Amazing grace, how sweet thou art

By Michael Draper, UK

I often remind students of one of the many aphorisms from the film ‘Kung Fu Panda’: the past is history, the future is a mystery, but the Now is a gift (grace), which is why we call it the Present. Are we always aware of the grace that flows at the moment: the Now with its gift and opportunity?

The web of neural pathways in the brain processes information in fractions of time, and our mental interference through emotional reaction or otherwise makes the experience of Now a challenge. When we remind ourselves to focus on being present – the Now – we try to be one with what has already passed into memory. Divine irony.

Is it possible then to become aware of Now by watching or meditating on the rhythm of our breathing? Becoming implies time. Time and Now are mutually inconsistent. 

However, there is one meditation given by Mohanji in which we are directed to the space between our ‘in and out’ breaths to experience an expansive space that is the place of pure awareness of the Self. The promise of possibility can be replaced by the experience of presence.

When we have a peak experience, we are said to catch our breath – that is, for a moment, we forget about the breath or breathing or thinking, and we fall naturally into that space, which is presence and time appears to stand still in a concentrated moment, and grace flows.

One such experience occurred on 9th June, 2023. I saw Mohanji physically for the first time at the holy ashram of Skanda Vale, the Community of the many names of God. This was during the Shirdi Sai Baba temple inauguration and  Prana Pratishtha of Shirdi Sai Baba idol. Skanda Vale and the welcoming and inclusive Swamis, monks and nuns of the ashram have been a divine refuge, an ark in the sea of Samsara, for many years. 

The gravitational power of Mohanji’s presence is to be experienced. Stillness is one of its manifestations, and silence is another. How, then, to describe the impact of seeing Mohanji for the first time? Visually, there is a vibrancy in which Mohanji seems to stand out from his immediate environment. Mohanji is outstanding, so to speak. He is magnetic.

My feeling was one of wanting to be physically close and yet respectful of his space amid my mind’s uncertainty over what was ‘allowed’ or possible. So I watched and observed from a distance, hoping that I might catch his gaze which would invite an approach, in other words, longing for recognition but mentally reasoning in advance against the possibility to avoid and manage disappointment. 

Mohanji responded. I met Dirk.

Dirk is a divine force of love, generous and ever concerned for the welfare of others. I felt an immediate connection with Dirk and was very happy to talk openly with him. We spoke of Sathya Sai Baba and our experiences with Swami – when two or more gather in my name says the Master Jesus there I am, and Baba was with us as we reminisced. Sai Dirk encouraged me to approach Mohanji and Devi to seek their blessings and to request that I touch their feet. 

I had shared with Dirk that this had been a longed-for experience with Sai Baba, but I needed more courage to approach Baba. Self-doubt had led to inertia and a lost opportunity. I explained to Dirk that on one visit to Prashanti Nilayam at Puttaparthi (India), Sai Baba had unexpectedly walked about the ashram outside of the formal darshan setting and timings to pour out his love and grace on devotees that ‘happened’ to be in the right place at the right time.

Naturally, a small crowd had gathered and, like a wave, moved with Sai Baba to the vicinity of the coconut stall in the ashram grounds where I was standing. My heart wanted to move towards Sai Baba and fall at his feet as others did. But would my mind allow that? No. 

Subsequently, I realised that the coconut is the symbol of the ego, and I was at the coconut stall. Stalled – yet another divine irony. That sense that I was separate from Baba and not deserving of him or his love and a doubting mind – ego – meant that I didn’t move and I missed the opportunity.

Deep regret followed. 

With hindsight, the ‘missed’ opportunity resulted in a period of intense sadhana and deeper longing. Baba’s Will, often inscrutable, is perfect in its timing and impact, and with Baba’s loving grace, other experiences followed. Even so, I had not physically touched his divine feet.

With Dirk’s encouragement and reassuring presence, I approached Mohanji and Devi. With some haste resulting from hesitancy, I conveyed to Mohanji my longing and missed opportunity with Baba and requested that I touch his feet. 

I wasn’t eloquent, probably garbled, but Mohanji read my heart. Now was the time, and grace flowed. Mohanji nodded his head with approval, and with Sai Ram chants, I knelt before Mohanji and took padanamaskar. Devi gracefully gave her permission, and now, with more confident ‘Sai Rams’ being uttered, I took padanamaskar from Shakti. With a sense of completion and gratitude but having not yet emotionally assimilated what had happened, I watched Mohanji move along the path.

Are you coming to Scotland? Dirk explained about MCB in Scotland and the Prana Pratishtha of Shirdi Sai Baba idol and temple inauguration at MCB in a few days’ time. This would mean reorganising my work diary and booking leave at very short notice and a very long drive from South Wales. But with the experience granted by Mohanji still reverberating in my system, where there is a will, then there is a way.

Trusting but uncertain of the physical location of MCB Scotland, I approached Peter, another loving and generous soul. I was aware that Peter was somehow connected with Mohanji through his seva activity in addition to that at Skanda Vale. It transpired that Peter was part of the team that had located the property, which was now MCB Scotland. Therefore, Peter was able to write the address and postcode on an empty paper cup that I was holding. I don’t carry a mobile phone.

An empty cup that was about to be filled – Masters emphasise the importance of being your genuine (authentic) self: simply be, accepting yourself as you are ‘warts and all’ and open to receiving grace without any pre-conditions. Be honest but without judgement. The divine knows all anyway. The divine is directing the action through you watching the drama. A cup or conditioned mind already filled and closed to the divine play will simply overflow, and available energy and grace will go unappreciated and unused.

I felt the energy of purpose stir within – Adventure and the Will to venture forth. I began planning the trip in short measure. The inauguration was due to happen on Thursday and Friday, just days following the completion of the inauguration at Skanda Vale.

Almost everything fell into place; I had a work event on Thursday that I could not move but decided that was not going to prevent travel, and I would leave South Wales by car that evening to drive to Scotland and arrive in time for the inauguration event at MCB Scotland on the next day. This would mean driving through the night.

You might expect to feel tired with 12 hours of driving following a workday. Not when Mohanji’s will and energy are with you. At around 2:00 am in the morning, my sensible mind said to pull into a lay-by to rest for a while. I couldn’t sleep, so I eventually drove on, reaching MCB at around 6:30 am in the morning. Almost immediately, I saw Peter and then Vijay, who, in welcoming me, made sure that I had a cup of tea and refreshment. Blessings.

For the sake of brevity, I will leave the June experiences at MCB aside. However, I would like to mention two events in that divinely beautiful location. When walking to his seat in the Datta garden next to the Dattatreya temple for satsang, Mohanji gently but with intention touched my right arm at the level of my chest. To an observer, Mohanji’s hand had casually brushed my arm. 

However, this triggered a reaction in my heart centre. It took some effort to prevent public tears from flowing. I was aware that Mohanji had removed an energetic imprint in my heart chakra that no longer served a useful purpose with the lightest of touches.

When talking with Devi in front of the Shirdi Sai Baba temple, again, a casual observer might have noticed Devi moving her hand in front of my solar plexus as a natural part of the conversation. I felt another energetic imprint being removed from that area.

Grace in abundance was being given naturally without asking or without the need for any acknowledgement. I returned to South Wales with a renewed sense of purpose. I set about the task of discovering Mohanji.

Vlogs, blogs and any information I could find in the time available outside of work and Skanda Vales’ livestream pujas were eagerly assimilated. In meditation, my focus was Sathya Sai Baba and the Gayatri mantra, but Mohanji’s face repeatedly appeared, and I could feel Mohanji’s presence and energy. When simply sitting quietly with my eyes closed, Mohanji would appear before my mind’s eye. I recognised the reassurance. I am in the presence of divine consciousness, a living Master. 

The picture of myself and Mohanji taken with Mohanji’s kindness and blessings at MCB was printed, framed and installed at home, and his picture calling card was installed in front of a picture of Shirdi Sai Baba and Hanuman on my work desk alongside that of Sathya Sai Baba. The forms and pictures may be many, but the Supreme Consciousness is one.

Masters always advise enquiry of the Self or otherwise. Don’t take things at face value – but when knowledge, faith and experience have become established, then commit, be patient and don’t let go. Constant remembrance of the divine or a Master through any means possible is one method of not letting go. Sri Aurobindo has said that faith is never blind – faith is an intuition that inevitably leads to experience. 

I was eager to be in Mohanji’s physical presence again. Sathya Sai Baba once explained to a group of devotees that meditation, japa and the like were useful tools when they were not in Baba’s physical presence, but when the source of all consciousness is with them, then simply be in that presence. To whom in any event are you chanting? 

There is a story of an ancient king who had wasted his life and caused suffering to his subjects through neglect, with the exception of one act of kindness. As a consequence, on death, he was condemned by the greatest teacher, the God of death, Yama, to experience the consequences of his actions before rebirth. 

The King, however, was permitted one day in heaven due to his one good action and was given a choice as to what would come first – the suffering or that day.

For all his faults, the King exercised the discriminating faculty that he had failed to use during his life and chose to experience the day in heaven. On arrival in heaven, the King enquired about the location of the great saints and sages in permanent residence and rushed to sit in their company. 

At the end of the appointed day, Yama came to collect the King only to find that the fire and power of purity of the presence of the great saints and sages had burnt the karma of the King to ashes through simple proximity. The King avoided his fate.

This isn’t a story about getting out of jail free; there are many others in which cleverness has backfired, but a reminder about the value and supreme blessings of being in the presence of a realised Master at one with and expressing supreme consciousness.

Grace once more flowed with the Vel installation at Skanda Vale, and then MCB Scotland announced a retreat with Mohanji in September 2023 – ‘Rise and Revive’ – I signed up immediately. The many grace-filled experiences of that retreat are perhaps for another story.

Offered at the lotus feet of Mohanji and the Masters of the Tradition with gratitude, love and blessings.

Samastha Lokah Sukinho Bhavantu: May all worlds and all beings in those worlds be happy and free.

Sai Ram. Jai Mohanji.

To register for the next Empowered 5.0 in India, click here!

|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||

Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 2^nd November 2023

Disclaimer:

The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the authors and those providing comments on these blogs are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or positions of Mohanji, Mohanji Foundation, it’s members, employees or any other individual or entity associated with Mohanji or Mohanji Foundation. We make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of any information presented by individual authors and/or commenters on our blogs and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use.

We reserve the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner we see fit blog entries or comments that we, in our sole discretion, deem to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, of an express commercial nature, or otherwise unacceptable.

Mohanji Testimonials team

Homa at Lake Manasarovar

by Kannaiah, Netherlands

While enjoying our satsangs with Mohanji in Kathmandu and listening to the most beautiful experiences of those who had visited Mt. Kailash earlier, Mohanji asked me to come to his room. “We should talk about the Homa at Lake Manasarovar,” he said, “this is very important and auspicious.” 

Although I’ve been performing pujas for Lord Shiva since 1996, in the form of Rudrābhiśekam, I have never done a Homa alone. For me, the journey to Mt. Kailash was a celebration of the darshan of Lord Shiva Himself, a wish I had for a very long time. I probably thought I could stay ‘in disguise’ during the trip and avoid all the duties and tasks. 

Mohanji’s remark about me doing the Homa instantly woke me up from my ‘dreamy’ state. 

In his room, Mohanji spoke about the importance of the Homa and how he performs it. Intention (Bhaav) is the most crucial ingredient, without which the deities will not come. 

Mohanji already knew, without me saying so, that it would be my first Homa ever. Can you imagine a trial by fire right at the most important gateway of the world? It is like running your very first 100 meters at the Olympics. No pressure!

Together with Madhu, Mohanji summed up the directions for the Homa. He spoke about the attributes, ingredients and the mantras that needed to be used. I tried to scribble some notes on a piece of paper that I had brought along but missed out on most of it. “Do you know this mantra?” “Do you know that mantra?” “Uhhhh, yes, Mohanji,” but at that moment I forgot everything. Thank God Madhu recorded the conversation so that I could listen repeatedly. 

Madhu suggested that we sing Mohanji’s Gayathri, but out of his compassion, Mohanji said, “These people have all different Gurus, let them sing the Gurumantra ‘Om Sri Gurubhyo Namah”. 

This really touched me as I had intended to take my beloved Mother Gopala Krishna along with me. 

“My Homas are very simple; normally, the Homas are very elaborate.”… Hmm, simple? But we already spoke for 30 minutes about how and what! I prayed that he would perform through me as I became blank after listening to all the do’s and don’ts. 

Later, back in the room, I told Carla that I needed to do some ‘home(a)work’ and go through all that Mohanji had told me. The recording was very useful, and slowly, I got back my confidence. 

The mantras that I did not know by heart I could practice in the coming days.

Preeti lovingly arranged all the items for the Homa, including wood, camphor and cow ghee. If our intention and bhaav were there, what could go wrong? 

One duffel bag was filled with Preeti’s arrangements and many Rudrakshas to get them blessed at Lake Manasarovar. While crossing the border from Nepal to Tibet, our Homa bag got held up, and the clearance was ultimately denied – it had to stay back on the Nepalese side of the border. 

Bhavani broke the news that all the major items for our Homa were not there and that we had to search for substitutes in China. While in Nepal, you can find wood, ghee and camphor in every remote village, it was the opposite in China. From shop to shop, we went with our guide and finally found some butter in restaurants. Bhavani, ‘the brave’, said she would boil it into ghee. 

Camphor was not to be found, although finally, we came across a somewhat semi-liquid version. In the shop, on the floor, the gooey stuff was set ablaze, and it worked! 

Wood was nowhere to be found, either, and from this town onwards, the tree line would end. We walked back to the hotel and asked Mohanji, inwardly, for help. Just as we arrived at our hotel across the street, we saw, in front of a restaurant, a box with wood sticking out. After much persuasion and a good amount, we were back in business. 

The day of the Homa at Lake Manasarovar started with a severe downpour of rain – not the most convenient weather for an auspicious fire ceremony. 

Bhavani summoned her ducklings to chant three malas of Om namah Shivaya, Shivaya namah Om. After the second round, the rains subsided, and once the three malas were completed, the sun came through. 

Finally, the moment arrived, with a little twist in my stomach, and the Homa started. Throughout the ritual, we could feel the presence of Mohanji and many Masters, Gurus and celestial beings. As a group, we continued to chant despite the lack of oxygen. The waves of the lake licked the shore very gently, and with every wave, I felt divine beings entering the fire. 

The bhaav and intention were within all of us, as well as in our Sherpas. Every participant offered a stick of wood dipped in ghee with a deep intention. 

When we finally did, one by one, the aarati for Mohanji, and we touched each other’s shoulders, making sure we all performed this most auspicious offering, the hairs on my arms stood up, and tears of gratitude flowed from my eyes. 

What a blessing! Later, my fellow yatris explained how the sun gave a special darshan during the Homa.

Silently, we walked back to our accommodations, hardly realising what had happened to us. 

Even now, when I write this, I feel the intensity of that moment. Thank You, Swamiji, thank you, Mohanji, thank you! 

|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||

To register for the next Empowered 5.0 in India, click here!

Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 12^th October 2023

Disclaimer:

The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the authors and those providing comments on these blogs are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or positions of Mohanji, Mohanji Foundation, it’s members, employees or any other individual or entity associated with Mohanji or Mohanji Foundation. We make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of any information presented by individual authors and/or commenters on our blogs and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use.

We reserve the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner we see fit blog entries or comments that we, in our sole discretion, deem to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, of an express commercial nature, or otherwise unacceptable.

Mohanji Testimonials team

Swagatam Krishna!

Welcome, Krishna!

by Subhasree Thottungal, UK

“6th Sept 2023 is Krishna Janmashtami – the birthday of Lord Krishna! And Mohanji will be with us at the MCB (Mohanji Centre of Benevolence) in Scotland then. Wow! What an opportunity to have our Mohana with us on the birthday of Krishna!” I was pretty excited with this thought when we were planning Mohanji’s visit to the MCB, Scotland, in the first two weeks of September. What can we do? How can we celebrate that day here in MCB? I didn’t have all the answers. I mentioned this day to Mohanji, and he said, yes, sure, we must celebrate Krishna Janmashtami. 

I knew we must carry some items for Janmashtami from London before we go to Scotland. I requested our dear Jyostna Ben and Pravin Bhai to help me get these items. Jyotsna Ben bought a beautiful baby Krishna (Bal Gopal) idol, a swing, some cute, tiny ornaments, baby Krishna’s outfits, a peacock feather, etc. As we were finalising the day-by-day programme schedule, I had that day as ‘Krishna Janmashtami celebration in the night,’ but I still didn’t have the details of how to celebrate. As days passed by, in my mind, I was getting a bit worried as I still didn’t have the whole plan!

Mohanji arrived on 31st Aug, participants started coming on 1st Sept, the retreat started soon, and I still hadn’t finalised the Janmashtami celebration plan yet! 

This day also had another significance. On Janmashtami day in 2000, Mohanji’s daughter Ammu left her body at a young age. Every year, on this day (Hindu Tithi), Mohanji performs the shraadh (ritual) for Ammu, mainly on the banks of Ganga. This year, Mohanji was in Scotland. Hence, he requested us to organise everything for him to observe this ritual. This was to be a private ritual, a father making offerings to the soul of his beloved daughter, and it needed to be facilitated well with all the proper rituals.

So, as the day was approaching, I focused on organising Ammu’s shraadh. I realised how important this is for Mohanji as a father, and I didn’t want anything lacking in the arrangement of this ritual. Thankfully, a very experienced and respected priest from London came up to the MCB for this ritual and arrived the previous night. He brought all the essential items with him, too. All I had to ensure was to clean the room where the ritual was supposed to happen and keep it ready for the priest. The priest also asked me to prepare a complete meal in the morning to be offered as prasadam during the ritual. 

On the 6th morning, when I took the morning arati to Mohanji, I noticed a deep silence and calmness on his face. I felt Mohanji, as a father, must be missing and remembering his daughter on this day, even after 23 years! 

Mohanji went to the puja room, where the priest was ready to start the ritual. I was rushing to finish cooking the full meal for prasadam. 

At that moment, Kristina told me that Mohanji was asking me to go inside the puja room and assist the priest and Mohanji if they needed anything. This was a private ritual between a father and daughter, and just being there as an assistant with the priest was indeed a great privilege. I quickly took the prasadam with me, went to the room and sat there to offer assistance when required. 

The ritual happened elaborately and continued very smoothly. Mohanji was fully merged into the ritual, following every instruction as requested by the priest and was saying and performing every part with total surrender, concentration, full sincerity and feelings (bhaav). During that ritual, I felt the presence of Ammu, and I could feel her joy, peace and assurance. Ammu was indeed receiving every offering her father offered with so much love. 

When the ritual finished, Mohanji said he was pleased with the way it was organised and how well the ritual was completed. He even complimented me about the prasadam and how quickly I could make all these items! I didn’t know either! However, it was not a surprise for me, as I knew who was doing it all! I surrendered the praise that Mohanji gave me at his feet, as I am not the doer; he is! 

I was still very overwhelmed and in a heightened state of energy, being present in the ritual. I thought Ammu & I might have been connected in the past! Well, I was certainly grateful to Mohanji for giving me this opportunity. I was also very happy and was relieved that this very important function for Mohanji was successfully completed and that he was happy.

Then I again focussed on the Janmashtami celebrations and discussed with Swami Govinda (who was with us during this period from Skanda Vale). He suggested that we carry the Krishna idols and do a procession, going around the entire MCB that evening. I mentioned to Mohanji about this plan. Mohanji suggested that, as Krishna was born at midnight, we should do the celebration in the night starting before midnight with bhajans for Lord Vishnu & Lord Ram (the prior incarnation of Krishna). And at midnight, celebrating Krishna’s birth by doing his arati, singing Krishna bhajans and distributing sweets to everyone with the joy that Krishna has come! 

He guided us with all the finer details, too. His main guidance was to welcome Krishna with joy and happiness, singing, dancing, etc. Then he said that we should take baby Krishna and all our other idols and do the procession the next morning. He even said he would join us for the procession (Nagar Parikrama), too. Wow! As Mohanji gave us all the instructions, my heart was beating faster with joy because this was what I had been waiting for all these days! Now we had the details! Mohanji smilingly said, “Let it all be a great drama!” “Yes, indeed, we will have a great show,” I thought.

I informed all the participants who were still there with us about the plan for the night. Almost everyone stayed back at the MCB after dinner. Around 10 pm, we started the celebrations. Vighneshwara Anna and Swami Govinda placed the beautifully decorated swing with Baby Krishna in front of Baba inside the temple. Baby Krishna’s altar was in a beautiful covering, indicating that he was yet to be born! Everyone gathered, and we started singing bhajans. As the time drew closer, the spirit of all the devotees went higher and higher with joy; many were dancing, too. 

At midnight, Swami Govinda unveiled Baby Krishna, took the idol in his hand and raised it to show us all! We then did a special arati, as was chosen by Mohanji. Everyone offered arati, gently swung Baby Krishna’s cradle and shared sweets. I was totally soaked! Not just with the sweat from all the singing and dancing, but with unlimited joy! Mohana is here! Krishna is here! Though Mohanji was physically not with us at that time in the temple, I knew he was very much with us. His presence was tangible!

You can watch here the Live video of that celebration.

When I took the arati to Mohanji the following morning, I told him teasingly, “You didn’t come to celebrate with us last night; we had so much fun!” Mohanji spontaneously said, “Of course, I came! I was there.” 

After breakfast, Mohanji instructed us on how to start the next celebration – ‘Nagar Parikrama,’ – the procession of all the Krishna idols around the MCB. He gave specific instructions on how to start, where to stop, and which arati to be done; Swami Govinda and others prepared the lamps, etc. Soon, Mohanji and everyone else gathered inside the shrine room. 

Mohanji carried the Shree Guruvayurappan’s idol, someone else carried another Krishna Idol we had there, and Mohanji walked to the Datta temple. He said we will begin from there. The handmade lamps were lit, and Datta arati was done. With bells and mantra chanting, the procession started, moving to Baba’s temple, where our Bal Gopal was swinging in his cradle. 

After reaching there, Mohanji offered arati (a melodious arati that truly opens up our heart chakra) to Bal Gopal followed by the others. I then took the idol of Bal Gopal in my hands and got ready to start the procession around our entire land. We also had the idols of Lord Jagannatha, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Sudarshana. 

Everyone took an idol, and another person walked in front carrying a handmade lamp for each deity. When we exited the temple, Mohanji called me to stand beside him. I held Baby Krishna – Bal Gopal in my hands, keeping him at my chest level.

While walking with Mohanji, holding Bal Gopal, the MCB felt like the land of Vrindavan. The trees, the leaves swaying in the gentle breeze, the warm sunshine on our faces, the birds chirping, the fragrance of the lamps coming from the front, and above all, Mohanji walking on my right side holding Lord Guruvayurappan on his head felt like Krishna Kanhaiya walking with his flute on his lips blowing enchanting music. 

Mohanji asked us to keep chanting “Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaaya” while we walked, and he was chanting too. Since I was walking close to him, I could hear him chanting, adding to the divine feeling I was experiencing already. My feet were not on the ground, and I was not walking; I was just floating. I had no feeling of my body at that moment.

Slowly walking, we arrived at the “Parabrahma Vriksha” (a special tree within our land, where Mohanji had spotted the presence of Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva and very intense energy during his very first visit to the MCB in Scotland). 

Mohanji indicated for us to stop there and offer arati to the tree. Someone played the Kunja Bihari arati there, and we all sang it together. Since I was standing close to Mohanji, I could clearly hear him singing this arati, too! Krishna himself sang, which truly intensified the devotion flowing from our hearts. Eyes closed, the vision appeared of Vrindavan, Krishna standing under the special Kadamba Vriksha with Gopas and Gopis around him, playing sweet tunes in his flute. Not just humans but the animals, insects, trees, grass, rivers, mountains, forests – the entire universe came to a stand still. 

The air was filled with the fragrance of Krishna! Even though I didn’t know the full lyrics of the arati song, just repeating the chorus part along with Mohanji was ecstatic, devotion beyond all dimensions. When the arati finished, Mohanji signalled us to continue our walk, again chanting the “Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya” mantra. Walking through the grassland, the chant coming from everyone together filled the air, our entire space. The sky was beautiful – clear and bright blue. The Sun was shining, pleasantly warm with a soothing breeze. 

After walking for some time, in the middle of the field, suddenly Mohanji signalled for us to stop and asked to play the arati. While we were standing there before the arati started, suddenly my eyes went up to the sky, slightly towards the right side. And I noticed the bright Moon – crescent-shaped. The silver Moon was shining in the clear blue sky with just a few white fluffy clouds here and there. It felt like the Sun on the left and Moon on the right were standing and offering their prostration to the Lord of the Universe! 

Then I looked straight, right up to the end of our land with the natural boundary of lined trees that marks the start of the forest. At that point, I froze with what I saw! On top of each tree, I noticed a shape (unrecognised) with a shining silver lining. After my initial shock, as I gazed at all the trees in that row from one end to the other, I noticed similar silver lines around different shapes sitting on top of every tree! I soon realised that these were not just shapes; these were celestial beings watching the procession! 

Then my eyes went slightly up onto the sky, just behind the trees, and there I noticed a formation of white fluffy clouds, arranged in a theatrical pattern as if all the Devi Devtas (the Gods and the deities) were standing in line to watch this procession. We stood for quite a few minutes while singing the arati, but my eyes were glued to watching this divine vision of celestial beings enjoying this show! After some time, I turned my head to look at Mohanji’s face. With eyes closed, his lips moving, singing the arati song, he was merged in that divine space! It seemed as if Krishna was totally engrossed, his eyes closed and playing the divine tune through his flute. 

When I was standing beside Mohanji, he tapped on my head (at the crown) and said, “Hold Krishna there.” He also kept the idol of Guruvayurappan he was holding on top of his head.  As soon as I put the tiny Baby Krishna idol on my crown, something happened to my entire aura. From there on, I wasn’t myself. I was feeling Krishna. Not just on top of my head or in the idols, I was feeling Krishna right next to me! I captured those moments with open eyes; this vision was unbelievable but true!

After the arati finished, we started walking and reached the Datta Temple. Since the beginning of the procession earlier from Datta Temple, Bal Gopal was not there, and Mohanji told me to go inside the Datta temple and show Bal Gopal to Datta. Aww…. how sweet was that! And like a proud mother, I showed my sweet Baby Krishna to Datta and Anagha Lakshmy. If only I could show my joy, my expanded heart chakra! We did arati there, and once again, I enjoyed listening and singing along with Mohanji, the Kunja Bihari arati.

Then we walked back towards the Baba Temple, and after reaching there, I placed Bal Gopal on the altar. All other idols were placed there, too. Mohanji and everyone did Abhishekam (bathing) to all the idols, followed by the arati to Krishna again. These moments were just filling the entire temple room (and the entire space of the MCB) with a heightened state of energy, joy and celebration. The people present for this celebration did not just include the physically present persons, but all the people connected to Mohanji and our Tradition and even all the celestial beings. That was the feeling in the room at that moment! This place was Vrindavan, and the whole universe was attending this celebration. After all, Krishna himself was there! Everyone was singing bhajans; the tabla was being played, and the spirit of joy was expanding all to the fullest.

Then, it was time for Baba’s arati. Mohanji first offered the arati, and then everyone else offered the arati one by one. After my turn, I came back and stood behind Mohanji. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised when I heard Mohanji singing the entire of Madhyanna arati of Baba – all the songs, word by word! Wow, I thought in my head, when does Mohanji learn all these, and how does he remember, even though these lyrics are not in his language or Sanskrit! 

Something funny happened during this time. During one of the songs, there was a line which meant, “Baba, I am offering you total prostrations”. Mohanji tapped my shoulder and signalled me to do this, so every time this line came, I kept kneeling down and offering prostration on the ground to Baba. And Mohanji was smiling (teasing smile!). After that, one more song came, and there was also a line that meant offering pranams (but not really full prostration on the ground), but Mohanji tapped my shoulder again, and as I was about to kneel down, he smiled and indicated that it was not needed! I realised that Krishna was playing with me! Naughty Krishna! As always. 

Well, we finished the arati, took Baba’s blessings, took our Guru Mohanji’s blessings, and it was time for lunch. While having lunch and afterwards, Mohanji was quite cheerful and joyful, in a relaxed mood, contrary to how he was the previous morning. He was a serious father then and now the joyful Krishna!

I was still in a state with the heart chakra opened fully. Maybe this is exactly how everyone around Krishna in Vrindavan must always feel! Krishna was born – not just in rituals, but in our hearts, filling us with the divine love that is unfathomable, incomprehensible, and immeasurable.

I still can’t believe we had this privilege to experience Krishna, in flesh and blood, LIVE! Well, all I could say at that moment was, “Swagatam! Swagatam Krishna. Welcome to this abode; this body, this mind, this soul, make this your Vrindavan!”

Love you, Krishna; love you, my enchanting Mohana (Mohanji, my eternal Guru).

|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||

Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 7^th October 2023

Disclaimer:

The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the authors and those providing comments on these blogs are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or positions of Mohanji, Mohanji Foundation, it’s members, employees or any other individual or entity associated with Mohanji or Mohanji Foundation. We make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of any information presented by individual authors and/or commenters on our blogs and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use.

We reserve the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner we see fit blog entries or comments that we, in our sole discretion, deem to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, of an express commercial nature, or otherwise unacceptable.

Mohanji Testimonials team

The blessings of a living Master

by Suresh Balasubramanian, India

The grace of Masters can be unfathomable. It all started last year on mid-May 22. After a few days of visiting Tirupathi and some other temples, receiving the blessings and grace of the Lord and our Masters, my family and I came back to Chennai, and I left for my work in Goa. My father was with my younger brother and wife. In June, while our house renovation was ongoing, my father, brother, and wife visited our native place at Nagapattinam. One of my father’s relatives told him his body had become yellowish.

(Somewhere during this period, every morning, while I used to get up, Mohanji’s “Power of Purity” was the first thing I saw on my mobile. I knew Mohanji (my Datta) relentlessly told me to meditate. Credits to my mind’s procrastination, I didn’t adhere to the message).

When they took him to the doctor, he was diagnosed with jaundice which the doctor said my father had been suffering for the past month, but nobody detected it. 

My brother immediately called me, and I told him to do everything necessary for his treatment. Now here was the moment things suddenly started changing; instead of treating my father for jaundice, the doctor was carrying out all types of Scanning, including MRI and Endoscopy. Later he said there was some blockage in the bile duct near the gall bladder leading to the pancreas.

Seeing the events unfolding, I told my brother to shift our father to an empanelled hospital in Trivandrum, where our father was entitled to avail medical treatment free of cost through his professional tie-up.

I also came to Trivandrum, wherein they conducted a minor surgery and put a stud (metal clip) to open up the blockage between the gall bladder and pancreas. They informed us that they detected a small growth near the periampullary region. I didn’t understand the significance of the statement that the doctor said.

My wife consulted her cousin, working in the medical profession, and through the medical report, we learned that the small growth was cancerous. It took us some time to digest what we just heard. From jaundice to cancer detection was too much for us to take, given that my father had no bad habits like drinking or smoking.

The doctor said that they needed to do a major operation, namely Whipple surgery, to prevent the spreading and that they would perform the surgery at the earliest after my father’s symptoms of jaundice became low.

We planned for the surgery on August 31st, 2022 (Ganesh Chaturthi), two weeks from the date of the minor surgery, for my father to recover. My mind was relieved and assured that the surgery was planned on a very auspicious day.

Things were again to unfold.

After two weeks, my father and my brother were to come from Chennai for the surgery, and I was planning to join them in Trivandrum with my wife. Just two days before my brother departed from Chennai, I got a call from my brother that he had chickenpox. I immediately checked with the doctor, who cleared that if my father had already contacted chickenpox, there would be no problem.

I was continuously praying to Mohanji and Sripada Srivallabha.

We immediately requested a cousin from our native place to accompany our father from Chennai. On reaching the hospital, the doctors examined my father’s health condition and said we needed to wait till his health condition (jaundice) improved. The health of my father improved in three days. So on 3rd Sep 2022, Father underwent the Whipple surgery, a 13-hour procedure. I was sitting in the ward and was constantly chanting Datta mantra.

The doctor said the operation was successful and my father would take a month to recover from the surgery, and thereafter, his chemotherapy had to start as some lymph nodes were affected. We took our father to recover from surgery to Goa and within a month, on 3rd Oct 2022, through the blessing of the tradition and our beloved Master Mohanji.

We visited Kollur Maa Mookambika temple, although not planned initially. The divine Mother showered her blessings on our family. My father walked into the temple and had the divine darshan of Mother, and we also attended the deepa aradhana (deepa Aarthi) to our hearts’ content. Thereafter, we visited Sri Bhagavan Nithyananda’s ashram near the Mookambika temple, established by Shri Vimalananda Swami.

On return, we all had the blessing to visit Lord Murudeshwar and Lord Mahableshwar at Gokarna. Upon resuming office, my boss called me to the office and told me that I might need to go to (Lonavala) near Pune for official work. The first thought that flashed through my mind was Sai Baba had called for darshan.

As it was an official duty, I hesitated to take my family with me, but Sai Baba had other plans. I landed in Lonavala on a Thursday, and immediately after accessing the jobs in hand, I quickly called my wife to book tickets on Friday so they could join me for the weekend. On October 15th was Baba’s Mahasamadhi day; we went to Shirdi on October 16th. This was the first time I was taking my family to visit Shirdi.

Master plans the play and gets it executed. Just as we were going to Shirdi for darshan, I saw a video on YouTube from our beloved Master Mohanji – What to ask Sai Baba when you visit Shirdi. Ask Baba to help connect to his consciousness was the message. We went and had a beautiful darshan. On return, I enquired about continuing my father’s chemotherapy in Chennai.

We went to one of the Cancer Institute hospitals in Chennai in the month of November. The sight of the hospital moved my heart. I was coming across this hospital for the first time. The number of people who were there for the treatment was heart-wrenching. People of all age groups of various socio-economic backgrounds were all waiting in the corridor for their turn. Most of the patients were reduced to skeletons with hardly any energy to move due to the cancer.

During this time, I spoke to Mr Devadas from Palakkad and requested for Mai-Tri for my father. As planned, Mr Devadas did the Mai-Tri and informed that the energy transfer was average and the message through Mai-Tri was to continue with the treatment.

I reluctantly told Mr Devadas that my father’s age was a factor, and I was thinking of an alternative treatment other than chemotherapy after what I witnessed at the Cancer hospital. I was requesting whether we could continue with Mai-Tri alone. Mr Devadas asked me to surrender my thoughts to our beloved Master Mohanji and wait.

That evening, we had to take my father to a diabetic specialist for review. We had informed him on a previous occasion about the chemotherapy. I continuously asked Mohanji mentally about the way forward for his treatment in the doctor’s presence. Suddenly the doctor asked about the treatment, and I profusely said we had decided not to undergo chemotherapy.

He stopped the checkup and advised us that this very essential and that whatever the side effects of the treatment, we are there for you. I immediately felt as if Mohanji was speaking. We returned, and I shared with Mr Devadas that Mohanji had given the message and that we would continue with the chemo treatment.

We had planned the first chemo on Nov 25th, 2022 in Chennai. Mohanji was during those times, I believe, at the Chitrakoot pilgrimage. I was eagerly praying for the darshan for Mohanji. We started the chemo, and I told my father to offer his prayers to Mohanji, Kuladevata, and Lord Murugan as advised by Mohanji.

We came back, and after two days, I saw a FB post that on the same day, Nov 25th, Mohanji was in Chennai visiting Mohanji ka Aangan. My heart melted, a humble prayer, and Master showed his physical presence. Words will fall short of even describing the grace of the Master.

With the grace of our beloved Master Mohanji, my father completed the chemo treatment that lasted for seven months. On Mohanji’s Birthday i.e. Feb 23rd, 2023, my father completed the renovation and had a housewarming ceremony.

The treatment got over by mid-May. I went to see my father in Chennai on 04 June 23.

Suddenly, I heard Sai Baba’s prayer outside my house that day. We have a temple near our house, but they never play Sai Baba’s songs. I enquired with my father from where this prayer was coming. He said to go outside; you will see Baba. I came out of the house and saw Baba seated on a majestic throne on a tricycle approaching us.

My happiness knew no bounds; I couldn’t even chant, choked with divine darshan and just wanted to go and give dakshina through my father’s hand. I rushed inside but saw my father having food, so I took out some money and offered my dakshina.

Our tradition assures us that Mohanji Consciousness and Sripada Consciousness are no different; it’s the same. A different form of Lord Datta in the present time as a living master is our beloved Mohanji. Eternal gratitude and humble Sastang pranamam at the holy lotus feet of Mohanji (my Datta).

|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||

Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 7^th August 2023

Disclaimer:

The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the authors and those providing comments on these blogs are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or positions of Mohanji, Mohanji Foundation, it’s members, employees or any other individual or entity associated with Mohanji or Mohanji Foundation. We make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of any information presented by individual authors and/or commenters on our blogs and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use.

We reserve the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner we see fit blog entries or comments that we, in our sole discretion, deem to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, of an express commercial nature, or otherwise unacceptable.

Mohanji Testimonials team

In the company of Masters

By Eric Elbers, Canada

The story of the MyDattatreya website

KEEPING GOOD COMPANY

It is often said that travellers on the spiritual path should keep good company. Being an avid reader and living in a household where the members generally have other than spiritual interests, I found reading about the life and teachings of spiritual masters an inspiring and enriching experience. Paramahamsa Yogananda, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Anandamayi Ma, Amritananda Mayi Ma, and many other elevated human beings became my daily company, my teachers and my spiritual nourishment. 

Therefore, it was only a matter of time until I would learn about Shirdi Sai Baba, his life story as penned down in the Sai Sat Charitra, and next, the amazing story of Sathya Sai Baba. When reading about these masters, they would, as it were, come alive for me and indeed did become my daily companions. It was also a time when I was in transition from a spiritual path that had centered on the Sound Current and the Radha Soami teachings to more broad-based Hinduism. I felt attracted to Amritananda Mayi Ma and her teachings on compassion. I recognized that my reading, to a large extent, was an intellectual occupation, and I felt drawn to more heart-based spirituality shown by the amazing ‘hugging saint.’

MEETING MOHANJI

Then, in 2017, in an honorary magazine issue dedicated to Sathya Sai Baba, I read an article by Mohanji, in which he told his life story and his relationship with Sathya Sai Baba, who had been a turning point in his life. I felt immediately attracted to Mohanji and saw an opportunity to help an up-and-coming spiritual master in his mission. With time, a master attracts a core group of devotees around him who help and support him. A master who has been teaching for decades may have thousands of devotees and a hierarchical structure in the organization, but a master who is beginning his mission may still be approachable and welcome devotees to help him in his work. Such a Master was Mohanji. I emailed Mohanji and requested permission to start a meditation group based on his guided meditations. Very shortly, I received a reply that Mohanji had already become aware of my request even before it had reached him and had given his blessings.

In the summer of 2018, Mohanji came to Canada to dedicate an ashram in Ontario with a prana pratishta ceremony to inaugurate and empower the Ganesha, Dattatreya and Shirdi Sai Baba idols. That became an opportunity to meet face-to-face with Mohanji, who was very kind and enquired about my spiritual journey and how I had learned about him. I told Mohanji that it was my desire to serve him in his mission and become an ’outstanding’ disciple to him. This wish was fulfilled the following year when I was invited to participate in the Acharya training at the Canadian ashram, led by Mohanji himself. Mohanji told us that the correct way to measure living masters is not how many devotees they attract, but how many new masters they develop. The Acharya program was designed to develop such ‘budding’ masters. What a blessing to have been invited to participate!

DATTATREYA TRADITION 

During the Acharya training program in the summer of 2019, which lasted four days, I heard Mohanji many times refer to ‘the Tradition.’ I had no clue what tradition he was talking about, but it sounded intriguing to me, and soon thereafter, I learned about the Dattatreya tradition. That’s when I realized my love for Dattatreya. Even though I had grown up in a devoted Christian family [the Dutch Reformed Church], my intense reading had groomed me to recognize the immense stature and power of the Dattatreya tradition—the tradition of Avadhutas and liberation. To me, Dattatreya was not just another spiritual master, deity, or a great story, but I recognized him as the original, divine, spiritual teacher [Adi Guru] taking on many embodiments. This teacher is Divine Consciousness Itself, Supreme Reality, taking many incarnations to engage with souls to guide them back home. All the Masters I had read about were part of Dattatreya, the Supreme Teacher. This Teacher is Supreme Consciousness Itself, loving his emanations, Souls, and guiding them to Himself.

I felt I needed to give expression to my love for Dattatreya and wrote to Mohanji that I wished to work on a website dedicated to Dattatreya, documenting the great masters of the Dattatreya tradition to let people know about their lives and sublime teachings. Mohanji replied back “Yes, this needs to be done.” Encouraged, in November of 2019, I started a Facebook Group dedicated to the ‘Peerless Masters of the Dattatreya Tradition.’ Since its start in November 2019, this group has grown to more than 2250 followers, sharing news and stories about the Dattatreya Masters.

In the spring of 2020, during a Zoom Call with Mohanji Acharyas, Mohanji suddenly asked, “Is Eric there?” When I responded, he asked me to start working on the website for the Dattatreya tradition. Then, with the help of the Acharya Board, an international group of nine Acharyas was formed, and we started working on the documentation of the life and teaching of the Dattatreya Avatars and Masters. Thus, the MyDattatreya website was born. Seeing the success of the ‘Friends of Dattatreya’ Facebook Group, a Facebook Page about the Dattatreya Masters, named ‘MyDattatreya’ followed in the summer of 2020. This Page has now attracted 1348 followers.

Lord Dattatreya with Mohanji, Contemporary Datta Master

SHIRDI 2022

Due to the Covid pandemic from 2020 to 2022, travelling was restricted, and very few events were organized. So, as soon as it was announced that a Mohanji-led trip to Shirdi, India, would be held in December 2022, I decided to attend. It had been a long-standing wish of mine to visit the home of Dattatreya Avatar Shirdi Sai Baba. This was the chance. I also had desired to meet with Devi Amma, a living Saint in Bangalore, and spiritual daughter of Sage Agastya and Mother Lopamudra, and seek her blessings. Fortunately, I was able to combine both visits and was graciously welcomed by Devi Amma during a 30-minute private visit.

When we were speaking about Lord Dattatreya and the Masters of the tradition, Devi Amma shared a very interesting insight. She said that the incarnation of Dattatreya, as the embodied trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, had occurred due to the Divine Mother, the Shakti energy, requesting Supreme Consciousness, Shiva, to take birth as the trinity, so devotees could directly connect with the trinity of creation, sustenance and dissolution. Shiva agreed, and the well-known birth story of Dattatreya enacts this. It illustrates that it was the trinity which visited Anasuya, the pious wife of Sage Atri, during lunchtime while her husband was absent and tested her piety. And it was at Anasuya’s request [symbolizing Shakti] that the three gods agreed to be born to her as the trinity; hence, the child was named Dattatreya [Given Trinity].

BABA’S LEELA

Baba made me do an involuntary parikrama (circumambulation) when visiting Baba’s Samadhi Mandir for the first time in Shirdi. I entered the temple around 4:30 pm and, as is the custom, took off my shoes at the entrance I had arrived at (there are five gates) and placed them in a nearby rack. It was extremely busy in the temple with long lineups, and it took about one hour to complete paying my honours to Baba. By the time I got out, it had become dark, and moreover, I exited at a different location which I did not recognize. 

I had never been to Baba’s temple. This is a large place with buildings and crowds everywhere. It was very, very busy, but I had no choice but to start walking around the temple in my socks, looking for the rack with my shoes. Many different entrances, crowds everywhere, but no shoes I recognized. So, I made another round, and then another, and then another. No easy walking on socks on the very uneven, pebbly pavement. Clumsy and uncomfortable. After about an hour, I became more and more confused and shared my plight with a guard. Actually, three guards [trinity?] and it was the third guard who took pity on me and took me around the temple (again), visiting all places with shoe racks. And there are many! 

Finally, I was ready to give up the search and buy flip-flops for the rest of the trip, assuming my shoes had found a new owner. However, after another half hour of walking around the temple, right at the very end of the search, I spotted my shoes near Gate 3, where they of course had been from the very beginning. I was elated and relieved but also exhausted from circumambulating Baba’s Samadhi Mandir on socks for 90 minutes. Only Baba knows why he wanted me to do a 90-minute parikrama around his temple on socks, but in the end, he had mercy upon me.

SURPRISES

Another interesting and very heart-touching experience happened on the final morning in Shirdi, on the day of my departure back home to Canada. During the previous evening, I had met a group of Mohanji devotees from the Philippines, and we had discussed returning early in the morning to visit Dwarkamai, the place where Baba had sat next to his Dhuni [sacred fire] and receive visitors. I had not been able to find the place yet, but it could be challenging to schedule a visit because to be there at a quiet time, one has to start very early in the morning. And it was going to be a long day of travelling. 

But, surprisingly, I found myself awake and quite alert at 2:00 am, so I decided to make my way to the Temple. I was very happy to see my Philippine friends again; the temple grounds were still very quiet, and we had a wonderful time walking the grounds and spending time sitting and meditating in the Dwarkamai. 

Two notable surprises occurred on that last morning in Shirdi. The first one happened while we were circumambulating the beautiful and graceful Neem tree, still alive, under which Baba had chosen to sit during his first visit after arriving in Shirdi as a young lad well over one hundred and fifty years ago.  He sat there in meditation, rain or shine, and appeared to Shirdi inhabitants as an introvert yogi, having arrived mysteriously from an unknown source. While we circled the tree, suddenly, a few Neem leaves gently whirled down and landed at our feet. Excited and deeply grateful, we collected and shared these few precious leaves from the otherwise bare pavement since they are such a rare and prized possession for Baba devotees!

Next came a really big surprise. While ready to leave the grounds after having spent time meditating in the Dwarkamai, a Temple Guard suddenly appeared from nowhere and handed me a large gift bag wrapped in orange cloth. “Here, this is for you,” he said and walked away. I was stunned and surprised. My friends excitedly said, Oh, look, you have received a gift from Baba! What a blessing!” When I opened the bag, I found it was filled with diverse prasad: flowers, coconuts, fruits, sweets, gift cloth, etc. Indeed, a sweet blessing and departing gift from Baba.

Gift from Baba: A leaf from the Neem tree near Dwarkamai

NADA, THE SOUND CURRENT

We all have different constitutions, unique talents and weaknesses, and unique histories. On top of that, we travel different trajectories towards our shared destination, a complete merger with Supreme Consciousness, also called The Divine or God. Some of us are quick-witted and quick learners; others are sensitive with a great capacity for feeling and compassion. Some of us are visual, some auditory, some intellectual and some intuitive. For me, the journey has never been accompanied by great visual experiences or cinemascopic adventures, although at times I wished it would be like that. Instead, the Divine has come as a cat on quiet feet. He has come as a whisper, an insight, a calm knowingness. While others report remarkable meetings with a diversity of Masters, to me, the Divine Presence, the Master, and Mohanji in particular,  came as a quiet companion, a deep feeling in the heart, a nudge, a wink. Rumi called this Presence ‘The Friend.’ I call it my Companion. It is Consciousness Itself, also represented by Dattatreya.

There is no way we can separate ourselves from Consciousness, nor can Consciousness separate Itself from us, since Consciousness is what we are. We ARE THAT, Consciousness Itself. We are living, breathing and moving consciousness. All talk about Self-Realization is about removing the veil of illusion that we are something else. There is no need to grow into anything, to change anything, or to become something, because we are THAT already. We are Dattatreya.

In essence, we are victims of identity theft, the mind having stolen our true identity. Therefore, it can be said that we are victims of misidentification. We identify ourselves with an illusory personality produced by the mind. The master helps to lift this veil of illusion when our legs are strong and stable enough to carry the weight of our true nature.

My spiritual journey started nearly fifty years ago by connecting with the Audible Life Stream, also known as the Sound Current, Nada or Shabda, the Voice of God resonating through the universes. This sound of creative energy is always with us. It sings through creation in a divine play of creation, sustenance and dissolution. It starts as the primordial sound of AUM and branches into the Music of the Spheres, God’s Voice resounding in His Creation. 

Nada, the audible Life Stream, the light and sound of God

Over time the Sound Current has become my constant companion, a high-pitched eeee, at a slightly different pitch in each ear, merging in the centre of the head. It is the flow of the creative energy, the kundalini through the nadis.

During Dattatreya mantra chanting on Zoom, each Thursday morning at 7:00 am [PT]], at some point, the Sound Current ‘descends’ and becomes a presence that takes over. Hands and feet start tingling with the live energy flowing through the body system. It is like being plugged into a high-voltage electric wire. That is the Sound Current, the presence of Dattatreya.

These chanting sessions are open to all, and participants have reported also experiencing this high energy. By connecting to the chanter and the chanter connecting to the Sound Current, together we are wired to this Divine energy that flows through the universe as the creative, sustaining and dissolving force. The force of the Trinity. The Energy and Presence of Dattatreya.

Om Dram Sri Gurudeva Datta

Humbly submitted at the feet of my Master Mohanji and my Lord Dattatreya.

|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||

Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 4^th May 2023

Disclaimer:

The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the authors and those providing comments on these blogs are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or positions of Mohanji, Mohanji Foundation, it’s members, employees or any other individual or entity associated with Mohanji or Mohanji Foundation. We make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of any information presented by individual authors and/or commenters on our blogs and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use.

We reserve the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner we see fit blog entries or comments that we, in our sole discretion, deem to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, of an express commercial nature, or otherwise unacceptable.

Mohanji Testimonials team

A new life

By Mimansa Arora, India

On Mohanji’s birthday, I want to dedicate this testimonial in gratitude for whatever he has done for me and all the transformations he has graced my life with. I have gone through these experiences multiple times but never sat down to pen them.

I met Mohanji physically at the end of 2021. However, my journey started in 2020. At the beginning of 2020, I had been through a very turbulent time; much of it was because of my own wrong choices and decisions, putting my faith in people who did not have my best intentions.

I made choices that I never thought I would make. Looking back, I could have handled things better, but it didn’t happen that way. However, my idea of self crumbled – who I thought I was and what I thought I would do. My self-image was destroyed, leading to an absolute lack of self-confidence and trust and no idea what to do. Everything spiralled down even further; I had no idea how to get myself out of the internal state, and the external mess created. 

This went on for a while and got way worse. There was guilt, anxiety, self-pity, self-blame, and a lot of pain, the pain I had caused to others and the pain that was caused to me. I had no acceptance of what was happening and would spend all my energy replaying everything in my mind for a better outcome.

I was always connected to Sai Baba; it depended more upon how much I needed him. However, the connection was always there with him – like a friend. Throughout this time, I would pray to him to help me anyway.

This went on for a while, going from darkness to some light and back to darkness. I was aware of some terms related to spirituality, karma, the law of attraction, etc. Around this time, the lockdown happened, and even though it brought loss to many, for me, it was like some fresh air. I could go back home, away from everything and everyone, and make some changes to the state I was in.

I understood that things, situations, and people were being removed from my life to help me, but still, I deeply drowned in all the emotions of the lower frequency. I was dragging myself through days, relying on guided meditations to sleep at night. My family could sense that something was not right with me, but I was too reserved to share anything. The thought of affecting them added more to the pain and guilt.

My acceptance was too low, and soon, I hit rock bottom. Everything piled up and led to self-hatred; I hated everything about myself, and when my parents would take care of me, I felt unhappy with that too. All I knew was that I needed help and couldn’t continue like this. The idea that I might have to experience more pain in life, just like everyone, scared me deeply.

I could not accept things getting added to the weight that I already had, and the idea that I might have lifetimes more to live was too dreadful. I started looking at ways not to accumulate karma, burn karma, and get out of karma, but I realized that it is not as easy as googling it and finding a solution. Throughout this time, I would share everything with Baba. He made his presence stronger and would send help in all ways, but I would still fall back after some time.

I started watching YouTube videos about Baba and stumbled upon one of the channels dedicated to people sharing their experiences about him. On that channel, I saw videos of Mohanji speaking about Baba. At this point, I was not looking for a Guru, nor did I think I needed a Guru. I simply liked Mohanji’s videos; he spoke simple words with clarity. I watched more videos of him, and one of his videos really touched me and brought about a change.

He spoke about how, no matter what, one should never entertain negative emotions like guilt, hate, and anxiety. Until this point, I believed that one is not truly apologetic if one doesn’t feel guilty and take responsibility for everything happening around them. Once I started accepting his teachings and chose to give up on such emotions, it felt like I could finally breathe. Suddenly I had hope, and slowly with time, the weight of everything became lighter. 

Sometime later, someone recommended the book, “Autobiography of a Yogi”, although that person had not read it. That book changed my life; the possibility a human can have in one lifetime and the possibility of a technique to get done with everything was too fascinating. There is a part in the book where Kriya is referred to as the rocket technique to liberation that stuck with me. And I understood that this was what I needed. 

After that, I read books about many Masters and their relationships with their disciples. All the books emanate much love. The books really helped me and made me stable, but I was not content with them; I wanted someone to come and guide me in their physical presence. I prayed intently to Baba to send a Guru my way. To make myself eligible, I tried chanting, yoga, and a few different things. All I wanted was a Kriya Guru, and I firmly believed I would get one. I was unsure how long it would take, but I was ready to wait.

I was watching Mohanji’s videos all this while, but I was unsure if he was a realized Master, more so because of how humbly he shared his knowledge and was exceptionally down to earth. My mind had many doubts; how did he get Kriya if he didn’t have a Guru? He did not appear like a typical Guru, and he did not speak like a typical Guru.

There came the point where I looked everywhere and was bombarded with forms of Kriya applications from different Traditions, but I was too low on confidence to make such a big decision by myself. Since Mohanji’s Kriya form was the first one that came my way, I filled it out and sent it with a prayer to Baba that if this is my path and my Guru, let this form get accepted. 

Within a week, the reply came, and the application was selected. It was my absolute faith in Baba with which I accepted and understood that it was Baba’s guidance. After that, my life was never the same; everything fell into place, grace came from all directions, and things started happening in my favour.

I came out of all the negative emotions; they left me totally, so much so that now I can’t even believe that there was a time I lived like that. It seems like a memory of some past life. My relationship with Mohanji took its sweet little time to develop. Many tests happened, too; some I failed to see, some I passed, but he did not leave me through them. 

In the past two years, I have had miraculous experiences, which I will share soon.

I will conclude this one with just one more incident. When I was going home during Covid, I remember feeling uncertain and crying about the life that I thought lay ahead of me. Still, when returning to college, I distinctly remember feeling absolute gratitude for the change that had happened in my life, for the love, grace, and absolute care that I had experienced only because of Baba and Mohanji. 

The transformation was so apparent that even my mind could not deny it. Mohanji truly gave me a new life; he brought me out of self-hate to so much love that it just expressed itself to others around me. There is no way I could see it coming, and there is no way my gratitude can do justice to the grace showered upon me. There is no way I deserve all this grace.

I end this testimonial with gratitude to Mohanji for everything and to Baba for giving me the greatest gift of a lifetime, the presence of a living Master. Mohanji, please always keep me at your feet.

|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||

Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 2^nd March 2023

Disclaimer:

The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the authors and those providing comments on these blogs are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or positions of Mohanji, Mohanji Foundation, it’s members, employees or any other individual or entity associated with Mohanji or Mohanji Foundation. We make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of any information presented by individual authors and/or commenters on our blogs and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use.

We reserve the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner we see fit blog entries or comments that we, in our sole discretion, deem to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, of an express commercial nature, or otherwise unacceptable.

Mohanji Testimonials team

Experiences of Empowered 5 – Part 3

By Linda Abrol, Netherlands

In the final part of this testimonial, Linda shares some of her beautiful experiences with Mohanji in India after the Empowered programme.

The moment I got home from Serbia at the end of October 2022, my existing problems worsened. It was as if the Kailash challenge had come home with me. And not unsolicited or unwanted. It was welcome but also extremely painful. 

Energy prices were skyrocketing, and our popular vegetarian Indian restaurant, where energy is used in abundance for the tandoor oven, the big gas stove, and all the refrigerators and freezers, the dishwashers, the grease filtering system and lighting, was quickly heading toward bankruptcy. 

My husband’s depression worsened together with our marital problems. And that to an unbearable point where my husband and I began to discuss divorce seriously. Since I didn’t have a job, ageing and osteoarthritis made the chance of finding a job difficult – living on my own seemed virtually impossible. Not wanting to depend on others, I faced the worst-case scenario of becoming homeless.

I simply witnessed the possibility and was amazed at how balanced and empowered I felt beneath the emotions and mind games. I kept my back straight and continued to practice my focus on alignment by concentrating on Guru Consciousness, self-acceptance, Kriya, inner silence and, in extreme situations, Pause Technique. 

The same issue I faced during the days of the Empowered retreat in Serbia surfaced again and again – misunderstanding – but with more intensity. To the extent that I thought that no one really understood my pure intentions. Many loved ones seemed to look at me through a veil of their convictions, colours, ideas, and opinions and judged me for almost every decision I made with a pure heart.

My decisions seemed totally egoistic in the eyes of nearly all my dear ones, and their judgment seemed final. I felt extreme loneliness. Kailash and Empowered 5 energies seemed to intensify my challenges. Shiva takes everything and leaves you empty, but only with your permission. It is like buying a ticket for a rollercoaster ride and yet being surprised by its ferocity.

Fortunately, I didn’t resist even the deepest feeling of desperation and fear of the unknown and stayed considerably stable. Both Kailash and Empowered didn’t only trigger the trials. They gave the ‘medicines’ as well in the form of a deep underlying peace, acceptance and a feeling of absolute safety, no matter what happened.

In the midst of all personal trouble and trauma, I bought my ticket for India to attend Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s birthday celebration, which was being conducted yearly on the 23rd of November 2022 in Sri Soma Sai Skanda Ashram in Nidugatha, Maddur taluk, near Bangalore. This was the first time the celebrations were held without the presence of Swami Gopal Baba, who took samadhi in 2020.

After his samadhi, covid prevented any celebration in the ashram. While still in the body, he had asked all of us devotees to keep attending the celebrations even after his samadhi. I couldn’t disappoint my Guru, and although our financial situation seemed to be under immense pressure, I completely trusted that the universe (the Tradition) would take care.

But the deciding factor to go was the chance that Mohanji would attend the celebrations. A few months ago, I woke up with a strong feeling: how wonderful would it be to celebrate our beloved Sathya Sai Baba’s birthday in Swami Gopal Baba’s ashram in Mohanji’s divine presence? 

Experience has taught me that those ‘satwic desires’ tended to come true. I called my friend Sita and told her of my vision. She said that her husband Nico had a dream in which he saw Mohanji in ‘Kalyanpur’s room’. Kalyanpur was a businessman who donated the money for many constructions in the ashram. He had an apartment in the ashram where he would stay when construction work was going on. This sounded wonderful to me. We decided that B. was the best person to invite Mohanji to the ashram personally, and Sita asked him if he was prepared to do that. He loved the idea and said he would consider it.

We took that as a ‘yes’ and assumed that Mohanji was officially invited. Every time I thought of my coming journey to the ashram, I felt the joy of Mohanji being there. Both Sita and I sent an unofficial WhatsApp message to Chris Greenwood, Mohanji’s EA, and I mentioned in a message to Preeti Duggal – still assuming that Mohanji was already invited – our sincere prayer that he would be willing to be present at the coming celebrations in Sri Soma Sai Skanda Ashram.

Mohanji was in Delhi and appeared to have extended his stay there beyond the expected arrival time in the Sri Soma Sai Skanda Ashram. He was North, and we were South. Somehow, I knew he would change his mind. There was no fear, doubt, or desire, simply a happy anticipation. And a prayer that all Swami’s disciples would feel Gopal Baba’s love through him.

Always when a great Master takes samadhi, and there is no appointed successor, a situation arises where there may be confusion about future plans, convictions, positions and opinions, mixed with intense feelings of mourning about the Master. As far as I could see, despite this turbulent time, Swami’s boys and sevadals did an amazing job of upholding the Guru’s will and maintaining the ashram according to his liking. They never missed performing a ritual that Swami Gopal Baba would have done, even if no attendee or visitor showed up.

A few days before the birthday celebrations, my travel companion, Yvonne, and I visited Mohanji’s ashram in Bangalore to join in the noon aarathi and to embrace Amma and Acchan, Mohanji’s parents. Rajesh Kamath was home and told us that Mohanji had changed his plan and cut his visit to Delhi short to come to the ashram in Nidugatha. I was over the moon with joy, as you can imagine.

On the 23rd of November, I heard Mohanji’s voice inside me: ‘… therefore, I was sent (from Delhi) to the South to look after my children.’ I experienced it as a confirmation of my prayer that Gopal Baba would bring clarity and happiness in the form of Mohanji. Swami Sri Gopal Baba was the embodiment of the divine Mother and – although occupying a male body – would call us her children. Now it was absolutely clear to me that she had come on this auspicious day to look after her children in my beloved Mohanji’s form. 

When Mohanji actually arrived, and I got the chance to express a few words of gratitude, he simply said: ‘I had to come!’ What a blessing it was, and what a confirmation! Mohanji was received by Swami’s disciples with all regards, was invited to the sanctum sanctorum of the main (Kamakshi) temple, had lunch in Kalyanpur’s apartment, just like Nico’s dream had already predicted a year earlier, visited Swami’s house, walked hand in hand with the main trustee of the ashram, inaugurated the newly built dispensary and made each and every disciple happy by his unconditional love.

Beautiful pictures of this joyful occasion can be found on Mohanji’s official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MohanjiOfficial/posts/pfbid028ApVHoTyYQ5bYromd7Fn8mm3rHXtSYZHJaogaub8h2PCwwJuSd82P4WiEPWbD4awl

After the celebrations, the real mystery evolved. Who had officially invited Mohanji? It appeared that our assumption B. would do it had not come true. B. had not been able to invite Mohanji for some understandable reasons that he explained to us later. But he told us that Dinesh – one of Swami Gopal Baba’s devotees from Delhi, who happened to have walked the Outer Kora with Mohanji – had invited him during his recent stay in Delhi.

My Sherlock Homes instinct woke up. I sent a message to Dinesh. He answered: ‘No, I didn’t invite Mohanji. I only mentioned the celebrations to him. Mohanji then told me that He had heard about the celebrations from Preeti Duggal and a few others, and He ‘impulsively’ decided to attend them while talking to me.’ I was stunned to hear this.

Then who invited Mohanji officially? How did The Mother come to her children? Was it simply the innocent and sincere prayer of two of her children and a dream of a third that invited her all the way South? Dinesh and Sita said: ‘It was the Tradition that invited Mohanji.’ My inner voice had already confirmed that statement. Which mother needs an official invitation to come to her children? The mother is simply drawn towards her children when they need her. She knows every need, even before her child cries. 

Miracles do happen, but it is not a good thing to assume things without checking facts and turning them into a miracle. Therefore I didn’t end my search here. I asked the managing trustee of the Sri Soma Sai Skanda ashram, and the missing part of the mystery got solved.

After hearing from Dinesh about Mohanji’s change of plans and his intention to visit the Sri Soma Skanda Ashram, they officially invited him for lunch and the inauguration ceremony of the dispensary, despite the intern rule of the Trust to not invite any spiritual Gurus or Masters to the ashram during major functions like Swamy aradhana, and Sathya Sai birthday. The reason was understandable and simple. They all would be busy with function activities and probably would not be able to receive their official and holy guests with proper rituals. 

So, the actual miracle was that for Mohanji, the Trust members made an exception to their own rule. A miracle was that Mohanji came spontaneously, despite having other plans in Delhi. That it so happened that he had another function in Bangalore on the same day and could combine them conveniently.

Nico’s dream was part of the miracle, and our prayers that came true were part of the miracle. Our hearts being filled to the brim with love and joy was part of the miracle. Kannaiah’s presence and his being able to officially welcome Mohanji and attend to all his needs while Swami’s Indian disciples were busy with the function was part of the miracle.

Seeing Mohanji humbly bowing down in sincere respect to our Guru’s picture in his house, despite his own immeasurable spiritual status, was part of the miracle. Mohanji’s remark during our goodbye was that we were welcome in his ashram in Bangalore during the remainder of our stay in India was part of the miracle. 

Sita, Nico, Yvonne and I were blessed to spend three afternoons with Mohanji before we flew home, with many hours of satsang. And with blessings and hugs of dear Amma and Achan, his parents who felt very very close, eating with the family, attending aarathi, watching Mohanji in the set up for a live zoom session, meditating in the guestroom while he was doing some other work.

On the day before our flight, Mohanji served us our meal like a divine Mother. He served every item with his own hands and didn’t forget anybody or anything. Once again, during this journey, he proved that he is not only the embodiment of the Divine Father but the Divine Mother as well! 

These were sheer miracles and completely unexpected. On how we deserved this grace while Mohanji had such an incredibly busy life being involved in activities in 91+ countries, He answered (as I remember): ‘It is not easy to get to me like this. You have been involved with sadhana and with Masters for many years.’ 

We experienced so many blessed miracles on this journey that we had to ask ourselves: are we able to digest all this? As soon as I heard my limited thinking, I recognized the mind talk and directed my mind towards more elevated ways of watching the course of events: being with our Guru involves being open and limitless. There is nothing to digest. Digesting is limited to a person.

Being in divine presence requires simply flowing and experiencing the grace of every living moment. In the best-case scenario, there is only Him. My sincere prayer is: May we all be able to flow in Guru Consciousness, where there is no mine or me. Experience moment by moment. And as soon as we forget, may we wake up to his presence once again.

Experiences of Empowered 5 – Part 2

|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||

Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 4^th February 2023

Disclaimer:

The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the authors and those providing comments on these blogs are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or positions of Mohanji, Mohanji Foundation, it’s members, employees or any other individual or entity associated with Mohanji or Mohanji Foundation. We make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of any information presented by individual authors and/or commenters on our blogs and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use.

We reserve the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner we see fit blog entries or comments that we, in our sole discretion, deem to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, of an express commercial nature, or otherwise unacceptable.

Mohanji Testimonials team

My destiny with Mohanji – Part 1

Aditya Nagpal, India

How it started

Before meeting Mohanji in December 2013, I felt as if nothing was in place. I did not have a job, had relationship problems, and had bad habits. However, I was attending the Power of Purity meditation regularly in Bangalore. That gave me reasonable peace of mind in difficult times.

Soon, Preeti Duggal invited me to meet Mohanji at her place for meditation and satsang. When we opened our eyes after the meditation, we saw Mohanji sitting right in front of us. This was the first time I saw Mohanji. There was something different there, something I had never felt before. 

Being unfamiliar with spiritual words at that time, the only thing I remember from the satsang was that Mohanji looked into my eyes for a brief moment. I will never forget that eye connection. The shift started happening there. I did not realize it then, but now I fully acknowledge and know what he did when I look back. That was the initiation I received, and I am eternally grateful to him for that. After the satsang, we all received Shaktipat from Mohanji.

I wanted to share certain personal things with him and was called to his room after the satsang. I sat looking at Mohanji, and I could not express what I wanted to share. I was extremely low in self-confidence and was afraid to talk to anyone. There was so much going on inside me, but I just could not say anything. But omniscient Mohanji knew what was going on. He told me to start doing some seva and meet him again after a year and tell him what transformation has happened. I followed it. 

During the early years (2014/2015), I was fortunate to spend a lot of time with Mohanji. I got Shaktipat from him many times. After some time, I started seeing changes in myself. My awareness about myself began growing, and I became aware of my habits and eventually gave them up without forcing anything. I started loving Mohanji and his teachings. I had found a path for myself. I was not very deeply connected to him (at consciousness level) at that time, but I had accepted him as my Guru and started to follow him fully. After a few months, I started seeing a huge change in my confidence and behaviour.  

Getting a job and moving to Hyderabad

I did not have a job for almost two years. I had lost hope. But after I started practising Mohanji’s meditations and after meeting him, I realized that there was nothing wrong outside, but the blockage was within me. All the negativity was sitting inside me. I was pessimistic, and Mohanji changed this. He eradicated my negativity, and it changed things for me externally as well. I became positive; I was not depressed anymore; I felt happy vibes most of the time without any reason. I gained confidence and got the job very soon after that. It was I who had blocked it. 

I settled quite well in the job in Hyderabad. Soon I was ready to conduct Meditations as suggested by Mohanji. But things took a dramatic turn, and my company crashed, and I was laid off. This was disastrous for me. I did not know how to react to this. But at that time, Mohanji already had an impact on me, and instead of crying over spilt milk, I accepted it and started looking for another job. 

It was a difficult time, but I felt Mohanji’s presence with me all the time. I often saw him standing in front of me and heard him saying, “Don’t worry! You have to live in Hyderabad for long. You will establish my base there.” These words came true eventually. 

I got another job within 10 days. I worked in this company for almost 3 years. I started Ammucare seva work in Hyderabad, and with his grace, new people started joining. My confidence grew immensely, and I also conducted yoga sessions in my company. This was a big transformation for someone who was afraid to talk to anyone. 

Test of faith

All was going great until a distraction happened. A known person whom I had met in Bangalore spoke ill of Mohanji. He had some bad experiences and blamed Mohanji for them. I became extremely angry as I loved Mohanji and never thought anyone could talk like this about him. When I met Mohanji in Bangalore, he asked me to ignore this. That meeting somewhat settled me down, but some distraction was sitting inside me. 

Another time somewhere in the middle of 2017, I had another experience that kind of distracted me. I went into a relationship and was swayed by it. I became emotional and was unable to connect to Mohanji and do his meditations. During one of my meetings with Mohanji in Bangalore, I told him that I was distracted and unable to meditate and connect to him. I did not tell him what exactly was happening with me, but he knew it and brought it up in our conversation. He said, “No, you are not distracted, I am always with you, and you are progressing.”

Then he told me to put a poster in my room and write ‘Body, Mind, Intellect, Ego and Soul’ on it and see how much I was connecting to my soul each day. He said no need to try and connect with me; just watch this daily. I followed it. I started watching it daily and contemplating on it, and it worked for me big time. I could clearly observe myself going through various emotions in my relationship. This helped me remain stable during that phase; I continued seva in Hyderabad. During this period, I was a little distracted, and even though I was following Mohanji with full dedication, I was unable to connect to him fully.

Turning vegan

After following Mohanji, I became a vegetarian in the early months. With his techniques, I became more aware of myself and could see the connection between food and my emotions, which turned me into a vegetarian. In 2018, as I continued practicing his techniques, I started to have the same feelings about milk products. I realized that whenever I ate something that had violence in it, it had a negative impact on me. This turned me into a complete vegan.

Sai and Mohanji

During the period when I was unable to connect to Mohanji fully, I got deeply connected to Sai Baba. It can’t be a coincidence that my first visit to a Sai Baba temple was with Mohanji in Bangalore. Soon I became a frequent visitor to Shirdi, and I loved that place and its energy. Every visit to Shirdi gave me something. 

I also started doing Ammucare seva in Shirdi. I was connecting deeply to Sai, which was extremely transformative for me. I had some wonderful experiences in Shirdi. I also used to follow Mohanji with full dedication, but there was some barrier to the physical form. Maybe I was not completely ready for a living Master. 

On one of my visits to Shirdi when Mohanji was there, I thought I would miss the chance to meet Mohanji. But his plan was different. In the evening, after having some snacks in a café, I started walking towards the main Sai temple, and suddenly I heard a strong voice. It was something like ‘Meet Mohanji tomorrow and then leave’. This was so strong that I cancelled my bus trip immediately and stayed back to meet Mohanji. The next day, I had a short but wonderful meeting with Mohanji. 

During our conversation, Mohanji asked me, “What did Baba say to you?” I replied impulsively, “Baba told me to meet you.” He laughed at it. After this meeting, I started seeing and feeling some kind of oneness between Sai and Mohanji. It was something like after every visit to Shirdi, and after worshipping Baba, my connection with Mohanji would become stronger. It was as if Baba was pushing me towards Mohanji. Baba was telling me that Mohanji is your Master; go to him. I still had some physical barriers in my mind. But one thing I was sure about, my connection with Mohanji was becoming stronger.  

|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||

Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 22^nd September 2022

Disclaimer:

The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the authors and those providing comments on these blogs are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or positions of Mohanji, Mohanji Foundation, it’s members, employees or any other individual or entity associated with Mohanji or Mohanji Foundation. We make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of any information presented by individual authors and/or commenters on our blogs and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use.

We reserve the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner we see fit blog entries or comments that we, in our sole discretion, deem to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, of an express commercial nature, or otherwise unacceptable.

Mohanji Testimonials team

Blessings with music

By Arvind CS and Eesha Arvind, Canada

Eesha and I visited Mohanji’s Datta Tapovan Ashram on August 27 2022, for the 4th-anniversary celebrations. We arrived just before the afternoon aarthi. Other devotees were present at the ashram, and Eesha was blessed with the opportunity to start the aarthi for Mohanji. The divine energy at the ashram was electric. I closed my eyes and could feel the energy enveloping me, taking me in its arms and swaying me in Baba’s infinite beauty. I am unable to find words to describe the feeling other than “Pure Bliss.” 

After the aarthi, we all got together for a nutritious and tasty lunch followed by lively discussions. One of the devotees, Aruna, shared her musical journey and her experiences with the group. She also shared her music along with songs sung by her father. Watching the videos and listening to the songs, Eesha, who was sitting next to Aruna, was getting excited. Eesha shared her musical journey also and one of her older videos of playing the sitar. During the discussions, we mentioned that Eesha has not been playing for over a year now, as she did not have a sitar. Listening to this, Aruna immediately shared that she has her father’s sitar and would be able to lend it to Eesha to practise. 

Eesha was always musically inclined, and she was taking sitar classes in Edmonton, which were discontinued due to our move in July 2021. We have been looking to purchase a sitar, but it has never happened for almost a year. The high cost of purchasing a new quality sitar was prohibitive, and other avenues of finding a sitar never materialized. 

Eesha was finally getting a sitar, and this was happening at the ashram in Mohanji’s and Baba’s presence. Both Eesha and I were very happy. As it slowly started sinking in, we were overwhelmed by the kindness and the grace of the Master, Mohanji. We had almost decided not to go to the ashram, but something in me compelled me to go. Mohanji orchestrated everything and made it all happen with so much grace and love. It was a wonderful experience for both Eesha and me. 

Following this, the very next day, Aruna invited us to her house for tea. The sitar holds many sentimental and emotional memories for Aruna and her family as it belonged to her late father. Aruna showed Eesha the sitar. Eesha was initially hesitant to play the sitar, but with encouragement she started playing a tune on the sitar, and the tune she remembered was “Om Sai Namo Namaha.” We brought the sitar home and kept it in front of Mohanji, thanking him for his love and graciousness.  

Eesha’s experience in her own words:

“The next day, I was sitting in front of our altar and looking at Mohanji’s picture. It looked like Mohanji was smiling at me. Then Mohanji’s aarti came to my mind, and I wanted to play it on the sitar. I wasn’t sure I would be able to play it, but I felt like I should at least give it a try. I started to play the strings and initially was having trouble getting the notes and the tune right. 

But something in me wanted to continue practising. After a few attempts, I got the rhythm of the aarthi and played it to mom. My mom recorded it and shared it with Aruna and her friends. Later in the day, mom shared that Mohanji liked it. I was very happy. It was suggested that I do a video recording. I did not want to do this and was very hesitant. Mohanji gave me the idea to make an audio recording. I practiced the next day and stayed up late perfecting the aarthi and recording it.”

Often times when my parents ask me to play or practise the sitar, I really don’t want to play it, but when I sit in front of Mohanji, the music just takes over, and it flows through me. I forget everything, and it’s just me and my sitar, and it’s like someone else is playing the sitar. 

Thank you, Mohanji, for your grace and blessings. I would like to continue playing the sitar, perfecting the art and sharing it with everyone to enjoy.”

|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||

Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 15^th September 2022

Disclaimer:

The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the authors and those providing comments on these blogs are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or positions of Mohanji, Mohanji Foundation, it’s members, employees or any other individual or entity associated with Mohanji or Mohanji Foundation. We make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of any information presented by individual authors and/or commenters on our blogs and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use.

We reserve the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner we see fit blog entries or comments that we, in our sole discretion, deem to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, of an express commercial nature, or otherwise unacceptable.

Mohanji Testimonials team

Skanda Vale and London – Part 3

June 2022

On Friday, I got a ride from Selma to the BE YOU event in St Albans, near London. Nico and Sita rode along with two Swamis from Skanda Vale. Again we felt carried and pampered by Mohanji during every part of the trip. The hotel was surrounded by greenery, and I was grateful that it was outside the city.

We had a lovely get-together with Parvati on the terrace in front of the hotel. Sita told us that she had read that morning in Guru Subramaniam’s autobiography that he was an incarnation of Swami Brahmananda from the Ramakrishna order. She was incredibly surprised. In all the years she had known Guru Subramaniam, she had never heard anything about this. Swami Gopal had confirmed and is regarded as the incarnation of Sarada Devi, the wife of Ramakrishna. Therefore, a trip to the Ramakrishna ashram in Bangalore was usually a regular part of our annual trip to Swami.

Sita and I shared our enthusiasm about yet another synchronicity. It felt like it had come full circle. I had still not fully understood my connection with and attraction to Skanda Vale and thought about it from time to time. Even when I said goodbye inwardly to Guru Subramaniam before leaving that same morning, I still didn’t understand how I had ended up in front of his picture in his ashram.

The next day in St Albans, I stood at the book table and picked up the book The Silence of Shiva. I asked Mohanji inwardly if he had a message for me and randomly flipped open the book. To my utter amazement, the first three lines I read told me that Guru Subramanian of Skanda Vale was the incarnation of Swami Brahmananda of the Ramakrishna order. This was too coincidental for words. Mohanji is not beside us. He is within us and all around us. He guides us in the smallest details of our lives. The incident made me feel even more embraced and supported by The Tradition.

During the weekend, I would sometimes sit and watch Mohanji give Shaktipat or sign books and bless items for people. He did everything with such intense attention that I loved to watch from a distance. To see him standing there so quietly and serenely, all in white, like a true Jesus with both hands raised to give the blessings, was a sight to behold.

When he was signing books, I saw a woman with a big pile coming. “In Silence with Mohanji”, the little booklet that I had written, was one of them. It wasn’t hard to see because it was the thinnest of all. Would Mohanji really sign it for her? I thought. What a blessing it would be to see him sign my booklet as if I still needed that confirmation as the crowning glory of my work. Something in me genuinely doubted that Mohanji was going to sign the booklet.

When he finally did it, it relaxed me and made me happy. The woman later told me, ‘When I gave the book to him, Mohanji said, “The woman who wrote it is also here. She is sitting over there,” and he pointed to you.’ That made me so happy. A little Satwic ego can do no harm, isn’t it? Mohanji knows what we need. Due to many extreme circumstances over the past six years, I had developed insecure feelings, and Mohanji leaves no stone unturned to re-empower me.

After the Consciousness Dancing session, we had a meditation, Blossoms of Love. During the meditation, all participants received Mohanji Energy Transfer (MET). I had not experienced this before. In my life, I had had many experiences with different kinds of healing power, but I was not prepared for the special effect of the MET. It was as if a small hole was drilled in my crown through which a tangible beam of light came in, into my head and torso. How does one feel light? I don’t know either, but that’s how it felt. And after the brief touch, the sensation lingered for a deliciously long time. An opening had definitely been created or accentuated. Thank you, Mohanji.

As I walked toward the event hall at one point, the thought came to me that every moment is meaningful and that we can make use of each moment to make a difference to someone. We had the possibility to not only receive Mohanji’s energy but also to give energy and attention. I did not know why this thought came to me. Surely we were in the middle of a program where everything was already organized?

When I walked into the room, a woman was sitting alone on a chair. I sat down next to her for a moment as she had my booklet on her lap. She told me she was going to have it signed. I asked her how she experienced the event because I didn’t know her, and maybe she was new. She told me that she had been informed by a friend and since her beloved dog had died only two weeks ago, she felt she had to come. I empathized with her. I know how it feels. And maybe someone else experiences it even more intensely.

Two tears rolled down her cheeks, and I literally felt her dog’s presence. He tried to give me a message by touching my left leg. I got an image of her dog licking her tears. My dogs have never done that, so it was not a familiar image to me. I asked, ‘What would your dog have done if he saw you in tears?’ Without hesitation, she said, ‘He would lick my tears.’ I said, ‘That’s exactly what he came here to do. I see it. And I feel that he is here.’ My hair stood on end, and I now understood why I had just thought of being open to offer help at any unexpected moment. Thank you, Mohanji!

A second chance to touch someone’s heart came when, after the event, I offered to distribute the leftover flowers to the attendees. Standing behind the book table was a kind lady. I asked her which flower she would like. I got to choose, she said. I tuned into her for a moment and chose the sunflower from the bouquet. She was moved because that had been her favourite flower since childhood and had a special meaning for her, another special moment that we both won’t forget easily.

At the airport, a friendly airport assistant guided us past all the long lines of people waiting. We had to wait near the gate, and a little later, Dirk van de Wijngaard, his wife Mina and Parvati arrived, also accompanied by an assistant. It turned out that they had booked the same plane. Our minds and hearts were already filled to the brim, but there was still room for more satsang, airport satsang.

Dirk was, as usual, full of stories which he shared in everlasting ecstasy and enthusiasm, and we were an eager audience. I especially loved the story about the angel-like picture of Mohanji, Dirk (on his knees) and Subhasree in Mohanji’s arms. A few rays of light touched the hearts of both Dirk and Subhasree and were living proof of their pure and unmatched devotion. I had been there when the picture was taken and felt the vibration of their love there and then.

Dirk confirmed that it was he who had given the ring to Mohanji as per the instruction of Sathya Sai and Shirdi Sai Baba, telling him in a dream: “Hey boy, get up and bring the protection ring to our son.” I had had an immediate strong notion at the restaurant that it must have been Dirk who was the giver of the ring when I heard Mohanji talking about it to Vijay, who sat opposite him at the table. At that time, it was not yet clear who exactly had been the giver. From where I sat, I heard only bits and pieces of the story. When Dirk confirmed my feeling and explained how the stones were connected with the planets, the sun and the moon and that the ring was actually meant for protection, I sighed with relief and felt that this was the answer to my prayer for protection for Mohanji!

Dirk and I have known each other for more than thirty years, and it was through his inspiration that I set up People’s Trust Zijdeverwerking. A foundation to support a Vocational Training Centre in the People’s Trust project for the poorest of the poor in Srimanahalli near Bangalore. Dirk always keeps popping up in our lives and is a blessed example of absolute, pure faith and devotion. Was it a coincidence that I was sitting right next to his daughter Parvati on the plane and that Dirk and Mina were sitting with Nico and Sita of all places?

The security officer at the airport wouldn’t let me proceed since she thought that some strange glow was seen on the scan at the heart level. I think I know what that glow was. The official asked me to remove my rudraksha mala. She thought that maybe the mala was causing the disturbance. But it wasn’t. Even without the mala, I was a suspect. Probably a Divine Thief lives in our hearts. Parvati had the same experience! She was even shown her scan by the official. And something strange and inexplicable was really clearly visible as a yellow-golden glow in her torso.

For me, it was, without doubt, the golden energy of Mohanji’s divine love that rendered our heart chakra charged with literally visible energy, that we carried home to deepen the integration of his love and served as a strong and steady base for ‘survival’ during the cleansing period that started right after we arrived home. But that is material for my next testimonial.

A warm heart full of gratitude for Mohanji and the lovely UK team, our new family. We felt carried by the warm welcome all the way from home and back. Flying to Manchester in the same plane with Mohanji and flying back with Dirk, Mina, Parvathi, Sita and Nico and feeling carried on the wings of love all the way. Thank you, Mohanji. Thank you, team UK! With all our love!

Part 1 link – https://wordpress.com/post/mohanjichronicles.wordpress.com/29216

Part 2 link – https://wordpress.com/post/mohanjichronicles.wordpress.com/29268

|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||

Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 1^st September 2022

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