GURU-PURNIMA 2018 - 25, 26, 27 JULY 2018
24.7.2018
I left for Kutch Samarpan Ashram, Bhuj on 24th July by the
morning flight. My stay in Bhuj was till the 30th and thereafter I
was to leave for Saurashtra Samarpan Ashram along with Vibhavji and Paiji on 30th
morning. I was travelling alone as Sureshji who was coming from Goa and who was
to take the same flight came pretty late - after security clearance I met
Binythaji and other German sadhaks who were also on the way to Bhuj who were
also waiting to board the aircraft. The flight left on time and landed at
7.10am. Sureshji came to say hello as I had messaged him my seat number. After
getting my checked-in bag I called Muljibhai who was to come with his Scorpio
to pick me up. Veereshji and his wife from Canada were also to travel with us.
Binythaji was waiting for her vehicle – we too waited with her to help in
bridging the language gap. We spoke to the taxi owner and informed him that it
was more than half an hour since the flight had landed and there was still no
sign of the vehicle. I told him that I could take the four Germans and one
Czech sadhak with me. I did not realise that the bags of all the sadhaks would
consume a lot of space. I climbed on to the top of the jeep and helped secure
all the big bags on the carrier on top and the nine of us got into the jeep and
reached the Ashram in about an hour’s time. We unloaded the bags and I then
went to the quarters allotted to us. Pravinji was there to greet us, and
Pratapbhai was also there. We got fresh and went for breakfast. Later in the
morning Vibhavji also arrived after which we had a few meetings lined up. After
finishing one meeting we broke for lunch and then had another meeting. We went
to inspect the work going on at the GSD along with the committee members. We
got a message that Swamiji would come to inspect the stage arrangements,
lighting etc. for the video broadcast. Swamiji arrived at 7pm and minutely
inspected all the arrangements – the stage, lighting, seating etc. After being
completely satisfied about the arrangements He left at around 8.30pm.
Thereafter, we left for dinner and then a meeting with committee members and a
vendor, after which we retired for the day.
25.7.2018
I woke up early as per my daily routine and after morning rituals,
meditation, etc was sitting outside in the cool morning breeze. Umeshji and
Pratapbhai joined me and then we went for a morning cup of tea. After tea we
sat in the open discussing a lot of topics and then went for meditation to the
Gurushaktidham. After meditation, we went for breakfast and then I went to the
registration counter and registered for GP. Post registration, I went back to
the office where other meetings were scheduled. At around noon we went for
lunch and then returned to our beds to rest for some time before leaving for
the start of the Gurupurnima event at 2.30pm. We took our seats at around
2.15pm and waited for Swamiji’s and Guruma’s arrival. In the meanwhile,
Parasbhai and Hemadidi were performing their role of Master of Ceremonies with
panache!
Her Holiness Guruma arrived at 2.35pm and thereafter His Holiness
Swamiji at 2.45pm both to the sound of conches being blown in welcome. There
was a loud round of applause and a general feeling of happiness and joy
prevailed in the pandal.
After His Holiness took His seat Parasbhai gave a brief and informative
introduction of Samarpan Dhyanyog. Thereafter as per tradition Saints of
different religious faiths got together to light the lamp along with the two
managing trustees and the President of the event, Dr Pravinbhai Limbani. After
the lighting of the lamp the Saints were felicitated by the Trustees.
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| Saints after lighting of the traditional lamp |
Her Holiness Guruma then launched new sahitya from Babaswami
Multimedia – namely a book on Yoga and a small and beautiful frame with
Swamiji’s image. At 3.20pm His Holiness Swamiji took leave followed by Her
Holiness Guruma who left with her trademark wave of her hands accompanies with
a beautiful smile. At 3.25pm Anuragji took stage and explained the various
developments taking place in the Samarpan framework through the use of
Information Technology.
From 4 to 4.30pm Hemaginiji very eloquently explained the importance of
Madhuchaitanya and how sadhaks can contribute to the magazine – she also gave a
wonderful synopsis in English for the benefit of overseas sadhaks. At 4.30pm
there was a break for tea till 5pm.
We went had tea, freshened up and returned to the pandal by 4.50pm. Her
Holiness Guruma took her seat at 4.55pm and His Holiness arrived at 5.05pm to
the sound of conches.
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| Swamiji in wonderful spirits - pure joy |
Ramkaka lead the Guru Avahan mantra and we all chanted together – I felt
the sahastrar getting activated with a slight spin and coolness filtering down
from the crown to the rest of the body. After invoking the Guru Energies
Ramkaka requested His Holiness thrice to shower his nectar filled discourse.
Swamiji: My salutations to all pious souls present here. My heartfelt
welcome to the GP 2018 festival. The GP festival is a festival of souls – it is
a festival of the souls of both the Guru and the disciple. So today, I will
narrate start today’s programme of GP with the story of Eklavya and this story
will be contextual. In the Mahabharata (ancient Indian epic story) there is a
very interesting story of Eklavya. Guru Dronacharya used to teach the use of
archery, sword, spear, mace, etc to the princes – both Pandavas and Kauravas
and they used to learn under his guidance. Dronacharya’s fame had spread far
and wide all over India. A tribal youth (Adivasi) was impressed by his fame and
he got a desire to learn archery from him. With this objective, Eklavya went to
Dronacharya with complete feeling and bowed and prayed to him to take him saying
that he wanted to learn archery. Dronacharya told him that he cannot teach
archery to anybody other than princes, Eklavya was disappointed but still
mentally accepted Dronacharya as his Guru and placed Dronacharya’s image in his
heart. He then went back to the jungle and even though he wasn’t an artist, he built
a clay image of Dronacharya and placed it on a high pedestal and started
learning archery by himself. The idol was not an exact image of Dronacharya it
was just in the shape of a human. After that, he accepted the idol of
Dronacharya as his Guru and started worshipping that idol and practicing
archery in the presence of that idol. By continuous practice he learnt archery
to the extent that he matched Arjun. From this one can make out what is a Guru?
What is a disciple? What is the relationship between Guru and Disciple? The
physical body does not remain as a medium between the two. The medium is ‘depth
of feeling’. With what feeling he looks at his Gur! So, the person who looks
with feeling, with depth of feeling, with complete feeling – then the Guru,
whether he wishes it or not – he absorbs all the knowledge lying within the
Guru.
It is possible that the Guru’s behaviour-thinking, his face-looks,
guru’s desire may not be favourable – Dronacharya’s desire was not favourable
to Eklavya, he had totally refused to teach him, he did not teach him at all!
But in spite of that he learnt! This means, the Guru is different and the
Guru-element is different. He had submitted (bowed) to the Guru-element, he had
absorbed from the Guru-element and the Guru has not control over the
Guru-element. Little did Dronacharya want to teach him archery! Even though he
did not have the desire….he did not teach him, Eklavya did not learn from him,
but in spite of that he attained the full knowledge of archery. Today, one cannot
even think that such a thing could happen. Why can’t we think? Because, today
we only have the knowledge which a teacher teaches his student through the use
of books, a student who learns from his teacher; we only have that knowledge.
But both these kinds of knowledge are that of the physical body, which one can
teach and one can learn. The knowledge which I am talking of is the knowledge
of the soul – no one can teach that, and no one can learn that. The Guru has no
right over it. Hence, many times I say, Guru’s grace, Guru’s grace – there is
no such thing! Because Guru’s grace is not some ‘thing’, it is not any product
which the Guru takes out of his pocket and gives! The Guru has absolutely no
control over Guru’s grace/ The Guru is different and Guru’s grace is different.
Guru’s grace is related to the soul. How much do you believe in the Guru? How
much is your receiving? How much is your capacity to absorb – based on that the
knowledge within (the Guru) will be transferred to you.
The Guru is not any extraordinary kind of person, he is not an
attractive person, he does not have anything that is extraordinary which can be
seen or recognised or which one can know separately. There is no medium. It is
not that the Guru has 4 hands or 4 feet – nothing of the kind! He is just like
an ordinary person; just like you have two hands, he has two hands. You have
two legs, he too will have two legs. That is not different – then what is
different? What will be different – is His state within, the condition within –
that will be different! You should know how to recognise that, how to know that
– if our chitta is focused on that then we can receive it. If your chitta is
not focused there then you cannot take it. I have realised from my own
experience that Shiva Baba was not some different kind of person, he wasn’t
extraordinary that he had 4 hands or 4 legs….nothing like that! Just as I was
an ordinary person…. He too was ordinary – but I accepted him only as
Paramatma, whereas since childhood I had only one flow of thought that no
physical body can be Paramatma. Why it cannot be? Because there is no physical
body which existed yesterday, exists today and will exist tomorrow. So, if no
body is like this then how can any body be Paramatma? In spite of having this
understanding for many years as soon as I obtained Shiv Baba’s experience, my
inner journey began. After the commencement of my inner journey my chitta
started going within, and after going inwards I experienced inner happiness. I
experienced inner satisfaction. A kind of satisfaction for which each person
has taken birth to attain. That satisfaction is akin to attaining Paramatma. I
obtained that satisfaction after meeting him (Shiv Baba), and I got the
satisfaction that I have attained Paramatma. My search for Paramatma itself
ended. And once I accepted him as Paramatma, accepted only after knowing – and
after I knew through spiritual experience, through experience, then after
knowing I accepted him as Paramatma. And as soon as I accepted him as
Paramatma, my receiving capacity opened up 100%. My capacity to receive
increased 100%. Meaning, if you accept the Guru to by a human being he is still
a human being, you accept him as Paramatma, then too he is a human being, but
if you believe him to be Paramatma then our receiving increases 100%.
Many times, we
keep looking for Paramatma outside, even I used to look; but no such place,
person, location or idol came in my life after which I got the satisfaction
that Paramatma had come in my life. And the search for Paramatma would have
ended! I always roamed from one place to another, then another, this journey
continued continuously, but as soon as I got his darshan, as soon as I obtained
his inner experience, after obtaining that inner experience my search for
Paramatma ended. In reality Paramatma is universal consciousness, it is the
energy of universal consciousness which is spread all over the universe. And the
feeling of that energy, the experience of that energy we obtain within. Just as
a pregnant mother gets experiences her foetus first, the change within her, the
change comes within her, in absolutely the same manner you can experience that
Paramatma within you. The deeper you take your chitta within the more you will
get the spiritual experience. This has two benefits. For one your chitta will
not go on others and secondly your chitta will be on the Paramatma within. So
Paramatma is within you, but you do not have its spiritual experience and you
cannot get that spiritual experience till a person who has gone so deep within
a medium who has gone so deep within does not come into your life. Hence, every
person’s efforts are to go within – whatever actions a person takes in his day
to day life are all to go within – to experience inner happiness. But he looks
for that inner happiness outside – he goes to some holy place and looks for
happiness, joy. He goes to some mountains and looks for happiness. Goes into
the proximity of some saint seeking happiness. But all these are mediums and
you become dependent on all these mediums, meaning you become dependent on
others. But, once you experience the happiness within you, then there is no
need to look for or roam about looking for happiness outside. And you can get that happiness only in the
presence of Paramatma, and Paramatma’s proximity is not outside; it is within
you. And the path to go within is by staying in the present moment. You can
never attain Paramatma by remaining in the past or in the future. To attain
Paramatma you have to study how to remain in the present. What I mean by study
– you have to continuously practice. This spiritual practice is not completed
by just calling yourself a sadhak or sadhika! You have to practice yourself. If
you think of yourself as a sadhak then you must introspect today and learn for
how much time in 24 hours you stay in the present moment? How much time in the
past? How much time in the future? It is possible that you get thought about
the past, it is possible that you get a thought about the future, but the
timespan of such thoughts should be momentary. By momentary I mean – like we
see in the monsoon isn’t it, it rains, a drop of water rises and in the next
moment it gets submerged. Similarly, the drop of the thought of the past, the
drop of the thought of the future – arose and broke. These moments, the amount
of time they stay in your mind will keep you away from the present moment. And
if it keeps you away from the present moment, it will also keep you away from
Paramatma, because Paramatma is in the present moment.
Many times,
the failures of the past are stored in one’s memory after repeated failures attempting
the same thing. If this has to be explained in very simple words, very simple
language then understand that two types of memories are stored in our brain –
there are two types of brains, a small brain and a big brain. The small brain
is connected with the physical body and it retains all memories – all your day
to day incidents, the data of all your successes/failures is stored in there.
As soon as you start making physical efforts, a voice from inside starts saying
– “You have failed four times, so why are you making the fifth attempt, you
will definitely fail!” It puts pressure on you and after that such situations
arise that you fail for the fifth time too. This is all stored in the small
brain. It happens because of that only. Once you meditate and rise above the
physical state and reach the soul state then there is an infinite store of
power/energy within you, lots of power is resident within. But you will have to
reach that storehouse – that is stored in a big brain. There is no failure over
there, there is no success there, there is nothing! There is only energy,
energy, energy – that’s it! Whatever work you perform, you will get energy from
there – but it is necessary for you to reach that place, that goal, that
location. Once you connect with that place then you will receive energy from
within you yourself. And whatever work you do with that energy you will always
succeed. Then such great, big work will take place at the hands of such a
medium that one cannot even think about it – yes! Such massive work did take
place through me! I did this! It happened through him because the feeling of
“I” was not there. That work was not done physically at all, that work was not
done to showcase to others, that work was not done with any expectation, it was
not done with a profit motive – that work was done only because his soul felt
good. It was done to make the soul satisfied, make the soul happy – rest there
was no other objective. After doing this work alone, this one person’s work can
reach lakhs of people and it has reached – this is my life’s experience.
Also, I am not
telling you my story; many sadhaks have experienced this. Many sadhaks have got
these experiences. As and when they have worked selflessly, whenever they have
worked without expectations, such great work has got performed through them
that they could never have thought about it in their dreams even! Now, I can
give you the example of Kutch itself – GP is taking place in Kutch repeatedly,
now such a big Ashram is being developed, Guru Shakti Dham is being constructed
– is such big work possible at the hands of any single individual? Can one
person do it? Does any one individual have the power to do it? That he invites
so many people from so many countries! And not for just a visit, not to just
visit, see and go – to come and stay for three days! Today the world’s
collectivity, the world’s chitta is totally on Kutch. Is this possible at the
hands of one person? Is it possible? But this has become possible. Pratap Shah
from Kothara, right at first, he was the one who had invited me to visit Kutch.
One individual who had no self-interest, no expectations, no desire – he just
felt that to make his soul feel good, make his soul happy let me do something
for my village, let me do something for Kutch – with this pure wish he had
fixed my first visit to Kutch. I remember that today too – from Nakhtrana to
Gandhidham, Gandhidham to Mandvi, Mandvi to Kothara and from Kothara back to
Bhuj. At that time I had not even thought that the efforts of one sadhak …..
apart from him I did not know anyone in Kutch…nothing….I did not know anyone at
all. So, the result of the efforts made by one individual can be so big! That
is why I am saying…..there is a lot of energy within you. I have given you the
example of Pratapbhai Shah - all of you
are Pratapbhai Shah. There is a lot of energy within you all, lots of power.
So, he developed Kutch, you can develop the world. So, just reach up to that
brain; and that brain, that place is not outside. You cannot reach that place
physically, you cannot go physically at all. To reach there primarily you will
have to let go of physical feelings, and to let go of physical feelings you
have to remain in the present moment.
The meaning of
the word ‘sadhak’ is a person who remains in the present. A person who has
understood time, one who does not go into the past nor into the future – that
person is a sadhak or sadhika. Don’t roam around with just the label of sadhak!
So, there is an energy centre in every person, a stock of energy, a place of
energy – try to reach that place. That is why I keep repeating that if a person
is failing repeatedly then you should stop all your efforts. Because, whenever
that person tries his small brain will immediately send him a message – you
have already failed five times, you are trying for the sixth time. So
immediately the same thing happened. One needs to get rid of that history, that
pressure, it is necessary to remove that influence. It will go away when you
stop trying for some days, you will balance yourself and you will connect to
that place, you will connect with that collectivity, you will connect with such
people who are successful. So, the Samarpan Meditation Family is a collective
of successful people of the world in which all the successful people have
gathered together. All you need to do is know how to connect with them. So, as
soon as you connect, automatically all the people are successful so how will
you remain unsuccessful amongst them? It is impossible. You have no importance
over there, whether you are successful or not. You connect with them, you
become a part of the crowd then automatically you will reach there, you will
not reach there through your efforts, but after reaching there do not let your
ego intervene saying you have reached; otherwise that same ego will take you
away from the collectivity, separate you from the collectivity.
Do you watch
National Geographic Channel? On that channel they show a herd of deer moving
along and a tiger keeps watching the herd to see which deer is moving ahead of
the herd or lagging behind it. He first selects the deer to be hunted. So, the
one which is outside the herd, one which is ahead of the herd or the one which
is lagging behind – meaning the one which is separated from the collectivity, that
deer is attacked because it is easy to attack that deer. So, the tigers search
for those who are moving separately and then attack them. Similarly, the moment
you get the thought in your mind of separating from the collectivity understand
that the time for your downfall has come. Because do you know what happens?
This hunt takes place because you have moved out of collectivity. Also, by
remaining in the collectivity you are not doing anyone a favour – you are just
making yourself safe in the collectivity. Hence, do not try to do anything
different – whatever is happening, some people try to experiment with that, is
this is a laboratory? Some people experiment by trying to connect with this or
that and see what happens. Let’s do this or that. You will connect anything,
even if connect something good what will happen? You will move ahead of the
collectivity. Meaning….in this even if you do good, then too this is bad for
you. And if you do bad in this, you remain lazy, you remain behind then too you
will become a victim. So, neither should you try to do good, nor should you try
to do bad – just merge with the collectivity. Do not create your own music in
the symphony. As it happened recently, isn’t it, that procession is moving
towards Pandharpur in which everybody is chanting – ‘mauli …. Mauli …. Mauli ….
Vithal …. Vithal …. Vithal and moving forward – so that is a kind of energy
(power) of the collectivity. Just see, while getting up, while sitting down
they keep chanting mauli …. Mauli …. mauli – there is no other word other than
mauli. They use the word ‘mauli’. So, they have a collectivity – if you chant
‘Ram’ or ‘Shyam’ in their midst or any other name – are these names bad? No,
but over there they are bad! In that you will be separated from the
collectivity. So, if you try any new experiment even if it is a good experiment
…. it is possible that you personally feel good, feel good vibrations, meditate
well, be in a good state – even then it is dangerous for you. Dangerous meaning
– it will separate you and then develop an ego in you that I am getting more
vibrations than others, or by doing this I have found a new technique! That
technique may be for you, but it will slowly and steadily take you away from
Samarpan. So, do not adopt any such technique – whatever everybody is doing
connect with that.
I will give
you another example where there is a painting of a tribal girl. She has worn
tribal jewellery and tribal clothes – but if you make that girl wear modern
clothes and jewellery her originality will disappear. Her beauty, her
originality is dependent on her Adivasi (tribal) getup – her tribal clothes and
jewellery and makeup. If you try to change her in any manner then she will look
bad. Similarly, this is of Samarpan, if you try to change anything, if you try
do any good, if you try to do any bad, if you try to do anything or add
anything to it even then it will turn out bad and if you leave out anything
too, it will turn out bad. Do it exactly as it is being done.
Just as there
is a story of Eklavya, similarly in the Mahabharata there is another story
about Karna. Karna was a renowned archer in the art of archery. He had great
knowledge of archery but he had not obtained this knowledge in an authorised
manner. So, his Guru had cursed him saying that when your last moment draws
near your knowledge of archery will be of no use to you. Hence, remember that
however soulful you are, in that the word ‘authorised’ has great importance.
Whatever work you are doing, isn’t it, are you authorised to do it? Has it (the
work) been given to you? Just as you learn something in an unauthorised manner,
similarly making unauthorised copies of cassettes, pen-drives, etc – are you
authorised to make such copies which you are going to make? You think you are
doing good Guru-karya – not good, you need to ask yourself whether you have
been authorised to do this work! So such unauthorised anything – pen-drive, CD,
etc don’t make any such thing ….. go through a proper channel! So, there is a
difference between doing things in an authorised and unauthorised manner.
I will give
you a very beautiful example, an example close to me, from here. Recently
during the Deep Meditation Practicum a Guru from Germany was to come, and
because he was to come a disciple of his had come from Germany before him. The
people in the Ashram asked her, “What does your Guru who is to come, eat? What
does he drink? How does he stay? Please guide us a bit, so that we can make
arrangements for him accordingly.” Her response was very touching, she said, “I
know everything, what he eats, drinks, how he sleeps, etc but I am not
authorised to tell you all this so I won’t tell you. You ask his PA what he
eats, drinks, how he sleeps. So, if you ask her she will guide you, I am not
authorised.” Also, I am open in what I say, so when I was taking that shibirs
for Gurus I told that lady too, “You too sit in that (shibirs) – I do not have
any objection, you learn with the Gurus.” She replied, “No! I will not sit
amidst the Gurus. I will not sit in a shibir in which my Guru is sitting. I
have the desire.” But one day before her Guru arrived she left the Ashram and
went, and after that her Guru came. What I want to say is, how much respect!
She knew everything but she said that she was not authorised to tell you, I
will not come. Also, I will not sit with the Guru for the shibirs because I am
not equal to him. When he goes to sit he will not feel that he is free, that is
why she did not sit. She did not participate in that Guru’s shibirs – she left. And in our
place – we keep Swamiji in one pocket and Guruma in the other! So, anyone
says…..Swamiji said this, Guruma said this….immediately they come with any
answer – whatever is there in their mind (and say Swamiji said it or Guruma
said it). This is not right isn’t it?! BY doing this you are reducing your
value. Actually, your soul knows that you are lying. And Swamiji had called me!
I do not call anyone. Really - I am telling you – I do not call anyone. You can
roam around with me for the whole day and see that no one calls me, other than
her. Nobody else calls. So, no one calls me, and I do not call anyone – people
just lie – just now Swamiji had called, just ow he told me. Accha! So whom do I
speak to? My driver, and what I speak with him is not related to Samarpan – it
is just that I do not let him think and for that reason I keep talking with
him. So, I talk with him for 5-5, 6-6 hours – I do not go in silence. But I do
not talk with anyone else. If anyone lets one go in my name tell him, “In which
book it is written? In which CD it is mentioned? You don’t say that Swamiji has
said this – provide the reference.” So, you learn, that German sadhika in spite
of knowing all this she says that she is not authorised to tell. Why can’t you
say that I am not authorised to answer your question! You immediately respond
like removing Swamiji as if he is a 5 paisa coin!! Yesss, Swamiji had said
this, meaning you pass on whatever is in your mind by Swamiji said it or Guruma
said it. By doing this you are reducing its value, you are reducing the
distance. Now as they say isn’t it, I have not sat equal to Shiv Baba. You see
Lord Ram’s photo – so have you ever seen Hanuman’s photo with Ram? Like, he has
his hands around Ram’s shoulder? You have always seen Hanuman sitting down
below. What happens by just worshipping the photo – learn something from the
photo! That Hanuman never sits as an equal with Ram. You will never get Ram’s
and Hanuman’s photo together. Maintain a distance, a gap, maintain respect,
maintain a distance. I am just like you, so what I am saying isn’t it, that I
am worse off than you – but if you think I am like that directly then your
receiving will end! Your capacity to absorb will end! Your receiving capacity
will end! Your doors will shut isn’t it! So, it is necessary to have respect.
In your life
also incidents take place, they take place in my life too. I too see, you also
see – I don’t know whether you learn anything or not, but I do learn. Recently
the world cup football competition took place. I don’t know whether you people
saw it or not but I saw all the matches. Lots of matches with each other were
taking place. A match used to take place amongst two teams and one team would
win and the other lose. After that when the team had time, there used to be a
two-three days gap between matches, in that time the team would study its
matches – and observe what mistakes it made, which mistakes it should not have
made, how it could have been stopped – after that whatever happened, happened.
What changes to make for the next match, whom to play in which position and
after that – it was like their theory class was taking place and the match was
the practical – the next match was the practical. So, whichever team played the
match according to the theory which was decided, which was planned that team
used to win; the team which could not play to plan would lose. Winning matches
continuously in this manner the semi-final took place and after that the finals
and in the France won the World Cup. This was very simple. So, you also knew
this and I too knew this. I brought another meaning to it – this life of ours
is there isn’t it – this too is a match. Whatever we have planned in theory,
the objective with which we have taken birth, the desire we had to do
something, what we wanted to do – are we doing that in this match, are we
managing to do it? If we manage to do it then we can win the World Cup of life
and if we cannot do it; then the theory and the matches will continue. And also,
there is no one there – after death there is no one. After death we only have
to give answers to our soul, our class is with our soul, our theory class is
held with our soul. I lived with this objective in life, I had to do this, this
was decided, I did not manage to do this, this remained to be done, these
mistakes took place. Now no, this time we will do like this – all this planning
takes place there. And after that to see whether the plans bear fruit or not
one has to take birth again. If you manage to do it, then success and if not
then no success. Hence, introspect as to why we have adorned this body.
Also, this
body is a medium through which we have to reach that free state of life which
is called moksh (liberation). But, to reach that stage we have to endure all
the karmas of our past lives, because the karmas of this birth are extinguished
by Paramatma’s medium and he bestows self-realisation on us. Even then we have
to endure the karmas of our past births. But when we endure those very karmas
by remaining in collectivity then we do not even realise when we have endured
those karmas. After that such a state in your life comes in which the karmas of
this life too have ended, the karmas of your past birth too have ended and the
karmas which you are doing or which are occurring – you are just witnessing
those and you are surrendering those to the Guru-element – meaning you are not
even tying those karmas to yourself. So, you then rise above good and bad
karmas, and become free of both good and bad karmas. You obtain a free state,
in which the feelings of the body are completely left behind. After this, your
life is spent in the welfare of others, this is the state of liberation
(moksh)! Then, it does not matter when death arrives, but to attain this state,
to reach this state some medium who has already reached that state definitely
comes in our life. Because, till such a medium does not come in our life our
inner-journey does not begin. And I sometimes feel that as easy as it is to
know this medium, to recognise this medium, to experience this medium today, it
was never ever so easy before this! I will tell you how! Tell me, during Saint
Kabir’s time was there any measure by which society could know him, recognise
him? No! Saint Dyaneshwar came, could he be recognised, could he be known by
society, was there any measure at that time? No! Sai Baba of Shirdi was relatively
recent …. what they say isn’t it just a 100-150 years old matter. So, during
his life-time was he recognised – was there any method to do so? No, that in
reality this person has left behind the feeling of the body, how to recognise
this? Today, because of aura it is possible, you can recognise, you can come to
know! That is why is I said that there are two mediums. You either go through
the medium of a samadhist Guru or go after checking the aura. These aura
machines were not available in those days isn’t it, so now with the aura
machines you can come to know whether a medium has gone beyond physical
feelings, this medium is pure, this medium is holy. Now, even after knowing all
this, after recognising all this you still cannot recognise, cannot listen,
cannot believe – then how more unfortunate can one be! Like, sometimes a person
says – a person is sleeping he can be woken up, but if a person is pretending
to sleep – how can such a person be woken up? After getting all this
information and because of that science it is possible today – this was not
possible in the past. So, after obtaining all this information if you do not
recognise then what can one do! Also, always the Guru is in a hurry about
everything – do it quickly, do it quickly, do it quickly. We feel why is he in
such a hurry – whenever I go anywhere isn’t it, I create a racket do this, do
that, do this, do that, do, do do. They feel – for instance if I had not come
they would have all been lying in a relaxed manner lazing around. And as soon
as I reached, they get up with a racket – and then I shake everyone up over
there. Why? Because the Guru’s lifespan is short and the Guru’s work-span is
vast. That is – he has to complete a lot of work in his short life; he knows
that he has very little time whereas his work is vast. And because of this he
is in a hurry to do all work, do it quickly, do it quickly – he is in a hurry
to complete all work.
Why don’t you
understand from nature itself, the jasmine flower, parijat – these flowers have
a lovely fragrance, they are very beautiful. How long is their life-span –
two-four hours – they wither away in that time. The marigold stays fresh for
eight days, but will the jasmine stay like that? No, its life is very short. In
the same manner, the Satguru’s work-period is short – hence He emits fragrance
during that short work-period, he is very sensitive. Like I say that the rose
flowers in a rose bush are the most beautiful, most attractive but the most
fragile, they are the weakest. You say isn’t it – if you tap a rose flower hard
it will fall apart, but if you hit the thorn or the stem you will be pricked by
the thorn but nothing will happen to the flower. What I mean to say is on a
rose plant the rose flower is the most beautiful, most delicate, but it is also
the weakest. So, the more sensitive the individual, the more delicate he is,
that much weaker. How long you manage to take care of his sensitivity it all
depends on that. That sensitivity is the cause for attraction. But you should
also know how to take care of it, that too is necessary. So, in whose life-time
we are spending our lives, from which medium we are taking energy, how much is
that medium’s chitta on us, how much attention is there, how much feeling! I am using the word ‘feeling’ because that is
what increases our receiving, this is what enhances our capacity to receive.
Actually, when I accepted Shiv Baba as Paramatma isn’t it, that is when my
receiving capacity increased 100%. Meaning the maximum level by which I went up
and was able to receive, that was the highest peak at which I could receive! I
went inside that peak and received and after receiving it I did not limit it to
myself – I tried to distribute it to the maximum number of people.
Recently, Dr Limbani said about me that this is the
first guru who says do not come to me. This is because I am the most modern
model of a Guru. Just as each vehicle keeps coming out with newer and newer
models. In the new model the faults of the old vehicle have been separated, he
is very refined, very good and he is of the present. If he is of the present
then he will be according to the present. Just as the present situations are,
just as the atmosphere in the present is – he will be good for that. Now also
look at banking – how much improvement is there. Nowadays banking takes place
through the internet – neither does anyone go to the bank nor does anyone come
from the bank. Very few people go to the bank, all the work happens on the
computer itself. Just as it is the age of internet banking so also it is the
age of the internet guru. There is no need to come near. So, the Guru of the
modern times will be a modern Guru. He will not say come near me, come meet me,
nothing at all! The further away you are the better. Next, you will say will
there be progress by staying afar? Yes, it will happen. Progress takes place
when you are at a distance only – I will give you an example. A centre is being
conducted in Peru for the past 7 years. Till date I have not visited Peru. They
have not seen me, I have not seen them – I don’t know whether they are black or
yellow – but a centre is running in Peru. And the state of the Peru sadhaks
must be so good that a sadhika who did not have any money reached Shirdi. She
had a strong desire to attend the Shirdi Mega shibirs, but did not have money.
Sadhaks sponsored her! It is the other way around, Indian sadhaks sponsored her
visit and she reached here, whereas she has not seen me and I had not seen her.
Meaning, this internet guru and internet disciple both have become hi-fi. About
this, what I mean to say is that as time progresses the (the grand plan) is
revealed one page at a time. I do not plan anything and come! I remember, 20
years ago when I had first visited Kodinar, we had landed at Diu airport and
from there a car came from Gujarat Ambuja Cement and they took me and Bihagbhai
from there to the factory. We are just casually conversing on the way when
Bihagbhai said, “Swamiji, now you are alone and you go everywhere alone, you do
everything by yourself, but if this thing becomes very big what will you do?
Will you authorise some individuals, prepare some individuals who will be able
to do this programme on your behalf?” I replied, “I have not thought about
this. I do not have any information on this, but as the time comes the
Guru-energies will provide a solution, some path or the other will open up.”
And as soon as the appropriate time came the Guru-energies showed the path of
video-shibirs through which shibirs are conducted. Today, thousands-lakhs of
people are receiving the values of Samarpan Meditation through the medium of
video-shibirs. Not only are they receiving they are also progressing. They are experiencing different kinds of
anubhutis daily; they are obtaining different kinds of experiences. There is no
exact account of the number of sadhaks, or how many sadhaks have joined
Samarpan. I do not know their number. Earlier, the shibirs consisted of 20-25
people whom I knew either by face or by name. But today, although I don’t know
them or recognise any of them, I am connected with each and every sadhak in the
subtle form!
You are
unique in the entire world; there is no other person like you! Further, nobody
in the world has received the seed of the subtle body like you have! So, you
are unique for me and the seed you have received is also unique; it cannot be
compared with anyone or anything else. And, it is not like some have received
more and some less, all of you have received equally, the same, no more and no
less. Some people have been able to grow and advance, some could not! I too
didn’t receive more than you did; I too had received the same. But I have grown
and developed it further by diligent practice and by remaining constantly in
the Guru’s proximity. Being in the Guru’s proximity does not mean being near
physical body, seeing the physical body or roaming around the physical body.
The Guru is never in the physical body at all. The Guru is always present in
the Guru’s work. I had received the Guru’s proximity only for 3-4 days; but
even today, when I am associated with the Guru-karya, I don’t ever feel that I
am not in the Guru’s proximity. I feel that I am constantly in the Guru’s
proximity. So, if you want to receive the spiritual experience and experience
the Guru’s proximity, connect with the Guru-karya without any expectations; but
solely and only to please your soul, to make your soul happy. When you involve
yourself in this manner, you can develop another such Kutch! The entire game is
dependent on how you connect, with your body or with the soul! Everything
depends on that. The results will reflect the feelings with which you have
joined the Guru-karya. In addition to the problems and failures of your life
which are stored inside you, there is also a huge reservoir of energy within
you. You will have to make efforts to reach that reservoir, to access it. This
is possible by remaining continuously in the present. Good collectivity
develops the work and takes it forward. It is necessary for the post-holders
also to have spiritual bonding with the post-holders under them. For example,
if a sadhak has a complaint about something, then he can approach the Acharya
of his centre for resolving it. But this is possible only when they share
soulful relations, when the sadhak feels close to his Acharya. Then, his
complaint is forwarded to the Pramukh Acharya, from the Pramukh Acharya to the
Trustee, and finally it reaches me through the Trustee. But this is possible
only when his (sadhak’s) relations with his Acharya are good….this is
important…who is immediately above him? The Acharya! It depends on their
relations! When their mutual relations are cordial and good, their problems
will not come to me. It will be settled at that level itself, the Acharya will
find a solution and resolve the issue as he is closest to the sadhak, whereas I
am not! However, if a sadhak does report a complaint or a problem to me, then
the Acharya must introspect; carry out self-contemplation as to ‘why did he not
come to me with the matter? Why did he approach Swamiji directly and not me? It
means that my relations with him were not good, if they had been good, then he
would have consulted me first, because as the Acharya, I was closest to him.’ In
the same way, when a volunteer is experiencing some kind of problem, he can
present his issue to the committee of that Ashram. He will do so when at least
one member of that particular Ashram committee which may have 15 or 20 or 25
members has good relations with him. His case will be heard by that one member;
then, that member will take it to the entire committee, which in turn will
present it to the head of committee. Then, it will go to the Trustee and
finally come to me. But if a volunteer contacts me directly with a complaint,
the entire Ashram committee will have to introspect -are we all useless? Why
did his complaint reach Swamiji? Does he not have good relations with anyone?
None of us is on good terms with him? So, in this way, each of you should look
into this. If a complaint is from an Acharya, his relations with the Pramukh
Acharya should be good; likewise, if the complaint is from the Pramukh Acharya,
then his relations with the Trustees should be good and so on. The point is,
your relations with those working below you must be so good and so close, that
no complaint should ever be referred to the higher level!
I felt the
need to speak about this organisation, because we will need to prepare for such
a situation which is going to arise in the future. I can envisage that
thousands and lakhs of people will be joining (Samarpan) in the future. At
present, our organisation is not competent enough to handle that kind of
situation. Our network, our organisation is very weak. You will see the effect
of the Shirdi Mahashibir after a year. So, you have a year to strengthen our
organisation, and to improve it. What happens, is that I tell you about what I
see ahead, but all the work has to be done by you, isn’t it! For example,
several years ago I had alerted the Ashram Managing Trustee that a large amount
of money would be available by way of donations in the future. There will be so
much money, that you will not have the time to identify the trivial and minor
mistakes which are taking place. Hence, it is wise to identify and rectify
these errors now, before it is too late. Areas where the money is being spent,
where it is being wasted or spent unnecessarily; stop such expenses and plug
those holes. If you don’t do it now, you will not find time in the future to
correct these mistakes. And such a time has arrived after 5 years! But now, it
won’t take five years; things will change in a year. You will witness this
state by the next Gurupurnima! So, improve and strengthen the organisation now;
and this can be achieved by having soulful relations. Don’t look here and there;
look at your relations with the people working under you. Everything will be
covered in that. I maintain good personal relations with all the Trustees.
Similarly, the Trustees too must develop such good relations with each Pramukh
Acharya, and the Chairperson of every Committee. Similar good relations must
exist between the Chairperson of the Committee and every Committee member, the
Committee member and volunteers, between the Pramukh Acharya and the Acharyas;
between the Acharya and the sadhaks. Don’t bother about other things, just
checkout how your relations with people working under you are; you should have
absolutely personal relations with them. Never speak to the people who are
working under you in a raised voice, because he might retaliate someday and
say, “Swamiji doesn’t talk in a loud voice, do you think you are bigger than
him?” What if he shouts back at you? I don’t speak in a raised voice with
anyone, and I am never rude to anyone. I share warm and cordial relations with
all. So, anyone will make a comparison and say, “Swamiji doesn’t behave like
this, then why are you behaving so? You are a just Trustee, just a Pramukh
Acharya, just a Committee head or a Committee member…. etc. Your problem is
that I have created a standard of comparison of goodness. Your behaviour will
be compared with that benchmark. They will react and tell you - ‘Swamiji never
interacts like this, if he doesn’t speak in this manner, why are you talking
like this?’ So, you just have to do this much -keep good relations with the
people working under you. When everyone follows this, then the entire
organisation will improve and become better; and today it is imperative for our
organisation to be good. Take this stage for example, when it is set up, it has
to be strong enough to withstand a combined weight of 5-6 people during the
Guru-puja, otherwise it will collapse. Examine the entire structure of our
organisation in the same manner. It is very necessary to strengthen it, to
bring order to it, because more and more people are joining it. Presently, this
structure is not equipped to handle that kind of load and requires suitable
improvements. And this is a matter of worry. And this is not the first time I
am telling you about this. I have told you about it quite often. But what
happens is that some things get filtered out of the mind when they are spoken
from the stage here, or on an auspicious occasion, so I am repeating it. I keep
informing you about what I feel can happen in the future. It is up to you to do
what needs to be done or not. Then, the feeling that ‘I did not intimate them,
I did not say anything about it’ will not remain in my mind. Namaskar!
After the
discourse Swamiji made a few announcements:
1. After Gurupurnima on 29/7 a shibir for police
has been organised – this will be webcast live. You can encourage other police
stations to watch.
2. On 5th August there will be alive
video conference on the Establishment Day of Juhu centre – organised by Juhu
centre.
3. Gurushaktidham development – Dandi, Ajmer,
Kutch – you can go and see for yourself. Sadhaks are donating large amounts.
When sadhaks are giving such large donations the trustees have decided to give
plots in return. When we visit Shirdi and donate Rs. 11000 we get a coconut as
prasad. Whatever you have to pay for the plot do not consider that as cost,
because it is an energy centre and this money will go in developing
Gurupurnima.
4. Whatever you give – give wholeheartedly.
5. Gurupujan will be performed by two Dhaivats –
Dr Dhaivat - Munira Mehta and Dhaivat – Shweta Joshi.
Many times,
we organise big shibirs – like Shirdi – but they only contributed Rs. 15 lakhs
– but in spite of that the donations from the sadhaks for the shibirs resulted
in a surplus.
Now you may
ask whatever questions – my answers will be as per your questions.
Ques: We are from a Kutchi Patel joint family, I can’t go to the centre
because of this. I want to do Guru-karya but I cannot (sadhika crying from the
heart while speaking). What should I do?
Ans: Open a
centre where you are staying. We have to find our own path – sit alone for half
an hour and feel connected with me. A Guru is never alone – Guru-karya is not
doing something, connect with the Gurushaktidham through prayer and when the
Gurushaktidham is completed you will feel happy. Once you accept your situation
all will be okay.
Ques: When we sit for meditation, should we sit on the ground or on a mat?
Ans: The moment
one sits on the ground all negative energy is pulled into it. But it you have
no issues, then the earth pulls the energy within. In 45 days (during
Anushthan) I leave the body and go up – if your state is good then do not sit
on the ground, use a mat.
Ques: Should I narrate my spiritual experiences?
Ans: I only talk
about my experiences. If you are telling the truth then good vibrations are
felt.
Ques: Karma – everything is according to karma, there is good karma, bad
karma. How can we know whether our karmas have ended?
Ans: This is the
karmic cycle. You are born with your past karmas which you have to endure.
Everything is pre-decided, in that case why meditate, go to temples, etc. But
if you do not do this it could trouble you, and if you connect with a Satguru
and make your existence negligible in the collectivity then you won’t feel the
passage of your bad karmas. It is like if you put a drop of black ink in a
glass full of water, the water in the glass will become completely black, but
if the same drop is put in the Ganges you won’t even realise where it has
disappeared. We experience this when we connect with the collectivity of
millions of souls, and by doing this we endure our bad times of our past karmas
without even realising it; the Guru extinguishes all the karmas of the present
birth. After this we reach a state of void, and all the karmas of this birth
are thereafter surrendered to the Satguru. Every soul takes birth to end the
karmic cycle. You have to complete all your karmas and then donate secretly.
Guru-karya is that work which we do with a feeling of complete surrender, here
karma is taking place but it is not getting attached to you. Then there is no
reason for either good or bad karma to get attached to you – you attain a free
state. If you do good karma, bad karma then you are born again. If you perform
your karma selflessly then you reach a free state. Once you attain that state –
you won’t die – but you will be dead while living, which means you have become
void, living in the present moment all the time – a free state. You should understand
the principle of karma.
After the
questions and answers session the programmes for the day came to an end. We
then went for bhojan prasad after which I had to go for rehearsal for Juhu
centre presentation of the prize-winning skit performed during Tata Mumbai
Marathon 2018. I had not gone for any rehearsal so this was necessary. After
the rehearsals and some leg pulling etc, we retired for the day, by which time
it was past 11pm.
26.7.2018
As usual I
woke up at 3am and freshened up and then sat down for meditation. Thereafter I just
relaxed and waited for Swamiji’s daily message, translated it and sent for
review. After receiving the confirmation from the team, I forwarded it to the
relevant groups. Then we all left for meditation.
There was
meditation from 6-6.30 am conducted by Rambhai. The meditation was very nice,
early in the morning, pure silence and bliss. During meditation I got a
beautiful unearthly fragrance which is beyond description!
From 7-9.30
there was havan conducted by Rambhai for those who had registered for the same,
and for the others Swamiji’s discourse was shown on video. I left for the
office as an experience sharing session to be put on YouTube by a news channel
was lined up. Around 8.30 or so I gave a brief video interview of when and how
I joined Samarpan and some of the experiences which I have had over the years.
After the havan got over we went for breakfast and later returned to the main
pandal for Her Holiness Guruma’s discourse which was to begin at 11am.
11 am – Her Holiness Guruma arrives to the sound of conches, lights the
lamp, bows before Gurudev’s seat and then takes her seat. Guru Ahavan mantra is
chanted together after which Hemaji gives a brief introduction of Her Holiness
for the benefit of new sadhaks by calling her Shakti Swaroopa Guruma – Meaning
the Guruma as the personification of Energy. Thereafter Rambhai requests Her
Holiness three times to shower her nectar filled discourse.
 |
| Sadhaks listening to the Discourse in rapt attention |
My salutations to all pious souls who have come here – Jai Baba Swami!
Today we have all gathered here together on the occasion of Gurupurnima
2018 to celebrate the Gurupurnima festival. One day before Gurupurnima let us
understand some matters to enable us to receive more – our container will then
not only be clean but it’s size too would have increased. I will start the
discourse by narrating an inspiring story. There was one small family in which
the husband was a business and well off in life, his was came from a good
family and his son-in-law was also a businessman. But his son-in-law faced lots
of losses in his business and then one day the loss was so great that it
reached a stage where there was an issue in managing day to day life. The
daughter’s mother told her husband to help his son-in-law and the husband told
her to wait, his time is bad, I won’t help him, let the bad time pass and then
lots of people will help. The mother thought we eat 56 different type is food
every day and he does not get to eat a single meal. She decided to help her
son-in-law when he came to visit their house. She decided to help in a subtle
way by preparing sweets and filling the sweet with one gold coin in each sweet.
She prepared 4-5 kilograms of sweets and gave them to her son-in-law. After he
left, he thought – how can I carry such a heavy weight all the way home, and
while thinking that times are bad, let me sell these sweets to a sweet shop. On
the way he went into a sweet shop and sold the sweets and took whatever money
he got and went home. The husband was also returning home and as his day had
gone very well he decided to buy sweets to take home. He stopped at that very
same shop and asked for sweets and as his wife loved such sweets, he bought the
whole lot and came home and told his wife – see what I have got for you. He
gave her the very same sweets which she had made for her son-in-law. She gave
her husband one and she took one and put in her mouth. The moment she broke the
sweet into two to eat she saw the gold coin and realised what had happened. She
then told the story to her husband about the gold coins etc. The husband told
her that I told you I will help when his bad time has passed – see even your
trying to help did not benefit him and the businessman’s wealth came back to him
only. We also face such bad times, we have to face this as it is this is our
last birth and we need to clean our slate. What is important is Guru’s
proximity – this means that even if Guru is in our chitta, then the bad time
just flies past and the Guru keeps the container clean – all external matters
disturb our chitta such as houghts of revenge, ill-feeling, etc towards others.
Meditation teaches us to remain balanced, the Guru keeps our container clean
and reduces the heat in our body; the troubles we encounter make our container
strong, there will be no holes in it, hence the energy is retained within. Guru
gives us everything, but you can give only one thing, which you can give as
Gurudakshina, which you can donate to your Guru – that is your ego which is the
only thing you earn! Everyone earns ego - friends, relatives – but we need to
earn good friends. The second number enemy is pride. There is a difference
between ego and pride – ego is bad in all respects; pride is good when you feel
proud of your country, work, family! Donate your ego – small or bog doesn’t
matter. By staying in Guru’s proximity don’t feel attracted to the physical.
You get tied to an individual through attraction, illusion – this will not let
you progress. The varkaris (Lord Vitthal followers) walk long distances
and reach Pandharpur while chanting ‘Vitthal, Vitthal’. I read in a newspaper
one of them saying that they do not want liberation but want to be reborn to do
vari in each birth – meaning to go on this long pilgrimage in devotion
of Lord Vitthal – this is the illusion. I will tell you by means of an example.
I had gone to Ujjain for darshan of Mahakaleshwar – there was a long line and I
was comfortably waiting as I was told my turn would come in about one and a half
hour’s time – then I performed puja and left. That one and a half hours
was very good as my chitta was on Mahakaleshwar all the time. Wherever you go,
whichever yatra – your chitta should be on the destination – such long
distances help clearances of blockages. Doctors have done research on varkaris
and have noticed vast improvement in heart patients’ state after doing the vari.
There was no change in the control sample of people who did not go for the vari.
Aura body – the effect of energy body affects the physical body – a
positive change in the aura improves the health of the body. When we are in a
thoughtless state it helps enhance our health. Fasting helps reduce the load on
our body and pending work gets done during that time. Ladies will understand
this. On the day of fasting it should be a real fast – no eating – then the
ladies get to do a lot of other domestic work which is pending. Then there is
additional benefit when the thoughts go on fast – sahastrar – when there
is no food for the brain, then the brain gets to relax, the nerves relax, then
we start receiving the energy from surroundings. We should not get attracted to
the physical body – how should one enhance one’s feelings – I will narrate my
experience.
A person went roaming and took a stone – a colorful stone from a stream
– stones which are smooth and shining and these are natural stones – he found a
small beautiful stone. He picked it up and put it in his pocket. When he was in
a good mood he used to thank the stone, whenever any small positive incident
took place, he would take out the stone from his pocket and thank it. This
became a habit and he used to thank the stone daily - 50-60 times a day! This
stone remained in his pocket always. He became very positive because of this
stone. He had gone to a tourist destination and met a person who put his hand
on his shoulder and asked him are you so and so? I am your school friend. He
felt very happy and thanked the stone. His school friend asked him why he did
that – and he replied that this is my ‘thank you stone’. After a few days his
friend asked him for that ‘thank your stone’. He went to the same river and
found another stone and couriered it to his friend. His friend thanked him. Two
years later his friend called him and said that your ‘thank you stone’ helped
him a lot. You don’t know the change. My son had cancer and I gave him the
stone and told him to thank the stone for every little thing. He lived happily
and healthily for two years and then died and then I buried the stone with him.
He then asked for two more stones for himself and for his wife. For increasing
one’s bhav (feeling) we should mentally thank the Guru-energies for a
new day. It is possible that we could die overnight! Mentally thank any 5
people everyday from the bottom of your heart. ‘Thank you ….. mother, father,
etc. for rearing, raising and providing for me’, as they have struggled to keep
you happy; thank your teachers, thank close friends who have helped in all bad
times, husband-wife can thank each other. Do this thanking daily to different
persons, show feeling of gratitude – vendors, fruit sellers, farmers, etc. I
leave it to you whom you should thank. You can thank birds, trees, plants – you
have no idea how many people have favoured you. Birds of prey, rodents eat and
clean dead dogs and other animals. The more feeling of thanks you bring within
then the feeling of kindness within will increase. Anytime a dog or stray comes
in your path, don’t you brake? You have shut the door of your feelings, open
the door and let them come out. Ladies have far more feelings which can be
expressed. A small girl is also filled with maternal feelings – I have seen
this in the North-East. I had gone to school for a programme of school kids who
were to perform in front of the school inspector. A curtain separated the boys
from the girls changing rooms and the children were donning the costumes
according to their roles. The girls changed and folded and kept their clothes
neatly whereas the boys had just flung their clothes and left them there, and
then I noticed a small girl who was folding the boy’s clothes so that creases
don’t fall on them. Only a mother has such feelings – in many houses males also
do this work. Feelings are there within everyone – it is just that we have shut
the doors. The feelings are there – when the feelings within start getting
developed they will come out. Thank birds, sun, sky. The environment is
beautiful, there are lots of birds in the Dham. Once I heard a whistle blowing
– I went out to see who had come and who was blowing the whistle, but I did not
see anyone – and then I thought to myself this must be a whistling bird and I
recorded the sound. Then Shaswati showed me a video of a bird sleeping which was
whistling in its sleep. When I sleep at home I snore and this bird whistles in
its sleep! (laughter from everyone). Thank birds, trees, insects, sky, sun,
moon; if there were no insects then how will you hear their sounds – won’t it
be strange, if these small insects are not there so many things in nature will
stop! The nature’s cycle is beautiful – thank nature, the more you enhance your
feelings you too will become one with nature, we will become empty, our
container will become empty and then it will get filled with Swamiji’s energy.
Meditate and earn energy and then distribute it. We earn and spend – similarly
we earn energy and spend it with bad thoughts. We should also have a recurring
deposit, with which it will get filled over time. When you start talking to
people who never talk with you and they start talking with you too then realise
that your state has improved. We are like a cold bottle of removed from the
fridge – condensation takes place on the outside – with friends we give and
take energy, but from Swamiji we only take with both our hands.
(While talking now Guruma was at a very high level – superb energy as if
Swamiji Himself was speaking – the tone was low and measured with gaps between
the words – tremendous love energy). When we speak about Swamiji only good
things come out of our mouth, so our chitta is on good and we collect energy.
Earn energy daily, but also save it. Make new friends where you can do
Guru-karya, go and do Guru-karya and make your state good. We are all symbols
of moksha (liberation) – meaning we are all walking on that path – if we
are walking then it is physical, but when it just happens (without our feeling
of doing it) then it is at the soul level. When do things at the physical level
we attract karma. This is your last birth, so go do Guru-karya with a feeling
of surrender; daily when you wake up with gratitude pray that all things happen
with your desire, the more you surrender the Guru-energies will be with you,
you will be protected. All of you progress very well in all the Gurupurnimas,
your every atom becomes one with Guru-energies, your life becomes beautiful,
happy……it is my pure wish that this Guru-purnima is good for all ….. Thanks ……
Namaskar.
After the discourse ended the rest of the day was free and we had to get
together at 8.30pm for the cultural program. Her Holiness Guruma arrived to the
sound of conches blowing and took her seat.
Juhu Centre event was second on the list and we were relaxing backstage
and soaking in the ambience – for me it was the first time for any kind of
stage performance – but no butterflies – just a feeling of joy!
1.
Dance from a group from Bhavnagar performing to
‘Albela Sajan Ayo’.
2.
Group dance by Juhu Centre – Mumbai Marathon – Samarpn
ki daud – showcasing this year’s theme of ‘Year of Security Forces’ for which
the team had won the first prize during the marathon.
 |
| Juhu Centre team with Marathon prize winning performance |
3.
Thakur Complex led by Kishore Chiklikar performed a
group dance to the tune ‘Guruji we love you’. This performance was full of
energy and the crown chakra was racing during the performance – high energy
performance with the whole crowd joining along with Her Holiness Guruma. There
were shouts of encore with huge applause from the viewers.
4.
Thane centre also performed on the theme of ‘Year of
Security Forces’. The group dance was performed to the song ‘Taqat watan ki
humse he’ and was very well received.
5.
Bharuch centre performed a skit ‘Aigiri Nandini’ which
too was well received.
6.
Surat Zone 1 performed a group dance to the song ‘Guru
saath saath chalna’ …. Everybody was clapping and joining in the joy of the
performance.
7.
Ahmedabad sadhaks then performed a group skit on our
beloved Guruma titled ‘MA’…… all the sadhaks enjoyed this very much and the
smile of love on Guruma’s face was amazing!
8.
Goa centre then performed a group skit (40+ people on
stage) titled ‘Shisha ka Samarpan’, which too was very well received. This was
based on the story of the Mahabharat on Eklavya and Dronacharya.
9.
The last performance was a group dance performed by
sadhaks of Bhuj-Kutch titled – ‘Anahad Naad Jaga de’ which too had good energy.
After the end to everybody’s delight Parasbhai announced that Thakur
Complex sadhaks will do an encore and everyone enjoyed and participated in
chorus to a truly wonderful session filled with joy and happiness. At the end
we congratulated all participants for wonderful performances and then retired
for the day around 10pm.
27.7.2018
Today was Gurupurnima – the day we had been waiting for eagerly all
year. As usual I woke up at around 3am, freshened up and then sat for meditation. After
meditation forwarded Swamiji’s daily message and then translated it and waited
for peer confirmation. Getting data signal at the Ashram is tough, so even
though the wi-fi had been activated, I had to go outside to get a decent
signal. After completing the formality of sending the approved translation, we
left for the pandal for the morning session at 5.30am. The session was to start
at 6am with His Holiness Swamiji’s discourse followed by meditation. We took
our seats and I sat with my eyes closed waiting for His arrival. Her Holiness
Guruma arrived at 6.10am to the sound of conches being blown followed
immediately by His Holiness Swamiji’s arrival five minutes later. His Holiness
lit the lamp, paid obeisance to His Guru and then took His seat. Ramkaka then
prayed thrice to His Holiness to shower His nectar filled discourse.
My salutations to all pious souls present here!
Pinde Brahmande Brahmande Pinde (All that is outside
you is within you), meaning if we take our own chitta outward then we will see
our village, state, country and later we will see the whole earth, surrounding
atmosphere and then the sky and nearby planets. From this sky there is a place,
state, location, where one cannot go along with one’s intellect, knowledge of
body; hence if we study our own progress then the study will show that our
progress over thousands of years has occurred very slowly. Initially we used to
run from place to place, sometimes to the mountains, sometimes to the jungles,
trees and then slowly from his own experience her realised that it is better to
reside in one community, then communities were created. But in those
communities, there were some saints and mahatmas who gave up the community and
took shelter in the jungles, mountains and after going there they tried to know
themselves, understand themselves. Once they experienced that as they go into
the proximity of nature our thoughts reduce completely because nature has no
thoughts, and after going there they went beyond the body and reached a state
of joy which they could not share with anyone – that was the joy of spiritual
experience (anubhooti). And in that joy, they attained inner-knowledge
and they felt that the knowledge which they obtained should be shared with
every person; and then they took another birth and after taking another birth
they shared their experiences and spiritual experiences and gave such advise
that after walking on this path you can obtain inner-knowledge, can experience
inner-peace. The advice was singular – that man should attain the
inner-happiness which they had got. Rules were made saying that if you want
this you should leave this and connect with this and after their lifetime,
these rules became a method of worship and the objective for which these rules
were created was left behind and what remained was just the do’s and don’ts.
The other thing was that the effect of this was external and no inner change
took place in society. Hence, no method of worship was created y which all
individuals could be of good character – in all methods of worship we see both
types of people – good and bad. Is the method of worship bad? No! Each method
of worship is unique – then later the methods of worship became religions. Dharma
– means knowledge that lets you go within, lets you do good and stops you
from doing bad things – that is religion, but no method of worship is called
dharma. Earlier the gaps/differences in the methods of worship became causes
for dispute and killing took place in the name of method of worship/religion.
Today, wars take place in the name of method of worship – the battle today is
not between believer and non-believer, it is between believer and believer.
Saints sitting in the Himalayas were studying this over a period of 800 years –
what is there in this? All method of worship taught do good, don’t do bad, all
were the same, but no change took place in man’s behaviour. The sages then
though of a new path, no good, no bad, no karma – nothing – that was the path
of values of spiritual experience. If this spiritual experience of values takes
place on anyone, then his soul will take control, and those things which did
not happen earlier will now change and they will automatically do good. This is
a straight path, if I have caught a snake because I think it is a rope and not
a snake, but sitting outside you know that this is not a rope but a snake; but
you believe that this is a rope because my belief is old and not new. But if
you come inside the hall and switch on the light you will realise that this is
a snake and not a rope and you will drop the snake immediately. Directly your
inner lamp is lit and as soon as your inner lamp is lit you start getting
knowledge of good/bad automatically and you leave the bad behind and stay with
the good, and this itself is called meditation. This practice should not happen
at the physical level. First understand that Paramatma is within you, how much
time do you spend with Paramatma alone, with no husband/wife, no one in and
around you? How much time do you give? Experience that Paramatma is within you,
feel, give time – the biggest problem is that you do not give time, whether you
get into a meditative state or not – give time! Your body will protest, first
you will get control over the body, then over your thoughts and then finally
over the chitta; after this you should regularly practice meditation. Nothing, don’t
go to the jungle – just sit and give yourself time, if you don’t bathe or eat
it is okay! But give yourself half an hour daily – our understanding that
Paramatma is outside will not let you do this, practice regularly and it will
happen! We go within only during a crisis, but after doing this we realise that
our problems have not been solved, then our ego breaks and we pray and then our
problem is solved. Why are we waiting for this feeling to develop – should we
wait for problems? No! The external Paramatma is not as close to you as the
Paramatma within – there is a powerhouse within you, reach it, give time and as
you give time you will start going deeper and deeper within; but we realise the
path within only when Paramatma comes into our lives in the form of a medium.
Paramatma is universal consciousness which existed yesterday, exists
today and will exist tomorrow. But your habit is to remain in the past, hence
you only know the Paramatma of the past – but Paramatma existed yesterday,
exists today and will exist tomorrow. When such a medium comes into our lives,
our inner journey begins and all the external search stops and we reach the
Paramatma within – and we attain that inner joy which is not dependent on
anything – not on any place, individual or thing – and then you become
self-dependent. This means you find inner-happiness within, once you reach that
then no external power can make you sad. Why? The individual who becomes happy because
of external factors can also become sad because of external factors – hence don’t
look for happiness or sadness outside. External joy makes you dissatisfied as
you keep wanting more and more. A person thinks of a Maruti car, then of a
bigger car and then a still bigger car – meaning there is no satisfaction – he just
keeps wanting more, more and more! Inner happiness is such that after attaining
it you get inner-happiness, inner-satisfaction that I have attained Paramatma.
There should be only one objective – attain Paramatma! Just as a rain drop
falls anywhere – road, car, truck – its objective is to reach the ocean.
Similarly, a person who is born in any race, country, religion, language – his objective
is only one – to attain Paramatma. That is the biggest satisfaction which you
get within yourself. Then dissatisfaction, roaming, etc stops because
everything has been attained in life, nothing remains to be attained – just such
a feeling we experience within our self. On the occasion of this holy festival
of Gurupurnima – introspect on how much time I can give to myself in a day. I
am not saying give a lot of time – just half an hour. It happens isn’t it – if you
dust something daily, then not much maintenance is required. Similarly, if you
give yourself half an hour then remaining 23 and half hours you can spend in a good
state and in 23 and half hours a positive change can take place in you. But for
this to happen regular meditation is necessary. Now we will meditate. Keep your
backbone straight, hands in front – place your right hand on your crown and
gently rotate your hand clockwise thrice. After that I went into a kind of
semi-conscious state and was feeling the energy flowing from crown downwards,
there was a cooling of the spine with palms tingling and a beautiful ethereal fragrance
(combination of rose and havan) filled my insides. My eyes were not opening
after the meditation and I heard Swamiji saying ‘Namaskar’ from a great distance.
Slowly I came back as Ramkaka started the recital of the ‘Shanti Path’ –
after this Swamiji said you do not meditate regularly, meditate regularly –
give yourself half an hour daily and then left, followed by Guruma. It was
around 7.30 am and we were asked to reconvene at 8.45am for the diksha
programme. All new sadhaks were asked to sit in the central columns and the
sadhaks who had already taken diksha were asked to sit on the sidelines.
After meditation we left for breakfast. After breakfast we reconvened at
8.45am by which time the volunteers were in action making the initiates sit in
the middle rows, giving them the items required for the Guru-diksha process,
this time too there was some chaos in the ladies’ section and it was taking the
volunteers some effort to get them to sit down quietly. At 8.52am Ramkaka
starts giving the initiates guidance on what needs to be done. At 9.06am Her
Holiness Guruma comes dressed in a 9 yard sari to the sounds of loud applause
and four minutes later His Holiness takes his seat. Ramkaka explains the
importance of Guru-diksha – this is the new birth if the initiate, it is the
process of establishing one atom of the medium into the initiate, but it is the
responsibility of the initiate to meditate and water the seed which has been
planted within so that it grows and becomes a big solid banyan tree.
At around 9.15
am the Guru-diksha ritual commenced. Ramkaka and team started reciting the
mantras for initiating the new sadhaks. The rituals went according to the following
sequence:
a) Pavitrikarnam (Purification process), b)
awakening mantra, c) worship of Mother Earth, d) Anuragji requested to light
the lamp as a representative of all those present and to worship Dada-Guru, e)
the ritual of tying the kalava (red thread) on the hands of sadhaks (a
kind of protective shield) accompanied with chants, f) application of tilak on
one another’s forehead to the accompaniment of chants, g) oath taking ceremony to
the accompaniment of chants – mantra diksha Sankalp, h) Invoking of dev
shakti, i) Guru Ahavan mantra, followed by Ganesh mantra, Gayatri mantra,
Brahma mantra, Vishnu mantra, Mahesh Mantra, Rudra mantra plus invoking of other
deities; j) then initiates were requested to place the tulsi leaf and saffron
in their mouth, and the most important ritual commenced – giving of Guru-mantra
from the Master Himself; k) showering of water in form of consciousness then
took place after which shanti path took place, indicating the end of the
Guru-diksha process.
Before both the
Dhaivat couples performed the Guru-pujan, His Holiness Swamiji
gave a small discourse.
I
would like to say a few words before Gurupujan. How many of you have
attended the Shirdi Mahashibir? Raise your hands - almost everyone had
attended. Okay, lower your hands.
As you may be aware, I
was told to restrict my discourses to 2 hours and not prolong them for 3 hours,
because later on, the people experience difficulties in conducting video
shibirs. I suggested to them, “You may delete parts of my discourse, I have no
objection to that”, and offered a middle solution with a 2 and a half hours
programme, neither two hours nor three hours! During this programme of 2 and a
half hours, I did not cough even once. You may or may not have marked this, but
there was no coughing at all nor did I feel any need for water. During the
programme, I never drank water and also never stopped speaking. Secondly, if
you watch the DVD of this discourse in solitude, you will feel as if I am
actually talking to you! As though….I myself checked it, but nowhere does it
feel like a discourse; it doesn’t seem as if I was speaking in public. It
appears to be a straight, one-to-one talk, speaking face to face to a person.
But I would cough without fail during the meditation. I did not speak about it
at that time, but today I will tell you the secret behind it. Do you know what
actually happens? You will understand this when you surrender. Actually, I
myself surrender to you, and after that I absorb all your flaws and faults. But
after I absorb them, Gurudev has placed a kind of system on my Vishuddhi(throat)
chakra, which prevents any absorbed negativity from entering inside me and gets
thrown out by coughing. I could accept it when such coughing occurred in
public, in a Mahashibir, amidst completely new people. But coughing during
Guru-Poornima made me feel very bad. It is expected that you come for
Guru-Poornima at least, after becoming cleansed and pure and meditating
regularly. So, over here I should not be coughing at all!
Secondly, you become so
disturbed (restless) in 10-15 minutes that I have to stop the meditation
itself. I had to go home and meditate, as it could not be completed here. I had
to get up from here while meditating even though the meditation had not ended.
But I was unable to meditate with you. So, what is the meaning of getting this
cough here? It means that you are not meditating regularly! I muttered ‘not
meditating regularly, not meditating’ like a grumpy old man and went away. So,
what is the reason for that? You are not meditating regularly! Just think about
it, your soul has received self-realisation under a system of programming. I am
stating a very crucial, important thing here, so pay attention to it. Of your
remaining life, you should take out half an hour every day. I am not asking you
to meditate for many hours, only half an hour!
You will receive the complete benefit
of your life in that half hour. This is the programming. But supposing you did
not meditate today for half an hour, then your half-hour is lost. Therefore,
always remember this. Secondly, you should just sit for half hour in my name,
and I will take care of the rest…What more can I say? Sit for 30 minutes in my
name, that’s all! You don’t have to do anything, just light a diya (lamp)and
dedicate 30 minutes your time to me–(Tell yourself) I am sitting for Swamiji
-now donate half-hour of your life to me as Guru-dakshina. So, from tomorrow
your life, your day will consist of only 23 and a half hours. That half-hour is
not yours, it is mine. Sit anywhere for 30 minutes - sit in a calm, secluded,
peaceful place; you may or may not receive the meditative state, that is not
your subject, it is not your look out whether you obtain that state or not.
Also, do not form any expectations in your mind, that you must achieve the
meditative state. Do only this- sit for half-hour in my name - ‘I have given
half an hour to Swamiji, I am sitting for him.’ You may even grumble in my
name! But sit for half an hour. You will notice a spontaneous change! Your life
will have changed by sitting continuously for half an hour daily! Secondly,
just think! We give time to society, to the family and all the people in the
world, but we don’t give time for our own self. Give time for yourself, give an
hour, half an hour to yourself! That’s why, I am asking you to meditate
regularly for half an hour. Nothing will happen (to you). Your body will resist,
your mind will protest, your chitta will protest, and then slowly all of that
will cease. So, give me half an hour of your time. Everything will change in
that half-hour. Today, I sensed that you are not meditating regularly. Another
thing, it shouldn’t be that you meditate a lot on one day and not at all the
next day! Meditate regularly for half an hour only. What you do is that you
rush to meditate when you, are in trouble or are faced with a problem; and when
there is none, you simply neglect meditation! So, meditate regularly. This is
today’s message. From today onwards, your life will have a day of 23 and half
hours, not 24 hours! That’s all! So, just give me half an hour of your life,
and I will make you meditate properly!
After this the Guru-pujan commenced
with the chants in following sequence: Om Shree Shivakrupanand Swami Namo
Namaha, Om Swami Baba Swami Jai Jai Baba Swami and this was repeated in this
sequence 108 times. This was a change from the chanting of the Ganpati Atharvashirsh
which used to happen till last year. Both the Dhaivats worshipped His feet and
placed them on gold Padukas, they washed the feet, dressed them, applied tilak,
drew a swastika, applied seven scents and placed flowers. A blue shawl was
placed, garland and then a red turban bedecked with jewels followed by a golden
crown with peacock feathers was placed on His head one after the other. He
looked really regal in both the head gears!
 |
| Swamiji with a golden crown post Guru-pujan |
 |
| Aarti being performed with thousands of twinkling lamps |
After this arati was performed in collectivity
with lit candles and the entire pandal was lit up with thousands of flickering
lights thus creating a beautifully divine atmosphere. After the arati there
were loud shouts of Swamiji ki jai and Guruma ki jai as His Holiness Swamiji
leaves the pandal.
 |
| Her Holiness in a 9-yard saree looking divine |
Both Munira Joshi and Shweta Joshi then did the ‘Oti bharane’
ceremony with Guruma wherein a saree, coconut, haldi-kumkum, betel leaf, betel
nut, rice are offered while the flow of consciousness is flowing continuously.
Her Holiness Guruma spoke a few owrds of advise on the demand of sadhaks and
then she left. His Holiness returned after some time to sit for the paduka
naman which was completed in about three hours to the accompaniment of bhajans.
The bhajan programme was awesome with Swamiji getting up and showering consciousness
as the sadhaks lost sense of time and started dancing in joy. Ultimately at
around 2pm we had to stop the bhajan programme as Swamiji had to leave and
return at 4pm for the public darshan programme.
My heartfelt thanks to the organisers
of the event for putting up such a wonderfully organised event. Everything was
comfortable and spacious with no crowding. Great discipline by the sadhaks
except for the sessions where the Guru-parivar was not present. Heartfelt
thanks to both His and Her Holiness for their divine presence, guidance and
shower of divine consciousness over the three days!
Henceforth the schedule should be such
that Trust matters, Madhuchaitanya talk etc should be kept in sessions after
the Guru parivar sessions – then at least the sadhaks will come and sit down.
Sadhaks fail to understand that this is a spiritual event and discipline is of
paramount importance. Sadhaks fail to realise that the Guru-energies are
present all the time and it would be great if they attend all sessions and
respect the organisers and speakers for those sessions. Please excuse the
translation as I may have missed some portions while transcribing on the fly.
I was to stay back at the Ashram,
attend the 29.7.18 Rakshak Varsh event and then leave for Saurashtra Ashram to
eventually return home on 31.8.2018.
Jai Baba Swami!
Comments
Enjoyed a lot and actually felt the same during Guru purnima.
Jay Baba Swami...