From a sadhak

Last night i was a bit early to go back to my sleeping quarters from work. On the way we met "U". U is a very senior resident and a regularly practicing sadhak (spiritual aspirant). We were near our big hall, when U met two of us. We remarked how tired we were after almost 2 days of no sleep at all. Immediately he said "Well, the best is to tire the mind so one will go into deep sleep and without thoughts. Once you wake up from such a sleep the mind automatically settles into meditation. The goal of meditation being controlling your thoughts". we laughed and said "in our condition one would naturally move into that mode". He smiled but seriously led us to one of the early stories.

In the very early days, the place where we have our meditation hall was a marshy pool. Sand used to be brought from the sea to the banks and mounds of it were dumped close to the banks of the backwaters. Amma then used to instruct the sadhaks to carry them and dump them at this spot. The task was strenous and went late into night atleast until 2am. Amma used to be with Her children working, making black coffee and making sure the job was well supervised. Around 2 am, physically and mentally exhausted they used to go to bed only to wake 2 hours later when the Mother was already awake for their morning practices. Such were the old days. But those days were special, he said. After that tiring work and constant japa(repetition of the Divine name) and a little rest, the body used to settle into a posture very easily and the mind into a dynamic meditation state where the Self shined through the Divine effulgence.

As we walked on to our rooms, he said, "perhaps you should find time to read some scriptures too!". Some of the ancient Upanishads talk of the path of knowledge where knowing the Self was knowing All. U took off saying "we have got to get up in 3 hours. So lets catch some sleep." U had been in the surrondings for more than 25 years. He knew and taught many scriptures and Sanskrit, the ancient language of Gods. As i had in my mind, what a depth he had and yet how simple he looked, he turned back from a few feet away and said "we are extremely lucky to be in this place not just with a Mahatma but a Mahapurush(personified Divinity). all we can pray and ask for is this presence alone. That itself will take us leaps ahead in our journey. So lets not dream of anything more but be thankful for what we are already! Have a good night!" It was 1 am but the heart had already woken up. The compulsion of sleep had left.

"Svayam lokaguruh sakshajjayate lokatattvavit
Yajnabratatapodana japatirthanusevanam
Gurutattvamvijnya nishphalam natra samshayah
Gurubhuddhyatmanonanyam satyam satyam na samshayah"



"Fire ceremonies, vows, offerings, austerities, pilgrimages – All are fruitless without having the knowledge of Guru. Have no doubt about this."
-Guru Gita

Om Lokah Samsthah Sukhino Bhavantu:

The Guiding Master

"Sarvapapavisudhatma shriguroh padasevanat
Sarvatirthavaghanam phalam prapnothi nishchitam"

"The performance of Kriya (activities) itself is service to Guru’s feet. If, after performing Kriya, one abides in the par avastha of Kriya, mind does not go in other directions. Therefore, if mind does not go in other directions, how can there be sin? Only by abiding in the Self does one become a pure soul. The aim of traveling to pilgrimages is for the purification of the soul. One becomes a pure soul in the par avastha of Kriya; therefore all fruits of traveling to pilgrimages are just by doing this, automatically."
-Gurugita

Most of us dream of many things spiritually and materially to achieve as part of his or her life. To live directly under Guru's supervision is a total Grace. The Guru looks into the best for the disciple and guides him to do it in the best righteous way.

There was a certain deadline to do a few administrative applications here. It was painstakingly uneasy as the main person had to go away urgently to a meeting. The problem of administrative tasks is the amount of information one has to cramp into reports. We were asked to make such a report concerning last few years and cramp it into atleast 100 pages. Wondering on how and where to high light and what to illustrate, we prayed to the Divine Mother whose resplendent form shines in all Her children. We tried collecting info and that amounted to a lot and now the task was which and what should be the main theme of a report. This report was very crucial and important and it was to be submitted within two days to the Government for its approval. Losing sleep for the two nights, we prayed and we worked.

Around late night we received a call. A call from Nairobi, where Amma was having her Kenya program. It seems, Amma had asked about the report. She also had directed what we should highlight as the main theme. Amma mentioned who could represent the work and how to present the same. The topic title was reset and the report rewritten in the way our wonderful Mother had guided us to. All set and done and very happy the way it turned out. We even managed submitting it within 3 minutes from the deadline.

What a Mother we have!

Om Lokah Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu: