Deep Meditation Anushthan - from Day 26 to Day 45
The weather
started becoming warmer during the day, but the mornings and evening continued to
be cool. The entire atmosphere is filled with consciousness. The morning
meditation was wonderful, in fact the morning meditation in the room is
becoming more and more intense. Parulji and I went for the morning 6 am mantra
dhyan as we were requested to join in the arti post the meditation. The mantra
dhyan is now being conducted by an Austrian sadhika who speaks in Hindi, which
she is learning. I found that to be really inspiring for the other overseas
sadhaks. After the arti, we left for the amphitheatre where Tanmayji was going
to take the yoganidra session again on popular demand. The session was
wonderful as usual as the soul’s journey to the Himalayas took place again,
with the body sensing the cold of the Himalayas and the pristine breeze as it blew.
Across the amphitheatre. This time too, I felt ants crawling over my arms, neck
and head, but I lay absolutely still as if I was actually dead. On returning
from the Himalayas and after getting up, the hand rubbing and then placing the
palms on the eyes – this time I was not able to see the entire cosmos within
me, but I was definitely amongst the stars – with millions of them sparkling
within me. After the last rub and placing the palms it was nothingness – I did
not see anything at all – it was like a state of void, my presence within a
benign dark continuum. I lost sense of the self and ultimately we were asked to
come out of the state we were in and I opened my eyes very slowly with the sun
now shining brightly down on us. I did not go for breakfast and came to my room
directly. I had biscuits and tea along with an orange for breakfast. The desire
to talk was not there as I kept to myself and then left for the session with
the Germans. This session too has started becoming very interesting as the interaction
has become more and more involving with all the participants now joining in the
discussions. After the session I put on the white scarf and went straight to
the Shree Guru Shakti Dham for meditation. I was in there till noon, sensing
the cool vibrations from the Mangalmurti and going deep within for just under
an hour. The meditation leaves one with a sense of calm and infinite peace and
bliss. I had afternoon bhojan prasad and then came upto the room to rest. The
rest of the day went in a blur, paying staff salaries took a major portion of
the time as the net was inconsistent and the work from home software kept
stalling because of bandwidth issues. Ultimately, by 5.00pm I managed to
complete the salary formalities. It was time for the Gyan Sabha with Pujya
Guruma, the day just flew by! Sagar came and showed me a photo he took just above Swamiji's kutir during morning meditation - it was literally India's map - and during Pujya Guruma's session it was said that looks like POK will now come back to India.
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| India in the cloud above the kutir |
On the
second of February we had Guru-karya of cleaning the pradakshina corridor of the
Guru Shakti Dham, we did that in the evening from 8 to 10. The whole day went
in focusing on translating the book ‘Grace at Every Step’ from English to
Hindi. The work is almost complete, and it should be done by Sunday.
The next
day, the session with Srikrishna was very intense. I find my body becoming more
and more flexible, but I also feel the pain of muscles which are being stretched
beyond their normal levels. My spine has straightened out, and my tail bone
also appears to have straightened out, as I find myself sitting ramrod straight
during meditation. After the exercises, the meditation was beautiful – the
consciousness in the atmosphere was palpable as while the external environment
was cool, with a cool breeze bringing the temperature down a few notches and
the rising sun providing a wonderful contrast as the sublime, tender warmth of
the sun filled my inner body with heat, right from the sahastrar down to the
soles of my feet. The experience was so wonderful, but this is now becoming a
regular feature in the mornings as Swamiji continuously showers his divine
energy all over the planet! The rest of the day went along like clockwork,
German session of the Gyan Sabha now shifted to the 11.30 to 12.30pm time slot,
having prasad, resting a bit and then off for the 2-3pm Gyan Sabha session in
Hindi for the Gurugram sadhaks. As I had to complete the translations and
Madhuchaitanya MA issue work, I asked Sagar if he wants to race me to the
Bhojnalaya – so off we went, a 24 year old with 61 (16) year old and as we
reached the Gaushala I called out let’s stop as the heat was getting to me –
Sagar too said he felt drained out and we had a good laugh. We drank tea and I
went up to my room and finished translating upto page 254 – just a few pages
left, which I completed on Sunday morning.
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| Yoga sadhaks group photo |
Purnima was
celebrated with great fervour. We reached the Shree Guru Shakti Dham at 5.30 in
the morning to ensure sadhaks did not enter the Shree Guru Shakti Dham as the
video shooting of the Dham was taking place for release on Mahashivratri.
Kokilaben and team were there till well past midnight and returned at 3.30 in
the morning to ensure that the floral decoration was in place and the Dham was
cleaned to make it ideal for the video shooting. We went in at 5.40 to arrange
the chairs and make the last minute arrangements before the curtain was raised
for the full moon meditation at the Shree Guru Shakti Dham. The Mangalmurti was
once again decorated with floral clothing and looked enchanting and the divine
flow was calming and soothing. During the early morning meditation I got the
subtle fragrance of marigold and chrysanthemums and it was the same fragrance
which was prevailing in the Guru Shakti Dham. Today being Sunday and the full
moon day, a lot of sadhaks visited the Ashram. I met Deepali and her daughter
Revati who had come along with a family member for her first visit to the
Ashram. The Gyan Sabha with Pujya Guruma took place from 4-6 pm (all other
daily programmes were cancelled as the collective meditation and then garba was
to start from 5pm onwards); the session began with coffee and snacks – always a
privilege that overwhelms us all. After the Gyan Sabha Parulji, Anant and I
went to Gurugram to visit Harshabhabhi who had got a slight injury while
returning from the Guru Shakti Dham. When we were told that Pratapbhai was not
aware of this incident, Anant and I went looking for him and ultimately reached
the garba venue, where we met Umeshji and Geetaji. We talked for a bit and then
I went off in search of Pratapbhai – I kept missing him by ten minutes at the
Garba venue, dining hall. I realised he must have gone back to the tent, I
returned to the garba venue and Anant and I returned to the tent and found
Pratapbhai sitting there! After chatting for a while, we left for our rooms and
retired for the day. We could not participate in the garba because of the
Harshabhabhi incident.
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| Location of Gyan Sabha sessions with Pujya Guruma |
The morning
meditation on the 35th day of the anushthan was nice and normal.
Today, hopefully Flipkart will deliver the books which they failed to do
yesterday. Today’s yoga session continued with the practice of making the spine
and neck as well as our sitting position ramrod straight. I now find that my
spine remains erect and neck does not fall down, while my sitting position can
sustain me for over an hour. My body has become very flexible and my back pain
has disappeared. The only pain which is there is muscular because of the
stretch which happens during the yoga exercises. The delivery of the 10 books
came from Flipkart today and were distributed from the Help Desk itself – all
ten books were given away, with the gentle suggestion to donate whatever they
wished, to the Foundation. The evening session with Pujya Guruma was divine –
today was a pretty warm day, but as the spiritual discussions progressed at a
higher level the atmosphere started becoming cool, and a consistent cool breeze
started blowing filling the air with consciousness.
Many
enjoyable moments are spent playing with Revati (Ambareeshji’s daughter) in the
big hall on the second floor of the Bhojnalaya. The fun includes playing with
her dinosaur, crayons, balloons, cycle, car, running around playing peek-a-boo.
We had fun today playing with a little spider and ensuring it went to a safe
place. We played volleyball and football with two balloons, as the little one
laughed loudly again and again – it was very energising and fun.
The rest of
the day went in a blur and the icing on the cake was the surprise planned for
the sevadharis who had been working selflessly
for the past 35 days! The sevadharis were given a day off, as all their
duties were taken over by the Gurugram residents. Several teams were made,
money collected for the surprise, the kitchen was taken over and food prepared
by Gurugram residents and from 7pm onwards. There was a welcoming committee
which sprayed fragrant water on all those entering the dining hall. All the
sadhaks were taken to their seats and volunteers applied tilak and rice grains
and showered them with petals. It was truly overwhelming! After all were seated
welcome drinks were served, followed by a sumptuous meal. Before the meal was
consumed a mantra from Maharashtra was chanted by Namitaji and her team. After
which the feast commenced! It was great fun and an emotional moment too, as
several of the volunteers who were overwhelmed with such a show of love, had
tears of joy flowing from their eyes. During the meals bhajans were being sung
and after the main course, sweets were served and finally malai kulfis were
distributed. Sumangalaji sang the Pasayadan with everyone participating in the
singing. Later, after the meal there was a lot of fun and joy which was
recorded – Dharmeshbhai and Maheshbhai thanked all the Gurugram residents for
their loving gesture – there was so much love energy flowing that it was
unbelievable. This is the first time such a gesture was shown – and millions of
thanks to Kirtibhai Astik for taking the initiative and organising it to such
perfection – while keeping all the sevadharis in the dark about what was
actually going to happen. No wonder they were all overwhelmed and in tears by
the show of immense love and gratitude!
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| Surprise for Sevadharis |
The 36th
day dawned with early morning meditation in the room. Now even though it is
supposed to become warmer, the early mornings are cool and pleasant (cold to
most). The yoga session continued with intense spine and leg related asanas so
that we make ourselves capable of sitting in an upright position for longer
periods of time. After yoga, we returned for breakfast – and on the way back I
was thinking of Dr Kuldeep as he is usually there to meet us on the return from
the amphitheatre. He was missing today – as soon as I got the thought and
walked for a few moments, he appeared in front of me. We had a message reading
session after breakfast with Sheenaji and Parulji and then I sat down to
complete my blog for tomorrow. Some Madhuchaiitanya MA 2023 issue work was also
done before I left for Sumangalaji’s music class which she insisted I attend
for a day. The music class was amazing as I realised I could sing in tune with
my eyes closed and I actually quite enjoyed myself. It was fun and after an
hour the class ended for the day. I returned to my room to check for files for
centre rules which are required by the Foundation.
Today
something amazing was happening, the moment I thought of or spoke about some
person, that person would turn up in front of me within a couple of moments –
looks like Swamiji is weaving his magic as the peak of the Anushthan comes
closer and closer. We had our afternoon Gurugram session followed by the Gyan
Sabha with Pujya Guruma. These sessions are totally filled with consciousness
as Pujya Guruma shares her wisdom on various spiritual topics with us and thus
gives us an opportunity to share the same with the other sadhaks in the
Anushthan.
The 36th
day of the Anushthan began with 3.30 meditation in the room. After this I sat
down to update the Anushthan blog and write the next days’ blog. After that I
left for the yoga session which is truly helping in becoming flexible. My body
twists and turns and bends far more than it did at the start of the Anushthan,
as I feel energised throughout the day – the sitting for meditation is also
becoming more comfortable as the mind is becoming increasingly calm and still.
I have been
bonding with Revati (Ambareeshji’s daughter) and we have a lot of fun together
– today it was the ‘sticker’ day as she removed stickers from her bicycle and
stuck them on her hands – one on my forehead and one on my watch (pictures)!
Today, the
sessions with the Germans restarted with 8 persons, as the others are on yagya
training with Ramkaka. Anant and I look forward to these sessions as there is a
lot of bonding and the discussions and sharing are done in a wonderful
atmosphere. I spoke with Ruchitaji and requested her to bring my final lot of
‘Grace at Every Step’ for distribution to the sadhaks. With this lot 52 books
would have been distributed. Nothing special happened during the rest of the
day as it passed by peacefully with the afternoon Gurugram session and then
Pujya Guruma’s Gyan Sabha.
The 38th
day of the Anushthan started with meditation at 3.30am followed by my bath and
then sitting down to write the next day’s spiritual blog and update the second
part of the Anushthan blog. Srikrishnaji wanted Anushthan yoga experiences,
which I shared with him this morning. At 6.45am I left for the amphitheatre for
our yoga session. Today’s session was more on listening to Srikrishnaji’s
amazing story about how he came into Samarpan. The story was so fascinating
that the exercises became secondary as the story took pride of place. He has
written a book on his capture by Naxalites and how he was released and came
into contact with Sandip Patil sir and then how he brought Patil sir into
Samarpan and how Maharashtra which was described as being inactive by Swamiji
in 2014 suddenly became active from 2018 onwards. Srikrishna’s book ‘तीन मुलांचे चार दिवस’ has been
prescribed as a text book in Pune University for FYBA students, and a film
based on the book is being made. I would suggest that sadhak’s who understand
Marathi should buy this book, as it is sure to fascinate the reader.
After the yoga session, we had breakfast and then I
left for the Shree Guru Shakti Dham. The meditation was beautiful – as soon as
I sat down, within a few moments I felt myself in the zone, and felt waves of
cool consciousness wash over my back continuously – after about 45 minutes, I
got up and left for the session with the German sadhaks, who were back to full
strength after their yagya course completion. I was looking for Ruchita who had
carried a pair of kurta-pyjama for Mahashivratri and ten of my books for
distribution. I had kept messages with quite a few people. When I went to the
Help Desk, I was informed that the books were kept in Dhyankhund, I went there
and collected the books. As I left, I saw Kuldeep and Sagar heading towards
Gurugram, I called out to Kuldeep and requested him to hand over the books at
the Help Desk. In my visit to the Help Desk earlier I was informed that they
already had 12 bookings. I signed all the books for the readers while wishing
them the best for their spiritual journey. While I was having lunch, I met
Ruchita who came looking for me. We had lunch together and then I went up to my
room and thereafter left for the 2-3 session at Gurugram. While going there I
got my purple identification friendship band which would be the identification
mark till Mahashivratri. After the 2-3 session, we had Anantdada’s special
coffee and then I went to the Help Desk and signed the books for distribution.
After that Kuldeep and Ishan and myself had a brief experience sharing session.
I left for my room thereafter and met Revati in the hall, and as usual I had a
brief fun session with her, then excused myself as it was nearly time for the
session with Pujya Guruma. The session with Pujya Guruma was awesome as the
discussion went to Swamiji’s eleven Gurus who are always with Him – 6 on the
right and 5 on the left. These are Swamiji’s guardian angels and work to
protect Swamiji. These are not the Gurus whom Swamiji met in the Himalayas but
are nominated to protect Swamiji at all times. When this discussion was going on
the temperature dropped palpably as I felt the energy washing over my body, the
sahastrar was pulsating with cold energy. After Pujya Guruma left, we left for
the Bhojnalaya to partake for khichdi-kadi for prasad, after which we retired
for the night.
The 38th day of the Anushthan began with early morning meditation followed by the yoga session with Srikrishnaji. Today, he taught us the 30-minute yogasanas followed by meditation for 30 minutes. My meditation session at the Shree Guru Shakti Dham was as usual nice and calming after which I left for the session with the Germans at Gurugram. Our session with the Germans too was very good and then the session between 2-3 began with the heat making us sweat; but as the session progressed and the narration of yesterday’s high energy incidents commenced, suddenly the temperature dropped and the energy levels were as high as during Maa’s session yesterday. The bhaav with which Hemanginiji takes the session, really makes the energy flow. After the session, I came back to my room. I rested a while before taking up the Madhuchaitanya work for the March-April issue. After completing that I started working on the blog. Parulji and Kuldeep had come for reading Swamiji’s messages, which we listened to with our eyes closed and Kuldeep read them. These old Anushthan messages are so profound, that it takes a while to come back to the real world as the eyes refuse to open, and the chitta remains inward. We then left for Pujya Guruma’s Gyan Sabha which as usual was filled both with fun and laughter, interesting stories and spiritual insights. After evening prasad which was very light and tasty, we came back to our room and Kuldeep told us that he had given donation for the tree plantation drive. Both Parulji and I advised him to do so only bank transfer to the Trust and always ask for a receipt. After that, we retired for the day.
The 39th day of the Anushthan started with early
morning meditation in the room for about 45 minutes after which I wrote the
blog and the daily article before leaving for the final yoga session. The final
yoga session was very touching as Srikrishnaji ran us through a variety of
asanas – making them look so easy – a person with rubber in place of bones.
After our session concluding with the usual meditation, Srikrishna thanked us
all, his parents, Swamiji, Guruma, his wife in his final address to us. We gave
him a standing ovation and took a group picture and raised him up and placed
him on sadhak’s shoulders as we hoorayed him. It was very touching and fulfilling.
The rest of the day went in a blur, with breakfast, meditation at the Shree
Guru Shakti Dham, the session with the Germans, lunch, session at Gurugram
which kept getting interrupted as the mike kept failing, tea and then the
reading session in the room, session with Pujya Guruma – and the day got over. Pujya
Guruma had given shankarpalis (Indian sweet) which she had cooked
herself as prasad. I ate some and carried some for sadhaks. I had three
specific sadhaks in mind and the surplus to be given on first come first served
basis. I had distributed all as prasad, when Hema came and asked me for prasad.
I told her it was over, she requested me to scrape the bottom of my bag, and lo
and behold two small pieces of prasad were there – she was so happy with it; it
made me smile. I had asked a sadhak to give one piece to a Mumbai based sadhak
who was in is tent. When later in the evening they gave him the prasad, the
sadhak became very emotional saying that he had been thinking of Guruma all
day, and she sent him her prasad. The way energy works is unbelievable! We had
a small meeting on Shree Guru Shakti Dham Guru-karya post Anushthan and Mulund
sadhaks to start the work and then take it up with other centers. We went for
ice-cream in the night as the dinner was very spicy and then the day ended.
As there was no yoga at the amphitheatre today (day
40), I performed the asanas based on the guide Srikrishnaji had posted. It took
me 40 minutes to complete the entire lot and I ended with Shirshasana and
sarvangasana followed by meditation. I had already done my early morning
meditation at 3am and this was additional post my bath. I then left for the
Shree Guru Shakti Dham for meditation. On the way out I met Revati and she
asked where I was going, I said for my session and then she asked about Parulji
and I asked her to knock on her door. Sheenaji opened the door and Revati got
engrossed in chatting with her as I quietly slipped away. After a good 40
minutes of meditation, I was exiting as I usually do while walking backwards
facing the Mangal Murti, I accidentally bumped into a sadhak who was half on
the mat and half on the pathway. He got up with a jerk, anger writ on his face,
I whispered my profuse apologies while patting his shoulder in remonstrance,
and within a couple of seconds he had a smile on his face and he shifted
completely onto the mat as I took the prasad and exited the Shree Guru Shakti
Dham. We had breakfast and then our reading session with Kuldeep and Parulji.
After that I did some office related work and left for the German session. As I
stepped out I saw Anantdada coming from his Shree Guru Shakti Dham session, and
we then left together for the session. The session was very nice as we caught
up on lost time and completed two and a half days narrative today. Prema Sai
complimented us and said we explained everything in a loving and wonderful
manner, to which Anantdada replied it is all Swamiji’s grace. I returned for
lunch and then to the room before leaving for the 2-3 session. After this session
which concluded smoothly, we had coffee and returned to our rooms. On the way
back Parulji and I sat with Darshana discussing Guru-karya in the US and how it
can be motivated to spread widely. We then met Dharamji who came to ask for
guidance on how to route the sadhaks for Shree Guru Shakti Dham Darshan. We
went over the route and physically examined it and agreed on the ground plan
before returning to our rooms (finally). After a fifteen-minute break, we left
for our session with Pujya Guruma. After the session we had our prasad and sat
with Abhijit, Kuldeep and Sagar, sharing our anubhutis. It was great fun and
spiritually elevating as a similar session was being held in the main
meditation pandal. At around 9.15 we retired for the day.
The 41st day began with meditation and then yoga followed by meditation again in the room itself. After writing the blog I left for meditation at the lake side and then at the Shree Guru Shakti Dham before having breakfast and the reading session with Kuldeep and Parulji. The meditation at the lakeside was beautiful.
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| Sun rise from the pond side - truly divine |
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| The M07Tent with Vithal Rakhumai theme |
Bhajans were being sung and the ambience was wonderful – definitely the first prize for this tent. I returned to the room and then put in a request for 75 volunteers to Sheenaji for the Shree Guru Shakti Dham darshan on Mahashivratri. After Pujya Guruma’s session in which Bihagbhai and Naimishaji joined, we left for prasad and then to celebrate Krishnaji’s birthday by having ice-cream at the food stalls. We then retired for the night.
The morning of the 42nd day began with early morning meditation, followed by yoga and meditation in the room and then the blog writing session. After which meditation at the pond followed by meditation in the Shree Guru Shakti Dham. The energy and consciousness at the pond is vibrant and continuously flowing, while the ambience is serene and peaceful, ideal for one’s inner journey. At the Shree Guru Shakti Dham, the energy is constant and instantly puts one in a state of thoughtlessness by which one can go into meditation quickly. By the time I was done, it was 8.40am. After breakfast, Kuldeep and I went up to my room to read a couple of Swamiji’s messages. As we came on the second-floor landing, Revati called out to me and then it was play-time for the next 45 minutes or so. This exercise is critical as it gives me great joy and helps the child in me to pop up daily, keeping one absolutely in the present moment which is always filled with fun. Another sadhika came and Revati’s attention shifted to her and I was allowed to go my way. Kuldeep called around 10am and we went ahead with our stalled reading session, which always leaves me pondering on the profound messages which Swamiji has written. After Kuldeep left, I did some office work and then left for our session with the Germans. I reached in time and called Anant dada but I got no response. As it was almost 11.30, I ran to check his tent as he was not taking calls, but he was not there. I called Kuldeep and asked him to inform Anant dada that we are waiting for him. As Anant has the diary with his notes, it was not possible for me to commence the session. We started at around 11.50 and then the session continued till about 1.10pm, which left me with just 50 minutes to have lunch and return to Gurugram for the 2-3 session. After the session, we left for tea and a sadhika, Debashree, said that she wanted to give me a gift in exchange for ‘Grace at Every Step’. I said okay, and she came back with a colour sketch of our yoga session with me offering salutations to the sun at the amphitheatre in the Gurugram.
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| Sketch of yoga session |
The 43rd day commenced with meditation,
yoga and meditation, followed by writing my daily blog. Today, will be very
busy as ‘flower’ Guru-karya for the Shree Guru Shakti Dham begins today. The
meditation at the pond was beautiful – cold energy waves, divine consciousness
enveloping the body which was being washed by the warm early morning sun-rays.
Half an hour went by in a jiffy, after which I left for meditation at the Guru
Shakti Dham. Here too, inspite of the crowd, I got a secluded place at the back
and sat in silence in the divine proximity of the Shree Mangal Murti. Here too
another half an hour just flew by as I sat in nothingness. I left for breakfast
and then finalised the list of volunteers for Mahashivratri Gurukarya. After
breakfast I left for the session with the Germans and then back for lunch and
then back for the 2-3 session at Gurugram. After returning to my room and
resting a bit, it was back to the Gyan Sabha. After the Gyan Sabha I had dinner
and then for flower Guru-karya at the Shree Guru Shakti Dham. This work was
great fun as it was done while singing bhajans and went on till around 1 am,
i.e. the 44th day.
One thing I observed was there was a silence board in the dining room for the sadhaks, but the most exuberant and noisy people were from the management - for them having fun while dining was spiritually uplifting and for others it was indiscipline apparently - this is because the silence board would be shown to sadhaks who were talking but not to the management. Another thing was a senior sadhika as well as people from management would come to the VIP section, sometimes along with guests, above the Bhojnalaya with their shoes dirtying the tiled floor, while other sadhaks had to remove their footwear just outside the entrance to the Bhojnalaya - some people I guess are more equal than others. This sets a bad example for other sadhaks - how will you enforce discipline when the rule-breakers are the management themselves!
I posted my
morning messages at 1am itself, then went to sleep and woke up at 5, meditated,
bathed and sat to write the blog and do the Madhuchaitanya March-April Final
pdf review. After that I went to the pond for meditation followed by the Shree
Guru Shakti Dham. Breakfast followed – I met Bynitha after a long time, and
after exchanging pleasantries we went on our respective ways. I came back to
the room and saw that the photo captions file post review had come. I finalised
that and sent it to the page layout sadhak for doing the needful. After this I
went to the Guru Shakti Dham for removing the petals from flowers – I was doing
this alone for a while and then another 5-6 sadhaks joined and we finished this
Guru-karya well in time for our German session. Sowmya and Anna from Germany
were there to help in this Guru-karya. Today, the German session concluded and
both Anant dada and I were pleasantly surprised by a Gift card signed by all
the sadhaks, and a packet of cashews as a token of appreciation, and Henri gave
a medallion made of mud with the symbol of Om on it – he made it himself and
stuck a small wire in it so that we can hang it. The love energy was phenomenal
when I got the greeting in my hands and I expressed myself as I became a bit
emotional. As Swamiji says, when we do Guru-karya it is basically for ourselves
as our chitta is always on Pujya Swamiji while explaining matters. We had Anant
dada special decoc coffee after the session and left for the room to rest. I
posted my blog and then went through the revised pdf and corrected the same and
sent the finalised photo captions for finalising the issue. After that we left
for the final session of the Gyan Sabha with Pujya Guruma. This was a very
emotional and fulfilling session as we all thanked Pujya Guruma for her
guidance and blessings, and were rewarded with a bonus us we all received a
packet of prasad vibrated by Pujya Swamiji. After dinner we went to the Shree
Guru Shakti Dham for a meeting with the volunteers and to inform them of their
tasks and also for giving them their Guru-karya identity cards. We had a list
of around hundred volunteers and we received only 48 cards. I then left for the flower Guru-karya and
decorating the Dham for Mahashivratri thinking I should get in touch with
Ketakiji for the balance. The karya went on till 1am on the final day of the
Anushthan – it was actually now Mahashivratri and 45 days have flown by. When
Parulji and I returned to the Bhojnalaya we saw Ketakiji in a group, and I told
her we had asked for 75 cards and we are heavily short. She told us these cards
are for only the volunteers who are staying outside the Ashram, I told her how
will we recognise the Gurugram residents who are in Guru-karya? She said we should
meet Manishaji and collect from her – she will tell her to give us stage or
mandap cards and have Guru Shakti Dham written on the back side of those cards.
I was satisfied with the answer and left to retire for the night.
I woke up
at 4am and after meditation in the room, I left for the Shree Guru Shakti Dham
as we had to report at 7am as the darshan would commence from 7am. The pressure
of sadhaks started building up and the team did an admirable job in politely
telling sadhaks to switch off their mobiles, remove their socks and carry their
bags with them and not to prostrate as the line was huge. The pressure was on
and there were several sadhaks and sadhikas who simply refused to listen and
would prostrate thus holding up the line. We told such sadhaks to move ahead
and prostrate at the exit corridor as Swamiji’s murti was also visible from
there. This helped a bit, but sadhaks would just stand and pray delaying the
line. We had to become strict in a couple of cases – we also caught sadhaks/sadhikas
taking photos and videos, which we deleted. Sagar tried calling Ketakiji but
after the first ring she started cutting off his call. I then requested Sagar
to check with Manishaji for the cards, and he was apparently rebuffed rudely
saying that Ketakiji has not informed her – I have no idea what happened, but
it must have been serious as the young boy deleted her number. I returned to
the Shree Guru Shakti Dham to continue monitoring and executing the Guru-karya
with the given team. Everything went beautifully, with ladies breaking the
queue and a couple of them forcibly coming in from the gents’ section, when I
went to stop one lady, a sadhak got very angry and said let her go, I responded
‘no’ and he put his hands on me as I pulled away, I told him discipline is the
basis of our Samarpan, he glared at me and went away. After that incident I
started telling whoever came that today is the exception, and if you want to
bow and spend time come tomorrow and meditate and take however much time you
feel is necessary. We closed the Shree Guru Shakti Dham from 1 to 2pm as per
norm for sweeping and swabbing. I went for prasad and told Kokilaben and Anant
dada that we should go to meet Manishaben for the volunteer cards. When we went
there, she again said that there were no cards, I told her if we could get
stage cards or mandap cards we could make the necessary changes. She then gave
us 30 stage cards which Anant and I took to my room after getting tape and a
marker pen from Shivanjaliji. We wrote ‘Guru Shakti Dham’ on paper cut to size
and stuck it over the ‘Stage’ print so that we had the card read as ‘Guru
Shakti Dham’ Volunteer. This served our purpose. It is amazing to see how
sadhaks give commitments and don’t keep their word on this holy land.
After lunch,
we had the Shree Guru Shakti Dham open again and there was a massive rush as
bus-loads of sadhaks had started coming. We were under tremendous pressure to
calmly see that the sadhaks took darshan and moved on. 99% of the sadhaks
cooperated, and the 1% did not cause too much of a hindrance – considering
there were 21000 sadhaks who attended the Mahashivratri function. We then shut
the Shree Guru Shakti Dham at around 4.15pm so that the sadhaks who had entered
the Shree Guru Shakti Dham could take darshan and we could close the Shakti
Dham at the decided time of 4.30pm.
The crowd
had already started gathering and the sun was literally burning down as the
heat was sapping everybody. As per the schedule Pujya Guruma and Pujya Swamiji
were to take their seats at 5.25 and 5.30 respectively. The cultural programme
had started at around 5.15pm and went on till almost 5.45pm. We were sitting in
the Shree Guru Shakti Dham corridor itself as it would not have been physically possible to
return from the ground to the Dham immediately – so as a policy decision all
the volunteers stayed back at the Shree Guru Shakti Dham. Swamiji’s discourse
started with him asking for forgiveness and not saying ‘My salutations to all
pious souls’ which is his signature starting line. His asking for forgiveness
is unprecedented – Swamiji is very particular about time and the energy he has
to distribute. Holding that energy within him for an extended period of time
disturbs him tremendously – this was shared by Pujya Guruma during our Madhuchaitanya
meeting the next day! A sadhika who met Swamiji later said that Swamiji was
very disappointed as he could not give what he had come to give and he spoke
about everything ‘upar se upar se’ – superficially! Unfortunate and tragic! I
hope the management learns to respect time and particularly the time of the one
who looks over the universe – it is like putting the entire universe on hold!!
The sound
system wasn’t too good, as the speakers which were on the ground near the Shree
Guru Shakti Dham stopped functioning after about ten minutes. We sat in a state
of meditation and went into the Shree Guru Shakti Dham to prepare for opening
the doors for the general public at 7pm. We lit up the incense sticks and
spread that fragrance to the Mangal Murti and then throughout the Dham before
placing one stick each in the flower pots used as line markers from the entrance to
the Mangal Murti. The sadhaks started coming in immediately after the
meditation and shanti path. We continued with the work of politely disbursing
the sadhaks after their darshan. We were polite but firm and things were going
like clockwork when suddenly I saw a lady scream extremely loudly and fall on
the ground and roll to her left like one possessed. Some sadhikas went to help
her but Parulji firmly told them to take their darshan and keep moving. The
lady hit her head on the donation box and her glass bangles broke and she got a
slight cut on her forearm. Parulji called for vibrated water, and with the
lady’s permission sprinkled it on her. The moment water fell on her body, she
screamed once more and after sometime Parulji asked her if she would like to
drink the water, she said yes, as Parulji gave her the vibrated water to drink.
As the crowd was moving Parulji’s attention was diverted for a moment and when
she looked back to enquire about the lady, she had disappeared, probably got up
and walked out with the crowd!
After nine
pm the crowd reduced somewhat and by 9.15 we were more or less done. The
beautiful part of this was young children coming and touching our feet and we
touching theirs, the bhaav shown by all the sadhaks was unbelievable – both
Kirtibhai and myself and on the ladies’ side, Parulji and Ritaben did a
wonderful blessed job. Dheereshbhai manned the outside perimeter beautifully – in
spite of having a volunteer shortfall of 30 sadhaks – the Gurugram volunteers
failed to turn up – the proceedings went on very smoothly. The management was
very happy. We shut the doors at 9.30pm and started cleaning the Dham for next
days’ meditation. We left at around 10pm for our dinner. Kokilaben gave us
guest passes for dinner, we were the last few left, as Parulji and I entired
the dining hall – we met Anantdada and Sumangalaji who were just finishing. We
had our prasad and then Parulji went for garba as we had a photo session with
the kids who wanted photos for their memory. After that I went to my room and
packed up to leave for Mumbai the next day.
During this Anushthan there was an opportunity to connect with some wonderful souls - Abhijit-Apurva, Jugal-Jinali (Jugal-Bandi :)), Srikrishna-Shivanjali, Amay-Suvarna, Sagar and his mother Chaya, Sandhya, Hemali, Rupali, Palak, Radhika, Alpa-Riddhi, Pradnya, Shriya, Sarika, Jayna, Krishna, Priyanka, Deepak, Gandhar, Ishan, Ambareeshji's daughter - Revati and the entire German troupe - what wonderful souls - God Bless them all.
1 comment:
marvelous, wonderful n blissful.
thank you so much Borkarjee for giving us day to day wonderful experiences. through your experiences and incidents you narrated gave us live experience
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