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