Last month I was with Supeji with three of my friends who came in contact with me in the Ashram of Nithyanandji.
One of them had been very closely associated with the meditation programmes conducted by Nithyanandji and his trained teachers. He was so close to Swamiji that cremation of his father was performed by Swamiji in his Ashram.
I was quite impressed by his joyful state and used to enjoy long chats with him. Once when I told him that with my eyes closed, I am relaxed and maintain awareness of my body but not when my eyes are open, he had said that you are already capable of that – just try. In fact it was he who convinced me to get initiated into healing after I had done one of the programmes called NSP. As he had said, it helped me immensely.
Later, in 2006 when Ashram activities expanded and emphasis started shifting to resource mobilization and creation of infrastructure, he felt that the Ashram is going on the lines as any other organized institution and is likely to degenerate. He, therefore, got dissociated from active participation in the Ashram activities.
Out of the other two friends, I find that one of them is quite assured and relaxed now than what she was in the year 2007 when I met her first during Himalya Yatra (at that she had too many questions to ask). They got disenchanted with Swamiji after the recent controversies about his conduct.
But as I can see it, all of us are helped on our path by Swamiji. When I said this, though I cannot reproduce his exact words, I heard Supeji say something like, “No doubt about his evolution. But nobody, not even a saint, can escape one’s Prarabdha. If someone has to suffer loss of reputation, it will happen – no matter what. Further, when one declares himself to be God and starts getting Pooja offered to him, one has to pay a price for that.”
To another question relating to sadhana put up by one of my friends – how to go about it, I heard him say something like,
“Read shatras. And there is way to read shastras. Read a few slokas (also translation if one does not understand Sanskrit) narrating a scene, close your eyes and visualize that scene. Go through the emotion as if you are one of the characters in the shastra.
Reading shastra is a process for realization. When, while reading, one goes through a particular emotion (say anger, hatred, moha etc.), that emotion is purged and one becomes free of that gradually. And this can be willed. While sitting to read a shastra, one can suggest it to oneself that reading it is going to purify me and lead to my realization.
Similarly being in a place of pilgrimage is also a process of realisation. One should not be in hurry to just visit a place or a temple and rush elsewhere. One should stay in a holy place for a few days. Read Sthan Purana (story about the place and Leelas performed there by God) and visit places / temples mentioned in such Purana a few times and be there for sometime.
In fact all the spots where God performed Leela, which we know today, were re-found by the seers by being in these places and by following the directions (regarding location) given in shastras.”
Monday, January 10, 2011
Reading Shastras and being in a holy place
Sunday, January 2, 2011
How were we … Part – XI
Just when I had planned for Pooja in Kuke Subramaniya Temple, in an official get together on 31.03.2006, I was introduced by a friend of mine to Shri Aspatwarji saying that he is also a spiritual seeker. It was surprising that we had not met in last 9 months though sitting in the sale office. May be it had something to do with my decision to get the Pooja done. A few days later, Aspatwarji came to me and looking at me said that he is seeing that my time has come and that I will now meet my Moksha Guru.
On Buddha Poornima day in the month of May that year there was Prana Pratishttha of idols in a temple built by devotees of Mungale Sir in Pune. I was also invited for the occasion. Aspatwarji also joined me there.
I was noticing some deficiencies in the arrangements where a very large number of devotees were to congregate and have prasadam. In response to my comment, what Aspatwarji said was an education for me. He said with an innocent smile, “I am simply here (observing what ‘is’) and the idea of any deficiency does not occur to me.”
Before proceeding further, I would like to briefly introduce Aspatwarji. He started meditations in early nineties but did not make much headway till he was taken by one of his friends to Junglee Maharaj (his Ashram is located 8 kms away from Shirdi on road to Indore). He is considered to be an incarnation of another very well known saint with the same name whose Samadhi is in Pune.
Aspatwarji had gone to his Ashram for a few days’ meditation programme sometime in the year 1995. One day, sitting before the master, Aspatwarji saw two beams of light emanating from eyes of Guruji entering his heart (as is usually shown in mythological films). Aspatwarji instantaneously went into deep meditation. He got the initiation!
Thereafter, he came in contact with many a master. As they say, when disciple is ready, master appears.
Once, Aspatwarji narrated an experience with one of them. One day he was going to a Muslim Saint (who was also a master of Haji Mastan) in Mumbai. He saw that people were coming back from the place where he was staying. He abused and asked them to go back, mainly for the reason that all of them had come to seek some worldly things. Hesitantly, Aspatwarji went to him. The saint (well built Pathan with height of over 6 feet) welcomed him. After a while, Aspatwarji was surprised to see the saint turning into Junglee Maharaj (a short statured and thin saint). Looking at the expression of surprise on the face of Aspatwarji, the saint said, “Bhagwan usi roop mein darshan dete hain jisme bhakta ki shraddha hoti hai (God appears in a form to which a person is devoted to).”
This proves the truth of what scriptures say in this regard. Most of us while reading such things in the scriptures (like Krishna turning into Rama when Tulsidas visited his temple) take them as Mythological Truths and not as statements of fact.
While in the temple in Pune, I received a call from my wife asking what was going on. I told her, “Pooja for Prana Pratisttha is being performed and you may perhaps be hearing chanting of mantras.” She said, “Pati, mujhako to hawan ki khusbu bhi aa rahi hai (I am getting the fragrance of hawan also).”
Only a month back, she had started chanting of the Mantra “Om Namah Shivaya” as per instructions of Mungale Sir that too only for about 12 minutes a day. Of course, before that she had done pranayam and meditation for one year (2004-05). Japa after initiation by a Guru may have such transforming effect!
That evening, after the Prana Pratistha rituals were over, Aspatwarji took me to another Guru, Shri Saikaka who was staying with one of his devotees in Panchgani on that auspicious Buddha Poornima day.
Shri Saikaka is very simple and unassuming Guru. After chatting for a while, he called us in his room for meditation. We sat in front of his bed. He played a CD containing chanting of ‘Shri Ram’ in his own voice. While we were sitting in meditation with closed eyes, he put his thumb on my Ajna Chakra for a while. In the morning also we went to his room at 4 AM and had the good fortune to meditate in his presence.
Thereafter, I procured a few more CDs in his voice containing chantings of ‘Namha Shivaya’, ‘Guru Om’, ‘Vithal’ etc. This was my introduction to meditation while listening to chant of a Mantra – one step forward from recitation of Panchakshar Stotra.
Later, I read about him from a book titled as “Pooja ka Diya”. He belongs to Sangli, a town in the sugarcane belt of Maharashtra near Kolhapur. From childhood days he used to say that he had to go to ‘Uttarkashi’, though at that age he did not even know what this word means. Another thing about him is that even as a child, he was fond of meeting and serving saints.
He was once told by an astrologer that he would meet his master when he is 18 years of age. Before that he met a number of Gurus. He liked them, but nothing significant happened. The day he turned 18, he was sitting before Muktanandji of Ganeshpuri. And instantaneously, connection between the two got established. From then on (1968) Shri Saikaka stayed in the Ashram serving Muktanandji.
He sought permission of his Guru a few times to go to Uttarkashi. Guru asked him to wait. It was in 1980 that he was given the permission. Reaching there he found the place to be very familiar. He got back the memories of his past life. He saw that the lady who was his mother in that life was his mother in this life also.
He sat in a small house in meditation in Uttarkashi and after a few days entered the state of Samadhi for a couple of days. When he came out of Samadhi, two celestial beings appeared before him and took him to a congregation of Siddhas (including the one's who are no more in their physical bodies) in Gyanganj in the Himalayas. Osho and Nithyanandji have also spoke of such congregation. This congregation directs the new siddhas about what they are supposed to do. Shri Saikaka was asked to wander and give initiation to people. He has been doing that since then.
Later, Shirdi-ke-Saibaba also took him (in astral form – body lying in his bed) to the house of Amrita Pritam (it is she who gave him this name – Saikaka, as he came to her with Saibaba).
It is experience of many that Shirdi-ke-Saibaba is still active and appears in dreams of many a seeker to help them in their spiritual pursuit even if they are not devoted to him (my experience is narrated in the post titled as ‘How I was … Part – II’). This shows that the masters who are no more in physical bodies also help their disciples. Some more instances of this will appear in subsequent posts.
A few months thereafter, once we (me and my friend Satish Kumar) were going to Kolhapur and Shri Saikaka was holding a meditation camp in Belgaon, a town enroute to Kolhapur. I contacted him and he permitted us by saying, “Aaiye, hamein bhi aapke darshan ka labh hoga”. I was embarrassed and conveyed this to him. He said, “Swatantra Kumarji, jo pahunchane wala hai samjho pahunch hi gaya (one who is about to reach may be said to have reached)”. It is Guru’s way of motivating a disciple – like offering a lolly-pop or a candy to a child!
Around that period, he made a visit to Lucknow also. I told everyone in the family of my daughter to visit him. I asked my brother-in-law, Manvendra Singh, also to visit him (of late he was showing some interest in meditations). He was persuaded by mother-in-law of my daughter also to visit him. When CD (chants of ‘Shri Ram’) was played and he was initiated by touch on the Ajna Chakra, he instantaneously went into deep meditation. When he did not come out of meditation even after an hour, Guruji played the CD again. In the meantime, others were waiting to leave and he was also made to leave. He remained in a trance like state for a few hours even while travelling in bus from Lucknow to Allahabad.
Since that day, every evening he felt drawn to a nearby temple of Shirdi-ke-Saibaba and effortlessly slipped into meditation. His journey thus began.
Thereafter, when Manvendra met Mungale Sir for the first time, Sir was very pleased to see him and had exceptionally affectionate expression on his face. He repeated exclaimed ‘Bahut accha ladka hai (a very good boy)’. With his blessings now he chants ‘Shiva Kavach’ and is established in his sadhana.
Something more about Manvendra. Long back in the years 1990 and 1991, he was with us in Indore and Swami Anand Gautam used to sometimes visit us. He used to like Manvendra and once remarked in appreciation that his eyes shine. He did not say anything more and did not even remotely suggest that he should take to meditations. But he may have certainly saw merit in him and that his time had not yet come. Manvendra also dabbled a bit in anlysing horoscopes and his reading showed that he would get into spiritual quest at the age of about 34 years. And it could not have been a mere coincidence that when he turned 34, he got initiation from Shri Saikaka.
After another few months (end of 2006), Shri Saikaka was in Bangalore and I was fortunate to get an opportunity to arrange for meditation in my house (as Shri Aspatwarji had to be out of station during that period). About 25 persons came for the meditations on that day and day after. One of the participants, Ms Radha, like Manvendra did not come out of meditation after an hour and the CD was, therefore, played again. Next day she told me that she was in a trance like situation after leaving our place and did not know where to go. Only after a couple of hours of wandering on the road, she could manage to remember way to her house.
The participants other than Manvendra and Radha did not have any noticeable experience. Sometimes seeds are sown in depth of one’s being and may take time to sprout and grow (as happened in the case of Shri Raj Supe discussed in an earlier post) or Saikaka may not be their Guru as happened with him when he went to saints other than Muktanandji.
While with us in Bangalore, apart from meditations he answered many queries from the participants. That day he told me that I was a disciple of Dattatreya lineage of masters in earlier lives and that Mungale Sir belonging to that lineage is my Guru. He further advised me that next time when I go to him, I should first take bath in Bhima river near Gangapur (Karnataka), visit Dattatreya temple there, and also visit Samadhi of Akkalkot Baba, Tulzabhawani temple (Sholapur), and Vitthal temple (Pandharpur). I followed his instructions next time before visiting Mungale Sir.
Another fond memory of Saikakaji - my wife and some relatives had once visited his house in Sangli and they found incomparable affectionate atmosphere in that simple house. They were served as esteemed guests by members of his family (he himself did not marry) in the tradition of ‘Athiti devo bhava’ which the scriptures proclaim.
Thereafter, I have not been much in contact with him. Perhaps he did what was necessary, made me certain about my Guru and left me to pursue my journey.
In fact later I could relate to what he told me about my lineage with what Mungale Sir had told me once. He had affectionately said, “I will leave (this body) before you but when you leave, I will come and take you with me.” An assurance of a Guru for the life hereafter! It is said that Guru takes care of the disciple life after life till he is free. His compassion is boundless!
To be contd. …
On Buddha Poornima day in the month of May that year there was Prana Pratishttha of idols in a temple built by devotees of Mungale Sir in Pune. I was also invited for the occasion. Aspatwarji also joined me there.
I was noticing some deficiencies in the arrangements where a very large number of devotees were to congregate and have prasadam. In response to my comment, what Aspatwarji said was an education for me. He said with an innocent smile, “I am simply here (observing what ‘is’) and the idea of any deficiency does not occur to me.”
Before proceeding further, I would like to briefly introduce Aspatwarji. He started meditations in early nineties but did not make much headway till he was taken by one of his friends to Junglee Maharaj (his Ashram is located 8 kms away from Shirdi on road to Indore). He is considered to be an incarnation of another very well known saint with the same name whose Samadhi is in Pune.
Aspatwarji had gone to his Ashram for a few days’ meditation programme sometime in the year 1995. One day, sitting before the master, Aspatwarji saw two beams of light emanating from eyes of Guruji entering his heart (as is usually shown in mythological films). Aspatwarji instantaneously went into deep meditation. He got the initiation!
Thereafter, he came in contact with many a master. As they say, when disciple is ready, master appears.
Once, Aspatwarji narrated an experience with one of them. One day he was going to a Muslim Saint (who was also a master of Haji Mastan) in Mumbai. He saw that people were coming back from the place where he was staying. He abused and asked them to go back, mainly for the reason that all of them had come to seek some worldly things. Hesitantly, Aspatwarji went to him. The saint (well built Pathan with height of over 6 feet) welcomed him. After a while, Aspatwarji was surprised to see the saint turning into Junglee Maharaj (a short statured and thin saint). Looking at the expression of surprise on the face of Aspatwarji, the saint said, “Bhagwan usi roop mein darshan dete hain jisme bhakta ki shraddha hoti hai (God appears in a form to which a person is devoted to).”
This proves the truth of what scriptures say in this regard. Most of us while reading such things in the scriptures (like Krishna turning into Rama when Tulsidas visited his temple) take them as Mythological Truths and not as statements of fact.
While in the temple in Pune, I received a call from my wife asking what was going on. I told her, “Pooja for Prana Pratisttha is being performed and you may perhaps be hearing chanting of mantras.” She said, “Pati, mujhako to hawan ki khusbu bhi aa rahi hai (I am getting the fragrance of hawan also).”
Only a month back, she had started chanting of the Mantra “Om Namah Shivaya” as per instructions of Mungale Sir that too only for about 12 minutes a day. Of course, before that she had done pranayam and meditation for one year (2004-05). Japa after initiation by a Guru may have such transforming effect!
That evening, after the Prana Pratistha rituals were over, Aspatwarji took me to another Guru, Shri Saikaka who was staying with one of his devotees in Panchgani on that auspicious Buddha Poornima day.
Shri Saikaka is very simple and unassuming Guru. After chatting for a while, he called us in his room for meditation. We sat in front of his bed. He played a CD containing chanting of ‘Shri Ram’ in his own voice. While we were sitting in meditation with closed eyes, he put his thumb on my Ajna Chakra for a while. In the morning also we went to his room at 4 AM and had the good fortune to meditate in his presence.
Thereafter, I procured a few more CDs in his voice containing chantings of ‘Namha Shivaya’, ‘Guru Om’, ‘Vithal’ etc. This was my introduction to meditation while listening to chant of a Mantra – one step forward from recitation of Panchakshar Stotra.
Later, I read about him from a book titled as “Pooja ka Diya”. He belongs to Sangli, a town in the sugarcane belt of Maharashtra near Kolhapur. From childhood days he used to say that he had to go to ‘Uttarkashi’, though at that age he did not even know what this word means. Another thing about him is that even as a child, he was fond of meeting and serving saints.
He was once told by an astrologer that he would meet his master when he is 18 years of age. Before that he met a number of Gurus. He liked them, but nothing significant happened. The day he turned 18, he was sitting before Muktanandji of Ganeshpuri. And instantaneously, connection between the two got established. From then on (1968) Shri Saikaka stayed in the Ashram serving Muktanandji.
He sought permission of his Guru a few times to go to Uttarkashi. Guru asked him to wait. It was in 1980 that he was given the permission. Reaching there he found the place to be very familiar. He got back the memories of his past life. He saw that the lady who was his mother in that life was his mother in this life also.
He sat in a small house in meditation in Uttarkashi and after a few days entered the state of Samadhi for a couple of days. When he came out of Samadhi, two celestial beings appeared before him and took him to a congregation of Siddhas (including the one's who are no more in their physical bodies) in Gyanganj in the Himalayas. Osho and Nithyanandji have also spoke of such congregation. This congregation directs the new siddhas about what they are supposed to do. Shri Saikaka was asked to wander and give initiation to people. He has been doing that since then.
Later, Shirdi-ke-Saibaba also took him (in astral form – body lying in his bed) to the house of Amrita Pritam (it is she who gave him this name – Saikaka, as he came to her with Saibaba).
It is experience of many that Shirdi-ke-Saibaba is still active and appears in dreams of many a seeker to help them in their spiritual pursuit even if they are not devoted to him (my experience is narrated in the post titled as ‘How I was … Part – II’). This shows that the masters who are no more in physical bodies also help their disciples. Some more instances of this will appear in subsequent posts.
A few months thereafter, once we (me and my friend Satish Kumar) were going to Kolhapur and Shri Saikaka was holding a meditation camp in Belgaon, a town enroute to Kolhapur. I contacted him and he permitted us by saying, “Aaiye, hamein bhi aapke darshan ka labh hoga”. I was embarrassed and conveyed this to him. He said, “Swatantra Kumarji, jo pahunchane wala hai samjho pahunch hi gaya (one who is about to reach may be said to have reached)”. It is Guru’s way of motivating a disciple – like offering a lolly-pop or a candy to a child!
Around that period, he made a visit to Lucknow also. I told everyone in the family of my daughter to visit him. I asked my brother-in-law, Manvendra Singh, also to visit him (of late he was showing some interest in meditations). He was persuaded by mother-in-law of my daughter also to visit him. When CD (chants of ‘Shri Ram’) was played and he was initiated by touch on the Ajna Chakra, he instantaneously went into deep meditation. When he did not come out of meditation even after an hour, Guruji played the CD again. In the meantime, others were waiting to leave and he was also made to leave. He remained in a trance like state for a few hours even while travelling in bus from Lucknow to Allahabad.
Since that day, every evening he felt drawn to a nearby temple of Shirdi-ke-Saibaba and effortlessly slipped into meditation. His journey thus began.
Thereafter, when Manvendra met Mungale Sir for the first time, Sir was very pleased to see him and had exceptionally affectionate expression on his face. He repeated exclaimed ‘Bahut accha ladka hai (a very good boy)’. With his blessings now he chants ‘Shiva Kavach’ and is established in his sadhana.
Something more about Manvendra. Long back in the years 1990 and 1991, he was with us in Indore and Swami Anand Gautam used to sometimes visit us. He used to like Manvendra and once remarked in appreciation that his eyes shine. He did not say anything more and did not even remotely suggest that he should take to meditations. But he may have certainly saw merit in him and that his time had not yet come. Manvendra also dabbled a bit in anlysing horoscopes and his reading showed that he would get into spiritual quest at the age of about 34 years. And it could not have been a mere coincidence that when he turned 34, he got initiation from Shri Saikaka.
After another few months (end of 2006), Shri Saikaka was in Bangalore and I was fortunate to get an opportunity to arrange for meditation in my house (as Shri Aspatwarji had to be out of station during that period). About 25 persons came for the meditations on that day and day after. One of the participants, Ms Radha, like Manvendra did not come out of meditation after an hour and the CD was, therefore, played again. Next day she told me that she was in a trance like situation after leaving our place and did not know where to go. Only after a couple of hours of wandering on the road, she could manage to remember way to her house.
The participants other than Manvendra and Radha did not have any noticeable experience. Sometimes seeds are sown in depth of one’s being and may take time to sprout and grow (as happened in the case of Shri Raj Supe discussed in an earlier post) or Saikaka may not be their Guru as happened with him when he went to saints other than Muktanandji.
While with us in Bangalore, apart from meditations he answered many queries from the participants. That day he told me that I was a disciple of Dattatreya lineage of masters in earlier lives and that Mungale Sir belonging to that lineage is my Guru. He further advised me that next time when I go to him, I should first take bath in Bhima river near Gangapur (Karnataka), visit Dattatreya temple there, and also visit Samadhi of Akkalkot Baba, Tulzabhawani temple (Sholapur), and Vitthal temple (Pandharpur). I followed his instructions next time before visiting Mungale Sir.
Another fond memory of Saikakaji - my wife and some relatives had once visited his house in Sangli and they found incomparable affectionate atmosphere in that simple house. They were served as esteemed guests by members of his family (he himself did not marry) in the tradition of ‘Athiti devo bhava’ which the scriptures proclaim.
Thereafter, I have not been much in contact with him. Perhaps he did what was necessary, made me certain about my Guru and left me to pursue my journey.
In fact later I could relate to what he told me about my lineage with what Mungale Sir had told me once. He had affectionately said, “I will leave (this body) before you but when you leave, I will come and take you with me.” An assurance of a Guru for the life hereafter! It is said that Guru takes care of the disciple life after life till he is free. His compassion is boundless!
To be contd. …
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