Roasted Taro Roots with a Pinch of Love

What should I offer Him? Which dainty?

I looked at my plate full of delicacies, which include kuttu ke pakode (buckwheat fritters), aloo (potato) dry veg, tomato- carrot- beetroot soup, green coriander chutney, sliced apple, green and black grapes, orange, dates, roasted peanuts, curd and roasted taro roots. I felt that Swamiji pointed out that He wished to try roasted taro roots- a new recipe so I offered Him a piece of it. I practiced Guru Bhakti yoga in which Guru is considered as the greatest God because Guru leads you to the God. Therefore, I offered food first to my Guru and then to my deity. I fed taro root to my deity. Then I felt that Swamiji said that it was very tasty. I smiled. This happened in Magha Navratri, 2022.

Dear readers, I am sharing this recipe with you.

Roasted taro roots with a pinch of love

Taro roots are rich in fiber, potassium, magnesium, Vitamin C and Vitamin E. It helps in keeping blood sugar levels in control and helps in reducing weight by keeping one fuller for longer time.

Ingredients

Arbi or Taro roots – 5-6 or more

Crushed black pepper – a pinch to sprinkle

Oil for greasing

Rock salt to taste

Method

Rinse taro roots thoroughly in water to remove dirt or mud. Boil them in a pressure cooker till they are soft. Slide a knife in taro roots to check that they are cooked completely. They should not be mushy. Peel them once they are warm. Put a taro root in between palms and press a bit to give it a thickness of a cutlet. On medium flame grease a tava and roast it until light brown in color. Turn it and roast it from other side as well. Take it out in a serving plate. Sprinkle rock salt and crushed black pepper on it. And do not forget to add a pinch of love on it. ;)

Swamiji liked it this way, but you can also sprinkle red chili powder and mango powder on it.

It might seem like a Tollywood movie scene but for me it was truth and only truth.

My Second Personal Meeting with Om Swamiji

“Oh my God! He remembered me!” These thoughts came to my mind as soon as I lifted my head from the mat after mentally thanking Him for giving me asana for seating. Before stepping on the asana, I sat down on my knees, put my both hands beside my knees and bowed down to touch the asana with my head to mentally expressed gratitude to Guru for providing me asana for seating. I lifted my head and found that He drew up His right arm to indicate that I must sit in front of Him and not on the farthest corner of the mat unlike the previous meeting. He not only remembered my mistake but was also rectifying me. I felt as if I was walking on air with clouds beneath my feet but in reality, I was ambling on the white soft cotton mat. I was elated and excited like a kid. I deleted my introduction part from the opening paragraph that I would be going to speak which I had repeated numerous times in my mind before entering the meeting room. I sat down crossed legs in front of Him. I folded my hands in Namaste pose and closed my eyes. Mentally, I remembered my deity. Then I chanted the mantra ‘Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo Maheshwara; Guru Sakshat Param Brahma, Tasmai Shri Guravay Namah.’

I expressed gratitude, seek forgiveness and asked my question. While replying, He blessed me with a bunch of five crimson wildflowers, which He had collected from the forests of Assam. The fragrance of these flowers totally changed the direction of my spiritual journey.

Pic : Unsplash 

Waiting for My Second Personal Meeting with Om Swamiji

“Tomorrow you will not be able to meet Swamiji as He already have meeting with 75 people.” An office staff told me when I asked for the next day appointment after the discourse.

“The day after tomorrow I will be leaving early so, please give me tomorrow morning time with Swamiji.” I requested.

“Fine. I will adjust your meeting time with a person who is staying for a longer time in the ashram. Please reached sharp at 8:30 near meeting room.”

Next day, the calendar showed the date 2nd June, 2019 and the watch showed the time 5:45 a.m. I had just finished my prayers. I placed my charity bag on my left shoulder and walked out in search of a cow, a dog and some grain eating birds. I fed the cow. I placed the grains on a nearby rock. Nevertheless, I could not find a dog. I went downhill near Giri river, I went uphill until I reached a neighbor’s house, I looked behind the bushes, I searched below the parked cars, and I hunt near the dining area. Surprisingly there was not a single dog! 

At last, I saw a stray dog and fed it some biscuits. The watch showed 8:15 a.m. After I washed my hands, I went to the dining area. The queue was so long that my turn would not come before 9:30 a.m. What was my preference - breakfast or the question whose answer I wished to know? 

Without wasting another minute on food, I moved towards the meeting room, thinking that I would have breakfast after the meeting, it would end up soon.

Every day I had my breakfast between 7 to 8 am, which did not consist of light food like poha, idli, upma etc. but full meal consists of roti, vegetables, dal, curd, salad and fruits. My hungry stomach was saying it was the food time, eat like a king! A tug of war started within my mind – what did I want- food or question? A part of my mind warned me if food were not taken on proper time, it would be converted into stomach ulcer, which I was prone to. Another part of my mind told me to relax, as a shot of steroids would resolve every useless problem. First shouted food was the most important thing in life. Second part calmly replied to eat the delicious food once you were back home but now focus on question whose answer could not be find on any internet page or in any book. Finally, my mind decided and commanded that you were here for the question only so focus on the question and not on food.

To my utmost surprise, the opening was made with group meetings and not with personal meetings. Five groups went in turn by turn. I waited and waited. Then personal meetings started. I was hoping that my turn would come first but I was the last to meet Him. It was around 11 a.m. when I was called in for the meeting. Until that time, I was empty stomach and whether I had taken one or two sips of water, I could not recall now.

Two years later, I came to know that it was a special initiation, which needed to be done empty stomach. I was in His leela shetra and it was His leela!

Once again, I am on a waiting mode, this time it is very long and very tough. It is tough because from the past three months I have not eaten chole bhature. ;)

Pic : It is not an owl but a cat on the tree near meeting room in ashram. :)

I Am Most Attached to My Spiritual Experiences.

“I am really surprised to know that you can’t remember what you have recently written on your blog.” My mentor said a bit agitatedly to me.

“After writing I forgot what I have written. It is a boon as well as a bane.” I replied and tried to pacify him on hearing the words of praises about my latest post of which I could not even recall the topic. He made fun of me that I could not remember what I had jotted down a day before.

I wrote about my spiritual experiences on my blog so that I could easily forget them. These experiences were like heavy weighted baggage and I had to put them down to feel light so that I could move forward with ease. In general, spiritual experiences were like milestones on a highway but most of the time a seeker like me made a grave mistake of being attached to them by constant contemplating on its beauty and magnetism. Then, the milestones turned into traps. Suppose while travelling in a train, I spotted a beautiful lake with lotus flowers amongst the mountains, not only I kept brooding on it even after moving away from it but also had a strong desire to go back to enjoy that scene for some more time. The striking scene constantly kept hitting my head, which I found almost impossible to shed off, ultimately became a shackle because of my mere ignorance.

Nevertheless, as I advanced in practice it really became difficult to be detached from those experiences as they were about my weakest point. I had to walk through once again down the memory lane where even my shadow haunted me. Even if the spiritual experiences were the most pleasing, delightful and gratifying, they haunted me like ghosts in a dark room. It really became hard to ignore them and forget about forgetting them.

Till date I have had numerous spiritual experiences. In my dreams, I had seen various idols of Lord Hanuman, colored full vision of Lord Dattatreya, Glimpse of Ma Kalratri and many times had darshan of Om Swamiji. In meditation, I had seen different coloured lights like yellow, white, and a mixture of red, indigo, blue coloured dots, lines of various sizes sometimes crossing each other, a triangle, vision of Om Swamiji’s silhouette, vision of Ma Kalratri’s fierce eyes, Ma Katyayani’s delicate lips, Ma Skandmata’s greenish sober eyes, Ma Shailputri’s third eye, myself adorned with jewellery as Goddess, Mother Divine’s meenakshi eyes and Mother Divine’s attractive face from front as well as from side.

Nearly a decade back, I had experienced bliss, a mini Samadhi. ;) In which, I forgot to breathe, I could not see or hear anything and found myself immersed in ecstasy. Besides this, I was also blessed when Swamiji was 24 years old, an astral body experience, and His tears, Him as Shiva and Shakti. I was whimpering from the past seven months while chanting and meditating, my eyes welled up on remembering God and sometimes it became difficult to control my tears even publicly. Above all, I had telepathy with Om Swamiji. :) Sometimes the reception is weak on my side because of my negative thoughts. ;) Soon, my name will appear in Guinness Book of World Record for wide range of variety in spiritual experiences. ;) The most surprising fact was that I never had any spiritual experiences, neither in dream nor in meditation, related to my deity whom I worshipped day and night. In meditation, only I saw various intensity of brightness and different sized indigo dots of the same color as that of my deity. Moreover, this color was considered as the rare color to be seen in meditation. The vision of this color in meditation gave vairagya quickly.

Was I puffed up with spiritual pride after acquiring a few experiences? My pride had enhanced the feeling of separateness from others as I looked upon others with contempt. My arrogance became a serious obstacle to God's realization. It was an unhealthy attachment, and it was blocking my vision to see through. My lower nature was not purified yet.

The spiritual experiences were like fragrant garlands, which became tight shackles for me as I kept thinking about them and was not able to focus on my object of meditation. I was giving too much importance to them and felt that I was distracted from my path. I was unable to remain indifferent from these experiences. I found it difficult to interpret and contemplate them. I could not understand tenses till date then how could I understand the deep meaning of these spiritual experiences. ;) They were the silver lining, which was even thicker than my negative emotions like anger or egoism. I had to wipe it so that I could progress further. These visions and spiritual experiences would come and go, but they were never the goal of my meditation. I was working hard to substitute them with higher thoughts. I had to diligently remove conceit and boastfulness, to realize Divinity. Detachment from spiritual experiences whether pleasing or horrible was necessary for spiritual progress. It is truly said that the less attached you are, the more peaceful you are!

Swami Vishnu Devananda in Meditation and Mantras says, “Looking back to past experiences gives life to the memory-picture, reinforces and pulls the mind away from its true nature. A sage never looks back; he concentrates only on identification with the Absolute.” My final and true goal of meditation was the direct experience of God. Meditation was the treacherous path of difficulties where each hindrance served only as a challenge to goad me onto a higher achievement. I jotted down all my experiences so that I could overlook them and started afresh as an infant who did not have an iota of idea about what spiritual experiences were. Just innocent I in MA’s tender lap! :)

Last time when I was in ashram, in one of his discourses Swamiji said, “Spiritual experiences are like a breeze. They come and go. Only for a small period, you experienced the coolness. However, the presence of Mother Divine is as if you have switched on an air conditioner. The cool air is always there.” (Sorry I could not remember the exact words said by Him, but this was the gist.)

Even after thorough search, I could not find the air conditioner button. I had full faith that whenever I would be ready, He would turn on the switch for me. :)

Pic : Pixabay

A Big NO to Retirement

‘Retirement’

This word never existed in my parent’s dictionary. They worked hard throughout their lives for their children, for their families and for the society. Even after retiring from a decent post and having ample of funds, my father continued to work day and night. A few years later, he fell sick. However, his illness was never a hurdle in his work routine. He used to open his office at 9 a.m. and closed it around 7 p.m. without taking a break on Sundays and holidays like Diwali, Holi etc. His philosophy of life was ‘Work is Worship’. To cope up with my father’s hectic schedule my mother would always be busy with cooking, home management, creating beautiful articles of knitting, stitching and embroidery, attending friends and relatives and doing charitable work. She had not retired even now. I am surprised to see a septuagenarian working hard even at this age to manage her funds, to learn accounting and to write with keypad on online platforms.

Betty White said, “Retirement is not in my vocabulary. They aren't going to get rid of me that way.”
Retirement can be defined as a time to enjoy life and relax, without any pressure from work. My life is dedicated to society and social causes, and I truly enjoy it. I totally agree with Toba Beta who in ‘Master of Stupidity’ said, “You get old faster when you think about retirement.” Irrespective of my age, I will continue to do my charity work without getting tired and retired from it. For the constant supply of funds in my various acts of kindness, I have to hammer away to maintain a balance between the cash inflow and cash outflow. I will go on to generate and share funds till my last breath.

I will not retire from cooking various dishes, trying new recipes and experimenting with new foodstuffs. Cooking is my lifeline as it is an art, science and craft of food alchemy. It is like a food adventure in which I adore losing myself in the rituals of chopping, sautéing, simmering and garnishing. It is a great stress buster. Moreover, I love to satiate myself with my culinary skills as well as by savoring delicious dishes. Food provides nourishment for the body, but cooking provides nourishment for the soul. Dishes cooked by me have special powers to bless the famished with prosperity and happiness. I cannot back from using my special powers for the welfare of the society.

Whenever I entered a property, just in a glance I can scan it and can tell the monetary position, wealth accumulated, happiness status and other things about the residents or its owners. I can suggest rectification for their welfare and betterment. I cannot retire from giving advice based on my knowledge of Vastushastra. With my jyotish gyana (knowledge of astrology), I can suggest native to do some charity and if he does it, he definitely feels better. It is my intuitive power or the power that I have accumulated from my nonstop charity work, I do not know.

I cannot retire from planting trees because if we wish to breathe in fresh air in future, we have to plant trees and some more trees. Moreover, retirement is just out of question without developing a new variety of mango tree, which can be harvested in winters. ;)

I love teaching and I love teaching yoga very much. Retirement from teaching and learning new practices in yoga is just not at all feasible as I wish to be a be a great yogi. I will practice it till I shed this body. Although I have taken a break from teaching yoga because of my health reasons.

When I started writing in 2009, I never thought that I would be writing continuously for more than a decade. Writing has helped me in improving my command over the English language and enhanced my vocabulary. It has also helped me in throwing away those emotions, which are baggage and bondage for me. Most of the times, when I write I am getting rid of my load. Yasunari Kawabata quoted, “I wonder what the retirement age is in the novel business. The day you die.”

I will even work after leaving this body. Whoever will chant ‘Chole Bhature Ma ki jai!’ I will quickly reach near that devotee and will elatedly bless him with prosperity, wealth and happiness. Tau phir bolo............;) Seriously speaking as the lineage guides me while doing charity, I will be guiding the generations to come after I shed this physical body. Sandra Day O'Connor said, “I need to retire from retirement.”

This very moment I will love to retire from cleaning utensils because then I will not have to eat the frog in the morning. ;) :D

Pic : A sunset of retirement on the vast canvass of life! :)

My Tiny Steps Towards Sainthood

“I will never allow you to take sannyasa (renunciation). You can do whatever prayers you like to do in your room and nobody will disturb you.” Ma (my mother) instructed me on seeing my inclination towards sannyasa. Newton’s third law is ‘for every action there is equal and opposite reaction.’ I decided I would become a saint without taking sannyasa. I threw my bed out of my room and declared that I would sleep on floor from now onward. She tried hard to convince me to sleep on a low height bed, bed with wheels or any designer bed that fit in my Sankalpa. But I was adamant. This happened almost one and a half decade before. Till date in summers, I slept on cotton durrie and in winters on a cotton gadda (thin mattress).

When I became comfortable with the change in my sleeping habit, I challenged myself by saying goodbye to the slippers. Like saints, I began to live barefoot. Most of the time I did not wear any footwear. These restrictions I followed in my house and only my close relatives knew about it. I lived like a queen in the outer world, but I lived like a saint in the four walls of my house!  

When last time I attended Swamiji’s discourse, he looked towards me and said, “Sannyasa lene ki jaroorat kya hai (What is the need to take sannyasa)?

Pic : Pexels

This is How I Awakened My Kundalini - From Root Chakra to Crown Chakra

As my past was haunting me, I could not sleep. I was trying hard to slip into dreamland, but I was failing repeatedly. That night, I took a bold decision. From quite some time, I was struggling between my materialistic and spiritual desires; whether should I struggle more on the materialistic path or should I focus my time and energy wholly on my spiritual path. Finally, I decided I would be concentrating fully on my spiritual journey. My courageous decision was that I would awaken my Kundalini Energy, which once awakened could not be made dormant rather had to be worshiped daily without failing for a single day. I opened a book by Swami Sivananda whether that was online in pdf format or in paperback I could not recall now. I reached that page on which Kundalini awakening pranayama was written. (This pranayama is also mentioned on page no. 93 in the book ‘Japa Meditation : The Easiest Way to Calm The Mind’ authored by me.

I inhaled and exhaled as per the mentioned instructions. I hardly did that pranayama for ten times or even less then did I feel a throbbing sensation in my Muladhara Chakra. I could distinctly feel that I had awakened my Kundalini. My body was like dry twigs that just needed a spark to ignite. In Bliss Divine, Swami Sivananda said, “When there is throbbing in the Muladhara, when hairs stand on their roots, when Uddiyana, Jalandhara and Mula Bandha come involuntarily, know that Kundalini has awakened.” This happened sometime in 2011 or 2012. At that time, I did not know who Om Swami was, but He knew me well and showed me the correct path because He knew more about me (my past lives) then what I knew about myself.

In the following days, I became more confirmed as I felt jolts in my legs just before slipping into the sleep. One day in dream, I felt an electric current passing through my spinal cord. I also experienced bliss for near about 60 seconds in which my breathing stopped completely, and I felt immense joy. That was just a drop of nectar, but my heart was yearning for the ocean of nectar – Samadhi. Some months later, I felt involuntary body movements, which became vigorous with each passing day. For many years, my stomach got upset very frequently because of Kundalini jumping at Solar Plexus Chakra or because of my somewhat bad eating habits I did not know.

These days, most of the time my Kundalini was at Heart Chakra as I could feel the burning sensation there and I cried horribly while meditating. Sometimes I felt difficulty in breathing and many times coughed in deep meditation, which meant that my Kundalini was active at Throat Chakra. Generally, while worshiping Devi my Kundalini arose to Eye Chakra and during astral body experience, it reached Crown Chakra and I felt a fountain of ecstasy and joy. Finally, dhoodh mein ubal aa he gaya (Milk boils)! ;)

Pic: Pixabay