citizens have taken to the streets against corruption, so they should again come out to make these moronic politicians see the light of day and force them to implement strong measures to tackle or deter terrorist attacks. We are now so used to these attacks that we do not bother at all, because the day to day struggle to meet two ends meet in these times of high inflation is too much. The government terrorizes the citizens through high costs while those in government enrich themselves and protect themselves with Z-Class security. They should forego security and try to provide security to the citizens rather than massage their egos at public cost.
Each preventive measure against terror gets marred and blocked in red tape and corruption. Why should the public bear this with fortitude all the time? None of the terrorists have been punished so far, all this encourages the adversary to attack again as the perception is India is a soft state! The person who killed a prime minister is still in jail, and asking for mercy. We have justice delivered but no action taken by the government in that case. We have the attacker to Parliament still not hanged, Mr. Kasab is the guest of the state, and crores are being spent to keep him alive whereas farmers are committing suicide because of their desperate situation. So where is the justice? I am of the philosophy that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, but in extreme situations where national integrity and security is at stake, then don’t you think one should execute the perpetrators of cowardly crimes against humanity and send a strong message to these cowards that we will not take things lying down!
If we cannot do that, then at least let’s make an example of all those who delay or block acquisition of equipment to prevent or monitor and track or protect the nation and making operational such equipment with trained manpower to handle the same. Let’s hang these bureaucrats / politicians as they are the guys who are safe and steal public money while the aam aadmi dies on the streets!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Visit to Dronagiri – Abode of the Gods (June 18 -21)
|| Jai Shree Babaji || Jai Shri Baba Swami ||
Shree Mahavtar Babaji and Pandukhuli
The chain of events (this is a separate story by itself) over the past two months leading up to my visit to Babaji caves led me to believe that I was being called by Babaji to pay a visit to his abode. There was great anticipation that something magical was in store for us on this spiritual journey as we sat in the flight. A group of four led by Prem Parasji and including Deepak Tandon (who took the initiative to organize the trip), his close friend Ramesh Ganiga and self formed the eager foursome who were to go to the abode of the Gods where Mahavatar Babaji’s energy and presence is felt in every atom of nature. We flew down to Delhi from Mumbai and as we passed over Ajmer, I felt cold vibrations and goose pimples giving an indication that the Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisty of Ajmer too was blessing us on this trip. All the travel arrangements from Delhi to Dronagiri in Uttaranchal were made by Deepak and Ramesh. Another proof that Babaji works in his own mysterious ways came to light when the taxi driver Rajan Soni, of Sheetal Tours and Travels accompanied us and turned out to be a devotee of Shirdi Sai Nath. Prem and I received a text message from a mutual friend as soon as we landed at New Delhi which read “In the limited time and space we all are in – I am wishing with lots of loving and kindness to all – a new consciousness full of love and joy – the new awakening which will bring about a paradigm shift in this world and in us. Let the higher energies bless us all. So….be….it…..” We had good weather in Delhi and left for Dronagiri at 11 am.
On the way up, Rajan used to keep telling us that this or the other would happen, we kept telling him that, rest assured nothing untoward would happen and we would reach well in time. Rajan Soni had a great collection of bhajans and we travelled throughout listening to some fabulous Sai bhajans which had great energy leading to a cooling of the crown chakra. Rajan told us we would waste about a couple of hours of travel time to pay the RTO tax by entering Ghaziabad. We told him have faith we won’t get any line or traffic and we should be out fast. We had to halt at Ghaziabad and enter the city to pay RTO tax – can you imagine you have to enter the city to pay tax – this tax should be on the highway, sheer waste of travel time as well as diesel! We finished this exercise in 45 minutes as there was not much traffic and no line! Our faith just kept getting stronger with the sensation that Babaji was ensuring that things went right for us! We stopped for a delicious lunch at Skylark dhabha on NH4 on the way to Moradabad. There was great energy, as one closed one’s eyes one could feel Babaji’s energy which was palpable as we were already in his aura. We passed Rampur which left us with another 160km to travel to Bheemtal. The entire stretch after leaving Delhi is so green and lush that it is amazing that a state so rich in natural resources can be so poor.
A small traffic incident occurred at around 4.15pm when a very young boy on a bicycle came bang in front of our car from the right, which made Rajan brake and move to the left, resulting in a motorcycle hitting us in the rear. We were moving very slowly and hence the accident was not too severe, we checked that the motorcycle rider was not hurt and moved on. As we passed the bicyclist, Ramesh and Rajan yelled out words of wisdom to the youth, and the boy just looked askance and smiled – it appeared that Babaji was testing us! Prem said “uski nazar dekho, kaun tumhe dekh raha hai pehchano”. We had tea at Bilaspur at around 5.15pm and then around 6.25pm we reached Haldwani and saw a board welcoming us to Devbhoomi (Land of the Gods). We could feel divinity in the air and in the surroundings.
Prem started singing Babaji’s bhajan which was composed by him, and we accompanied him in chorus, it was great fun and tremendous energy, we could feel ourselves being cleansed in the process. We had not booked any hotel thinking that as it was off season we would get a room easily. But we discounted the fact that it was the weekend, and people from surrounding areas flock to the hills on weekends. Rajan told us he would get us a room at Bheemtal which we reached around 8pm, as reaching Ranikhet at night would have been too risky. Prem kept saying we should go as far as possible, and stop at Garampani which was half way to Ranikhet, and keep trying hotels on the route to Ranikhet. We told the driver that he should not think negatively as we are sure we would get two rooms to stay. Ramesh called his office colleague who is a local, and he told us to go to Garampani just as Prem had said where we would get our rooms! The hotel owner called us shortly and told us that he had only two vacant rooms – we told him that is all we need, thank you! This happened at around 8.20 pm, we reached Hotel Shagun at Garampani at 9.10pm, checked in, had great dinner and retired for the night. After dinner at around 10.15pm Prem got his guitar out and started singing his composition. Deepak was in the room, and as Prem started singing, he went to call his friend but did not return. As Prem sang, I felt the same energy which I had been experiencing off and on over the last two months, but this time much stronger, as my body got covered in that energy field, my eyes closed in meditation and I asked Prem that I could feel the presence of Babaji, he said yes Babaji was in the room, I bowed my head and paid obeisance and prayed for enlightenment to Babaji. Prem continued singing with me softly accompanying him for about half an hour. At around 11pm we retired for the night anticipating a great day tomorrow. Prem told me he had sent the energy to the other room also, thus they too were blessed.
At 5am it was already bright and I sat down for meditation and prayed to Babaji for a great day, saying whatever has to happen will happen as per His wishes. At around 8am, we were all in the balcony taking photographs of the beautiful scenery and then after tea Prem told us all to sit down and he took out his guitar and started singing a bhajan in praise of Guruma. There was so much feeling in the bhajan that as I listened to the bhajan with eyes closed, tear drops started rolling down - he took us to a completely different level! After this we again went to the balcony and as we discussed spiritual matters we were being cleared and as our discussion became more animated, we could again feel Babaji’s energy, he was with us again in the morning. Prem made us stand in a circle and asked us to shut our eyes and meditate. He told us to relax and watch our breath. Prem then explained to us how the energies work. Prem gave Osho diksha to Deepak and Ramesh, and Deepak felt connected and the energy started flowing between the four of us, it was moving in ‘shunya’ a zero-like state. After we opened our eyes Ramesh said that he saw a flame in a golden ball of light in his heart – that was his soul.The experience of Deepak during the “Shunya” energy circle and post that during the bhajan was so divine that he could get not only Babaji’s energy but felt a “Shakti” which was present. We felt that we all four souls were bonded together and there was a “Shakti” which was blessing all of us.
By 9.15am we checked out and left for Ranikhet, as we were driving through Ranikhet I was praying for an ‘Om’ to be visible in the sky, and shortly there it was, as confirmed by the others. We were now on our way to Dwarahat and from there we were to move to Kukuchina. We could literally feel that we were in God’s country - we were travelling through hills with lots of twists and turns as we continually climbed up. On either side of the road were pine forests, lush green cover and a sight for sore city eyes. We were passing through real beautiful country, the atmosphere was divine and nature was with us as the Sun God kept smiling throughout. We passed Dwarahat at 12 noon and moved on to Dunagiri which we reached at around 1.30pm. We got off the car and climbed the 350 steps up to the temple. This is a four ‘Yuga’s’ (one Yuga is said to be an epoch within a cycle of four ages; a complete Yuga cycle from a high Golden Age of enlightenment to a Dark Age and back again is said to be caused by the solar system’s motion around another star) old temple and the presiding deity is Vaishnavi Devi and is called Dunagiri Mata. This is a shakti-peeth, where Bhairavi, the consort of Bhairav or Lord Shiva himself, turns into Vaishnavi Mata. We all went with our offerings and as we were doing the rounds of the temple, I placed my forehead on the wall of the temple just behind the deity and closed my eyes and prayed for “ek shunya stithi” and as I started praying my forehead went ice cold and I saw the vision of Nandi (white – just the head) coming towards me and then a three dimensional image of white clouds in a vibrant blue sky and the Nandi disappeared into the clouds, the clouds dissolved and only a white circle of light was left and I felt I was disappearing into it, I felt somebody standing behind me and I opened my eyes. Prem was smiling at me and told me he was watching my Kundalini energy as I prayed. After that we sat down and accompanied Prem to three bhajans he sang in praise of Mataji. There was so much energy and feeling in the bhajans, it was amazing – I never knew I could sing in tune to anything, but then I guess the energies always make you proficient at the right time. We all enjoyed the bhajans and again during the singing a few tears dropped from my eyes. As we got up, one of the temple attendants came and told us to have “Prasad” at the “bhandara”. Prem mentioned that on Saturday his wife prepares “aloo-puri” for him and that is exactly what was served as “prasad”. We were blessed, as after breakfast we had not had anything in between, it was around 2.15pm when we sat down and had excellent Prasad. It was so tasty that we had a second round and then after that we left for Kukuchina. A slight drizzle had started and the weather had now become very chilly with a cool breeze blowing across the mountains. We reached Kukuchina at around 2.45 pm and went to Joshi’s restaurant. As we got off from the car Prem said the caves are over there pointing east on the far side of the road, below which was a valley and beyond which was the base of the mountain. We asked for Joshiji and asked for his advice – by now the rains had become more persistent. Joshi told us to proceed to the caves which were exactly where Prem had said they were, and then climb up to Pandukhuli where it is believed that the Pandavas spent their one year incognito in exile. If Joshiji wanted he could have told us to stay in his cottage, but he was transparent and said if you have come so far then you must proceed today only and stay overnight at the Ashram as divinity was there and the experience would be unique. It was not a question of money but about service to Babaji.
There was discussion on whether to go to Pandukhuli first and then next morning, climb down to Babaji’s caves etc. At this point Rajan was refusing to come up and Prem was coaxing him to come, when a cat was about to cross his path but turned around and returned, Prem shouted ‘dekha woh billi laut ke chale gayi, ab tu aja’. That’s when his energy changed and he agreed to come with us. Just as we left an unknown person came out and Prem greeted him, and he said “pehchan gaye” and they started laughing and embraced each other. He stayed alone at a temple about two hours away up the mountain in the jungles and was a self realised soul. It was decided that we should have faith and go to the caves and climb up to Pandukhuli thereafter. We got clothes for a day out of our bags and into separate bags, pulled out windcheaters wore them and set out for the trek singing Babaji’s bhajan composed by Prem. After walking for about half a kilometer the rains stopped and the Sun God smiled at us. We could feel Babaji’s energy as we climbed up. Ramesh had a cholesterol issue and was walking slowly with the help of a stick. Prem gave his guitar to him and told him to climb with the guitar. Later, when we reached the top and Ramesh said he was not tired at all, Prem told him, why do you think I gave you the guitar to carry! After about an hour of trekking we reached Babaji’s caves. We were met by a couple who were coming down from the caves and we greeted each other and moved on. As we stepped onto the stairs leading to the cave Shree Shivakrupananda Swamiji’s subtle body came and blessed us. We went into the cave where matting was kept (it was wet), but we sat and paid obeisance by touching our forehead to the ground and then sat for meditation. Prem started singing the bhajan which had now been completely composed with new lines and sounded magnificent in the cave. We sang in chorus, with me making the mistake of singing first time with Prem, instead of singing second time in chorus due to my ignorance. We sat with our eyes closed and were completely encased in a cocoon of energy singing in praise of Mahavtar Babaji. After about an hour of singing and praying we wound up and found that the caretaker had come to lock the caves. Ramesh mentioned that he had an out of body experience and saw his physical body sitting in meditation from above. Prem said Ramesh’s soul came and hugged his soul like they had discovered each other after many births! It was exactly 5pm – and all of us were glowing with the energy and the experience. One could see in each one’s eyes that they had gone through something unique. We hugged each other in gratitude for making this journey happen with Babaji’s and Gurudev’s grace. The caretaker was waiting outside and we asked him how long it would take to reach Pandukhuli, he said about an hour and a half. Post Prem singing Babaji’s bhajan, Ramesh too sang Satya Sai baba’s favorite bhajan followed by one bhajan from Deepak on Devi Ma. These bhajan’s came out of the energy levels being felt by the individual soul. Deepak felt the presence of Babaji, Annai Mata and Lahiri Baba in the cave. Deepak’s soul was thanking them for calling him and showering abundant blessings on him and all present. Lahiri Baba was as usual with his merciful , smiling and sweet face. Babaji was as if looking at Deepak and smiling , Mataji was the one who connected with him and to whom he caught on. Deepak was pleading with her not to send him back and she along with Babaji were indicating that he will need to go since there were obligations of the mortal body to be fulfilled. Deepak was literally reminded of his daughter who had specifically asked him to come back from this trip. Babaji and Mataji finally made him happy by assuring him of their constant presence and connection with his soul. The realization of this was evidenced by him during our journey back to Delhi on Tuesday. We decided to come the next day and asked him if he could open the cave at around 7am for us, he said he would do so by 7 – 7.30am.
Nature was with us all the time, as the sun kept coming in and out of the clouds and the temperature becoming nice and pleasant as we climbed up. The climb to the caves was a cakewalk as compared to the climb up to Pandukhuli. This climb was at an almost consistent 60 degree angle on a narrow well used trail up the mountain. We were told to follow the power line and we would reach Pandukhuli, we kept climbing with very brief halts for rest. On the way up one could hear nature all around, the call of birds, the rustling of leaves in a cool breeze and the “whoosh” of the wind as it blew across the mountains. The energy levels were so high that one did not rest for too long and continued up, and the best part was Ramesh who had a cholesterol problem reached the top ahead of all of us! He said he did not feel tired at all – that was the biggest miracle. On reaching the top Prem and I sat down praying facing the Sun God. It was 6.30pm and the setting Sun was still bright. I was enveloped in Babaji’s energy field and was just taking his name over and over in my mind and I felt I saw Babaji’s image in the Sun. I thereafter sat and meditated and thanked all the presiding Guru’s and deities for a wonderful experience and for bringing us so far without any hardships. Prem was sitting for meditation on the ground when Lord Shiva appeared before him and gave him his blessings.
We then went upto the Ashram and registered our names for the night’s stay. The view from the top was divine and on the other side of the Ashram was thick jungle. We met an American who has been coming there for the past four years – a true seeker of Truth. We got talking and he said his name was Sunita, I said that’s a girl’s name, he then said zero, that’s when I realised he said “Shunyata” meaning zero – a name given to him by his Guru. So he called himself Shunya, and the person was very knowledgeable of Indian customs and mantras. When Prem was explaining to him about Osho, he said Osho – the O stands for shunya, so he is connected with Osho. When Prems and Shunyas eyes met, Shunya told Prem that there was a Shiva temple ten km away and he said that you can have a tremendous and unique experience of conversing with ‘sakshat’ Lord Shiva!!! He invited Prem to come along with him. It was great to see someone from so far and from a different culture to be so familiar with Indian culture and knowledgeable too. It got dark very fast and it also started to rain pretty heavily. We had a hot and delicious dinner served by Krishna and during dinner Prem told Krishna and his two associates to meditate along with Shunya for about five minutes. After dinner we chose a shack which had Shirdi Sai Nath and Shri Purnananda Guru’s photo on the walls with an image of Om in snow in the Himalayas to retire for the night. Here we lit a candle in front of Shirdi Sai Baba’s photo and did the Guru Avahan mantra before Prem took out his guitar and we all sat down in a meditative posture and then he started singing, he took us to a different plane with his bhajans and we just soaked in the divine atmosphere. The candle was crackling all the time indicating our purification. This is when the bhajan “Mahavtar Jai Shri Babaji, Nagaraj Jai Shri Babaji tere sharana aayen hum Babaji, tere sharana aayen hum Babaji, namah namah Shivaya, Om nama shivaya, namah namah Shivaya, Om namah Shivaya ” composed by Prem was blessed by Shri Mahavtar Babaji and now whenever while meditating you hum the tune you will find it echoing in your mind as the tune is now playing in the Universe. We then retired for the night as it had now become very misty and it was raining consistently.
I woke up at around 6am and sat for meditation, while the others woke up in turns, as it was still raining we decided to remain indoors. At 7.30am or so Ramesh and I were chatting with Shunya at the entrance to the Ashram and I mentioned to him that I was praying down at Dunagiri Devi temple for a zero condition and guess what I met “Shunyata” on top – maybe we were destined to meet. Krishna the caretaker gave us morning tea followed by a herbal preparation which was absolutely divine. It kept our hunger at bay till 2pm! Then we went back to our shack and we sat for meditation along with Shunya. Prem sang Babaji’s bhajan with great feeling and we again went into a high meditative state. After the meditation Shunya said that for the last four years he was listening to Babaji’s bhajans but had never heard such a wonderful and enlightening Babaji bhajan before.
At around 9am the mist started clearing up, and then Prem said we will go direct to Dunagiri and there is no point in going back to the caves. He said we will start at around noon and we should be down by 2pm. He also said that we will carry out a yagna for purification of our mind and bodies. He told the temple priest and he readily agreed. In the meanwhile we got fresh, took a bath with available water and got ready. By this time it was around 11.30am.
I will digress a bit and tell you Rajan Soni’s (our cab driver) story. On the way up, he kept telling us this or the other would happen and we kept telling him that Babaji is with us and nothing will happen. He was just doing his job based on his experience which was to keep warning us, but we were also sure that nothing untoward would happen. He kept running away from situations, he did not sit with us at Dunagiri temple while we sang bhajans, he was hesitant to come up, Prem cajoled and coaxed him into agreeing to climb up, he did not stay with us but chose to go to a different room. He also told me that he was proceeding alone slowly ahead to get the car ready, I told him that we were doing a yagna and he should not go, but he refused me, so I did not say anything. When we set up the Yagna, Prem asked for Rajan, I said he had gone, Prem said how can he go like that, he is here only. So he called out his name, and Rajan sauntered in to my complete surprise! Then all of us along with Shunya sat for the yagna. During the yagna, when my eyes were shut I felt I was floating, this happened off and on. While chanting the mantra for burning our karmas, the flame went off, and we had to repeatedly try to light it up, and ultimately it lit up, indicating that our previous bad karmas were destroyed. Prem had never conducted a yagna before and he did it with the pure feeling that the yagna should be successful and he was saying the mantras for the first time. It was a completely miraculous experience. Ramesh went into a trance while standing as the yagna started, Deepak then tapped him and asked him to sit for the yagna. The yagna went on till about 1.30pm after which we packed up and got ready to leave. We had lunch at around 2.30pm, that’s when I realised that none of us had taken a bite since morning, and it was the herbal mix which kept our stomach quiet. During lunch Krishna mentioned that tigers, leopards frequent the Ashram often but do not harm anyone. We were amazed, if we had known earlier perhaps we could have kept a vigil for a sighting! After lunch we started on our return trip to Dunagiri thanking everyone.
Trip down was uneventful, though we again kept experiencing the energy of Mahavtar Babaji and Gurudev all the way down the slope. The amazing thing was after such a heavy trek none of us was physically tired nor were there any muscle pains! By now Rajan had become a complete convert, and was so positive about everything, kept saying whatever will happen will happen with Babaji’s grace and so on. Rajan is a very good driver, solid and safe, never in a hurry, and never going beyond 90km per hour. He is a humorous character and great company and his bhajan collection and belief in the almighty was amazing. Babaji had chosen for us a person with similar feelings and we greatly enjoyed his company.
Our return trip was relatively uneventful except for the fact that we sang great bhajans in chorus and had a lot of fun and kept savoring the experience we all had gone through. While returning we were told in Ranikhet that the road through Bheemtal was closed due to a bridge being repaired, which forced us to go through Jim Corbett National Park. While going to Dronagiri Prem had said that we should go via Jim Corbett route, but that did not happen but on the way back that is exactly the route we were forced to take! This is where Rajan really came into form and said that I will show you a tiger on the road, and as we entered Jim Corbett National Park it was 8pm and we actually sighted a herd of deer and a wild boar crossed our path. The traffic on this road was very heavy due to the other road being closed, which could have scared the animals away - though we were lucky enough to see the deer and wild boar. After Jim Corbett National Park we stopped for the night at Jim Corbett Inn at Ramnagar. We had dinner and retired for the night.
In the morning around 7am after Prem had come out of the bath and was changing the lights went out for a few minutes, which is when I saw Prem’s golden aura pulsating in the dark. At 7.45am we left for Delhi listening to devotional songs. Prem invoked Osho and we felt his divine vibrations in the car. The energy in the car was very high as we were all singing devotional songs with Rajan joining in wholeheartedly. Along the entire stretch to Moradabad there is no dhabha or restaurant – the supposed badlands of Uttaranchal! We were quite hungry when Ramesh spotted a restaurant with the name Sai Nath Dhabha. We stopped there and the owner had such a peaceful look on his face, it was a blessing to eat there. There were photos of all Gurus and Gods on his wall, his food too was tasty. It was like divinity was following us. As we sat down Prem went into Samadhi for a short period of time. We had a filling brunch and left thereafter for paying the RTO tax at Moradabad around 11.30am. Music was playing in the car and as Lord Ram’s bhajan was playing we saw monkeys on the road, all of them went on the side, but one elegant one just stood there and stared at us as we passed by! Later Prem was talking to his wife and she was telling him that Lord Shiva had come to their house and as she said that I felt tremendous energy and a Shiva bhajan started playing in the car – the timing was so eerie that it could not be a co-incidence. Too many such events had occurred for us to believe that they were co-incidences! It was divinity and Babaji at play, we were sure!
On the way back we stopped at a place where the Ganga flows serenely. We took a boat ride in the Ganga and sent our offerings along with a lit lamp into the Ganga, blessed ourselves with Ganga water, offered prayers and returned to the car. We thereafter proceeded to the airport. We wanted copies of Rajan’s bhajan collection, but could not find a cyber café, he sweetly told us to take the CD’s and make copies and distribute them to our friends, as the same CD’s had been copied and taken by some of his overseas customers to as far as Peru in South America. At exactly 4.10pm Rajan dropped us off at the airport. As we got off we hugged him in turn, and as Prem hugged him, I could see his expression change and his eyes become moist, as were mine. A wonderful association with a wonderful human being, we promised to get in touch with him every time we toured the north!
The flight was delayed by half an hour and left at 6pm. We stopped at the book stall and I picked up a book on Guru Nanak and another Osho book explaining 112 different types of meditation. Guess what when we had left Mumbai for Delhi, Prem was explaining to Deepak and Ramesh about Osho’s book explaining different types of meditation! Another incident happened in the flight. Prem was praying to the Sun God from the window, when the person sitting next to me in the aisle seat tapped him to pull the shutter down as the sun was coming straight on his face. I thought to myself how can people voluntarily put away light from their lives. Prem looked at me and I indicated that he should pull the shutter down. You won’t believe what happened next, the aircraft took a slight turn, just enough so that the sun would not come through the main window but from the window which was just behind and Prem could continue with his prayers. I had a smile on my face as once you are one with nature as Prem is, there is no way that nature will not listen to you.
Deepak said the entire trip was perfectly arranged by Babaji with the divine inspiration of “Maa Shakti” ( Annai Maa ). There was not a moment which was spent without the divine presence. Everything was taken care to the “T” and it was successful as the end objective which Babaji had initiated this trip was also achieved. This trip marks the beginning of a new chapter in each one’s life and am sure , as time goes by we will be able to comprehend the events that occurred during the trip.
Photo of Mahavtar Babaji and Kriya Mata
We reached Mumbai uneventfully and started walking out humming Prem’s Babaji composition. We took each others’ farewell with parting hugs promising each other that we will do more such expeditions together.
Rajan Soni contact details for a great driving experience:
Rajan Soni - +919810776968, +919268517527 : Email : rajansoni2006@yahoo.com
Web Site: http://www.wemakeyourtour.com
Jai Mahavatar Babaji, Jai Lahiri Mahasayaji, Jai Shree Shivakrupanandaji, Jai Mataji, Jai Sai Nath, Jai Guruma.
Shree Mahavtar Babaji and Pandukhuli
The chain of events (this is a separate story by itself) over the past two months leading up to my visit to Babaji caves led me to believe that I was being called by Babaji to pay a visit to his abode. There was great anticipation that something magical was in store for us on this spiritual journey as we sat in the flight. A group of four led by Prem Parasji and including Deepak Tandon (who took the initiative to organize the trip), his close friend Ramesh Ganiga and self formed the eager foursome who were to go to the abode of the Gods where Mahavatar Babaji’s energy and presence is felt in every atom of nature. We flew down to Delhi from Mumbai and as we passed over Ajmer, I felt cold vibrations and goose pimples giving an indication that the Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisty of Ajmer too was blessing us on this trip. All the travel arrangements from Delhi to Dronagiri in Uttaranchal were made by Deepak and Ramesh. Another proof that Babaji works in his own mysterious ways came to light when the taxi driver Rajan Soni, of Sheetal Tours and Travels accompanied us and turned out to be a devotee of Shirdi Sai Nath. Prem and I received a text message from a mutual friend as soon as we landed at New Delhi which read “In the limited time and space we all are in – I am wishing with lots of loving and kindness to all – a new consciousness full of love and joy – the new awakening which will bring about a paradigm shift in this world and in us. Let the higher energies bless us all. So….be….it…..” We had good weather in Delhi and left for Dronagiri at 11 am.
On the way up, Rajan used to keep telling us that this or the other would happen, we kept telling him that, rest assured nothing untoward would happen and we would reach well in time. Rajan Soni had a great collection of bhajans and we travelled throughout listening to some fabulous Sai bhajans which had great energy leading to a cooling of the crown chakra. Rajan told us we would waste about a couple of hours of travel time to pay the RTO tax by entering Ghaziabad. We told him have faith we won’t get any line or traffic and we should be out fast. We had to halt at Ghaziabad and enter the city to pay RTO tax – can you imagine you have to enter the city to pay tax – this tax should be on the highway, sheer waste of travel time as well as diesel! We finished this exercise in 45 minutes as there was not much traffic and no line! Our faith just kept getting stronger with the sensation that Babaji was ensuring that things went right for us! We stopped for a delicious lunch at Skylark dhabha on NH4 on the way to Moradabad. There was great energy, as one closed one’s eyes one could feel Babaji’s energy which was palpable as we were already in his aura. We passed Rampur which left us with another 160km to travel to Bheemtal. The entire stretch after leaving Delhi is so green and lush that it is amazing that a state so rich in natural resources can be so poor.
A small traffic incident occurred at around 4.15pm when a very young boy on a bicycle came bang in front of our car from the right, which made Rajan brake and move to the left, resulting in a motorcycle hitting us in the rear. We were moving very slowly and hence the accident was not too severe, we checked that the motorcycle rider was not hurt and moved on. As we passed the bicyclist, Ramesh and Rajan yelled out words of wisdom to the youth, and the boy just looked askance and smiled – it appeared that Babaji was testing us! Prem said “uski nazar dekho, kaun tumhe dekh raha hai pehchano”. We had tea at Bilaspur at around 5.15pm and then around 6.25pm we reached Haldwani and saw a board welcoming us to Devbhoomi (Land of the Gods). We could feel divinity in the air and in the surroundings.
Prem started singing Babaji’s bhajan which was composed by him, and we accompanied him in chorus, it was great fun and tremendous energy, we could feel ourselves being cleansed in the process. We had not booked any hotel thinking that as it was off season we would get a room easily. But we discounted the fact that it was the weekend, and people from surrounding areas flock to the hills on weekends. Rajan told us he would get us a room at Bheemtal which we reached around 8pm, as reaching Ranikhet at night would have been too risky. Prem kept saying we should go as far as possible, and stop at Garampani which was half way to Ranikhet, and keep trying hotels on the route to Ranikhet. We told the driver that he should not think negatively as we are sure we would get two rooms to stay. Ramesh called his office colleague who is a local, and he told us to go to Garampani just as Prem had said where we would get our rooms! The hotel owner called us shortly and told us that he had only two vacant rooms – we told him that is all we need, thank you! This happened at around 8.20 pm, we reached Hotel Shagun at Garampani at 9.10pm, checked in, had great dinner and retired for the night. After dinner at around 10.15pm Prem got his guitar out and started singing his composition. Deepak was in the room, and as Prem started singing, he went to call his friend but did not return. As Prem sang, I felt the same energy which I had been experiencing off and on over the last two months, but this time much stronger, as my body got covered in that energy field, my eyes closed in meditation and I asked Prem that I could feel the presence of Babaji, he said yes Babaji was in the room, I bowed my head and paid obeisance and prayed for enlightenment to Babaji. Prem continued singing with me softly accompanying him for about half an hour. At around 11pm we retired for the night anticipating a great day tomorrow. Prem told me he had sent the energy to the other room also, thus they too were blessed.
At 5am it was already bright and I sat down for meditation and prayed to Babaji for a great day, saying whatever has to happen will happen as per His wishes. At around 8am, we were all in the balcony taking photographs of the beautiful scenery and then after tea Prem told us all to sit down and he took out his guitar and started singing a bhajan in praise of Guruma. There was so much feeling in the bhajan that as I listened to the bhajan with eyes closed, tear drops started rolling down - he took us to a completely different level! After this we again went to the balcony and as we discussed spiritual matters we were being cleared and as our discussion became more animated, we could again feel Babaji’s energy, he was with us again in the morning. Prem made us stand in a circle and asked us to shut our eyes and meditate. He told us to relax and watch our breath. Prem then explained to us how the energies work. Prem gave Osho diksha to Deepak and Ramesh, and Deepak felt connected and the energy started flowing between the four of us, it was moving in ‘shunya’ a zero-like state. After we opened our eyes Ramesh said that he saw a flame in a golden ball of light in his heart – that was his soul.The experience of Deepak during the “Shunya” energy circle and post that during the bhajan was so divine that he could get not only Babaji’s energy but felt a “Shakti” which was present. We felt that we all four souls were bonded together and there was a “Shakti” which was blessing all of us.
By 9.15am we checked out and left for Ranikhet, as we were driving through Ranikhet I was praying for an ‘Om’ to be visible in the sky, and shortly there it was, as confirmed by the others. We were now on our way to Dwarahat and from there we were to move to Kukuchina. We could literally feel that we were in God’s country - we were travelling through hills with lots of twists and turns as we continually climbed up. On either side of the road were pine forests, lush green cover and a sight for sore city eyes. We were passing through real beautiful country, the atmosphere was divine and nature was with us as the Sun God kept smiling throughout. We passed Dwarahat at 12 noon and moved on to Dunagiri which we reached at around 1.30pm. We got off the car and climbed the 350 steps up to the temple. This is a four ‘Yuga’s’ (one Yuga is said to be an epoch within a cycle of four ages; a complete Yuga cycle from a high Golden Age of enlightenment to a Dark Age and back again is said to be caused by the solar system’s motion around another star) old temple and the presiding deity is Vaishnavi Devi and is called Dunagiri Mata. This is a shakti-peeth, where Bhairavi, the consort of Bhairav or Lord Shiva himself, turns into Vaishnavi Mata. We all went with our offerings and as we were doing the rounds of the temple, I placed my forehead on the wall of the temple just behind the deity and closed my eyes and prayed for “ek shunya stithi” and as I started praying my forehead went ice cold and I saw the vision of Nandi (white – just the head) coming towards me and then a three dimensional image of white clouds in a vibrant blue sky and the Nandi disappeared into the clouds, the clouds dissolved and only a white circle of light was left and I felt I was disappearing into it, I felt somebody standing behind me and I opened my eyes. Prem was smiling at me and told me he was watching my Kundalini energy as I prayed. After that we sat down and accompanied Prem to three bhajans he sang in praise of Mataji. There was so much energy and feeling in the bhajans, it was amazing – I never knew I could sing in tune to anything, but then I guess the energies always make you proficient at the right time. We all enjoyed the bhajans and again during the singing a few tears dropped from my eyes. As we got up, one of the temple attendants came and told us to have “Prasad” at the “bhandara”. Prem mentioned that on Saturday his wife prepares “aloo-puri” for him and that is exactly what was served as “prasad”. We were blessed, as after breakfast we had not had anything in between, it was around 2.15pm when we sat down and had excellent Prasad. It was so tasty that we had a second round and then after that we left for Kukuchina. A slight drizzle had started and the weather had now become very chilly with a cool breeze blowing across the mountains. We reached Kukuchina at around 2.45 pm and went to Joshi’s restaurant. As we got off from the car Prem said the caves are over there pointing east on the far side of the road, below which was a valley and beyond which was the base of the mountain. We asked for Joshiji and asked for his advice – by now the rains had become more persistent. Joshi told us to proceed to the caves which were exactly where Prem had said they were, and then climb up to Pandukhuli where it is believed that the Pandavas spent their one year incognito in exile. If Joshiji wanted he could have told us to stay in his cottage, but he was transparent and said if you have come so far then you must proceed today only and stay overnight at the Ashram as divinity was there and the experience would be unique. It was not a question of money but about service to Babaji.
There was discussion on whether to go to Pandukhuli first and then next morning, climb down to Babaji’s caves etc. At this point Rajan was refusing to come up and Prem was coaxing him to come, when a cat was about to cross his path but turned around and returned, Prem shouted ‘dekha woh billi laut ke chale gayi, ab tu aja’. That’s when his energy changed and he agreed to come with us. Just as we left an unknown person came out and Prem greeted him, and he said “pehchan gaye” and they started laughing and embraced each other. He stayed alone at a temple about two hours away up the mountain in the jungles and was a self realised soul. It was decided that we should have faith and go to the caves and climb up to Pandukhuli thereafter. We got clothes for a day out of our bags and into separate bags, pulled out windcheaters wore them and set out for the trek singing Babaji’s bhajan composed by Prem. After walking for about half a kilometer the rains stopped and the Sun God smiled at us. We could feel Babaji’s energy as we climbed up. Ramesh had a cholesterol issue and was walking slowly with the help of a stick. Prem gave his guitar to him and told him to climb with the guitar. Later, when we reached the top and Ramesh said he was not tired at all, Prem told him, why do you think I gave you the guitar to carry! After about an hour of trekking we reached Babaji’s caves. We were met by a couple who were coming down from the caves and we greeted each other and moved on. As we stepped onto the stairs leading to the cave Shree Shivakrupananda Swamiji’s subtle body came and blessed us. We went into the cave where matting was kept (it was wet), but we sat and paid obeisance by touching our forehead to the ground and then sat for meditation. Prem started singing the bhajan which had now been completely composed with new lines and sounded magnificent in the cave. We sang in chorus, with me making the mistake of singing first time with Prem, instead of singing second time in chorus due to my ignorance. We sat with our eyes closed and were completely encased in a cocoon of energy singing in praise of Mahavtar Babaji. After about an hour of singing and praying we wound up and found that the caretaker had come to lock the caves. Ramesh mentioned that he had an out of body experience and saw his physical body sitting in meditation from above. Prem said Ramesh’s soul came and hugged his soul like they had discovered each other after many births! It was exactly 5pm – and all of us were glowing with the energy and the experience. One could see in each one’s eyes that they had gone through something unique. We hugged each other in gratitude for making this journey happen with Babaji’s and Gurudev’s grace. The caretaker was waiting outside and we asked him how long it would take to reach Pandukhuli, he said about an hour and a half. Post Prem singing Babaji’s bhajan, Ramesh too sang Satya Sai baba’s favorite bhajan followed by one bhajan from Deepak on Devi Ma. These bhajan’s came out of the energy levels being felt by the individual soul. Deepak felt the presence of Babaji, Annai Mata and Lahiri Baba in the cave. Deepak’s soul was thanking them for calling him and showering abundant blessings on him and all present. Lahiri Baba was as usual with his merciful , smiling and sweet face. Babaji was as if looking at Deepak and smiling , Mataji was the one who connected with him and to whom he caught on. Deepak was pleading with her not to send him back and she along with Babaji were indicating that he will need to go since there were obligations of the mortal body to be fulfilled. Deepak was literally reminded of his daughter who had specifically asked him to come back from this trip. Babaji and Mataji finally made him happy by assuring him of their constant presence and connection with his soul. The realization of this was evidenced by him during our journey back to Delhi on Tuesday. We decided to come the next day and asked him if he could open the cave at around 7am for us, he said he would do so by 7 – 7.30am.
Nature was with us all the time, as the sun kept coming in and out of the clouds and the temperature becoming nice and pleasant as we climbed up. The climb to the caves was a cakewalk as compared to the climb up to Pandukhuli. This climb was at an almost consistent 60 degree angle on a narrow well used trail up the mountain. We were told to follow the power line and we would reach Pandukhuli, we kept climbing with very brief halts for rest. On the way up one could hear nature all around, the call of birds, the rustling of leaves in a cool breeze and the “whoosh” of the wind as it blew across the mountains. The energy levels were so high that one did not rest for too long and continued up, and the best part was Ramesh who had a cholesterol problem reached the top ahead of all of us! He said he did not feel tired at all – that was the biggest miracle. On reaching the top Prem and I sat down praying facing the Sun God. It was 6.30pm and the setting Sun was still bright. I was enveloped in Babaji’s energy field and was just taking his name over and over in my mind and I felt I saw Babaji’s image in the Sun. I thereafter sat and meditated and thanked all the presiding Guru’s and deities for a wonderful experience and for bringing us so far without any hardships. Prem was sitting for meditation on the ground when Lord Shiva appeared before him and gave him his blessings.
We then went upto the Ashram and registered our names for the night’s stay. The view from the top was divine and on the other side of the Ashram was thick jungle. We met an American who has been coming there for the past four years – a true seeker of Truth. We got talking and he said his name was Sunita, I said that’s a girl’s name, he then said zero, that’s when I realised he said “Shunyata” meaning zero – a name given to him by his Guru. So he called himself Shunya, and the person was very knowledgeable of Indian customs and mantras. When Prem was explaining to him about Osho, he said Osho – the O stands for shunya, so he is connected with Osho. When Prems and Shunyas eyes met, Shunya told Prem that there was a Shiva temple ten km away and he said that you can have a tremendous and unique experience of conversing with ‘sakshat’ Lord Shiva!!! He invited Prem to come along with him. It was great to see someone from so far and from a different culture to be so familiar with Indian culture and knowledgeable too. It got dark very fast and it also started to rain pretty heavily. We had a hot and delicious dinner served by Krishna and during dinner Prem told Krishna and his two associates to meditate along with Shunya for about five minutes. After dinner we chose a shack which had Shirdi Sai Nath and Shri Purnananda Guru’s photo on the walls with an image of Om in snow in the Himalayas to retire for the night. Here we lit a candle in front of Shirdi Sai Baba’s photo and did the Guru Avahan mantra before Prem took out his guitar and we all sat down in a meditative posture and then he started singing, he took us to a different plane with his bhajans and we just soaked in the divine atmosphere. The candle was crackling all the time indicating our purification. This is when the bhajan “Mahavtar Jai Shri Babaji, Nagaraj Jai Shri Babaji tere sharana aayen hum Babaji, tere sharana aayen hum Babaji, namah namah Shivaya, Om nama shivaya, namah namah Shivaya, Om namah Shivaya ” composed by Prem was blessed by Shri Mahavtar Babaji and now whenever while meditating you hum the tune you will find it echoing in your mind as the tune is now playing in the Universe. We then retired for the night as it had now become very misty and it was raining consistently.
I woke up at around 6am and sat for meditation, while the others woke up in turns, as it was still raining we decided to remain indoors. At 7.30am or so Ramesh and I were chatting with Shunya at the entrance to the Ashram and I mentioned to him that I was praying down at Dunagiri Devi temple for a zero condition and guess what I met “Shunyata” on top – maybe we were destined to meet. Krishna the caretaker gave us morning tea followed by a herbal preparation which was absolutely divine. It kept our hunger at bay till 2pm! Then we went back to our shack and we sat for meditation along with Shunya. Prem sang Babaji’s bhajan with great feeling and we again went into a high meditative state. After the meditation Shunya said that for the last four years he was listening to Babaji’s bhajans but had never heard such a wonderful and enlightening Babaji bhajan before.
At around 9am the mist started clearing up, and then Prem said we will go direct to Dunagiri and there is no point in going back to the caves. He said we will start at around noon and we should be down by 2pm. He also said that we will carry out a yagna for purification of our mind and bodies. He told the temple priest and he readily agreed. In the meanwhile we got fresh, took a bath with available water and got ready. By this time it was around 11.30am.
I will digress a bit and tell you Rajan Soni’s (our cab driver) story. On the way up, he kept telling us this or the other would happen and we kept telling him that Babaji is with us and nothing will happen. He was just doing his job based on his experience which was to keep warning us, but we were also sure that nothing untoward would happen. He kept running away from situations, he did not sit with us at Dunagiri temple while we sang bhajans, he was hesitant to come up, Prem cajoled and coaxed him into agreeing to climb up, he did not stay with us but chose to go to a different room. He also told me that he was proceeding alone slowly ahead to get the car ready, I told him that we were doing a yagna and he should not go, but he refused me, so I did not say anything. When we set up the Yagna, Prem asked for Rajan, I said he had gone, Prem said how can he go like that, he is here only. So he called out his name, and Rajan sauntered in to my complete surprise! Then all of us along with Shunya sat for the yagna. During the yagna, when my eyes were shut I felt I was floating, this happened off and on. While chanting the mantra for burning our karmas, the flame went off, and we had to repeatedly try to light it up, and ultimately it lit up, indicating that our previous bad karmas were destroyed. Prem had never conducted a yagna before and he did it with the pure feeling that the yagna should be successful and he was saying the mantras for the first time. It was a completely miraculous experience. Ramesh went into a trance while standing as the yagna started, Deepak then tapped him and asked him to sit for the yagna. The yagna went on till about 1.30pm after which we packed up and got ready to leave. We had lunch at around 2.30pm, that’s when I realised that none of us had taken a bite since morning, and it was the herbal mix which kept our stomach quiet. During lunch Krishna mentioned that tigers, leopards frequent the Ashram often but do not harm anyone. We were amazed, if we had known earlier perhaps we could have kept a vigil for a sighting! After lunch we started on our return trip to Dunagiri thanking everyone.
Trip down was uneventful, though we again kept experiencing the energy of Mahavtar Babaji and Gurudev all the way down the slope. The amazing thing was after such a heavy trek none of us was physically tired nor were there any muscle pains! By now Rajan had become a complete convert, and was so positive about everything, kept saying whatever will happen will happen with Babaji’s grace and so on. Rajan is a very good driver, solid and safe, never in a hurry, and never going beyond 90km per hour. He is a humorous character and great company and his bhajan collection and belief in the almighty was amazing. Babaji had chosen for us a person with similar feelings and we greatly enjoyed his company.
Our return trip was relatively uneventful except for the fact that we sang great bhajans in chorus and had a lot of fun and kept savoring the experience we all had gone through. While returning we were told in Ranikhet that the road through Bheemtal was closed due to a bridge being repaired, which forced us to go through Jim Corbett National Park. While going to Dronagiri Prem had said that we should go via Jim Corbett route, but that did not happen but on the way back that is exactly the route we were forced to take! This is where Rajan really came into form and said that I will show you a tiger on the road, and as we entered Jim Corbett National Park it was 8pm and we actually sighted a herd of deer and a wild boar crossed our path. The traffic on this road was very heavy due to the other road being closed, which could have scared the animals away - though we were lucky enough to see the deer and wild boar. After Jim Corbett National Park we stopped for the night at Jim Corbett Inn at Ramnagar. We had dinner and retired for the night.
In the morning around 7am after Prem had come out of the bath and was changing the lights went out for a few minutes, which is when I saw Prem’s golden aura pulsating in the dark. At 7.45am we left for Delhi listening to devotional songs. Prem invoked Osho and we felt his divine vibrations in the car. The energy in the car was very high as we were all singing devotional songs with Rajan joining in wholeheartedly. Along the entire stretch to Moradabad there is no dhabha or restaurant – the supposed badlands of Uttaranchal! We were quite hungry when Ramesh spotted a restaurant with the name Sai Nath Dhabha. We stopped there and the owner had such a peaceful look on his face, it was a blessing to eat there. There were photos of all Gurus and Gods on his wall, his food too was tasty. It was like divinity was following us. As we sat down Prem went into Samadhi for a short period of time. We had a filling brunch and left thereafter for paying the RTO tax at Moradabad around 11.30am. Music was playing in the car and as Lord Ram’s bhajan was playing we saw monkeys on the road, all of them went on the side, but one elegant one just stood there and stared at us as we passed by! Later Prem was talking to his wife and she was telling him that Lord Shiva had come to their house and as she said that I felt tremendous energy and a Shiva bhajan started playing in the car – the timing was so eerie that it could not be a co-incidence. Too many such events had occurred for us to believe that they were co-incidences! It was divinity and Babaji at play, we were sure!
On the way back we stopped at a place where the Ganga flows serenely. We took a boat ride in the Ganga and sent our offerings along with a lit lamp into the Ganga, blessed ourselves with Ganga water, offered prayers and returned to the car. We thereafter proceeded to the airport. We wanted copies of Rajan’s bhajan collection, but could not find a cyber café, he sweetly told us to take the CD’s and make copies and distribute them to our friends, as the same CD’s had been copied and taken by some of his overseas customers to as far as Peru in South America. At exactly 4.10pm Rajan dropped us off at the airport. As we got off we hugged him in turn, and as Prem hugged him, I could see his expression change and his eyes become moist, as were mine. A wonderful association with a wonderful human being, we promised to get in touch with him every time we toured the north!
The flight was delayed by half an hour and left at 6pm. We stopped at the book stall and I picked up a book on Guru Nanak and another Osho book explaining 112 different types of meditation. Guess what when we had left Mumbai for Delhi, Prem was explaining to Deepak and Ramesh about Osho’s book explaining different types of meditation! Another incident happened in the flight. Prem was praying to the Sun God from the window, when the person sitting next to me in the aisle seat tapped him to pull the shutter down as the sun was coming straight on his face. I thought to myself how can people voluntarily put away light from their lives. Prem looked at me and I indicated that he should pull the shutter down. You won’t believe what happened next, the aircraft took a slight turn, just enough so that the sun would not come through the main window but from the window which was just behind and Prem could continue with his prayers. I had a smile on my face as once you are one with nature as Prem is, there is no way that nature will not listen to you.
Deepak said the entire trip was perfectly arranged by Babaji with the divine inspiration of “Maa Shakti” ( Annai Maa ). There was not a moment which was spent without the divine presence. Everything was taken care to the “T” and it was successful as the end objective which Babaji had initiated this trip was also achieved. This trip marks the beginning of a new chapter in each one’s life and am sure , as time goes by we will be able to comprehend the events that occurred during the trip.
We reached Mumbai uneventfully and started walking out humming Prem’s Babaji composition. We took each others’ farewell with parting hugs promising each other that we will do more such expeditions together.
Rajan Soni contact details for a great driving experience:
Rajan Soni - +919810776968, +919268517527 : Email : rajansoni2006@yahoo.com
Web Site: http://www.wemakeyourtour.com
Jai Mahavatar Babaji, Jai Lahiri Mahasayaji, Jai Shree Shivakrupanandaji, Jai Mataji, Jai Sai Nath, Jai Guruma.
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