SAI BABA SAMARPAN DHYAN MAHA SHIBIR, SHIRDI : 18TH MAY TO 25TH MAY 2013

I had been looking forward to this Shibir since the day it was announced. The moment the circular announcing the dates became public in March, I booked five hotel rooms at Sai Palace Budget, Shirdi, as one of the owners was a classmate of a very good friend of mine. This hotel is exactly opposite Gate number 2 to the Sai Temple and is very conveniently located.

There was brouhaha over the organization of the event, with a lot of circulars going back and forth. Ultimately the Guru Energies did their work, which mere mortals should realise that the energies are far superior to our ‘tiny’ egos (in comparison to the power of the Guru Energies). I was to leave with Anant Khamankar and family and Pravin Puravji on the morning of the 18^th, but as they were co-opted onto the emergency committee, I had to look for alternative companions for the drive to Shirdi. I then travelled with three sadhikas from Vakola center and one from CIFE. We left at 6.30am and reached the hotel at around 11am with a breakfast halt near Shahapur.

After checking in to the hotel, I left for the ground to help in whatever way I could. The start of the shibir was just five hours away and still the green sheets were being fixed to the ground. I carried three green cloth rolls and some large nails to the section just before the stage as the cloth had to be laid down and seating arrangement for the saints from different religions was to be made. We rolled out the cloth and Puravji started riveting the cloth with the nails into the ground. We completed our task and started directing sadhaks to move the extra material away from Pujya Swamiji’s line of sight. The entire work was being done in dry heat of about 46-47 degrees Celsius. I have never felt giddy ever in my life, but on that day because of the tremendous heat, I had moments when my head started spinning. I then used to close my eyes get a sense of balance and re-start the job on hand. Once the job was done, we went back to the hotel to freshen up and came back to the ground completely refreshed. It was about 6.15pm when we came back to the ground. The ground was just about half filled with sadhaks from all over the country and quite a few who had come from abroad.

The trust had stalls for Madhuchaitanya, Donations, Sahitya and a beautiful exhibition on Samarpan meditation and another inspiring and beautifully compiled exhibition on the life of Shri Saibaba of Shirdi. The sadhaks were extremely disciplined and sat in pin drop silence once they took their seats. On an average 25-30000 people attended the shibir every day for eight days. Before Pujya Swamiji’s discourse commenced it was announced that anyone who had blood pressure and diabetes issues could have their tests done before the shibir and at the end of the shibir to assess the impact of meditation on the ailments. Around 272 sadhaks participated in this program. An announcement to the effect that Yoga Acharya Shri Atul Shukla would conduct, yoga, pranayam and meditation sessions every morning from 6am to 7.30am was made. The morning yoga and meditation sessions were roughly attended by about a 1000 people every day.

At 6pm sharp, Smt. Sumangalji and her daughter Krishnaji sang bhajans to calm the soul and create a conducive atmosphere for Pujya Guruma’s and Pujya Swamiji’s arrival. At around 6.45 Pujya Guruma took her seat to the accompaniment of chants being played on the sound system. At 6.55pm Pujya Swamiji took the stage and lit the lamp and then took His seat. Saints from all different religions had been invited and were called upon to light the lamp indicating commencement of this historical event. After that Shri Yogesh Aggarwal honored the religious leaders by presenting each of them with a shawl. After that Jain muni Shri Nandesh shared his life transforming experiences post commencement of Samarpan Meditation. Subsequently Shri Anuragji read out letters received from the ex-President of India, Smt Pratibha Patil and the current Governor of Gujarat Shri Benival wishing all success for this Mahashibir.

Pujya Swamiji then commenced his discourse by dedicating this Mahashibir at Shri Saibaba’s Lotus Feet. Param Pujya Swamiji then narrated a story of the seven islands giving the essence that there is a world outside the limited space in which the frog lived. Param Pujya Swamiji then said that he has been sent as a representative of His Gurus who are resident in the Himalayas. While mentioning about Samarpan Dhyan He said that this is living knowledge, which is not written or available in any book, this is the knowledge of living experience. You can understand your religion better if you take this living experience. While explaining the importance of Shirdi Mahashibir He said that this is a confluence of both theory and practical knowledge of meditation. While explaining the meaning of living knowledge, he said that whatever one acquires from books or from the internet via google is just information and not knowledge. One obtains living knowledge only through living experience. He said that one can acquire information about Truth by reading religious tomes but one cannot experience the same. He explained this with the example of reading about the milk given by a cow from the book and of actually drinking the milk and experiencing the same. While narrating the story of four horses He explained that no law or regulations can change human beings, only man can help change himself. The objective of Samarpan Meditation is to make oneself one’s own Guru. While explaining the importance of Samarpan Meditation He said that Truth is invaluable and one cannot fix a price on it, hence it is given free of cost globally. While guiding those present to take maximum benefit of this Mahashibir He said that one should control one’s anger and He stressed that one should maintain one’s positive state.  While explaining the need for meditation, He said that one does not have to leave or stop doing one’s day to day activities, including bad habits/vices, one just has to add one activity – which is meditation to one’s daily routine. While explaining His own success He mentioned two important aspects of His life: first, He performed His karya with total selflessness and second, He consistently performed good work without having any expectations.  Till such time that one does not become pure and chaste from within one is not in a position to receive living experience.  In spirituality the greater your purity the greater will be your receiving capacity. He also mentioned that one’s future is in one’s own hands, one has to accept and believe that one is a soul to be free of any tension or problem, as all these tensions and problems are related to the physical body. The program concluded with meditation after repeating after Pujya Swamiji, “I am a pure soul, I am a chaste soul.” During the discourse a mild warm breeze kept blowing throughout with intermittent sessions of cool breeze.

After the discourse which ended at around 10pm, we left for the hotel, had dinner and retired for the night, as we had to get up early for the yoga session.

Our second day (Sunday, 19^th May) started with a great yoga, pranayam and meditation session which was attended by 1000 plus people. After yoga we went back to the hotel and stopped for tea at a roadside tea stall. We chatted with the stall owners inviting them to come and attend the shibir. They said that every weekend some program or the other takes place on that ground, as a result of which it would be very difficult to get the Shirdi residents to attend the program. We nevertheless requested them to give this program a try as this is completely different from whatever you may have seen so far. We rested during the day, not going out anywhere due to the tremendous heat. In the evening at around 5.45 we left for the ground, parked the car and went to take our seats. Prior to that we visited the Samarpan meditation exhibition stall and enjoyed the well laid out and beautifully explained exhibition with the aid of audio recordings. The Saibaba exhibition was to be open to sadhaks from the next day. After that we went and took our seat on the ground at around 6.05pm. Krishnaji was singing her bhajans in her lovely mellifluous voice and we sat down with eyes closed soaking in the divine bhajans. The energy levels were already palpable and could be felt clearly.

Pujya Swamiji began the second days’ program by narrating a story about Swami Ramdas through which he explained that spiritual progress cannot occur without purifying one’s mind (chitta) and today this is possible only through positive collectivity and meditation. Through King Janak’s story he explained that one has to remain detached in spite of living in domesticity. He explained that ‘without receiving the seed of spirituality, spiritual progress is not possible’. He explained in detail the subject of Paramatma and a living Satguru. He mentioned that today’s chakra is muladhar (root) chakra and its mantra is “Matru Devo Bhava:” (Mother as God personified), while explaining this He mentioned that one’s spiritual progress depends on how happy one’s mother is with you. He explained that for the purification of this chakra the use of the path of devotion is important, He mentioned that the bad incidents which are repeatedly occurring in society are due to individuals succumbing to bad thoughts thus becoming mediums for negative energies. The way to protect one’s self from any accident is by meditating regularly and making one’s chitta and aura strong – thus following the dictum of prevention is better than cure, in this manner one can protect one’s self. He also made the participants aware that if children meditated they could obtain protection as well as have positive changes in their life. He stressed on bringing one’s life under the control of one’s soul. The days program ended with meditation.

After this we left for the hotel, had dinner and retired for the night. Puravji left for Mumbai saying that he has some work and would return on Wednesday morning. Krishnaji Khamankar also left with him by Volvo bus for Mumbai.

On day 3, I received a sms from Ramaniji saying that we should visit Junglee Maharaj Math in the morning. So post yoga, we came back to the hotel, got fresh and went for breakfast at the Food Court quickly in anticipation of the visit to the Math. Anant and I picked up Ramaniji from the highway in Anants car at around 10.30am. We then went to the Math and sat for meditation at around 11am in the meditation hall. The hall has a huge image of the subtle body of Maharaj on which all the chakras are given with explanations at the side. The energy was good and after offering obeisance we sat for meditation. I must have been in a meditative state for about 45 minutes or so, during which I saw different saints pass by like in a film clipping in my minds’ eye – the last image which came was that of Guru’s ‘paduka’ – which I interpreted to mean that one’s attention should always be at the Lotus Feet of every saint – which is what Pujya Swamiji says all the time. None of the saint images were clear as they came and went very fast – but the ‘paduka’ when it appeared stayed constant, hence the interpretation.  After the meditation we were blessed to meet the principle disciple of Shri Junglee Maharaj. We were sitting in the front row in the room where He grants audience to his disciples. I was sitting with eyes closed in deep contemplation, when I heard someone come in and a little chatter as some disciples got up and rushed to meet Him. He looked at the three of us and I thought He recognised us, and we were then asked to come forward – we were all given a frame with the subtle body of Maharaj, along with their spiritual journal as ‘prasad’. Ramaniji informed Him about the dhyan Mahashibir and whether the arrangement for the saints attending was alright. Maharaj expressed that all arrangements were good and He was very happy with the same. After that we were taken by the PRO of the Math for bhojan prasad. While going by car he mentioned that Pujya Swamiji and Pujya Guruma had earlier visited the math and discussed the Mahashibir and taken His blessings for the mahashibir. After Bhojan prasad we came back to Shirdi and Ramaniji mentioned that if we were not getting good rates we should shift to Hotel Sharan which belonged to a clients’ mother. When we asked for directions we were all given a complete run around by the citizens of Shirdi – in fact near Dwarkamai when we asked for Andhra Bank, we got the correct directions. The reason for this we subsequently realised was because the owner did not give commission to touts who came with customers. We walked around the entire temple complex and reached the hotel after walking for about 40 minutes, when in fact it was just a five minute walk from where we started near the Food Court! When we entered the Hotel, we were introduced to the owners by Ramaniji – the hotel had a very high ceiling and what was most prominent in the lobby was a 15 foot high painting of Shri Saibaba on the wall, which was converted into a temple. The owner mentioned that she had commissioned a painter to do the painting when the hotel was being built more than 30 years ago. We asked whether we could sit and meditate – she said of course - and lit the light and requested a hotel attendant to lay out the meditation carpet. Once that was done we climbed up the three stairs and as I approached the painting I was washed with a cold wave of energy from head to toe and I just bowed down to the Energy and sat down with eyes closed as the energy continued to flow from the painting. It was sheer bliss as I was being washed with cold energy when the temperature outside must have been in the region of 45 degrees Celsius. After meditation we were given glasses of cold lassi and were gifted Sree Gurucharitra by Acharya Ekkiral Bharadwaja and a small booklet of mantras to get rid of difficulties. We then went to check the rooms and even though the rooms were big, we were not too comfortable as the rates quoted were almost the same as what we were being charged by Sai Palace. We came down chatted with her for some time and then took our leave and went back to Sai Palace. Ramaniji sat for some time and then took our leave and left. Later, I told the sadhikas who had accompanied me and the Khamankar family that we will go for ‘Kakad Arati’ on Tuesday (day 4).

We left for the ground at around 5.45pm and I sat in silence with eyes closed listening to Sanjay Bose’s bhajans. After the announcements, the chants started at 6.45pm with the advent of Pujya Guruma followed by Pujya Swamiji. The third days discourse was on the Swadhishtan Chakra and Pujya Swamiji started with the story of two farmer friends. The essence of this story was that each individual’s problems in life are as a result of the problems which lie within one’s self. He said that if one wants to obtain a thoughtless state one should look at the sky. He mentioned that the police, politicians, lawyers and doctors are four main pillars of society. He mentioned that Shirdi is the gateway to salvation and one should come to this holy place to ask for liberation rather than for material things. Then while explaining the concept of religion in detail he said that the different religions are steps to reach the house of God whereas as Paramatma is the house to which all these religions lead up to. The chant for this chakra is ‘Pitru Devo bhava’ (Father as God personified) – by chanting which one can get peace – He explained that keeping the mother-father duo happy is the support for having a happy and blissful life. He explained that self-realisation is the biggest form of donation to one’s Guru and He also mentioned that the way to world peace is through prayer and meditation. The days program ended with meditation.

I woke up at 3.30am and got ready. At 4am the next morning (Day 4 Nabhi chakra), I went about ringing the room bells and calling everybody for leaving for the kakad arati. All except the sadhika from CIFE were not ready or just waking up. As it was just past 4am, we left the hotel and entered through Gate 2 at around 4.10am, just five minutes before the gate closed. We saw the Bhupali which began at 4.15am followed by the kakad arati at 4.30am. While standing in line and meditating on the arati, I could feel my kundalini rising slowly and steadily. As the kakad arati got over at 5am, the kundalini had stabilized around the nabhi chakra. The line then started moving a bit, and the kundalini shakti went back to its base! After the kakad arati, bathing of Saibaba’s murti commenced and we were able to get darshan at around 6.20am. After darshan, I was wondering if we would be allowed to sit and meditate for some time. I moved backwards facing Saibaba’s murti, for some distance and then sat down to meditate – after sitting for about ten minutes, I got a tap on my shoulder from a security guard, who smiled apologetically and said in Marathi, “it is enough now, you have sat for quite some time, please leave’. I thanked him and thanked Baba for allowing me to sit in peace for ten minutes. There were tears in my eyes as I apologised to Baba ( 19 years ago when I had come with my entire family, I had said I will never go to Shirdi again, due to the pushing and shoving and discomfort which my daughter and mother had to face). I felt His grace and compassion and cold energy as I moved out of the temple. We then visited Dwarkamai and Chavdi, sat in both places for some time and returned to the hotel by 7.30am. Prabhavatiji and fellow sadhaks from Vakola center joined us for a day today and left for Mumbai after the program. I invited our Hotel manager and his friends for the program, saying that today is the day of awakening and please come if possible. They said they would definitely come.

In the evening I got a sms from Ramaniji asking me to come and sit in the front, so at around 5.45pm once I reached the ground, I went to visit the Saibaba exhibition – on seeing the crowd I was told by Manisha that they are open from 10am to 12am – so I told her I will come the next morning. I then made my way slowly swaying to the bhajans which were being sung. When I looked up into the sky there was beautiful rainbow, which indicated that the God’s were specially blessing today program! (Photo curtsey Shri Shreekant Parab) I took my seat in the front and sat with eyes closed waiting for Pujya Guruma and Pujya Gurudev’s arrival and then for the discourse to start. The discourse started with a true story about an event in Saibaba’s life. Pujya Swamiji explained about the different ways in which one can reach a living Guru. I had tears in my eyes as Pujya Swamiji explained that He had two centers of faith – one Shri Shivbaba and second His wife, Pujya Guruma. He explained that the seed which was planted for His spiritual growth by Shiv Baba and the gardener who watered the seed daily and ensured that it grew into a big tree was none other than Pujya Guruma – and both of them were His centers of faith. He explained in detail the importance and meaning of Satguru. In life, dissatisfaction on any topic leaves a bad effect on our lives. The mantra for the Nabhi (navel) chakra is ‘Santosh Devo Bhava’ (Satisfaction as God personified) and He also explained the effect of this chakra on the relations between a husband and wife. He stressed on the necessity for regular introspection to make the soul so strong that it becomes one’s own Guru. Pujya Swamiji explained about the Guru Mantra and how it is to be chanted and meditation took place after chanting of the Guru Mantra. After that a prayer was offered for good rains to fall in the drought affected areas in Maharashtra and India. The days program ended at 10.15pm. Today the entire energy changed and I felt that I was on the sea-shore at Dandi, with a cool sea breeze blowing – even though we were in Shirdi. It was as if Pujya Swamiji had brought Dandi to Shirdi!

I woke up the next day (Day 5 – Heart Chakra)  absolutely fresh as a daisy and we all left for our yoga, pranayam and meditation session. After yoga, breakfast, we came to the ground to see the Shri Saibaba exhibition. I chatted with Manisha Chorge and Trupti Kankani and then went through the entire exhibition on display. There was very good energy where a couple of sadhikas were explaining their sections. I was told by Manisha that this exhibition had more than 42 images, and the images which were to be given by an artist for a cost, could not be obtained from him due to his vacillating behaviour over costs. With Pujya Swamiji’s grace the exhibition team went to various shops in Shirdi and got 40 of the 42 images selected for which the captions had been prepared – can you imagine 40 out of 42! All in one day! This is the way Guru Energies flow when you are surrendered completely! A lesson for us all, I should say. I wrote my comments in the visitor’s book and then we came back to the hotel to rest. We did not go out anywhere during the course of the day…..Chanee’s son and mother joined us. Manit, her son was such a joy and live wire, he hit it off with everyone – an extremely lovable and pure kid. God bless him. In the evening we all left for the ground to listen to Day 5 (Hruday [Heart] chakra) of the discourse.

Pujya Swamiji started the discourse by saying that in one’s life one should not go to extremes in any aspect of life and always to remain balanced. To explain this aspect he narrated the story of the life of a British judge. He explained that thoughts of the past and the future are an impediment to meditation and to progress in meditation one should face and accept any and all situations in life. He mentioned that thought pollution is the biggest problem being faced today and to save one’s self from this, He stressed that one should remain alone and in silent communion with one’s soul for some time every day. Pujya Swamiji explained about Samarpan Meditation and its mission which is to create balanced parents who could give birth to evolved souls so as to foster peace and universal brotherhood living in a positive society on earth in the long run. He also explained the concept of ‘Samarpan Vivaha’ (Samarpan Marriage). He explained that a householder’s life can also be an aid to meditation. The mantra of the heart chakra is ‘Atma Devo Bhava’ (The soul is God personified) and He stressed on increasing and augmenting the feeling of the soul within one’s self. He explained that the strength of lady of the house is the pillar of strength of the family. He mentioned that Samarpan Meditation can be of help to stem the spate of suicides taking place in society. While mentioning the oncoming era, He said that this era will be that of will power (chitta shakti) and that the success of a country will depend on the strength of its collective will power.

 Day 6 – Vishuddhi Chakra. On Day 4 I had mentioned to Jayeshbhai Pandit that it would be great if we could video record the yoga session as the relaxation techniques were more effective when Atul Shuklaji guided us in his own voice as opposed to when we did it at home on our own. After taking the necessary permission Day 6 of the yoga session was duly video recorded. The objective for the recording was that a complete recording could help Babaswami Multimedia make yoga video CD’s of 15, 30, 60 minute durations to suit individual time availability – of course with due approval from Guru Charan. After the yoga session we went back to the hotel. A strange co-incidence took place today – I had decided to pay off the hotel bill till the sixth day and hence checked my laptop bag wherein I had kept Rs. 12000 in a sealed envelope. To my shock, the envelope was in a torn state and Rs. 5000 was missing! I wondered why someone would take only Rs. 5000, he should have taken the entire amount! But I did not give it much thought. Yesterday Puravji had given me Rs. 5000 to cover the cost of his expenses and today I found Rs. 5000 missing – that was the co-incidence. When I told Puravji, he told me that it must be the hotel staff and he asked me to inform the manager. I refused, saying that whoever took it must have really needed only Rs. 5000, else a real thief would have taken the envelope with all the money. I said I had mentally forgiven the person, as it is, it was my mistake to keep the money in an easily accessible place. Actually there were a lot of expensive stuff including laptop and a removable hard drive and a photon data card which were lying in the open. My laptop bag had been opened and searched, else that envelope would not have been discovered. Anyways God bless whoever took it and pray that it solved his problem. Puravji mentioned that his family (wife and two sons) were driving down today and would leave the next morning. We all went again to Junglee Maharaj math, Puravji, Chaneeji and her family and the sadhikas from Vakola, CIFE. We met Dr. Ishnath Singh and his Vasai group, Surekhaji, Krupaji, Edwankarji – all of them were there at the Math. We meditated there, had bhojan prasad and left. Manit got a mango as prasad from the saint in pramukh Shishya’s meditation hall. We returned to the hotel at around 2pm and retired for the afternoon. In the meantime around 3ish Puravji’s family reached the hotel and Puravji got busy with them. We left for the ground at around 5.45pm and again settled down in the front section. The 6^th days discourse (vishuddhi –throat chakra) was to be taken up today by Pujya Swamiji. Rambhai was singing bhajans with his team, which I sat down to enjoy with eyes closed. The clouds also took the shape of a bird with the sound of peacocks and koyals singing in the background. (Photo curtsey Shri Shreekant Parab) 

Pujya Swamiji started His discourse by narrating a story about an event in Saint Vinobha Bhave’s life. While explaining about Paramatma He said that religion is the ladder by which one can reach the house, which is Paramatma. While explaining the importance of Gurukarya, He told us to absorb Shri Saibaba’s sermons and spread His message globally. He told us His experiences while conducting shibir for the Jain Munis. Pujya Swamiji explained in great detail the concept of proximity to the Guru (Guru sannidhya) and in doing so He mentioned that by keeping our chitta on the Satguru we can obtain positive collectivity. He also updated us on the bad effects of continence and eating non-vegetarian food on spirituality. He mentioned that ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ (Guest is God personified) is the mantra for this chakra. He explained that ego, guilt and lying are the faults of this chakra and for progress one needs to accept all religions as one and success in life is also the positive aspect of this chakra. During the entire course of this session, some kriya were taking place on my vishuddhi, agya and sahastrar chakras. I had never before felt my vishuddhi chakra spinning, this was the first time!  My vishuddhi, agya and sahastrar were pulsating continuously. After the discourse, Pujya Swamiji conducted the meditation followed by a prayer for overall progress of all. After the discourse we left for the hotel, had dinner with Puravji’s family and then retired for the day.

Day 7 (Agya Chakra) began with the yoga session, after which we again stopped for tea at the tea stall. We asked the stall owner whether he had come for the program. He was very impressed – he said that on that ground in Shirdi every weekend there is some program or the other, hence residents of Shirdi probably thought that this too was a run of the mill program. He then started telling people at the tea stall that this program is different – once Baba starts talking the participants in their tens of thousands, just put their head down and listen in pin drop silence. He found the discipline amazing and he said he had not seen anything like this before. His wife said she will also accompany him for the last two days. I called Pallavi, my daughter, and wished her on her birthday and told her to celebrate her birthday with friends and that we will go for dinner together on Sunday evening after I return. We went to the hotel and waited for Prabhavatiji, Haren Sharma and another sadhika who were to come from Mumbai for the last two days. They came just before lunch and then we chatted and had some fun. Post lunch Manit came with his remote controlled car and showed us how to drive it! We had fun together, rested for some time and then left for the ground. I was getting the feeling that the days were passing too fast and we were coming to the last stage of a fully consciousness filled holiday. I took a variety of prasad packets to take back home for distribution to friends and relatives.

We left for the ground at 5.45pm and went and took our seats. After the bhajans sung by Sumanagalaji and Sanjay Boseji and announcements, the chant started in anticipation of Pujya Guruma and Pujya Gurudev. Pujya Guruma came in exactly at 6.45 and Pujya Swamiji at 6.55pm. Pujya Swamiji started his discourse by narrating the story of the beggar Ramu. He explained the necessity of having control over one’s chitta which becomes powerful after self-realisation. After self-realisation Pujya Swamiji told us to surrender all our day to day karmas and to perform regular Guru-karya. He then explained the importance of the 45 day Anushthan which will take place after the conclusion of the 8 day program. He explained the importance of ‘donation’ in great detail. He mentioned that through the medium of meditation the global feeling of insecurity can be mitigated and one can become free of this feeling through regular meditation and thus progress towards world peace. ‘Acharya Devo Bhava’ (Teacher is God personified) is the mantra of this chakra and He explained that this chakra is the location of the Guru and this chakras purification can happen with a feeling of forgiveness towards all. He said the journey beyond this chakra is not possible without the blessings of a living Satguru. In the end after meditation He gave us the living experience of Shri Saibaba’s presence and energy. This meditation had very high energy, I did not feel like getting up and opening my eyes took quite some time. I felt kriyas taking place on my nabhi chakra, agya chakra and the sahastrar chakra simultaneously. All the chakras were throbbing and I could feel them spinning in a clockwise direction. But all good things come to an end – and I too got up at the end of the days program.

8^th Day – Sahastrar (Crown) Chakra. I took a break from yoga today and decided to just relax in the hotel room. Arati (my wife) was to come today along with Ramnath Kamath and his family. Puravji told me that he will stay at a different place, so that Arati and I could stay in the same room – as it is he had to go for making arrangements for the organising committees post event meeting with Pujya Swamiji and Pujya Guruma the next day. Arati, Ramnath and family reached the hotel around 11am. We then went for lunch together, and after lunch I introduced Arati to the entire group who was staying on the same floor. We rested in the afternoon, then around 4.45pm Prabhavatiji and Kajalji came and joined us for tea. Today’s program was to start at 5.15pm with experience sharing. After tea we all left for the ground together. Ramnath and family and Arati and I had decided to go for dinner together at Rajdhani after the days program.

After the experience sharing, which included the experience of a Saint from Junglee Maharaj Ashram. Immediately after that Pujya Guruma took her seat to the accompaniment of chants. Pujya Guruma in her sweet voice narrated her own experience of seeing Pujya Swamiji’s subtle body. Then in her sweet and mellifluous voice sang a bhajan written by Herself on Pujya Swamiji. Immediately after that Pujya Swamiji entered to the sound of blowing of conches. Pujya Swamiji started the days discourse with a story about an event in Gautama Buddha’s life. Today being Buddha Purnima – Pujya Swamiji explained the importance of taking the help of the full moon in purifying one’s chitta. Pujya Swamiji explained that to obtain the state of liberation is the ultimate goal of life and that the state of liberation is nothing but the successful management of a successful and happy life. After this He explained the objective of preparing different idols which was through the inspiration given by Shri Saibaba. He said that these idols are given life-force energy during the 45 day anushthan which culminates on the occasion of Mahashivratri and these idols are capable of giving one self-realisation. He also said that these idols will strengthen the road to world peace and will be located in different continents. There are three in India, one in Europe, one in Canada and the next years’ idol will go to Melbourne in Australia. He explained that keeping one’s attention on the Lotus Feet of the Satguru is the path to spiritual progress and He also explained in detail about the ‘paduka naman’ function. ‘Dnyan Devo Bhava’ (Knowledge is God personified) is the mantra for the sahastrara chakra and explained the importance of spiritual experience and spiritual knowledge. After the meditation, a prayer was offered to bless all those who helped directly and indirectly in making this 8 day event a success. The paduka naman program started to the accompaniment of kirtan being sung by famous kirtankar Shri Ramanadji Maharaj. When my turn came for paduka naman, I prayed with all my heart for a completely void state full of innocence, and as I looked up and joined hands in prayer to Pujya Swamiji, I saw His eyes drill into me. I moved back slowly while facing Him all the time, and then moved away to get my slippers.

The entire event was beautifully organised in spite of the initial hiccups – my thanks to all those who made this wonderful event possible. This being my first 8 day live Mahashibir, I wanted to be present for all the eight days right from the date it was announced. The level of consciousness kept going up and from day 4 onwards like I mentioned earlier, it was like the cool sea breeze of Dandi ashram had manifested at Shirdi. The evenings were beautiful – full of consciousness and energy, cold breeze throughout the evening on all the days from Day4 (my perception)!

We had dinner at Rajdhani restaurant and retired for the day. Next day early morning Arati and I went for Mukh darshan at the Sai temple, then visited Dwarkamai, Chawdi got some official Bundi ladoo prasad from the office at Gate 1 of the temple. We then returned to the hotel at 7.15 am. Arati and I then went and had breakfast. After breakfast I went to greet Manit in his room to say goodbye. While getting into the car Chaneeji, her mother and Manit came down to see us off. I hugged Manit and lifted and told him to come with me. He agreed and took my hand and said let’s go – that’s when you should have seen Chaneeji’s face (shocked, surprised, stunned). But Manit was just kidding, and we left to fond goodbye’s at 8am. We reached home at 11.40am after an uneventful non-stop drive from Shirdi to Mumbai.

Credit goes to Chaneeji for providing the daily discourse summary.

Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed reliving these eight days while writing the blog!

JAI BABA SWAMI