Vision of Ma’s Third Eye - My Kundalini rose to Agya Chakra

One eye!? Why I couldn’t see another one?

While meditating I saw only one eye, which was quite different from my earlier experiences when I saw both the eyes of various Goddesses very clearly. I was having a vision of only one eye near about 7-8 months back. It might be a fake experience as I might have dozed off. I reflected that I might be too tired because of workload. Moreover, I was writing and commenting too much on os.me and other social media sites, which could be effecting my concentration. Therefore, I was not able to focus properly which resulted in this weird experience. I ignored it.

Twice more I saw one eye. Now, I was sure it was a spiritual experience as my mind was always filled with divine joyfulness and a deep sense of calmness. Was it a third eye?

I asked Google Baba and came to know that it was Ma’s third eye or one’s own third eye, which meant that my Kundalini energy rose up to Agya Chakra and my third eye had started activating. Seeing an eye in meditation meant that, I could now connect to my inner self or higher self as the eye was the window to one’s soul. Some yogic masters considered seeing an eye as a very good sign of progress on the spiritual path. In our body, there are seven energy centers where the nerve points meet. The Agya Chakra is the sixth energy center located in the middle of eyebrows and it is also known as the trikuti, the seat of the mind. Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said, “Third eye is equivalent to intuition. It develops when one is more centered and content.” With focusing on eye chakra one could rose from lower perception or limited perception to the higher perception as well as one could be full of devotion, love, calmness and deep joy. Om Swamiji said, “It is the absence of all bookish knowledge and it is about becoming that knowledge. It is the awakening of insight.” According to Swami Vishnu Devanada in the book ‘Meditation and Mantras’, he told, “He who meditates successfully on this centre destroys the karma of all past lives and becomes a liberated soul. Intuitional knowledge is obtained through this chakra, the seat of primordial power and soul. It is here that yogis consciously put their prana at the time of death.”

Sadhguru explained, “There are two ways to open the third eye. One is to burn everything in the body to create a vacuum inside so that the door of third eye is opened inwards. The second way is to build a pressure inside and let the door open up outside.” I followed the former way and most of the time felt that a kangri, a pot filled with hot embers was burning inside me, which was consuming all negative tendencies, and creating a partial vacuum inside me.

The confusion arose in mind because I saw a normal eye unlike the third eye as depicted by painters - a vertical eye. Since ages, what artists had imagined, I was experiencing quite different from that. It must be their imagination only but what I was experiencing was a reality.

Sometimes, I felt that Lord Vishnu resting on Sheshnaga, a 1000 headed serpent in kshirsagar, the ocean of milk was wrongly depicted by painters. It should be as Bhagwan was sitting on His table and chair, His eyes fixed on laptop, typing with lightening speed and forgetting about Himself – His health, His exercise, His recreation activities and thinking only about the welfare of His devotees. :)

P.S. : For all those who are interested to know more about my ‘Foodie Ashram’ project, I would like to share Aarti with you. ;) :D

प्रभु आइये, प्रभु आइये,

छोले भठूरे खाइये।

फूला फूला लचीला,

हमें बनाइये। 

प्रभु आइये, प्रभु आइये,

गुलाब जामुन खाइये।

रसीला रसीला मुलायम,

हमें बनाइये।

Translation

O, Lord, Please visit us,

Have a hearty meal of chole bhature,

Make us fluffy and flexible.

O, Lord, Please visit us,

Have a hearty meal of gulab jamuns,

Make us sweet and spongy.

Pic : Pixabay

360 Seconds with Om Swamiji - A bunch of spiritual experiences in my lap

Believe it or not!

I was blessed to have only 360 seconds with Om Swamiji in two private audiences in Nov,18 and June, 19 each 180 seconds long. I did not have ‘Om’ in my name like other devotees, I did not have white or ochre robe, I was not in any Om Swami Team and I did not reside in Sri Badrika Ashram. I did not have the quantity time like all of you had. Still I had a bunch of spiritual experiences in my lap and one of them was extremely rare.

He initiated me when I did not know anything about initiation. I only knew that I was asking a tough question which Guru answered only if the disciple had served the Guru for at least 12 years. I was very happy when He answered my question in my second audience with Him. Near about after one year I came to know that, I was initiated and I had to chant the mantras without using ‘Om’ in the beginning of any mantra. Last year in July, I came to know that I was initiated to Level 5 of initiation. When there is such a long queue for Level 1 initiation, I was surprised to be blessed with such a higher level of initiation. He is karunamaye!

You all would be surprised to know that I had never touched His feet physically though I touched His feet mentally numerous times in a day. He had never placed a mudra on my Sahasrara Chakra. Although I felt all the time, He surrounded me like an aura, a protective spiritual covering, which always helped me in growing spiritually and continuously guided me on the treacherous path.

He was so kind that He had blessed me many times in dreams, gave darshan in meditation, visited my house in astral body many kilometres away from ashram and bestowed the vision of various Devi’s whomever I worshiped. When He was 24 years old, He chose me as His disciple long before I chose Him as my Guru.

He graced me with quality time instead of quantity time. It was the most beautiful gift He had gifted me. Only quality time and not the quantity time created a deep and loving bond between Guru and disciple.

To be blessed with more quality time with Him, I woke up between 2-3am and sleep at night between 10-11pm sometimes rather most of the times without any nap during the daytime. Out of which I spent 7-8 hours in mediation or chanting, 1-2 hours in charity and rest in money making to keep the charity work going without any hassle. I worked very hard day and night to utilize every minute of my time so that I could have quality time with Him because even a fraction of His second counts!

Quite often in life, quantity has very little quality, and quality has very little quantity. After all it's not the quantity that matters, it's the quality that counts. Steve Jobs said, “Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.”

One more private audience with Him and I will be self-reliant to open a ‘Foodies’ ashram in which chole bhature and gulab jamuns will be served as prasadam, by creating a blue ocean as no other ashram served them as prasadam. :D Prebooking starts now! ;) :D

P.S. : 1. This is my experience, yours may be different! :)

2. While searching quotes on internet, I came across an interesting quote that I could not resist to share with all of you. In Killosophy, Criss Jami quoted, “A lonely day is God's way of saying that he wants to spend some quality time with you.” :)

Pic : Quality over quantity created by me.

Breathe Smile Meditate Let Go

 

I could not smile. I did not know how to smile. I knew how to laugh, laugh aloud heartily.

“Chandrika, were you howling a few minutes back?” A batch-mate inquired while I was sitting on the stairs with my friends near the main entrance of the college gate.

“Yup!” I replied. My contagious laughter was a soul elevator, which could take my whole group onward and upward.

“You would not believe I heard your laugh on the opposite gate, about 400-500 meters away and guessed it must be Chandrika, as no one else could laugh so loud.” She said with surprise in her voice.

“Chandrika, I came here to check whether your laugh has created crevices in the old walls and ceilings of college building.” A senior colleague teased me when I was working, as a lecturer and I were cachinnating with the staff members of my department in a free period.

“Chandrika, you teach yoga or laughing?” A middle aged woman who was interested in joining my evening yoga classes asked. “Both.” I replied, as my hearty laugh was a gift of the soul as pure as ringing bells in a temple.

People recognised me because of my noticeable, full of joy and warm-hearted laugh.

Breathe Smile Meditate Let go

I could breathe with ease.

I could meditate for hours and hours.

I could let go of anything.

But I could not smile.

Smiling was a big missing point in my meditation.

I attended the online Creative Writing Course about mastering the craft of writing compelling fiction and non-fiction by Sadhvi Vrinda Om ji. How much I learnt creative writing I could not say but I definitely learnt the art of smiling from her. During the course, I was watching her smiling baby face minutely, her bright, brilliant, and broad smile. She was beaming. She was dazzling.

While meditating, I tried to copy her winsome smile. With practice, I learnt to smile like her. I could Breathe Smile Meditate  Let go very easily. In May, 2020 in my mool Sadhana, Goddess manifested three times, two times I saw the front view and one was side view. However, I was not satisfied with the vision. I felt as if I was watching MA in black and white T.V. I want to see HER in colour T.V. And then in 3D. :D  

Thich Nhat Hanh said, “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”

Unbelievable - The Lineage was Guiding Me

“Madam, 2021 was the worst of year of my life.” Today morning, a young man told me on phone. I met him near about a month back while I was travelling to Bhangarh with my mother. He was inviting my family on the b’day party of his twin sons as they were born on 1st January, 2020 and it was their first birthday.

On our route, near Rajgarh my mother wanted to use washroom that too in a western style as she had arthritis. My driver and I checked the toilets on petrol pumps, hotels, restaurants, schools and every other place where we saw a board ‘Toilet’ but all were in Indian style. We were searching from the past half an hour but could not find a suitable one for her.

While moving on a congested street with heavy traffic, we noticed a marriage palace and I got down inquiring. The employee getting out of the building refused. On hearing my voice, a young man came out and asked me, “How could I help you?” I explained the situation. He said, “Yes, they have a washroom in western style.” And gladly allowed us to use it.  

 I elatedly called my mother from the car as I had found one. While the young man and I started talking about our family, career and the place of work. I came to know that he and his wife both had government jobs. They had a marriage place, which was quite big and had modern amenities. As he told his full name, I took out a gold bangle and handed to him. He hesitantly took it. Then he refused to take it. I said, “Keep it as a remembrance that we meet up. It will be auspicious for you.”

“Will you please share your mobile number with me?” He asked.

“Sure.”

He repeatedly invited, “Please visit us again, today evening on your return journey.”

As I moved out of the marriage palace, I pondered what instigate me to give that bangle to him when he was financially sound, both husband and wife were earning good and had a decent marriage palace. The God wished so, so I did!

As the roads were bumpy, I took another route back home.

Today, he called me. While conversing with him, I came to know that the twins were weak and fell ill frequently. And he had a seven year old daughter who got fever after the birth of his sons. Her health deteriorated and she started having seizures, hallucinations and confusions. On diagnosis in Jaipur hospital, he came to know that it was brain fever. She was admitted in the hospital for two months and he could not sleep during that time, as he had to take care of his daughter even during the night because she could get a seizure attack any time. Now, her daughter had recovered somewhat. She could attend school, could write but not as beautifully as earlier, she could not remember for long time as her memory had been affected. The doctor told him that he was lucky as out of 25 cases 10 died, 10 became mentally retarded and hardly 4-5 cases survived. He prayed day and night for her recovery and spent near about 7-8 lakhs on her health.

“It was not the good time rather worst time of his life!” I thought.

Even if I was going a charity blindly, the lineage was guiding me. Unbelievable!

Pic : For more than three decades, I had this euphorbia in my garden but it bloomed only once. Unbelievable! 

WiFi Connection with God

“Immediately stop fasting on Thursdays!” I tried to ignore it but it bombarded again in my mind. “You should keep fasts on Wednesdays and worship Lord Ganesha.” These words were said to me near about four years back by one of my relative. Most of the time business related problems distracted me in my meditation but this was the first time a relative was disturbing me. Once again, I tried. This time a bit gently by changing direction of the flow of thoughts. “Where is that Pandit ji now who advised me to keep fast on Thursadys? How caringly he taught me to do chanting, to do hawans, to keep fast and to pray!” Although I was an advance practitioner now but how could I forgot him who taught me the basics. Whether he is alive or........? My heart skipped a beat, and I shivered a bit with unknown fear.

To know about his whereabouts, I called a management member of the temple where he used to work earlier. Almost a decade back, he left that mandir, I became busy with my business, and we lost contacts. The management member gave the number of an employee, the employee gave the number of his relative who was presently working in the same temple and the relative gave Pandit ji’s number. I dialed his number. Will he be able to recognise me?

“I am Dr. Saini’s daughter who used to live in University.”

“Who? Sweety?” He used to call me ‘Sweety’ though my nick name was ‘Cutie’, maybe he found it difficult to pronounce it. Anyhow ‘Sweety’ was much better than ‘Qweti’, ‘Kutti’or ‘Tutti’.

I was disheartened to know that he was going through severe financial problems. His relatives had deserted him. He was presently living in Dauji, a small town near Vrindavan. I sent the money through Money Order as his bank account got closed due to non-maintenance of minimum balance. I asked him to open a new bank account so that I could online transfer Rs. 21000/- per month in his account, an amount more than my personal expenses. He was elated. ‘Give more to others than you keep it for yourself’ was my mantra of life.

I had a WiFi connection with God which worked 24 x 7 x 365. Prayer was the WiFi connection to Him- super-fast, always-on and free. He was always available, and I could stay in constant contact with Him. I could communicate directly with Him and if I listened carefully, I heard Him speaking to me. I could keep uploading prayers for others and could keep constantly downloading peace and His blessings.This was not the first time I got the signal from God to help somebody in need. Every now and then images of the needy persons flashed in front of me, and several times the guiding voice clearly instructed me about the exact amount. Some said it was Devi’s voice, some said it was Guru’s voice and some said it was your inner voice. Whatever it may be, I believed that it was Guru’s voice because after chanting the suggested mantras by Him, my prayers started speaking to me, the voice became clearer and more prominent.

In the book, ‘A Prayer that Never Fails’ Sadhvi Vrinda Om mentioned, “There were times during my japa when I could see people’s faces - someone in need, someone who was sad, someone going through a tough phase in life, someone I could help. My abilities were gradually growing to a degree where I could gauge what people were going through and what help they sought from me. This amazement at the accuracy of my reading surprised me as it surprised them.” I experienced somewhat quite similar.

Earlier I used to pray for any living being whom I found in distress. One day, I felt that I could not breathe properly when I saw a tree completely covered with dust near a stone mine. I prayed to God for rains so that it could wash away thick layers of dust. I felt piercing pain when a owner of a black horse hit the nail in his body before nailing it in horseshoe. I prayed for the black horse. I saw a bitch bleeding profusely, a savage man had raped her. My heart bled. I prayed for her. I saw an elderly man with both his hands plastered. I felt the pain he was going through. I prayed and prayed for him. R.A. Torrey said, “Prayer is the key that unlocks all the storehouses of God’s infinite grace and power.”

Prayers washed off the impurities of my heart, it steadied my mind and prepared it for the reception of divine guidance. Swami Sivananda says in ‘Bliss Divine’, “Prayer is communion with God through single-minded devotion. Prayer is spiritual food for the soul. Prayer is spiritual tonic. If you pray regularly, your life will be gradually changed and moulded. Prayer should be life long, and your life should be one long prayer.” Prayer should always be one’s first response to every situation. Therefore, pray and pray neither for the earthy pleasures nor for heavenly pleasures with sakam bhava but for the welfare of other beings, deep spiritual enlightenment and for His grace with nishkam bhava.

Pic : Pexels

A Glimpse of Ma Kalratri

Buuuurrp! Buh-UUuurrp! Buur...BrruUUUUuuuUuuUp!

I was experiencing severe motion sickness as if I was travelling in a hilly area though I was sitting on a red asana in my prayer room. I was undergoing sever discomfort because of bloating, nausea, stomachache and a mild sensation to vomit. Because of unceasing uneasiness, I forgot the mantra that I was chanting! It was not a long mantra or a difficult mantra. It contained just three words. I tried hard to recall the mantra, but I failed. It occurred on my second day of my forty days Sadhana.

A few days earlier, I saw a video shared by our Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on social media about Ma Kalratri, the seventh form of the nine forms of Goddess Durga which is worshiped on the seventh day of Navratras. As depicted, Devi looked stunning in blue color and I was attracted to the color more than the form. I could not resist myself from worshiping a Goddess who mounts on a adorable donkey instead of a ferocious lion, fierce tiger, aggressive jackal or feral bull. She was irresistible!

“MA, I drop all the fruits of this Sadhana. Please help me in completing this Sadhana.” I visualized a dark-complexioned Goddess with untied hair with left hands carrying hooked vajra, curved sword and right hands in abhyamudra and varadamudra riding on a gentle donkey and prayed, when I found it was almost impossible for me to sit further to complete my chanting. I opened my eyes, picked up my notes which were lying nearby and started reading the mantra from it. Nonstop burping distracted my attention from even reading a easy mantra. I could not focus. I could not peruse.

“MA, PLEASE HELP ME.” My heart cried aloud.

Once again, I gathered courage, put my index finger below the first word of mantra and read it aloud like a nursery kid. Moved my index finger below the second word and then the third. On that day, I completed my chanting like a child who was learning to read words by joining letters. Once again, I became child. Once again I became innocent. The innocence of child erupted a fountain of warmth, love and bliss in me.

Although my burping problem continued throughout this Sadhana still Ma Kalratri was very kind and blessed me with her glimpse. One day in meditation I saw her wide open, big, fierce eyes just like they are depicted in her pictures. Afterall, She is also known as ‘Shubhankari’, one who blesses Her devotees with auspicious results.

A Hungry Wolf in Suit N Boots

“You have won the case against Department after four years of continuous fight in the High Court, your file is still pending in this office.” A bureaucrat taunted me while fiddling with his smart phone. He stopped playing with it, placed it on the table, and ironically said, “The work is neither done on the papers nor on the site. Then what is the use of wasting so much time, money and energy.”

His words deeply pierced me. I was hurt. Truth can be costly, but in the end it never falls short of value for the price paid. He was crossing his limits even though I could not say anything to upset him as my important business file was on his table.

That day, he kept me waiting for a long time because of a useless reason. He was interested in chatting with me about my life, goals, assets, family and more although I was only interested in moving my file from his table to the next level, to get my work done as quickly as possible although quickly word was out of fashion in Govt. Departments were everyone work as lazily as a snail.

While conversing with me, he came to know that I was single, rich and presently residing in Gururgram, a city that never sleeps and drinks red wine to quench its thirst. His hungry eyes moved down from my face and his flirting sentences became obscene. At work place, I always wore body-concealing dresses with full sleeves, high necks and loose fit. Nevertheless, he was a hungry wolf in suit and boots!  

I am not a sheep! I am a lioness. However, it was not the proper time and place to show my bravery prowess but to act like a fox carefully, smartly and tactfully. I could not slap him, scream or shout at him as half the staff members of the Department knew me. Any sort of expression of anger from my side would create a scene in the office and in return would spoil my reputation. I opted to stay calm in the ocean of chaos of emotions.

Moreover, I was surprised with his guts. The office in which we were sitting was situated in my ancestral city where my grandfather was one of the respectful person in the town, my father was known for his honesty and truthfulness and everyone in due respect called him a ‘Dakter’(doctor) in spite of calling him by his name. And I was known as ‘Dakter ki beti’ (daughter of a doctor), kind and simple to whom many so called well wishers gave ‘free ki advice’ to own a luxurious car instead of Innova.

Holding a file for no apparent reason, marking it to the wrong person, passing it from one table to another, not passing it through proper channel and putting a pointless objection verbally were common traits of government employees but this officer was different. He was keeping back my file just to have a gala time with me. He was a smoker. He was an alcoholic. He was flirtatious. And may be a womanizer!

He offered me to go out somewhere. I declined his offer, as I had to attend an important meeting whether it was a genuine reason or I just made an excuse to avoid him, I could not recall now. I had less than two hundred friends on Facebook and I did not make friends so easily nevertheless to buy time I asked him, “Let’s be friends on Facebook.”

“Friend zone!” He said and a cunning smile appeared on his not so ugly face.

After all a wily officer was to be handled carefully and smartly.

The whole evening I kept wondering how to put a stop on his advances. Who could put a pressure on him – a local leader, politician, friend, relative, neighbor, his senior or his wife? His raunchy talks kept bombarding my head like firing bullets making me uncomfortable and tensed. I could not sleep at night. I kept turning from one side to another. I was damn tensed. At midnight when I could not bear the heaviness in my head, I decided to login my social media accounts. I kept clicking this or that button. I surfed and searched. Many times, I went through my friends list on Facebook if by chance I missed out somebody’s name that could help me. When I saw hungry wolf’s name in my friend’s list, I clicked to see his profile. I further check his friends list may be somebody I knew.

I was surprised to notice a young guy was a mutual friend of hungry wolf and my cousin. Without wasting a second, I emailed my cousin to inquire about that young guy. He replied that the young guy was his langotiya yaar, his childhood friend as well as college buddy. Hungry wolf and his langotiya yaar were from the same college and now in the same Department but in different cities.

Ghode ki dhai chaal! (a unique and very tricky move of knight who can move two and a half steps and can jump over any other piece(s) in chess.) I played chess on the board of life.

One year later, I emailed my cousin.

Now a days, hungry wolf is in the jail as he has been caught red handed in a bribery case.

He replied

LOL

Pic : Unsplash

My Writing Journey - From Pencil to Keyboard

Would she slap me? 

With red ink, my English teacher drew a round circle around the word 'ther' on my class work notebook. She wrote 'i' in between letter 'e' and 'r'. This was my fourth mistake in the same line and ninth mistake on the same page. Agitatedly, my teacher corrected a few more grammatical and spelling mistakes. While circling the word 'cheld', her patience gave way to anger and she shouted, "You make so many spelling mistakes. Your English is very poor." Instead of saying, I would improve them, I smilingly said, "Actually ma'am, my mother tongue, Hindi is also weak." Amused with my sense of humor or my presence of mind, she wrote 'Good'. At that time, I was in third standard.

In my primary section, I wrote with pencil in my notebooks and with red pen, the teacher used to draw at least three big round circles in each line. In all most all the pages, the red color was more prominent over the dim black shade. In my middle class, my genius mother tried hard with love and compassion through simple methods to teach me tenses when she found that I was not able to learn them in school but unfortunately, she could only teach me eight tenses. Tenses used to give me tension! In my higher standard, my language teacher always coaxed me to write more sentences in essay and all the time encouraged me to describe the topic in detail. As my mind would become blank like a dry river or ideas would not flow from it like a frozen river however, with great difficulty, I could write an essay having just two-three small paragraphs.

After I completed my college education, a dense cloud of tension enveloped me and to escape from the world of reality I immersed myself in the world of fiction. I decided to read books- one book per day. ‘Read, Read and read’ became my mantra and I read anything and everything including mythology, spirituality, astrology, Vastushastra, business, historical fiction, romance, drama, thriller, classics, Hindi Literature and just anything that I could grab. I read thousands and thousands of books on various subjects including English Literature.

In 2009, I was in an emotional turmoil because of my bottled emotions. To vent them out, I started a blog with a tag line ‘When I can’t speak, I write...’. The tears that never flowed out of my eyes became my words. Anais Nin said, “The role of a writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say.”

On a keyboard, I started writing random ideas that pop up into my head because water only flows when faucet is turned on. Many known people made fun of me because of my amalgamation of past and present tense in the same sentence, improper use of commas, not able to properly express the subject matter. I was too bad in basics what to say about the advance writing skills. I decided to keep moving ignoring every comment on my writing. “I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” ― Anne Frank

Seeing me struggling hard to improve my writing skills, my brother who had a excellent command over the language advised me some good points on creative writing. It should have a beginning, middle and an end. The opening should be like Dan Brown’s novel ‘Da Vinci code’ in which the readers were in awe and were eager to know what would happen next, the middle should be like Chetan Bhagat’s ‘Five Point Someone’ novel where readers could connect themselves with the happenings as well as surroundings and the ending should be like Arundhati Roy’s ‘The God of Small Things’ in which readers could not predict the end, a totally unexpected end or a lesson that left a lasting impression on reader’s mind as in Eric Segal’s ‘Doctors’ which was concluded as ‘Science cannot comprehend a miracle’. Make a blueprint and then erect a building on it! However, the epic ‘The Ramayana’ was popular since ages because at 75% stage of the book, the protagonist Shri Rama lost all hope, he was tired, his wife was abducted, his younger brother was unconscious after a severe injury from a deadly weapon, and he was almost on the verge of losing the battle of life. There was no hope of his revival. The hero of the story hit the rock bottom. Hanuman ji brought sanjivani booti (magical herb used as medicine) for his brother and gradually, the protagonist was back to fight again with more valor and courage. This script structure was followed in all Hollywood Superman and Spiderman movies. Along with him, my maternal grandfather who was a retired English teacher also motivated me to write continuously for betterment, in my own unique style without copying any celebrity author.

Several years passed when one day...

“When bhai (brother) has edited it then why are you showing it to me?” My mother said to me after reading the first line of the post.

“Bhai hasn’t read it. He is busy.” I replied.

“You have written it!” She said with a surprise. “And bhai has not edited it.” Now surprise was more in her voice.

I nodded.

“You can’t write such a beautiful and elegant line.”

I tried to convince her that it was written by me, no one had read it, and she was the first reader.

She read the second line and found a silly mistake, which convinced her that I had written it.

This major change came in my writings after I had gulped down almost all works of Somerset Maugham – short stories as well as novels.

For many years, my brother and my mother were my editors. Now, I edit my writings on my own.

Now, shout-outs, featured posts and competitions on os.me encourage me to write more and better. I am participating not to compete with anybody but with myself. If I could write better than my previous post then I am a winner! If the flow of ideas stop and I stop writing then I would be a loser!

After all, “A word after a word after a word is power.” as believed by Margaret Atwood

Pic : Pixabay

A Big Responsibility on Little Shoulders

“Do you need a guide?” A boy who looked like seven years old asked me.

I doubt your geographical and historical knowledge.

“What is your age?” I inquired.

“Thirteen years!”

His stunted physical growth astonished me. Neither he had proper nutritive diet to fill his little belly nor he had decent clothes to cover his undersized body like a professional guide. Although he would not be able to share something new with me as I have already visited many forts in the nearby area as well as I had a good knowledge of architect, Vastushastra principals and vegetation. Moreover, his accent was ambiguous and a face without a smile. A jhola chhap guide. To support him, I asked him to guide me through the narrow alleys of one of the most haunted forts of India- Bhangarh Fort.

As we strolled, he started narrating, “There used to be the bazaar on both the sides of the lane. The perfume bottle was purchased from the same bazaar by princess Ratnavati’s maidservant on which, the tantric did the black magic after she refused to marry him. Because Princess disliked him, she broke it as soon as she came to know about his plans. The tantric cursed the whole kingdom of Bhangarh before dying. It was deserted overnight.

“As you can see the chhatri (a shelter home/ small hut made up of stone) of the tantric who was in desperate love with the extremely beautiful princess.” He pointed at the far off place on the top of mountain.

As I have already read this on internet before visiting that fort, I was much interested in knowing about him rather than about the ruined building, which sang the songs of bygone, was now a desolate place inhabited by ghosts at night that nobody was allowed to stay inside this fort before sunrise and after sunset.

“Do you go to school?” I asked.

“Yes, today is Sunday. That’s why I am here to make some money?” He replied plainly.

“What did your father do?”

“All the time, he drinks tea.”

Further, he told me that he had a big family to support which includes his parents, four sisters and a younger brother and they reared five buffaloes however, they sold their milk to a nearby dairy to make their living.

Instead of him, I was telling him colorful tales, interesting folklore and mythological stories related to the deity, figure, animal or flower engraved on the on the walls of temples built in Nagara style in the compound of the fort. To break the all-pervasive spooky aura, I kept him engage in the sensational gossips on how to explain in detail to his prospective clients so that he could make some more money. Not only I taught him the art of clicking good photographs but also the skill to make boring places interesting with the magic of words.

After the trip, I paid him Rs. 200 as his fees, handed over my pair of gold earrings to him and asked him to present them to his elder sister at the time of her marriage. I was quite surprised to notice that no emotion appeared on his face, neither happiness nor gratitude but as he walked towards the main gate, I could sense that he had a big responsibility on his little shoulders.

Standing under a magnificent banyan tree close to the entrance of hauntingly beautiful fort, OSHO’s words rang in my ears, “Don’t think it as charity but share your things with others without expecting anything.”

Pic 1: Bhangarh Fort, Alwar district, Rajasthan

Pic 2 : Huge Banyana tree near Bhangarh Fort, Main Gate.

Guru Disciple Bond - The Purest of All Bonds

 In continuation of 'My First Spiritual Guru'

“A cyclone! Oh my God!” He stepped back a little as a scary thought arise in his mind.

On seeing so many scorpions hiding in freshly grown weeds adjacent to a water channel on a kachcha road, this thought surfaced his mind as he was about to step on them. This incidence happened when he was on his way to meet his Guru who was staying in his grapes orchid. On reaching there, his Guru inquired, “Kaushal, you got afraid of just tiny scorpions!”

“Ma, Om Swamiji has numerous siddhis. If somebody brought packed gift for Him, He already knew what was in it.” I was narrating incidents related to Om Swamiji to my mother.

“Kaushal chacha ji’s (my mother’s uncle and my maternal grandfather) Guru was also in possession of such siddhis.” She told me. “His Guru could very easily guess whether the steel tiffin box contain kheer or kadhi? Even steel was transparent for him!”

She continued further, “He used to serve his Guru with very much love and care. His Guru asked him to serve his mother like a Goddess and he obeyed his Guru’s command till she died.”

“Ma. Please tell me something more about his Guru.” I requested.

She narrated the scary scorpion incidence when his uncle got frightened on mere sight of a group of scorpions and surprisingly his Guru knew about it who was then a few kilometres away from that site. His Guru could easily sense about his slightest of emotion, how strong their Guru Disciple bond was, moreover, purest of all bonds.

“Like his Guru, my Guru who is kilometres and kilometres away from me also knows about each and every emotion arising in my heart.” I said.

Dear readers, I will love to gift ‘The Last Gambit’ authored by Om Swamiji to anybody who is interested in reading it. Please drop a mail to me at CHANDRIKASHUBHAMATGMAILDOTCOM.

Pic : Pexels

My First Spiritual Guru

It was a blessing but different!

My nanaji (my maternal grandfather) put his right hand on my head and murmured something, which was inaudible to me although I was standing in front of him just a foot away. I was looking straight in his eyes while my mind was wondering what he was blessing me with. I could not understand. I did not ask. He slowly turned around, strolled towards his room, which was adjacent to drawing room.

A few minutes earlier, my mother, my nanaji and I were standing in the drawing room. Ma, my mother was inquiring about his health as he has returned after a long hospitalization. He said that he was much better now and was able to perform his daily chores in a very slow motion.

My naniji (my maternal grandmother) called my mother. My mother went out of the drawing room towards the kitchen area. My nanaji and I were left alone in the room; he blessed me leaving me somewhat bewildered, as I could not interpret what it was.

Years later, after reading many books on Guru disciple bond and doing various Sadhanas I came to know that he imparted his spiritual wealth to me before leaving this body.

This happened in 1997. For years, I did not share it with anyone. A couple of days back I shared this incidence with my family and now I am sharing it with my blogging family.

To be continued...

Next part is 'Guru Disciple Bond'

My Reading List and Giveaway of My Favorite Book on Chole Bhature Day! :)

From mid-August 2021 to the end of October 2021 I was totally absorbed in studying scriptures, reading books, listening audio books and watching videos to collect and absorb maximum knowledge about spirituality. During that time, I was experiencing bouts of spiritual crying quite frequently. This was the time when I was not crying then I was reading a book, when I was not reading a book then I was listening to an audio book and when I was not listening an audio book then I was watching a YouTube video. I was as busy as a second hand in a clock. 

Read these books…

If Truth be Told – A Monk’s Memoir By Om Swami (Reread)

Om Swami – As We Know Him by Ismita Tandon (Sadhvi Vrinda Om) and Swami Vidyananda Om

A Prayer that Never Fails by Sadhvi Vrinda Om

The Book of Faith Compiled by Sadhvi Vrinda Om

Bhakti and Sankirtan by Swami Sivananda

Guru Bhakti Yoga by Swami Sivananda

Laksmi Tantram Commentary by Shri Kapildev Narayan (Reread)

Geet Govind by Jaidev

The Gospel of Shri Ramakrishna

Hatha Yoga Pradipika Commentary by Swami Muktibodhananda

Nav Durga from Geeta Press Publications

Listened these books on Audible...

Swami Vivekananda by Gautam Ghosh

Essence of the Upanishads by Eknath Easwaran

The Guru Drinks Bourbon? By Amira Ben-Yehuda, Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

Draupadi by Pratibha Rai

Tantra Illuminated : The Philosophy, History, and Practice of a Timeless Tradition by Christopher D. Walls

Attended these online courses...

The Art of Meditation by Om Swami

Kundalini Meditation by Om Swami

I watched numerous videos and out of them, my favorite video is by Gautam Sachdeva  Gorakhnath's Rule (with Hindi subtitles).

Yesterday was my birthday and I am giving away gifts to my lovely readers. Unfortunately, Amazon do not deliver chole bhature so I am giving away my favorite book. Out of all books that I have read in two and a half month time, I liked ‘Om Swami – As We Know Him’ the most. Whoever is interested in reading this book, please send your address to me at CHANDRIKASHUBHAMATGMAILDOTCOM. I will send a copy of this book through amazon.in (Indian addresses only) to you. Hope you will also enjoy this book as much as I. :)

Tears Washed off all Negativity from My Heart

“Gandi Aurat (wicked woman)!” I thought as I looked out of windowpane of my moving car. I saw a not so elderly woman sitting behind a young guy on a scooter. We were in opposite lanes. Was it she? Her chubby cheeks glowing like oranges now resembled more like squeezed oranges. I saw her after one and half year of corona time. It seemed to me that from glowing beauty now she was a mere wrinkled diseased woman. Time changed everything. I had changed too. Like every other time, I did not feel any surge of negative emotions in me on a glimpse of her. There was neither hatred nor anger for her. I was neutral as I was feeling Swamiji dwells in all. This happened in mid Oct, 2021.

I moved out of my house locking all my emotions behind to meet an important client who was adamant to see me in person before finalizing the deal. During those days, I was confined to my house because of excessive spiritual crying. In a way, while going to my office this incidence took place.

Nobody utters her name out of her scare or her wickedness, everybody called her ‘Gandi Aurat’. She was notorious for tearing her own clothes and charging rape case against who ever tried to stop her from doing any wrong deeds. She had done this against a police officer, a politician and a reputed educationist. She misused the laws, which were made to protect a female, as poisonous weapons to injure others.  

Six years back, she tried to grab my property, I stopped her. As she could not play rape card against me, she played caste card against me, which resulted in numerous court cases. Although court cases were part of my business, but this became a real headache for me. No bureaucrat, no politician, no local leader, no neighbor, no known, not even a stranger was with me. I was all alone fighting for truth. When loneliness pierced me heavily, I could feel the presence of my deity holding my hand who now and then whispered in my ears, ‘Truth Prevails!’  

Tears washed off all the negativity from my heart. Excessive spiritual crying made me calm and serene. It could be a sheer coincidence. There was one more woman in my life on seeing her, my heart always filled with hatred and anger. A few days back, I met her, I was normal though she said something out of jealousy, but I was as calm as a full moon. After all, Swamiji dwells in all. There was no surge of negative emotions in me for her. He had filled my heart with His love that there was no space left for hatred, envy or any other negative emotion.

I desperately needed a shot of His love so that my heart starts overflowing with love towards all beings especially for those whom I hated earlier.

Dear readers, I will love to gift ‘Japa Meditation- The Easiest Way to Calm the Mind’ authored by me to anybody who is interested in reading it. Please drop a mail to me at CHANDRIKASHUBHAMATGMAILDOTCOM.

Pic : Pixabay

I Made a Mistake and Om Swamiji corrected me

I made a mistake.

I realized it after reading these paragraphs from the book ‘The Rainmaker- Miracles and Healing Stories of Om Swami’ on p163.

Now, getting back to the Four Seasons story. A waiter attended to us, and Guru Maharaj gave the order explaining to him how he would like his breakfast to be served, placing emphasis on no eggs, etc. He gave very detailed, specific instructions. However, when the food came, he wasn’t happy with it, so he let the person know gently, yet firmly. I couldn’t help but notice the preciseness of his speech. But they still couldn’t get it right. Maharaj Sri remained firm and asked for the chef. He showed the chef what was lacking in the meal. The chef, in return, apologized profusely and offered a free meal. When the bill came, his item was not charged. Guru Maharaj sent the bill back and requested that his meal also be charged.

“It’s very simple, Swamiji,” he said to me. “I’m dining here as a customer. And therefore, I expect a certain quality of service. And therefore, I expect a certain quality of service. Anything to the contrary is just not acceptable.”

A couple of days back I bought a half kg packet of semolina of a reputed company. On opening it, I found it infested. I removed the infested portion and utilized in making halwa for stray dogs. When I told the shopkeeper that semolina was infested, he deducted Rs.30/- from my total bill. In other words, he gave that infested semolina packet free of cost to me.

The book was an eye opener for me. I realized my mistake that I did charity from that infested packet and did not paid the cost of that packet. Swamiji paid the bill of a free item. I should also pay the amount of that packet. Although Rs. 30/- did not mean much to the shopkeeper or to me but it was about following his teachings strictly. Next time, I visited the shop I paid the price of the semolina packet.

Dear readers, in the same book it was mentioned that Swamiji said, “We’ll all address her as Shamata. Though I’ve initiated her today, I gave her my darshan many years ago. This body was 24 years old then.” I had a keen desire to follow His teachings very seriously, because He also blessed me with a spiritual experience when he was 24 years old.

I will love to gift this book through Amazon (Indian addresses only) to whoever is interested in reading these stories in detail. Just drop a mail to me at CHANDRIKASHUBHAMATGMAILDOTCOM or fill up the contact form on the side bar.

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