My Guiding Light

In 1995, during the Paryushan Parva, my mother asked my brother and me to attend some religious activities and we were taken to Gurudev’s pravachan at the Bombay Market Apartments Centre. I had no interest in spirituality at that time. I was just twenty years of age, we had lost our father just four years back and were struggling with our studies and still managing business. My mother like an iron lady, with no background in business, was holding on to business, managing the family and her spiritual commitments. This was the first time ever I saw and met Gurudev in this birth and those eight days of pravachans were just life transforming. I was blown. The topic was ‘6 Dhala’ and little did I know, meeting Gurudev would change the course of my life. Those pravachans made a deep impact on my mind and instantly corrected and realigned my beliefs and thoughts. I had met my Gurudev and my journey had begun.

Experiencing His Love

After I first met Him, my spiritual honeymoon period started where like a friend, He took care of me, took me to various trips, appreciated and motivated me for good thoughts and deeds, made me feel special. He made sure that I kept growing on the spiritual path. During that time I clearly remember in one of the group meetings, He had mentioned that I will be there until the end. I was pleasantly surprised by these words and kept pondering on them.

In 1996, I was blessed to drive Him from Manju Apartments to our home for pratishtha. While on the drive I kept thinking that once I drop Him, He will directly go up and the bhakti would start. I would have to go and park the car, so I will have to sit right at the back! But just as these thoughts ran in my mind, Gurudev asked me to go and park the car and told me that He would wait for me in the lobby. I was pleasantly surprised by how He read my thoughts and felt truly blessed to experience His purity and love. After almost 23 years, in one of the pravachans in Mumbai, He mentioned the bhajan which was taken during the pratishtha. Simply astonishing!

Working on me

On a trip to Mahabaleshwar in 1996, my compassionate Gurudev took me for a one and a half hour walk, alone with Him. Just like a loving father, He pushed me to open up to Him about a girl that I liked. Not knowing that my family had already informed Him, I like a foolish person did not acknowledge and lied to Him about the same. This was one of my biggest sin that I did not open up to my Gurudev, where I am supposed to be hundred percent open. I realised the importance of transparency with Him.

In the early days, He gave me ajnas like shaving every day highlighting that such routine activities should also be done regularly. This was to inculcate the value of discipline as otherwise it will lead to laziness in spiritual activities too. Today I see myself being disciplined in my ajnabhakti, meditation etc. only because of such values inculcated by Gurudev.

When He moved from Manju Apartments to Prithvi Apartments, in His mysterious ways, He also made us move to Prithvi Apartments. I have experienced, that since the time I have moved to Prithvi Apartments and whenever He is in the building, His pure Aura has always kept me away from internal vices and connected with a feeling that He is around, taking care of me.

Growing Through Seva

By now my seva journey had begun. The journey as sevak in the kitchen team washing 2,000 vessels during a Mahotsav, to Sarvarpit Group leader, to handling the Shri Samet Shikharji Tirthyatra, Goa Shibir and more, showed the faith and responsibility He was entrusting onto me. I was blessed in many ways to learn and imbibe His vision. He continuously taught us to grow spiritually with the core values of a seeker and the passionate spirit of a responsible sevak.

I have been blessed to see many forms of His love. Once, we in the kitchen department had taken a grossly wrong decision where other seekers were getting affected. We experienced a completely different form of love where He had to be strict. We can never forget that day – on one side He kept on expressing His displeasure strongly for almost two hours until we realised our mistake and the moment I said sorry, He gave such a wonderful smile as if nothing had happened. It was all a drama for Him wherein He was completely unaffected and had taken up this role only to train us. The smile was just mesmerising and we all were relieved that while it was our mistake, He still loved and trusted us. In this manner, while training us He made sure that the motivation of sevaks was maintained.

During Sadguru Prerna meetings, I have had wonderful opportunities to be closely involved in taking decisions. I have always noticed Gurudev taking keen interest in designing of the Ashram and its culture to be followed, such that the Ashram becomes a spiritual abode where seekers from all walks of life can come for their spiritual growth and not as a second home, a weekend place to enjoy or as an old age home. He has always kept the policy of seekers first. While there was no need for Him to personally get involved in allocation of each and every unit of the Sadguru Prerna housing, He spent hours and hours in deciding who should be allocated which unit, just to make seekers comfortable for long stays and eventually make them grow spiritually.

In Steering Committee (SC) meetings, the conduct and discipline of the meetings are such that every member has to complete their points within the allotted minutes only. This is the culture set by Gurudev. Hence even though the Mission is at this huge scale and growing at a rapid pace, SC completes their meeting in maximum two hours and then one hour is spent with Gurudev to run Him through the points. We usually land up completing this meeting with Him in thirty minutes and Gurudev gives satsang in the remaining time. These are the attributes inculcated by Gurudev to maintain high level of discipline, clarity, alertness and connection. When SC members refer the points to Him, for His guidance, He instantly completely understands the points and provides His guidance, which reflects His supreme awareness level. He does this while maintaining His spiritual height which is a mesmerising sight to see.

His most outstanding quality which I have witnessed is His love and devotion for His Guru, His Lord, Param Krupalu Dev. Everything He does is only with His ajna and only for Him. Any initiative He undertakes, everything begins and ends with Param Krupalu Dev. In the end I would just like to pray to Him that I too develop such devotion for Him as He has for Param Krupalu Dev and may my heart, in this life as well as all forthcoming lives, pursue the true religion as expounded by the Sadguru.

Please Note: This Tale of Transformation was published in Sadguru Echoes magazine, April 2019 issue.