From Fussy to Unfussy About Food

“Nani ji, I am feeling hungry.” I told my maternal grandmother when I was near about nine years old.

“You can eat hot chapattis with freshly prepared dal. See your younger brother is having his meal.” She suggested.

I peeped into his plate and noticed that the color of dal was not yellow but greenish brown. “Which dal have you prepared? I eat only yellow color dal.” I replied.

“You can eat matiri (watermelon) vegetable.”

“I love to eat water melons but I do not like the vegetable made out of it.”

“Bitter gourd vegetable, I can prepare for you as they are ready to be fry after salting.”

“I hate it, it is too bitter.” I squeezed my nose to show my disapproval for it.

“Ghiya (Bottle gaurd).”

“ I will eat ghiya vegetable when I will grow old. It is the best vegetable for elderly people.”

“If you eat ghiya now, you will never grow old.” My brother who was a man of few words spoke while filling his spoon with dal.

I never argued with my brother because I knew I would never beat a genius.

My maternal grandmother offered me twelve more options, which I refused with one or the other excuse. When my mother came back after doing shopping from the market, my naniji complained her, “The nature of your two children is totally different. One has finished his meal without making any excuse and the other one is too fussy about food. I have asked her to eat so many things but she did not like to have anything.”

“She does this before having her every meal. She will not say that I want to eat this. But I have to keep jumping from one option to another till I reach what is in her mind.” My mother replied while putting down huge shopping bags from her shoulder. She took out two packets for each one of us. She gave first one to my brother who was an adventurous eater, “I brought a new dish, stuffed tomato pakoda for you. You will love it.” Even after finishing his meal he could eat a snack, after all he was a foodie.

And I brought fresh jamuns (Indian berries) for you.” She handed it to me. On opening it, I exclaimed, “Oh! I love that!”

While progressing on my spiritual journey, I found that my food habits were a big hindrance. It was hard to cope with them. I was too fussy what to eat and what not to eat. A thought that always worried me was that saints have control over their tongues and I should have control over my taste buds if I wish to be like them. Swami Sivananda says, “Control of tongue means control of all Indriyas.”

In early Sept, 2021 my mother asked me, “Should I prepare rajma chawal for you?”

I shook my head.

“Should I prepare dal roti for you?”

Again, I shook my head.

“Would you like to have idli sambhar?”

Once again, I shook my head.

“Anything else?”

At that time I was strictly on diet that includes fruits, salad, nuts, curd, milk, soup, sometimes roasted papad and rarely saute vegetables.

When it comes to food, I was a difficult daughter for my mother and I am still a difficult daughter for her.

Pic : Pixabay

My Invisible Ochre Robe

Om Swamiji blessed me with an ochre robe. My eyes became moist and a tear or two flowed out of my eyes. I experienced this while watching a movie.

Unbelievable but true, this incident took place somewhere between my first personal audience with Him in Nov, 2018 and my second personal meeting in June, 2019. I could not remember the exact date but most probably, it was winter. As a movie lover, I had watched a lot of romantic, action, thriller, family drama and art movies. Surprisingly, I could watch anything, just anything. For a change, I decided to have a look at some spiritual movies. I asked Google Baba. From the results that it showed, I picked up the movie named ‘Adi Shankaracharya’, the first Indian movie in Sanskrit language. As the name suggested, it was about the great Hindu philosopher of 8th century who advocated Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism). The reviews said that it was a very dry movie but still I decided to watch it. I not only watched it completely but also had a spiritual experience to remember whole of my life.

In a scene, a disciple did the dandvat pranam to Adi Shankaracharya who blessed him with an ochre robe. I visualized Adi Shakaracharya as Om Swamiji and myself as that disciple. My eyes welled with tears, and I was sure He blessed me.

From that day, I felt that invisible ochre robe was always there with me, shielding and protecting me from thinking, speaking or acting iniquitously. After all, true renunciation lies in the abnegation of the mind. ‘Ochre’ is the color of fire. A fire is burning inside me that is eating up all my negativities and evil desires. To honor that ochre robe, I made a constant effort to shed negative tendencies of my mind and impure thoughts. Swami Sivananda says in ‘Bliss Divine’ that Sannyasa is Gerua (orange color) or coloring of the heart, and not of cloth alone. Sannyasa is a mental state only. He is a veritable Sannyasin who is free from passions and egoism and who possesses all the Sattvic qualities, even though he lives with the family, in the world.

The invisible ochre robe had completely transformed me in mere few years. His love, care, support and blessings had always covered me like a blanket from all sides and were forever there to guide me and to show me the right path to divinity. I tried my best to cultivate some good virtues and positive thoughts. Now, I am kinder, calmer, helpful and trying my best to be more compassionate. I totally renounce all the external beauties to embrace beauty of Self.

A few months later after watching this movie, while I was meditating wearing my invisible ochre robe, He gave darshan to me. I was blessed to have a vision of any saint for the first time in my life in meditation. And a couple of months back; He blessed me with an astral body experience. :)

Pic : Pixabay

A swing between life and death

 

As you all know that my last post was ‘I am crying profusely’ as I was experiencing spiritual crying. In the beginning, I was crying while chanting a particular Devi Mantra that I was repeating mentally most of the time, a few days later I was crying while chanting Guru Mantra as well as Lineage Mantra. Some more days passed and I found myself crying while doing almost every prayer, meditation and chanting.

Surprisingly, my crying had increased manifold from the past five days as I am crying even in public places on bus station, on railway station, on road, in market etc. I could not hold back my tears and I am crying more than 100 times in a day. Due to excessive crying, sometimes my eyes hurt. Because of constant and repeated crying for more than two and a half months had made my eyesight weak and I found it difficult to read without proper light.

Too much of crying from the past two and a half months had forced me to put my major business decisions on hold. I was just doing the routine work, that too giving needful instruction to my employees and a bit of financial work. I was not attending any calls or messages from my relatives and friends. I immersed myself in reading as well as listening to more and more books, watching more and more videos to have a better understanding of my spiritual path. I was following a disciplined life with full control over my diet, did regular pranayams and physical exercise—walking or yoga or sometimes both.

I did 40 days of Devi Sadhana, and I had a glimpse of Devi two-three times during Sadhana. A few days back while meditating on Guru Mantra, I saw myself adorned with ornaments just like a Goddess. Appearance of Devi means success on spiritual path but unfortunately, everything turned upside down.

During these days, my inner voice became strong, it kept guiding me, and answering my questions related to my spiritual journey. A few days back, I realized that it was misguiding me, and I felt cheated by my own inner self. Strange but true!

My turmoil did not end here, I found myself struggling hard to shed my negative thoughts towards my Guru. I felt that it was better to drop this body instead of having negative feelings for Him.

I was badly trapped by an emotional turmoil created by my own mind. Emotions are like waves of the ocean and my emotions had acquired the form of tsunami, rising high creating turbulence, hitting me hard and killing me mercilessly.

Some days back, while meditating all of a sudden I started breathing from my mouth; I could not breathe from my nose. I felt breathless and my whole body became numb. I found myself swinging between life and death. This experience lasted for 7 minutes. Next day, it lasted for near about 3 hours.

The problem becomes even more serious as I have not eaten anything from past 108 hours. And my water intake has drastically reduced from 15 litres per day to 1-2 litres per day. Besides that, I also have some other health issues related to that turmoil.

Among this chaos, I forget how to laugh!

P.S. – I am feeling like what Pandit Gopi Krishna had written in his autobiography

‘Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man’, ‘For a long time I had to live suspended by a thread, swinging between life on the one hand and death on the other, between sanity and insanity, between light and darkness, between heaven and earth.’

Pic - Unsplash

Sparkling smile more valuable than golden bangles

“Not a single bus has arrived till now. It seems that it will not come for another two hours or so. Will you arrange a taxi up to the railway station so that I can catch my train on time?” Early morning, I inquired of my travel agent.

He replied, “Today is Vishvakarma Day, everyone worships their vehicles, some return on work but most of the people take a half-day or full-day rest. Let me talk to a young guy, maybe he will be interested.”

He called back to inform us that a taxi had been arranged which would take about one and a half hour to reach the railway station and would charge Rs. 2000/-. He also shared the phone number of that person so that I could contact him.

When the taxi arrived, I asked the taxi driver to arrange my baggage at the back so that I could sit in the front seat because I had severe travel sickness that aggravates in a hilly area. He drove smoothly and I did not feel uneasy throughout the route. Moreover, we reached the railway station quite early. I gave him the fare, which he readily accepted, and a dazzling golden bangle, which he hesitated to accept. I said, “Yesterday was Diwali, the festival of lights. This bangle is made up of gold and it costs approximately one lakh. Please take it.” He gently took it and put it in the car's cup holder.

After handing over the bags and baggage to me, he came forward, his eyes dripping with gratitude and with folded hands, he said with a sparkling smile, “May God bless you with more!”

I replied, “It will be auspicious for you.”

I turned around and started moving towards the station thinking that I had never met this person before nor would I ever meet him again, still, I gave him valuable piece of jewellery, thinking that it would not only design but also sparkle his future. My day became more beautiful after donating beautiful jewellery!

Crazy me, visualized myself as Goddess of Wealth, donated another dazzling bangle to some other needy person! ;)

Pic : Pixabay

A simple wish

“Why do you make so many errors? If you make so, make silly mistakes then how will you bagged an award?” My father scolded me while correcting an official letter drafted and typed by me.

I looked up from my laptop screen and boldly told him, “Papa, you are a genius who has won numerous awards and I am an average IQ person. You still have a burning desire to win more awards and I have no desire to win any award. I have only one desire i.e., to do charity and I am happy with that.” After that, he never scolded me at least for an award despite he handed over a huge sum of money for my charity work.

On a spiritual path, I do not have any desire for attainment of Siddhis i.e., psychic, magical powers or supernatural abilities to have clairvoyance, levitation, bilocation, becoming as small as an atom, materialization, and having access to memories from past lives. I have a tiny desire that I never had any negative thoughts towards my Guru Om Swamiji. And I am happy with that.

Today is 11th day of fasting. With that devouring chole bhature becomes a big wish in my life! ;)

Pic : Unsplash

I Am Crying Profusely

“Rana Sangha had 80 wounds, had lost one arm and one eye in the battlefield. He was feeling severe pain in his whole body but still, he kept fighting on the battlefield. He was so brave.” My mother narrated his valor story to me while applying ointment on my knee wound.

I was crying horribly. I fell upon a rough surface while playing hopscotch and injured my knee. Most probably, I was 5 years old at that time.

“He did not cry. He was so brave. You are my Rana Sangha!” She gently patted my left cheek with love.

I wiped my tears.

Thereafter, I became Lady Rana Sangha. Any physical, emotional, mental or financial wound could not affect me, could not distress me. Slowly and gradually with time, I not only learnt to control my tears but emotions as well. I became rough and tough, a fearless and tearless woman.

Since a few days, I have been going through some Kundalini awakening experiences, like burning sensation around heart chakra, mild headache in one or the other part of head and loss of appetite (lost 2 kg in 14 days without exercising and without following any strict diet plan).

I experienced some of the weirdest of weird spiritual experiences, which could only be experienced and could not be shared with even my keyboard. My intelligent brain kept telling me that they were not spiritual experiences rather they were wild imaginations, therefore, avoid paying attention to them. However, I could not ignore them and I started crying uncontrollably. I had never cried that hard ever before.

Generally, my eyes became moist whenever I had a spiritual experience. Sometimes, one or two raindrops fell from my eyes. This time, I was crying horribly.

Dear readers, I could not share my weird experiences with you but I could definitely share my tears with you.

P.S. - सुबह से रोते रोते मेरे tissue paper खत्म हो गए हैं। Please एक tissue paper pass on करना। ;) :D

Background music - रोते रोते हंसना सीखो...

Pic : Pixabay

Wherever there's a hang-up, You'll find the Spiderman!

Venom, the villain locked us in a small cage as soon as he kicked Spider-Man far away. Spider-Man got up and hurriedly came towards us to help us, Venom stopped him in midway where they had a good fight. He punched hard and Spider-Man fell off. We were not able to see Spider-Man. We were worried about Spider-Man. With lightning speed, Venom came towards us and pushed the cage. Now, we were worried about our lives too. The cage tumbled and tumbled and started falling steeply from the rooftop of a high rising building towards the ground. The caged crowd was screaming loudly and shouting for help. However, I was calm and serene as I was sure Spider man would come to save us. Amongst all those chaos, my mind was busy singing ‘Spiderman, Spiderman! Wherever there's a hang-up, you'll find the Spiderman!’ And just before the cage hit the ground, he was right there with his spider webs to hold us from falling any further and hitting hard against the road. Everybody breathed a sigh of relief!

More than a decade ago, I experienced this in the spider man 7D movie theater in Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.

In this incidence, I was quite sure my superhero would come and save me. Simultaneously my mind was aware of the ‘modern maya’ created by high-tech videos and special effects. The artificial environment was created to produce the effect of false reality, a story that minds believed.

In this story, the disciple was sure that his superhero, his Guru would save him before anything horrific happened. His mind was also aware of the false worldly illusion known as Maya. Swami Sivananda says, “That which truly is not, but appears to be, is Maya. Maya is neither true nor false. It is truly false and falsely true. It is neither real nor unreal.” He further suggested the way to control it, “Control of mind is control of Maya. Control of Maya is control of mind. Maya plays through mind. Maya havocs through mind. Maya vanishes entirely as soon as the knowledge of Supreme Self dawns.”

Om Swamiji says, “Don’t let the illusion fool you.”

Tobey is my favorite spider man, and yours?

Pic : Unsplash

A Leap of Faith

Like any other morning, I looked at the rising sun from my balcony, closed my eyes and visualized that at my Ajna chakra while reciting my daily prayers. “O’ Sun God, please bless everyone with the light of knowledge, with showers of love as well as dispel the darkness of ignorance.” In the round orange ball between my eyes, I saw Om Swamiji’s smiling face. It was a unique experience. My mind ignored it as it might be the effect of watching His videos all the time mostly in the free time. However, during COVID times every time is a free time. Nevertheless, the image did not fade until I finish my routine prayers.

On the same day, I visualized Him as my deity. And every other God that I worship. Although I daily meditate on the Guru in the wee hours but this spiritual experience was different! I had never read about such experience nor had I ever experience it before. Therefore, I decided to ask Google Baba. Bolo Google Baba ki jai!

I came across this video about Nath Sampradaya (T 3:30- 4:15) in which 92 years old Dr. Himmat Singh Sinha told that Guru leads you to the God therefore; in this whole universe, no God is higher than the Guru is. The greatest God is the Guru. This statement made me curious to know more about Nath Sampradaya. I opened the Wikipedia page and read a beautiful story about Maha Yogi Gorakshnath, a revered figure in Nath tradition. Once he asked all his disciples to jump from the branch of a huge tree on a trident. Because of fear of death, all his disciples backed. Only one disciple took the bold step and decided to jump. A leap of faith! As he jumped, the invisible hand of Maha Yogi hold him and blessed him with enlightenment.

“Guru is God. A word from him is a word from God. He shows you the right divine path. He makes you immortal and divine.” These quotes are from the book ‘Divine Bliss’ by Swami Sivananda. 

I am ready to jump. Are you?

To be continued...

P.S. – Yesterday, when I opened Wikipedia page, this story was right there. But today when I decided to tag it on my post, I found it missing. I thought I might have opened a wrong page. I went through the history of my internet search to open the same page. Surprisingly, it was still missing.

क्या कहेंगें आप इसे आंखों का धोखा या गुरु कृपा?

या हर समय बदलता विकिपीडिया?

Pic : Unsplash

Freedom from piercing pain

                       

It bled. It hurt. That broken thorn, prickly thorn struck deep in my heart. Exactly ten years back, it struck there, leaving me heart struck. I tried to pull it out, unfortunately, it broke mid-way through. It hurt me. It pained me. With time, it penetrated deep causing a twinge of guilt. To forget that piercing pain, most of the time I barefooted walked on a razor-sharp sword and sometimes on burning coal to forget that smoldering ache.

A saint in a black robe appeared from a thin air who keenly observed that tapas. I bowed him. Seeing my only desire for God realization, his microscopic eyes with numerous siddhis searched for the cause of old pain. I was as calm as a bomb. He stared. He searched. A storm of thoughts came from nowhere and I was caught in it. He came to know about the gentle falling of silken rose thriving in vigor, shape and beauty, vanishing of scarlet fascination, a sudden piercing of thorn, and a torn thorn. To relieve me of that stale strain, he gently pulled it out with ease and care. Nevertheless, even the gentle movement of that deeply struck thorn pained me like hell. A dormant volcano of anger erupted from me. You are not a true sage! Ignoring my instant harsh reaction, he completely pulled out that worn and torn thorn to ease my pain and to relive me. The hot molten lava merged with the ocean of compassion forming a new estuary of pure love.

As black color absorbs all light, the saint in black robe absorbed all agony. Surprisingly after taking out that tiny thorn, there should be a hole but there was no hole. He immediately filled the cavity with compassion, a feeling unknown to me. On practicing that divine emotion, I came to know that the sharp thorn of pain had now transformed into a bright red rose, blooming brightly and blessing others with the fragrance.

After two years, the crown experiencing Kundalini sensations bowed down to His Padma feet and thought a happiest thought it could. ‘I am forever grateful!’

P.S. 1. अपना सुलगना किस को दिखाऊं ;)
Nothing to worry guys, I just have a mild fever. :D

2. From now onward, my name is Rose ;), nah Gulabo. :D

Pic: Pixabay

Male Heart in a Female Body

“I am scared!” He said while we were strolling. At that time, I was in mid-thirties and he was in early twenties.

As I was lost in my thoughts, he repeated, “I am extremely scared!” It was dusk not dark; we were in a congested market not in a lonely forest. I could not understand the reason of his fear.

“What happened?” I enquired.

“Everyone here is......”

I looked around there were raidiwalas selling fruits, vegetables and plastic items to labourers and worker class; surprisingly they all belonged to a particular community, as it was evident from their physical appearance and costumes. A few minutes earlier, both of us just got down from company’s luxury bus while returning from the three-day trip to Agra. As there were other members to drop off at various locations, we got off on the main road, a bit away from our destination.

“How far is your shop?” I asked to divert his tensed mind.

“About 200 meters away.”

“In which direction?”

He pointed in the lane on the left side and said, “That cream color building adjacent to the blue one.”

I could not realize the reason of his fear as not only his shop but also my car was faintly visible from there. As soon as we got down from bus, his kind-hearted boss took away our luggage on bike; hence, I could run fast without luggage if by chance anything fearful happened. I could scream aloud which would be audible to his boss as well as to my driver. I could punch hard as I was holding keys in my hands. I could hit the culprit with my purse like in Hollywood movies or I could throw vegetables and fruits on the offender like in Bollywood movies. With so many options in hand, there was no need to panic. Moreover, everybody in the market seemed to be busy with his affair. Nobody seemed to be bothered or had even noticed our presence.

By the time, we had crossed the market and now we were in the not so narrow lane.

“You can hold my hand.” I said to make the atmosphere light.

He tried to prove the seriousness of the situation. “Even senior police officers leave this area during night. If they stay here, the mob attacked them.”

“hmmm...”

“I am fresher, and this is my first job. I have no other option but to do it. I did not like this place as I am vegetarian and most of the restaurants here serve non-vegetarian food. If I feel hungry during the lunch time, I have no other option but to eat bananas.”

Poor chap!

He continued his story, “I have no friends here. I work hard so that company’s executive staff transferred me to some other place, just any place even a small village. I can live anywhere except this town.”

I tried to change the topic, “Your boss is a nice person. See how cooperative he is! He gave his Agra trip pass to you. He took away our luggage and bags.”

“Yes, he is. I do not want to stay here at night. The last bus to Sohna has left at 6 pm. Now, it is 6:35. How will I go home? It is very dangerous to travel in a tempo or three-wheeler at night in this area. I am scared. I am confused. What to do?” On a cold winter evening, I noticed few drops of perspiration on his temple.

Because of security reasons, I never gave lift to anybody. To relieve him, I had to change my mind and asked him to drop him to Sohna. Aandha kya chahe do aankein! (A blind man has the desire for only two eyes! Meaning Fulfillment of a desired wish) He gladly jumped into the car. As it was quiet dark outside, his sense of fearfulness began to engulf him once again. To calm him, I chatted with him for the next 30 minutes about his life, his family, his education, his dreams, his plans and more.

After dropping off him to the main chowk of Sohna, I asked my driver to take the car to my house in Gurugram.

Looking at the twinkling stars, I thought he had a female heart in a male body whereas I had a male heart in a female body!

Pic : Stocksnap

My Tiny Wings of Transformation

Splash! An unwanted muddy shower!

A car drove through a muddy puddle on a side road and drenched me as I was walking to a nearby market for repairing of my mobile. I noticed big strains of mud on my clothes. Surf Excel hai na! May be the car driver did not notice the muddy puddle or maybe there was not enough space to avoid that puddle. I consoled myself that it was neither driver’s bad intention nor fault but just an accident or a mere coincidence. I ignored it and absorbed my mind in my mindful practice.

A few minutes later, I realized that on any other day I would have screamed or shouted on the driver for spoiling not only my clothes but my mood also. Or at least I would have cursed him/her in my heart for reckless driving in rainy season. However, today was different!

My attitude towards the driver was changed. I was seeing the things from his/her angle. I was trying to put myself in his/her shoes. I was trying to understand the problems he/ she might be facing while driving after repeated heavy rains – potholes, puddles and pedestrian problems.

I was transformed. My old mould of mud was broken and now, my pure self was clearly visible. How was that possible? I tried my very best to sincerely do the practice as suggested by Om Swamiji in Guru Purnima Disciple Zoom Event. In less than a week, the results were evident.

I was happy like a butterfly with my new wings of transformation! :)

Dear readers, those who did not attend Guru Purnima Disciple Zoom Event can do any Sadhana suggested by Om Swamiji in Devi Bhagavatam – Hindi. In my view, there was not much difference between the two as He advised both. :) My prayers and best wishes to all of you so that you all will be able to watch the recording of that event soon! :)

Pic : When tiger takes rebirth as butterfly then it looks something like this! ;)

Guidelines for a Group Meeting with Om Swamiji

 

 

In the group meeting, all the points are to be followed as I have already mentioned in guidelines for a personal meeting with Om Swamiji plus these that I am writing here.

 1. Which gift should I buy for Om Swamiji? This thought came to my mind when I was travelling to Sri Badrika Ashram to meet Om Swamiji for the first time. Which gift I took for Him; let it be a secret! If you are going to Sri Badrika Ashram and meeting Om Swamiji for the first time, then this question must have arisen in your mind. A legendary executive pen, a writing set, a moon lamp, a fragrant flower, a baby pillow, a box of sweets or chocolates or any other decorative item you would like to present to Him. To select an appropriate gift, you must have been surfing online gift selling sites or keenly searching gift shops to choose your kind of present. However, my recommendation would be to take some dry twigs. Ya, you hear me right, dry wood which is known as samidha. In ancient times, whenever a disciple first time went to meet the Guru, he took the samidha to offer his Guru. If Guru accepted the disciple, he also accepted firewood as a present. 

      2. Take a pen or pencil along with a piece of paper with you to note down the important points suggested by Him. As in a group meeting there will be around ten persons, if each asks one question then a total of ten questions. It will be difficult to remember answers to all those questions but if you jot down important points then it will be easy for you to recall those gems of wisdom later on. Moreover, you will also be able to share them with others.

      3. You have to raise your hand to ask questions, or you can ask when your turn comes you have to decide on the spot as I have never attended any group meeting with Him, and these suggestions are based on others experiences of attending group meetings.

     4. In a personal meeting you get only 2 minutes time but in group meetings the time may vary from 10-20 minutes depending upon how good questions the group members ask. 

It hardly matters how much time you get in His presence, but you must enjoy each and every moment spent in His Divine presence. You can bask in His fountain of love that you will experience in His presence. You are lucky, as many are still waiting in the queue and have not got the chance to meet Him in either group or personal meeting.

You can reach out to me by dropping a comment in the comment section.

Guidelines for a Personal Meeting with Om Swamiji

Aha! My personal meeting with Om Swamiji got approved.

I was on cloud nine!

As soon as we got an email from Om Swamiji’s office that a personal meeting had been scheduled with Him, we all had the same reaction. Happy! HAPPY! Yeh!

But the time allocated is only 2 minutes i.e.,120 seconds. We have to pay obeisance, express gratitude, seek forgiveness, ask a question and listen carefully to His answer; all in 120 seconds. We should plan it properly to execute in the blessed time frame. For those who will be visiting Sri Badarika Ashram and having one-on-one meet with Him for the first time, I have jotted down some points for your convenience. Try to follow all if possible.

1.      When you meet Him, you should wear upper garment of white color. If you are wearing any colored jacket, top or shirt then you can drape white/cream color shawl or just white color cotton dupatta around you.

2.      Before you step on the white color asana spread in front of Him. Sit down in vajrasana (kneel down, gently sit back on your legs and taking your weight off your knees) on the floor close to the asana. Bend down forward till your head touches the asana and mentally express gratitude to Guru for providing the asana. Lift your head, fold your hands and then step on the asana to take your seat. Before taking a seat, you can do dandvat pranama if you wish to.

3.      After you sit comfortably, fold your hands and close your eyes and do the pranama, charanspash (mentally) or chant the mantra

गुरुर्ब्रह्मा ग्रुरुर्विष्णुः गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः। गुरुः साक्षात् परं ब्रह्म तस्मै श्री गुरवे नमः॥

GururBrahma GururVishnu GururDevo Maheshwaraha

Guru Saakshaat ParaBrahma Tasmai Sri Gurave Namaha

Please do this step as per your feelings and devotion towards Him.

4.      Just in one sentence thank Him for his videos, books, his teachings, or sadhana suggested by Him whichever you are benefitted from. Do not forget to mention Sadhana App, if you feel that your spiritual progress has been improved with its usage.

5.      Ask for forgiveness, it is optional.

6.      Ask only one question, focus only on one point. Frame a question that is neither too short nor too lengthy. Do a thorough research on internet as well as in the books so that your question is a specific question related to your topic. Ask Him a difficult question, nah very difficult question. Constructing a tough question is not a child’s play as He had already answered millions of questions. You must ask only one question preferably related to your spiritual growth. You can even seek solution to any problem in your materialistic life but then you will be delaying your spiritual progress. Speak as less as possible so that you can listen to His words more.

7.      Avoid asking too many questions if you ask more. In that case His words will be final, and you cannot modify it. But if you do not ask many questions then you have the option to modify any practice according to your comfort zone and as per your need and time.

8.      Or you can even ask for one blessing for your materialistic growth or spiritual growth. Either question or blessing the choice is yours.

9.      One important point, please keep your hands folded in front of Him. You can cross your fingers or just Namaste pose whichever you are convenient with. While talking, do not unfold or move your hands.

10.  Towards the end, feel obliged that He blessed you with His precious time and guided you. Say, Thank you. Do charansparsh or pranama before leaving the room.

I hope you all will find these points useful and will be able to make the optimum use of 120 seconds. Best wishes. :)

If you have any query related to this post, please feel free to write in the comment section or drop a mail to me using contact form.

Gifts for Om Swamiji

While moving on hard, slippery and precipitous spiritual path, my pace was unexpectedly accelerated after practicing the short and crisp tips advised by Om Swamiji. My footing on the path became firmer and I felt an eruption of fountain of divine ecstasy, everlasting joy and unruffled peace within me. Earlier I was travelling on a bicycle with a punctured tire and now, I was in a high-speed bullet train or rather it would not be exaggerating if I would say Soyuz rocket, the safest spacecraft. I wanted to thank Him. To express my gratitude, I wished to buy gifts for Him.

As you all know, saying yes to gifts goes against His principle. Gifts, big or small, burden and overwhelm Him. So, He says that if we love Him, don’t offer or get material gifts for Him. We can use them elsewhere, anywhere. He will be happier.

In my school days, I was too fragile and would fall off ill very frequently. Due to weak immune system, common cold, cough, measles, fever, mumps, diarrhea, allergies and infections were my besties who did not want to leave me alone. Moreover, one of them would always accompany me. Their company came at a high cost of missing my school for several days, taking bitter medicines, swallowing bland food and confining to a corner of double bed. 

My parents tried hard to keep me away from infections by putting restrictions on me like playing only in a neat and clean gardens and terraces with kids with sound health and not in dirty and dingy streets with heaps of garbage with shabby and disheveled kids. I was instructed to change my route if I ever saw filth pile or grubby street beggar on my way. Slowly, I developed the habit of taking a big roundabout around any filth, garbage or rag pickers.

Some days back, in the market, I saw four rag picker young children carrying gunny bags stuffed with paper, plastic and other materials. I decided to give them gifts to overcome my fear of being caught up by germs and to shed the soiled barrier in between us. I bought bananas from the nearby fruit shop and handed one to each of them. They wanted more without finishing it. I asked them to eat as many as they could. The elder one who was about six years old ate two bananas and went away. The two small girls followed his steps. The younger one who was about two and a half years old, a cute boy ate one whole banana, took second, finished it too and asked for more. How hungry he must have been! I gave him the last one that I was holding in my hand. He grabbed it. He smiled.

His genuine and sweet smile resembled Swamiji’s. His soft smile, his white teeth, his magnetic eyes were the same. His smile was like a sudden beam of light illuminating the darkest corners of my heart. It purified my heart as well as filled my heart with universal love. I felt Swamiji dwells in all. His face once again brightened up with adorable smile, a divine smile. I was now sure, Swamiji smiled.

Before I could bow to thank him for giving me a good opportunity to give gifts to him. He quickly ran away to join his peer group. 

Burning of negative tendencies of my mind

 “Oh! God, she did it again!” My mother uttered with a bit of anger and surprise in her voice. I was an infant and was suffering from diarrhea. She lifted me up from the bed, took me to the toilet, cleaned me; put me back on the other side of the bed. Since morning, this happened for the sixth time. She was damn tired. “You have not only spoiled your clothes but bed sheet as well.” She screamed on her little self or rather on herself. She lifted the bed sheet for cleaning. She was shocked to saw a huge centipede exactly on the same spot where I was laying few moments before. Consequently, she was not only scared but astonished as well that afterwards she started considering me ‘divine’.

On returning from school, I proudly told my mother that I had dropped a nuclear bomb on a classmate who spoke harsh words to me. She tried to kill the baby demon in me who had just started raising its head, “Do not abuse. If anybody said such wrong words to you, then you do not react to them which means they are still with that person but if you respond to them, it means that you have accepted them like a gift. Therefore, just ignore.” I tried to prove my point, “She is not a good girl and speak ill words all the time. Her siblings, cousins and all her friends are like her.” She was firm on destroying Rakshasa. She soothingly explained, “Live like a lotus flower which grows in muddy water but rise above it to bloom.”

“They will be finished.” I told my mother after returning from a relative’s house. The Rakshasa had grown bigger in me and was smiling frenziedly. She shivered like a dry leaf. She had a firm believe by that time that I had a vaak sidhi. She remained in shock for a few seconds, gathered courage to speak and advised not to utter such words. I was in college at that time.

After hearing groundless accusations time and again, I said, “You will never be able to become mother.” Inside me, the giant Rakshasa was laughing hysterically. When Ma came to know about this incidence, she again instructed me not to say anything pessimistic and to kill the demon right here and right now. Nevertheless, I failed.

When I met Om Swamiji for the first time, I had a very strong desire to be free from these negative bondages and tendencies of my mind, theoretical I knew how it could be done but practically I was failing repeatedly. By His mere glance, the negative tendencies of my mind started burning. Suffocating demon inside me was dying a slow death. And I was feeling light, as light as a cotton ball!

Because of His Grace, I again became a divine baby in my mother’s eyes. :)

Pic : Divine baby ;)

My first meeting with Om Swamiji

 

“What is in breakfast? Maggi?” A young girl asked me while I was putting my belongings in my bag after returning from outside.

Maggi!?Maggi in Ashram? Simple meals like khichadi, dal bhaat (rice), ghiya ki sabji (bottle gourd veg) roti were served in ashram. This was definitely a unique ashram, which satisfied their young devotees’ taste buds with noddles!

“Sorry, I do not know. I did not go in the dining hall for breakfast. I went out to do some charity work.” I clarified.

“Why are you reading Tinkle?” A middle-aged woman inquired when she saw me reading a comic book.

Because it did not contain any prohibited content for adults! “I enjoy reading it.” I replied and immersed myself deeper in my book to avoid such useless conversation.

“How can you come all alone so far to the ashram?” An elderly woman with black dyed hair asked. She asked many personal questions, which I found difficult to answer or was not interested to share with a stranger. Moreover, the environment in the hall was as if there was a wedding reception of some distant relative because everyone was busy in chitchatting and making contacts rather than maintaining silence, calmness and serenity in the ashram. Feeling uncomfortable, I went out in the nature to enjoy my own company.

I spent almost whole day chanting mantras, meditating and relishing serenity by the riverside. Simultaneously, I was enjoying the coolness of water on my feet and the warmth of sun on my face. Soothing breeze bringing fragrance of nearby blooming shrubs, murmuring water between different sized and shaped rocks, bright orange ball playing peek-a-boo amidst clouds was all what I needed. I minutely observed fast moving lizards in or on water, insects vibrating on salsa beats near algae bloom, a crested kingfisher taking a steep dip in river to catch baby fish, an eagle on a huge tree and then flying somewhere in the far-off mountains, a pair of bulbuls singing the glory of nature.

Before sunset, I came back to the ashram hall. A teenager person announced my name and asked me to reach near the bookshop after 20 minutes. He showed the exact location as it was visible from the hall. As the time was less, I hurriedly get ready for Diwali celebrations, reached there before time, and bought a book ‘The Ancient Science of Mantras’ authored by Om Swamiji.

As Swamiji was signing the book, I told him my name. (And you all can see He gave His blessings with my name written on it!) In hurry to meet him, I forgot to ask any cooperative hall member what one had to do in this meeting. I never had any personal meeting with any saint before. From my previous experience of living in an ashram, I knew that the saints liked to answer questions and loved to answer difficult questions. I was not sure whether in this meeting I could ask.

“Can I ask a question?” I asked Him in a confused tone while He was signing with a luxurious pen.

“Yes, only one that is most important!” He replied softly.

My mind was full of spiritual questions. Now, I had to pick one cautiously, of which I could not find the answer anywhere on net or in books. I framed a question regarding the doubt that I had about my spiritual journey. I wished that haze would get clear and I would be able to see the path clearly.

After discourse, when He sang the aarti, my eyes became moist.

I totally ignored it, as it must be an effect of some chemical incense because woman like me did not cry.

Back home, while watching His one of the YouTube videos my eyes again turned moist. Then, my mind accepted it as a spiritual experience.

I practiced the point told by Him and found it beneficial. It accelerated my spiritual progress. Months later, I realized that it was a super special Diwali of my life as Swamiji removed the darkness of ignorance by lighting up a diya of knowledge in me. Now, the responsibility was on my shoulders to protect it from the negative gust of thoughts as well as by adding the oil of positivity, compassion and kindness to it so that it remained illuminating for forever.

You all must have heard this ‘Tubelight to thode der mein jalti hai!’(Tubelight lights after some time!) ;)

My First Visit to Shri Badrika Ashram

 In 2018, Diwali was falling in mid-week. Therefore, in the next week offices would be closed, employees would be on leaves and friends would be busy with their families, I could have a long week for myself. To escape from air and noise pollution of Delhi NCR, I decided to spend some time in the serene lap of Himalayas. On my yogi friend’s recommendation about Tushita Meditation Center in McLeod Ganj, I clicked the buttons of my laptop to book a seat. I was surprised to find that it was full. Oh, no! I missed the golden chance to meet Dalai Lama!

Where should I go? I kept searching net for good ashrams in Himalayas assuming that Shri Badrika Ashram required at least three months prior planning and was always full. After wasting half an hour or so, I decided to check the website once, as I needed only one seat. Voila! It showed seats available as Open Ashram Event was going on. Without any further delay, I booked my seat for four days. Now, I had a platinum chance to meet Om Swamiji!

Whenever I had to travel alone, I did a lot of research, which included reading website of that destination, reviews of various persons and guides, alternative routes and then selecting the best route. I booked my train ticket from Delhi to Kalka. From there, I would take a bus to Solan, from Solan another local bus to Mariog and from Mariog I booked a taxi to riverside of the ashram. I was super excited to cross Giri River by walking. I did not explore further, as I had already visited Nauni (15 kilometers away from Shri Badrika Ashram) twice with my family before.

On Tuesday early morning, the driver dropped me to HUDA metro station of Gurugram. As planned, I took the metro reached New Delhi railway station and from there to Kalka. On getting down from train, I saw foreigners going in opposite direction of the main gate. I inquired a local vendor. He informed me about Himalayan Queen, which was ready to leave for Shimla and foreigner’s craze for toy train. I strolled a few steps with the crowd of foreigners, saw T.T. standing there. I asked him, “Is there any seat available?”

“Where do you want to go?”

“Solan.”

“Go to the ticket counter, get a passenger ticket. A.C. seats are all booked. Only some seats in the last compartment are empty. Hurry up!”

I did as instruct.

After 2-3 long hours, the train stopped at a station. I looked outside the windows on both side but could not see a board. One of the passengers who was standing and could not manage to get the seat shouted, “We reached Solan!”

My eyes again searched for any display board with the name of the station printed on it, but I could not find any. The town looked quite big somewhat like Solan, I decided to get down with my luggage and bag. It seemed that the train had halted at outer. I was feeling guilty of not doing any research on this train route. I was confused. I slowly started moving toward the station. From my back, I heard someone, “Madam, where do you want to go?”

I turned around and found T.T. in black coat pant standing close to the door of the train and looking towards me. He repeated his question, this time a bit loudly.

“Solan.” I replied.

“This is Dharmpur. Get back.”

As I strolled towards the train, I realized he was not a wheatish complexioned man in uniform but a dark blue male wearing golden yellow dhoti, garlands around neck and a beautiful mukat on head. He was smiling nonstop for stopping me going in the wrong direction as usual.

As I climbed the stairs, I was surprised to find a danav with two huge horns on his head, munching peanuts and enjoying Bollywood song ‘Chikani Chamali’ occupying my seat who had earlier screamed, “We reached Solan!”

Give Up One Thing – Om Swamiji

 As in Zoom Satsang held on 6.6.2021 Swamiji asked us to give up one thing and only one thing neither two nor three. It could be sugar, tea, coffee, alcohol or any other bad habit or addiction, which we constantly thought about all the time and found it hard to get rid of.

After watching this live telecast, I got confused what should I give up.

I contemplated on the first option - sugar; I hardly ate one-teaspoon sugar per fortnightly. The sweets I prepared are mostly without any sugar and are mainly jaggery, honey, dates or raisins based. I do not add sugar in milk, mango shake or any other smoothie. It was not a thing that consumed on regular basis.

I moved to the next option tea, coffee and alcohol. I drank neither tea nor coffee. Moreover, I am teetotaler.  

I consumed good amount of processed foods like biscuits, namkeen, rusk, khakhada, bread, buns, paav etc but during my Sadhana, I completely abstained from eating any processed food as it might contain some onion or garlic flavor or anything that should not be consumed during Sadhana furthermore I preferred to eat simple home cooked food without onion and garlic.

Occasionally, I ate chole bhature and I could give it up for some time. However, it would be of no use as nearby Haldiram outlet was closed in lockdown. Samoosas, golgappas, pakoodas and bedmipuri all fell in the same category.

When I could not find anything much to change in my food habits so I tried searching other emotional and mental practices, which needed some change. I loved watching movies and had watched many movies from Bollywood, Tollywood and Hollywood. I could even watch movie in any foreign language without dubbing or subtitles in English or Hindi, the two languages that I understood well. From past near about seven or eight months I had not watched any movie as I was busy doing Sadhanas as suggested by Swamiji. Therefore, it was also not a correct option to give up.

I did not have Netflix, Amazon prime or Cable subscription because I did not own a T.V. but I had huge bookshelves for keeping my books on different subjects. As I had stated earlier that I loved to watch cartoons but after following Swamiji’s instructions in ‘Attainment of Siddhis Part -3’, I stopped watching cartoons or news while having my meals. Now, I only watched cartoons occasionally, mostly when I was not feeling well or feeling a bit low. With mostly grey hair on my head, if I said I gave up watching cartoons it would sound more like a joke than a serious task for a spiritual seeker.  

I could give up lies but I was already practicing it from quite some time.

What should I give up?

Most of the time my mind is engaged in planning or preparation of the future. Slowly and gradually, it shifts from positive planning to negative thinking and then I find myself caught in negative thoughts, feelings and emotions worrying about the future that do not exist and that events or situations will never happen in the future. May be I overthink! As Swamiji has said in ‘A Million Thoughts’, “No imagination: Don’t imagine what may happen in the future.” I am giving up negative thoughts and nonconstructive imagination related to future.

I will welcome the future with my open heart as MA’s blessings! :)

Dear readers, so what are you giving up?