MAHASHIVARATRI - 2011

MAHASHIVARATRI – 2ND MARCH, 2011

JAI BABA SWAMI

We had reached Hotel Royal Regency at 7.30pm and checked in. There were 17 of us and six rooms had been booked well in advance in anticipation of the rush. All the normal hotels were booked more than a month in advance and we were left with no choice but to book in this relatively new hotel. The hotel did not have any restaurant, so we had dinner in our rooms and retired for the night. We left the hotel for the Ashram at 4.30am. We were expecting a huge queue on the approach road based on past experience. In fact till about ten days ago the road was narrow, hence our expectation. But PP Swamiji takes care of everything through his mediums, the roads had not only been more than doubled but also made relatively level, plus parking arrangements had been made for the buses which were expected. We just drove into the Ashram very smoothly, parked and left for the discourse mandap (tent). The mandap (tent) was huge, made to house more than 15000 devotees. In fact a person sitting next to me had a registration number of 11236; hence the 15000 number would have easily been crossed.

It was very pleasant early in the morning and the entry smooth with a separate lane for males and females. As we entered we were given a registration token, I got a registration number of 6046. Provision for breakfast and tea had been made for early arrivals, and we took benefit of the same. The arrangements for keeping the footwear was also novel, like you find for cars in a car parking lot, hence there were no chances of losing one’s footwear. I had some work with Madhu Chaitanya volunteers, hence I told my colleagues, Raju and Vasant to wait for me as I would just go and come in a few minutes. When I got back they had entered the tent, though I was sure internally that I would be very close to them when I got to sit in the tent. I stood in line and entered the tent, and sat down after paying obeisance to the subtle form of PP Swamiji’s body. Then I closed my eyes and went into a meditative trance before being woken up by one of the volunteers to move ahead. As I moved ahead and sat, four rows in front of me to my left, I saw a bright orange ‘kurta’ and as I looked in that direction, the person turned around and it turned out to be Raju and next to him was Vasant, so my instinct was vindicated.

With more than 15000 people in a massive tent, you would expect a buzz of conversation or at least a slight murmur, but nothing of the kind happened, as people coming in to the tent were taken to their seats by male and female volunteers, silently and efficiently. Pin drop silence prevailed amongst 15000 plus people, showing great respect to PP Swamiji who was to come later on, and also those who were already into a meditative trance with the chant playing over the public address system.
By 6.30am the entire tent was packed to capacity with a few having to sit outside the tent. After a few announcements, at 7.00am “maun dhyan” started with “Guru Ahawan” followed by the “Guru Mantra”. There were good vibrations and a feeling of great mental peace and positivity engulfed my entire being. Meditating at one time with more than 15000 people is like meditating alone for 15000 plus days individually. Due to the collectivity of pure souls the effect of meditation is phenomenal not only on the individual but also on the surroundings as the energy field so created has a lasting, positive effect on the environment . Meditation concluded at 7.25am.

This was followed by Vandaniya Guruma opening the new meditation hall in the Ashram at 7.30am. The meditation hall was completed recently after the government authorities granted N.A. status to the Ashram land. Inside the meditation hall a huge photo of PP Shiv Baba was on display, PP Swamiji and Vandaniya Guruma were shown in a small house at the side. The entire hall was very cool with positive vibrations emanating inside. Guruma’s arrival into the tent was announced with the blowing of conches as she took her seat on the dais. At around 7.50am Vandaniya Guruma felicitated Mr. Rameshbhai Kansariya who was also a Trustee earlier. Guruma said that Shri Kansariya was a pillar in Navsari for the Trust, giving many of his properties to the Trust for use without any expectations. His vehicles were also used for transportation to the Ashram in early days. Guruma announced with great pleasure, that the Ashram land had obtained N.A. status (agricultural land converted to non-agricultural land), also she announced the shilanyas for Gudi Padva and that Bhumi Poojan for Guru Shaktidham would take place on that day.

At 8.00 am sharp, the blowing of conches announced the arrival of PP Swamiji accompanied with the clapping of 15000 plus devotees. As PP Gurudev entered all of us paid obeisance by bending over and touching the ground with our forehead. The lighting of the lamp by PP Swamiji accompanied by the “Deep Prajolit Mantra” (Lighting of the Lamp) was followed by the “Guru Ahavan” during which I felt very cool vibrations from the crown down to the spine accompanied by a whiff of the scent of roses.

At around 8.10am Mrs. Hema Virkar requests PP Swamiji to shower us with his divine words of wisdom, after which PP Gurudev began his discourse.
He said that he had three good messages to give. Firstly, as announced earlier during the Chaitanya Mahotsav, 2011 is the “Atma Jagruti Year” (Year of Awakening of the Soul). This is the year when collective effort will lead to success. This is when you realize you are a soul. Secondly, this is the culmination of “Gahan Dhyan Anushthan”. This is the “kalash ka din”, that means this is the peak of the 45 days of anushthan. This anushthan has been the best of the five anushthans held so far, as more than 15000 people have come for morning meditation, on this holy occasion of “Mahashivaratri”. Lastly, he said that from Chaitanya Mahotsav to Mahashivaratri, everybody has got together as souls and are now connected as souls. This awakening of the sub-conscious is the awakening of the soul, this experience all will get.

PP Swamiji then explained each of the three points in greater detail.
1) Samarpan meditation has been going on for more than ten years now. From the Himalayas to the common man in society, this experience has come down due to “Guru Ichha” (wishes of the Guru). From Navsari to different corners of the globe this has spread to countries like, UK, Canada, USA, Peru, Germany, the Gulf, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, etc. Today, all the devotees are connected through the medium of the internet, thus creating a global collectivity of lakhs of souls. You need to introspect every year on this occasion to check your own status - as to where you were and where you have reached. The first step in this is the Atma (soul) – have you realized that God is within you, have you believed it, have you listened to it, you need to look inside to be one with your soul. Each person has great subtle strength in him, and this strength has been given equally to all. We all are born with these inherent strengths and we die with them, as we fail to recognize them during our living years. If you awaken these hidden subtle strengths, you become a successful individual. These strengths are in a sleeping state, you need to awaken them. Till you keep giving importance to the physical body, you cannot awaken them. The body has full control over the body and even the soul is part of the body and thus acts as the body wants it to. Through meditation if you make your soul strong, then the body can come in control of the soul, if that happens then from inside you, you will start getting alerts, success or otherwise in life depends on your decisions. If you take the right decision at the right time, then you become a successful individual. What is right and what is wrong? Who will take that decision? Based on intelligence each decision has two parts – but the soul will always tell you what is right. Use your soul as your guide then you will always be successful. If you give too much importance to the body, then ego will come – ego of beauty, ego of strength, ego of intelligence – but these are not yours, these you have got because of your parents. All this has come through your parents and knowledge has come through your Guru. What belongs to you? So why does one have any attachment and ego. The name is also of the soul and not of the body – as after death, the body is no more but the name given to the soul inhabiting the body is remembered. Importance is given to the soul not to the body. The body is temporary and the soul is permanent. Till you realize that you will be stuck to your body.

2) Atma ka Sakshaatkaar/ Jagruti: Unknowingly we are stuck to some thoughts. After so many years why have the saints/sages in the Himalayas thought of the need for one more form of meditation? The need arose as there was no anubhuti (experience). Stay in your religion, color, caste, language – all you have to do is connect to “Ishwariya Anubhuti” (divine experience) – don’t leave anything. It is like someone catching a snake, thinking that it is a rope. When another person shouts a warning that you have a snake in your hands, you don’t believe it, as you think it is a rope. Then someone switches on the light and you see for yourself that you are holding a snake and let go of it immediately. Similarly man has caught on to all wrong things thinking that they are right. But when the light was switched on one realized that these were not good. Just as the man let go of the snake when the light was switched on, similarly man has wrong beliefs which he needs to set right and the best way to correct this is through experience, hence experience will set things right. People thought that salvation (moksha) can be got only after death – salvation and death – the difference was never understood. The belief that salvation means death is a mistaken one. PP Swamiji was first given the condition of moksha(salvation) by Shiv Baba (his Guru) and then he was sent by the Guru Shakti’s to do Guru Karya (in service of the Guru). During this Deep Meditation PP Swamiji got an opportunity to meet each and every ‘sadhak’(devotee). Quite a few devotees reached the condition to attain salvation while in a very high meditative state, but they came back on the fear of death. Remove fear from your mind as salvation does not mean death. This is wrong thinking. During this anushthan lakhs of souls have been connected creating a holy union and many Gurus in the Himalayas have given up their bodies and many pure souls have taken birth – thus maintaining a balance. The youth is moving away from spirituality because of wrong thoughts as the youth does not see any change in the behavior of ordinary people. He has expectations of religious people, expecting only good, but this person is also indulging in wrong activities, hence the youth all over the world is moving away from religion. This is because the modern youth connects theory with practical aspects of behavior. If you make him experience the positive side then only will he believe, that is why now the stress is on experience. First you experience and then see for yourself. “Atma Sakshaatkaar” means awakening of the soul, once this happens, then one begins to get directions – what is good, what is bad?; What to do, what not to do? Ask yourself – have you started receiving these directions?

3) Anubhuti (Experience): Samarpan meditation has spread globally because of ‘anubhuti’ (experience). Experience can be more or less based on one’s condition – physical, mental. The first experience is you start feeling good. After that is ‘atma gyan’ – meaning you realize that you are not a body but a soul. Have you realized this? After ‘atma gyan’ comes ‘atma glani’. What do you understand by this? When a lamp burns, stains on the glass are clearly visible – similarly man realizes his shortcomings and then starts feeling bad. You have to get out of this stage. You should learn from your mistakes and do not repeat them. Don’t remember your mistakes as by doing so you will repeat them. The next stage is ‘atma shanti’ – to experience this you may need someone else. When we help other souls without any expectations, we experience mental peace, only those who have experienced this will know.

This was the fifth ‘gahan dhyan anushthan’. During this anushthan the idol for Goa has been given ‘Pran Pratishthapan’ (given life force energy). This is important for you to know – you will get a view(darshan) of the idol as per your individual condition. The last eight days of ‘anushthan’ are very difficult as one becomes unified with the idol after pouring life force into it thereby giving it life. It becomes very difficult to get one’s attention back to the body from the idol. To come back from that condition one needs motivation – that motivation this year has been unique. The ‘Gurushaktis’ do their own thing and things just happen; the next idol goes to Kutch. All these years Guru Purnima was never celebrated on our own land, and we were looking all over for land. The ‘Gurushaktis’ have their own reasons for a particular piece of land. During this ‘Gahan Dhyan Anushthan’ the ‘Gurushaktis’ stated that they wanted to stabilize in Kutch. Many people connected through meditation, but they are not aware in other countries. People who were irregular also meditated regularly during these 45 days, hence there was great collectivity.

All our devotees should be careful of three things, murder, debt and bad thoughts about others with a feeling of revenge. PP Swamiji said that he does not think any of his devotees are murderers, but one should be very careful of the other two. Because these are the things which make you stay away from positivity. There are bad souls who make you a medium; these souls can very easily make out who can be an easy target. Once they make you a medium, it is definite that they will start making you do bad things, as this reduces your thinking capacity. Anger should be forgotten immediately. In a relationship you give/take/forget! Devotees have these feelings. Ask yourselves if you get bad thoughts about others – anger is temporary – but there is a very small difference between anger and bad thoughts. Bad thoughts will result in bad souls making use of you and you become their medium and leave the good path. Bad thoughts are a sure sign of your downfall. There is no salvation when you do harm to others, as in the next birth he will take revenge. You should pray to keep bad thoughts away from you. Many devotees meditate regularly but bad thoughts keep coming to them. Remember bad thoughts and Samarpan meditation cannot go together. You will surely leave meditation if you start getting bad thoughts. Prayer is the solution. During this ‘anushthan’ we all meditated regularly together, hence our receiving ability increased substantially. This increased ability, condition of yours – your collectivity, your pure wishes, the pure wish to have more knowledge, helped me to connect with the ‘Gurushaktis’ and pass on the energy to you – during this phase the fourth book (Himalaya ka Samarpan Yog) has also been completed. I am an empty pipe, and when in high meditative state I connect with a full tank from which I pass on the energy to you. It is your wish. The pipe could be made of iron or plastic, we should look at the energy flowing inside the pipe. When we do that, then we receive the energy; if we look at the pipe then we do not receive energy. If you suck the energy, you will receive it. During this ‘anushthan’ you have received great energy which has made me very happy.

A new book has been completed. These Guru’s have a Guru ‘Shaktisthan’ (Place of Powerful Energies); and without their desire I cannot write a single word – the words used to start coming to me all of a sudden from 3am and used to continue till 6am – three hours every day. I have been able to connect with the Gurus because of your collectivity and wishes – I have gone to the Himalayas and returned. One more wrong thought which people get is that for obtaining salvation, you need to go to the jungles, the Himalayas, become a recluse, remain celibate, etc. By making me a medium, the Gurus have broken this line of thinking. By staying at home as an ordinary person you can make spiritual progress – that is why they selected me. If I can make progress; why not you? You do not have to leave anything. Cigarettes, drinks, etc can get dropped, but not your family. People have got experience of letting go of vices, but nobody has got the experience of the family leaving you because of their practice of meditation. In fifteen years I have not met any female in the Himalayas. If they are there then their aura is such that no one can approach them. Half the population is female – this meditation form is made for females – females can meditate for 365 days in a year. Everything is for males, is a wrong line of thinking, hence meditation does not differentiate on gender. ‘Ardhanari Nateshwar’ (Half male-half female unified form of Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva) is an actual fact as in every male there is some female quality and in every female there is some male quality. The soul is neither male nor female. After reaching a certain stage in meditation, male/female does not matter. Hence the Gurus have sent this message of all people being equal. On the holy occasion of Mahashivaratri you become a soul, and then only will ‘Ganesha’ (God of Knowledge) be born. On the holy occasion of Mahashivaratri, every year, you should pause and check for your progress. What progress have you made? What have you left behind? Keep time for yourself, when you give yourself time, then you go closer to your soul, the closer you go, the closer a relationship will be developed, after that the soul will become your guide and start giving you messages. The Gurus started Samarpan Meditation with the idea that they want a progressive, good world. Each nation wants progress, for which they have laws and systems in place. The Gurus feel that all these laws have been created by man, hence they are not successful. Man makes the laws and finds ways to break them. For a good progressive world you need to have internal change, laws are external. With internal knowledge – laws will not be broken. This does not mean that all devotees are pure, change happens slowly, progress is slow, and then slowly your soul becomes your guide, that is why I keep saying meditate, meditate all the time.
Ten years of Samarpan Meditation have passed – both good and bad people will come – you have to decide who you want for company, good or bad. The holy river Ganges flows from a pure place in the Himalayas and as it passes cities, in places like Kanpur it is very dirty. You need to decide where to bathe – whether you want to bathe in clean water or in dirty water. As more and more people join, they will take time to improve - you don’t try to change them. You remain in balance, stay with good people, if you stay connected with good people you will progress spiritually. When I used to wrestle as a youth, I used to fight with stronger people who used to beat me as a result this increased my strength. You choose your company. Many people have had very good experiences, write about these experiences. Maintain a personal diary - you do not need to make it public. The benefit of writing is that in bad times or when you are feeling low you can refer to these experiences and rejuvenate yourself. It is like when you take your car, all problems are related to the car, you check for engine oil, petrol, brakes, etc, these people have come by means of a lift(elevator), and hence they have not faced those problems. Write good experiences, read them in bad times which will balance you by taking your mind away from bad to good. These will give your soul strength. Your soul sees whatever you are doing. This makes you feel good, that means your soul is feeling good. Whenever you feel good, the soul becomes strong, and then it makes so much progress that it starts guiding you, becomes your Guru. This progress has to happen in this year only. PP Swamiji laughingly said, “The next 45 days pretend that you are dead, try and be completely detached, try and become ‘Atma Swaroop’ (Soul like). Think, if you are dead, what will you do? Nothing! If all of you do this, just imagine! I had asked my father to do this. He used to go near my sister’s window and peep in repeatedly. My sister asked my father what was wrong, why was he peeping into the room again and again. He was surprised, and asked, “You can see me?” He thought he had actually become a soul and would not be visible.” In the next 45 days feel that you are dead. You have to reach the condition of the dead.

Make your personal diary of experiences. The three messages which have been given today – you all should take benefit of the same. The Gurus have given these messages to awaken you. I am very happy that so many of you have come together. You should never miss an opportunity to meditate in collectivity. One person meditating alone and meditating with 10000 people is like one person meditating for 10000 days. Guru Purnima will take place at Kutch, on our own land. I used to think - till when will we keep cleaning other peoples land. The Gurus had decided on a place, with improvement in the condition of the devotees, these things have started coming out into the open. You will get benefit from this land. This years’ Guru Purnima will be an unforgettable one.

The youth have taken great care of the ‘Gahan Dhyan Anushthan’ program. These youth will make mistakes, learn and gain in confidence; we need to support them so that in future they will take care of Samarpan Meditation family. I now invite all of you to Kutch.

From 6th of March onwards, the Goa idol will be available for viewing at Dandi. The hall is ready, and from 1st April, devotees will be able to stay at the Ashram. They will have to register as per process by intimating the Ashram authorities through their center ‘Acharya’.

A special request to residents of Navsari and its nearby areas was made by PP Swamiji. PP Swamiji requested them to keep two to four guests in their houses during these 45 days ‘anushthan’ as hotel rooms were difficult to get because of the rush during these days. The Trustees were also requested to start a bus service from Samarpan Niwas to the Ashram, at least two buses to go up and down so that the devotees do not face hardships.

PP Swamiji concluded with blessings to all devotees at 10am.

After PP Swamiji’s discourse, ‘paduka naman’ program was held. At this time Vasant came and gave his ‘aasan’ to me saying that he will become fresh and return. I waited for more than half an hour for him, then got up and stood in line for the ‘paduka naman’ at the same time I was again confident that I would meet them before going for ‘mahaprasad’. As I approached the entry point to the row of ‘padukas’, I looked back and saw Raju and Vasant just behind me. After ‘paduka naman’ we met outside and went for mahaprasad, after which we left the Ashram for our return trip.Those who wished to go for viewing the new meditation hall headed in that direction after ‘paduka naman’ and then proceeded for ‘mahaprasad’.

All in all a very memorable event – seeing PP Swamiji so happy and cheerful and bubbling with enthusiasm gave us all a big boost and spread a feeling of cheer and well-being all around us.
JAI BABA SWAMI.