It was towards dawn that I had this unsettling dream that left me baffled and thinking all day what exactly it meant. I was hunched over in the dream, bent double like a feeble, older man at a very advanced age. This posture was caused by the baggage I was carrying. It was made up of every kind of thing imaginable and was like a mountain. Yes, I was literally carrying a mountain on my back until I could not move; or walked with a lot of inconvenience to myself. When I woke up, I first thought gleefully, that I was rich or will become rich, as man is naturally inclined towards possessiveness and ownership of as much property as he can. My thinking was buttressed by the fact that my mountain of stuff contained everything.
PC: Vector stock
However, quiet reflection over time convinced me otherwise, and I had to discard the surface materialistic interpretation of the dream. It dawned on me that was the karmic baggage I was hauling around, so heavy, from lifetime to lifetime, labouring under its merciless weight. I became very sober and began thinking of how I can unburden myself of this heavy load that I have been carrying around for eons. Oh, it had grown into a high mountain! I found solace in the fact that in the present, in the nowness of my life, I have found Brahmarishi Mohanji, or rather he has fished me out to make the journey back to the original unmanifested state of pure freedom, brightness, and joy.
His words rang in my ears and rays of hope brightened my day when I listened to his calm and reassuring words in the FREEDOM MEDITATION:
”…Feel as light as a feather, feel so beautiful and relaxed. Feel yourself as a beautiful flower, feel as free as a bird flying in the sky. You are light; you are free. You are light and free. My beautiful children, realize that you have no fears and pains from the past, you have no pains and fears in the future too. No pains, no fears…”
Mohanji – Freedom Meditation
Perhaps at this juncture, it is appropriate to make an appraisal of this 10-minute Freedom Meditation which reminded me that I need not worry about my heavy load upon meeting Mohanji. The meditation is to help children grow up with spiritual values and with their innocence still intact, but a penetrating analysis reveals that even adults need it more than children. What a great way to start an adult’s day with only a 10-minute empowering Freedom Meditation!
Why? Just look at how society has separated us from our childhood sense of freedom, truthfulness, openness, and playfulness, and corrupted our minds. Just imagine the burden of past-life karma, the phobias, the restrictions, the bad choices made with their consequences which burden many an adult in this life and in past lifetimes, and which shape the future; just imagine the lost hope which is the portion of most adults. The Freedom Meditation is a reminder of who we truly are apart from the personal self which is on the field of karma – always light and beautiful, as pure and transparent as crystal, and as free as a bird flying in the ethereal skies. Moreover, we are assured that by living in the present, we can escape from the pains and fears of the past, anxiety about the future, when walking hand-in-hand with Mohanji. The 10-minute guided Freedom Meditation kick-starts my day, which is wonderful for such a very short meditation.
The reason we are still roaming on this old Earth, this uncertain platform in space and time, is because of the karma that binds us here. It is comforting to know that in spite of all that we have gone through and that we are carrying along unconsciously, there is hope and certainty for freedom from our old baggage, patterns, untoward desires, maniacal tendencies, passions, and other unimaginable things that burden our lives and shackle our birthright – the right to spiritual freedom and an existence rooted in supreme awareness of the true reality of life.
Mohanji stresses the nowness of the attainment of this state, this supreme moment of life unfettered with baggage from the past, or anxieties about the future. I have found out that the practices, guidance, and education on certain issues that Mohanji gives us, coupled with the fact he has incarnated in a time-tested Tradition that Masters/saints of the past followed to attain supreme consciousness, can help not only me with my huge baggage, but just about anyone who aspires for Jivan Mukti, which is the true freedom/liberation of the real self (the real us apart from the body, senses, mind, and ego) from the maze of materiality in which we’re trapped.
It starts with unburdening ourselves, and Brahmarishi Mohanji can show us how to throw off our heavy load/baggage. He is teaching me to cast off my burdens here and now and also assuring me that the burdens and fears of the past need not worry me as I have arrived at his lotus feet.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 28th January 2021
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.
I share today a continuous lesson of living with Mohanji, a lesson on being flexible in all situations and on breaking comfort zones. Working with Mohanji is extremely dynamic, and activities can change daily, if not hourly. I have had to develop the ability to be flexible and move at very short notice, and this has given me practical experiences on the importance of being flexible.
Have a great day ahead.
—
Good morning, everybody. I hope you’re doing well. My name is Christopher. In these short audio recordings, I’m sharing some of my experiences, stories, and lessons of living with Mohanji.
Today, I wanted to talk about flexibility because flexibility has been incredibly essential in living and working with Mohanji. This is because the nature of the work, especially with my role of looking after the office is such that the activities are extremely dynamic. We have a macro-picture view of all of the platforms that Mohanji has founded, ranging from the Mohanji Foundation itself to the World Consciousness Alliance and to Early Birds Club. On the other hand, there are Mohanji’s personal activities and my tasks of managing his time, the interviews, the satsangs, and all similar types of activities.
So, it’s extremely dynamic; no two days are alike. Whilst we make a broad structure of a daily plan when we meet, talk and catch up on topics, it can change at a moment’s notice. So, flexibility is crucial. Something that Mohanji told me at the start when I first arrived here was reminding me that this is the path of Shiva. And what does that mean? Essentially, it means that when you’re making a commitment, or at least have an aspiration, to reach the state of Shiva, reaching there from where I am now, means total annihilation, hard-core destruction of patterns, habits, comfort zones, and identifications. When I look back, I feel I really benefited from many circumstances in which it was really tough and difficult, where I had to really push through some resistance to move forward and break comfort zones. But at the time, it was quite a challenge. One of these situations is related to making an audio recording like this. Maybe six months ago, I would have never done something like this, I wouldn’t have had the confidence. The same goes for making the video recordings which I was putting out about certain topics. And what I realise now, living with Mohanji in quite close proximity, is that whilst it’s tough, there are more opportunities presented to break through your comfort zones.
Also, Mohanji doesn’t really ask for anything; he is just there. He’s available as a reflection of what you need to progress on; on your journey or what I need to progress on, on my journey. So I can now see a pattern, or maybe a commonality in that all the tasks that I’ve been involved in. It has helped move me through a comfort zone, a habit or a pattern that I’ve had. And now looking back on them, I’m extremely grateful for them. Because this comes with such care and consideration from Mohanji too, as he said to me as well, it’s not his job to make anybody crumble or make anybody break. No. For him, his goal is to take people to the highest. But achieving that requires moving out of our comfort zones, moving out of our habits, moving out of our patterns. And so, when he gives us something, he always sees, as I understand now, the potential for the person or the person’s capacity.
So, I’ll give an example: when I was making the podcast for the first time, this was completely new. I had an interest in it, but I had no idea how to edit audio. So, it required researching the podcast platform, finding the best one, learning to edit audios, practising, watching lots of YouTube videos, lots of trials and errors, until I perfected it. And at the time, when I first started, I was still employed full time, too. It took a lot of time to edit these audios, which created quite a bit of stress for me. But soon I became comfortable with it. I could manage it. And I was happy. As soon as that happened, I spoke with Mohanji, and he said: “You know what, I think people like the podcast, but I think it’d be better if we start making daily podcasts now.” My first reaction was, ‘Oh my God, how am I going to do this? This is just going to be impossible. I don’t need to just learn audio editing; now, I have to increase the workload by about four times. It is already taking me two or three hours just to do one. How am I going to do it?’
So, it was uncomfortable. But when I look back, the lesson he was giving me or the opportunity for a practical lesson was being flexible. And more often than not, when Mohanji gives me or anybody else in the organisation a task, he’s actually looking for an outcome, which doesn’t necessarily mean that I need to do that task all by myself, or that someone else needs to do it all by themselves. They just take the responsibility to make it happen. And this has been great learning because what I quickly realised is the need for building a team, to bring people in. And the flexibility actually comes in finding the opportunities, the avenues, and the ways to make something happen. That’s what being flexible is in that context.
So this is what I want to share today. And to give another example as well: I have been looking after the recording equipment for all the satsangs. So, the video, the camera, all the lights, because Ananth is doing some training at the moment, and he’s not here. I had to learn how to do that too. And yesterday was a big day; it was Diwali. So, I wanted to make sure that everything worked well. And I felt quite a lot of pressure because I knew a lot of people were waiting for the satsang. I planned the day to give myself enough time, it was quite leisurely, I had some tea in between, and that type of thing. And I thought, ‘I’ve got this sorted, I’ve got it nailed’. And then I got a phone call, maybe at lunchtime, from Ami in South Africa, with a great opportunity actually, I can’t deny that, for Mohanji to speak on South African news TV. This is great, that’s a fantastic reach, and all that was required was a short Diwali message recording, just to be recorded, edited, and sent to her news team. I think I had about two hours to do that. Normally, that would have sent me into a panic six months ago. ‘How am I going to fit this in, I’ve got a satsang coming up, I’m trying to prepare for this, there’s no way I can do this’. But, I realised that this is now what needs to be done in the time available. That’s doing what we have to do, rather than what we’d like to do; noticing as well that there’s a freedom in that too. So, that recording went out and got broadcast on time to all the people in South Africa. So it worked out well.
It’s only through having the approach of flexibility that that was able to happen for me. Both in the earlier days and especially now living with Mohanji, the destruction of these comfort zones and patterns, being flexible, can be equated to sitting next to a fire, essentially. Because opportunities are provided for the transformation. And that’s what Mohanji is giving us. All of us really have the opportunity to transform into something higher. And so, when we’re sat next to the fire, there are, I think, two options: we either transform, or we get burned and run away.
I hope this account was useful and insightful for you.
This idea of flexibility brings into our life the lesson that with life there are all situations that we’re faced with; but if we approach them with an attitude of acceptance and flexibility, we can find a way, we can navigate through them successfully. We can understand our capacity; we can understand what we can do. We can understand if we need some assistance, and we can flow with life much more easily.
Thank you for listening, and I hope you have a great day ahead.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 24th January 2021
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.
There was a dull thud upon impact. I realised my car was hit.
The car just ahead of me took a left turn. I followed, also turning left into Twickenham Road on my daily route to our work headquarters in Auckland Park – a Johannesburg suburb.
It was a quiet morning, not much traffic on the roads. Twickenham was even quieter. No other cars aside from ours. The multi-coloured Toyota Avanza turned right on to the oncoming lane, and I passed it.
Suddenly I heard a dull thud. My heart sank. There was that sickening kind of feeling in the pit of my stomach as I realised my car was hit.
Then the scenes turned surreal. I felt half in and half out of my body. Everything that followed appeared to be like in a movie, and I witnessed the scene from far away.
Everything was in slow motion.
This is how it unfolded.
The street was still quiet. There were no human witnesses to what had just happened, only the All-Pervasive, All-Seeing, All-Knowing Mighty Divine beyond the range of physical perception.
I got out of my car, shaking like a leaf. I just couldn’t stop shaking. The fear of the cost of the damage to my vehicle was uppermost and completely consumed my mind at that moment. Repairing BMWs do not come cheap even though insured. My car is not even three years old.
I was not hurt but was anything but rational. I was gripped in a mixture of shock and fear and anger too and engulfed in that horrible sick kind of feeling. This was exacerbated by weeks of worry and stress over uncertainty at work with the threat of retrenchment letters hanging over our heads. On a personal physical level, l was afflicted with unrelenting debilitating headaches. They caused my blood pressure to skyrocket – and now this!
The accident was just the catalyst that burst my emotional dam wall. The pent-up frustration was at boiling point and spilt over in anger. I was seething. It overrode all sensibilities.
I looked at my car in horror. The back bumper looked awful, oh and the mag wheel rim (more sick feeling). It also looked hideous. Again my thoughts raced to the cost of the possibility of having to get a new rim as well!
The other driver also got out of her car, which was still on the opposite oncoming lane in half left turn back towards the left lane again. We approached each other. It was another lady driver.
Looking at the state of my car in disbelief, I shouted to the lady as we approached each other, “What have you done? You turned right!”
And she shouted back, “I indicated.”
Me: “No, you didn’t.”
Lady: “Yes, I did.”
Me: “But you turned Right!”
Lady: “I indicated!”
Me: “Look at my car!”
And this went on and on with our voices getting louder and louder in the quiet suburban street. Both of us were in shock. Our reactions were far from calm, rational or reasonable. The lady was driving a company vehicle. All the noise brought out a few residents from inside their homes into the street. They looked on with much curiosity as to the cause of all the noise.
I have to admit that I was not myself at all, sadly. With all that I had been experiencing physically and energetically over the past several months which were very trying and testing, I felt alone, unsupported, and physically, emotionally, mentally tired and generally just fed-up with my lot. Ridiculous thoughts flooded my mind like, ‘Beam me up, Scotty. I’m done here.’
As the commotion was going on, a car approached on the oncoming lane. It happened to be one of my work colleagues. She was so amazing, ultra-calm, and she immediately took charge of the situation.
Colleague to me: “You’re shaking. We need to get you some sugar water.”
My colleague helped me take deep calming breaths, and she also spoke to the other driver, gently and kindly.
By then the lady (driver of the Toyota Avanza) had radioed her colleagues and reported the incident. They worked in the security department at the University of Johannesburg, outside of which the incident occurred. Her colleagues arrived on the scene quite quickly and assessed the situation. The other car was still in the oncoming lane.
Everyone on the scene was very kind. They helped the other driver and me to take down each other’s details. They guided us to take photos of the cars and reminded us to report the incident to the police within 24 hours.
Their calm handling of the situation kind of brought me back into my body. I felt as though I was waking up from a dream into conscious awareness.
I was taking in the finer details of things around me. Curiously, I noticed the other driver’s hands, fingers and fingernails. They were very elegant with red nail polish. I looked at her face and thought she was so pretty, and I liked her, and I realised she was also scared.
My heart melted for her. I felt empathy; immediately and sincerely, I apologised for all the shouting with the purity of my heart. The exchanges had been loud on both sides. She also genuinely apologised.
I instinctively reached out and hugged her (at the moment forgetting all about the covid social distancing). She hugged me back.
Thinking about her family, and perhaps she might have children or old parents relying on her (these were the thoughts that I found were racing through my mind as I was slowly and consciously taking everything in). I urged her to please stay safe and take care.
We parted as one human caring about another. It felt right and natural. It felt good.
My car was not mechanically damaged. I gingerly drove to work. We need an access card to gain entry into the parking, and into our greater office building. I drove to the third floor and parked in my parking bay.
I was feeling quite light-headed. I sat in the car for a few minutes, breathing slowly and deeply, trying to steady myself. Gathering myself, I got out of my car, opened the boot to get my handbag, and realised I did not have my access card with me. My mind was a complete blank. I could not remember where I had put the access card.
I had to think for several moments, yes, I had to use the card to gain entry into the car park, so the card had to be in the car. For some 40 minutes, I searched high and low inside the car, under the car, I emptied my handbag – no card in sight. Where could the access card be?!
My awareness level was zero; my mind-body-senses were not in alignment. My energy field was scattered.
I wondered whether I had dropped the car at the entry point. So ensuring in a slow and measured way that I had the car keys in my hand, I locked the car and slowly walked down three winding floors to the entrance, still feeling quite shaky in the body.
The card was not there either. I asked the security guards whether they had seen an access card perhaps dropped at the entry point at the checkpoint. No, they hadn’t.
Again there was much kindness from the guards. One of them asked whether I was alright. I said no, I didn’t feel so good and that I just couldn’t remember where I had put my card.
He kindly walked me back to my car on the 3rd floor and helped me search for the elusive card. We could still not find it. Goodness, it appeared to have just vanished! My mind was again all over the place, and I still felt acutely light-headed.
Then my eyes fell on my little purse inside my handbag that held my driver’s licence and identity card. I reached out for it and opened it. And there it was – the access card!!!
For the life of me, I did not recall putting it into that purse. I was so relieved. The kind security card was also smiling ear-to-ear, so happy for me that I had found the card. You can imagine the state I was in, not to have remembered where I had put the card.
I was still feeling misty-eyed when I got to the office. I quietly sat at my desk for about ten minutes. I made myself a black coffee to ground myself. Thoughts were racing through my head. I needed to go to the police station, get an accident report number for insurance and all the nitty-gritty of paperwork.
A moment of pause, I took a deep breath and messaged my Beloved Master, Mohanji, telling him about what had happened. By then, the waterworks were in full flood. I just cried and cried and cried silently. My colleagues respectfully let me be.
Mohanji’s reply came within a few minutes, “Be Cool. You will be OK. Proceed with the rest of formalities.”
OMG! Mohanji said, “Be Cool.” Thinking back on the drama earlier, I was anything but cool!
And my Master knew it. He was physically thousands of miles away but was a first-hand witness to the unfolding drama earlier.
My beloved Master also said something else in the message. It’s something of a personal nature which I don’t feel I can share publicly. In reply to my response, Mohanji said,” I am with you. Be cool. Be Mohanji.” I felt very comforted and strengthened by His messages.
The police formalities proceeded smoothly. It was the first time I had driven to the famous Brixton Police Station in Johannesburg!
Considering what to do next, I drove straight on to my car dealership for guidance on how to proceed considering the car was still under a motor plan. They cautioned me to go to their recognised repair centre to ensure I don’t lose the motor plan’s benefits. I immediately drove to their recommended repair centre some ten kilometres away. All the formalities were done with pictures taken of the damages. They said they would email me the quote. Again it was quite a straightforward, painless procedure.
As I drove home, I felt compelled to take the car straight to the carwash near where I lived, for a thorough wash and full valet service.
Two beautiful, helpful souls setto work. I told them what had happened. They were very sympathetic and said not to worry. You should have seen just how they went about cleaning the car.
Finally, it was all done. They said, “Come see ma’am.”
I expected to see scratches and dents. There was not a single scratch, nor a dent on the bumper. Nothing! I looked on in utter amazement and peered closely at the rim. Here too, there was not one scratch on it. I was dumb-founded.
I recalled hearing a thud at the time of the incident. There was an impact, and yet there was nothing to show of the morning’s incident. It was a Miracle! A Miracle! My Master’s Miracle.
Mohanji’s protective presence is a powerful shield. When he says, “I am with you,” these are not empty words. They are the words of a powerful Master filled with the energy of Source. This was tangible, observable proof. Mohanji always says to us all, “Stay connected. Do not doubt.”
How often our minds lead us astray in messy, knotty thought entanglements. We apply our limited human concepts to our Master. Yes indeed, Mohanji is in a physical body, and how often have we, mistakenly, thought of him as being just an ordinary human being. He actually prefers it that way.
But please let me just say, put the ‘extra into the ordinary,’ in our definition of Mohanji, we will be getting a little closer to the truth of his extraordinary source stature.
Back to the incident of my car, there’s more! While still at the carwash, I checked my email on my mobile phone. I was surprised to see that the quote from the repair centre had come in. That was quite quick.
I opened the email, and there was the quote staring at me, detailing a long list of repairs which amounted to a grand total of nearly 24 000.00 Rand!
At the carwash, I had paid just R200.00 for the washing and full valet service. To think I was so worried about the cost of repairs.
Miracle, Miracle, Miracle!
This is my Master’s grace, his unstinting blessings, his mighty cover of love and protection. This mind cannot fully grasp the depth of his unconditional love for us. This is my father’s love always and in All Ways.
About a week after the incident, I received a call from the University of Johannesburg’s legal department inquiring whether I had the three quotes from the repair centres to sort out the insurance.
When I explained the eventual outcome after the car was taken to the carwash, the man was at first taken aback and then completely amazed.
I mentioned the amount quoted for the repair centre’s repairs and how much I had paid at the car wash. The man chuckled in disbelief and relief too. I told the gentleman that there were no damages to my vehicle and that there was no need for any insurance claim. I asked him about the condition of the other car. He said there was a slight crack to the bumper and damage to one of the light covers. Nothing major! He asked whether they could close the case, I replied with a happy and emphatic Yes!
“I am with you.”
Mohanji
My heart is so deeply grateful.
Thank You, my beloved Master Mohanji.
All praise! All thanks to You!
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 21st January 2021
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.
I hope you enjoyed the recording yesterday, which is one of the practical lessons I’ve picked up from Mohanji. “No delay. No postponement. No tomorrow. It’s now.” Today, I wanted to share a little bit more about the Mohanji home, and a living lesson from how Mohanji looks after his parents.
Today I wanted to look at the idea of home and family, around that theme. Yesterday’s lesson was very practical, around not delaying. And today I wanted to give more of a view on living with Mohanji. Because whilst he has a very straightforward, no nonsense, matter of fact approach when it comes to work and activity, and moving forward with the activities across the Foundation, he brings the same dedication and commitment to all of his responsibilities, whether that’s a husband, a father, or a son. Here in the home, I’ve had the opportunity to spend time and observe that too.
I call it a home because I was invited to come, as I was somewhat stranded here in India because of Covid. I had just started this role, so it made sense that we were closer together for practical purposes. As you could imagine, being invited to come and stay, I was really nervous at first. I didn’t know what to expect, or what to do, and I hadn’t really had much one to one contact time with Mohanji himself up until that point. Although I’d attended various retreats, and I’d spoken to him here and there, a few words or a few conversations, but nothing really more than that. So, to think about coming, and staying with him in close proximity, I was very nervous. And I think in the first weeks and days I would have been very, very stiff. But quite soon, the warm and the accepting nature that he has, and no expectations of how I should or shouldn’t be, completely allowed me to be myself.
Quite quickly I just relaxed into being a part of the home, and part of the atmosphere and it’s a really lovely harmonious atmosphere. The home itself is a modest size. It has a nice ring of Tulsi plants that have been planted outside by Rajesh and some of the gardeners. I didn’t know but apparently the Tulsi has an aura eight times the size of the actual plant, so that gives a real nice feel. And Rajesh diligently waters them with the coherent water each morning. There’s a section setup where there are some tomato plants growing, and I think some fruit trees have been planted too.
So it’s really nice outside. When you come inside, there is the main hall or the main room where Mohanji sits. On the wall, you have Sai Baba, Dattatreya, Babaji, a picture of Krishna, and other Datta Masters. This leads to an open space to the eating area where there’s a puja room, and there is a kitchen, and a bedroom, and some bedrooms upstairs as well. So, it’s a really nice family home and that’s the feel that it has. I’m pretty sure that when the ashram space is set up or the centres of benevolence like on the land in Ganeshpuri, they will welcome everybody similarly. Even the general environment is very harmonious. The only expectation from you is that you help clean and keep the maintenance of the place. This is for all to get a bit more of a picture of what it’s like here.
It’s from the family or the home that I want to share a lesson today from Mohanji. Mohanji doesn’t overly say something as a teaching. Generally, the way he acts, the way he lives, is a lesson in itself. How he behaves, if you observe him closely enough, you’ll be able to pick up some really great insights and lessons. And here in the home we have his parents. He has brought them here to look after them, because they are elderly now. They’re really looked after and respected; they are fully a part of the home.
I remember back in the Acharya training we were talking about righteousness, our duty and dharma. We all have within our lives a dharma, a duty, particularly to our parents. Because they are the people who brought us into this world, we have a responsibility towards them. I can’t remember the Sanskrit phrase so excuse me for that, but the English translation of order is: Mother, Father, Guru, and then Divine. That’s the order of reverence which you should give them in life.
The Mother is the most important because she’s the one who carried you and knew you for the longest on this Earth. She carried you for nine months before anybody else knew you. Then your Father, because both of them together, are the living representations of your lineage. Respecting the lineage, giving back to that lineage of where you’ve come from, that gave you the opportunity to be here on Earth and experience life. So hold them in really high respect and look after them. Then follows the Guru, the person who’s actually connecting you with the Divine; then the Divine.
So, Mohanji himself, his life, is the lessons. The way he treats his Mother and Father is fantastic. It’s really beautiful to watch because he truly is a great son. In the mornings when Amma is here, she’ll come out, she’ll have a coffee at the table and if Mohanji is here he’ll go and sit down, they’ll talk about the events of the day or the events of the hour and what’s happening in the world. Later Acchan comes for breakfast and they’ll have a conversation as well.
They are looked after well in the house, they’re well respected and they are given a place above Mohanji, especially, Acchan. Even though the home is, you could say Mohanji’s home, it’s Acchan here who has the saying what goes. He often gives us some orientation on things which we might need to improve on, especially me. When I was doing the aarati, and because it’s quite new for me, he made sure that I was doing it correctly.
When you see them interacting, it’s just lovely that they are part of the home. I mean in the Western culture, we have quite a common way of handling our parents and elders, which is as soon as they get to a certain age, they become a nuisance and then we put them in an old age home. The parents then just feel like they don’t want to be a burden to the children, so they accept that. But here, Mohanji lives that responsibility, that dharmic duty of looking after his parents. I’ve heard him in conversation with various people who have asked him: “How do I live up to my dharmic duty if I’m not in the same location?’’ And I’ve heard him give practical tips: ‘’Well, you can make their life better. You can make their life easier. So, be practical. If you can, hire some help for them. Have people go around and help them out with the gardening, with the chores, with fetching the groceries, so that their lives become more comfortable.’’ Some people have also said: ‘’I can’t fulfil that duty because I don’t have a good relationship with my parents.’’ Then he suggests helping the elderly. If you can’t fulfil that duty with your actual parents, then help the elderly. Go somewhere where there are elderly people who need some comfort, need some help and assistance.
So today, that’s the lesson, dharmic duty to our Mother and our Father; the living representations of our lineage. Looking after them well, caring for them as they cared for us in our young age, we care for them in their old age. Watching Mohanji, he certainly lives that as well, as he performs his role in leading his organizations and all his activities. He’s giving equal attention to being a son too.
I hope this was insightful for you, and have a great day ahead.
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 18th January 2021
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.
Since April, I have had the opportunity to live and work side by side with Mohanji. It has been a real blessing. I’m incredibly thankful.
As I work to help arrange Mohanji’s time, appointments and schedule, I’m aware of the many people around the world who’d like to be with him physically but can’t because of the Covid situation.
As a humble and modest gesture to all those who would like to be with him but can’t, I will begin a daily recording of Lessons Living with Mohanji. These will be short recordings of my time spent living with Mohanji, the lessons I’ve learnt and my insights into the Grand Tradition of Liberation.
Day 1 Lesson – Do what needs to be done today, today. Don’t delay.
Today’s recording is a lesson from Mohanji’s practical way of working with high efficiency and doing what needs to be done today, today.
Mohanji never rests, he is always working, and today the lesson is about efficiency.
I hope you find it useful.
Hello everybody, my name is Christopher Greenwood, and I’m a Mohanji Acharya. Through blessings, grace, destiny and situations of life, I’ve had the fortunate opportunity to work with Mohanji in very close proximity as part of his office, and more recently spend very close time with him, living with him, working with him due to the restrictions of lockdown and the corona situation, which has been an incredible blessing that I’m extremely thankful for.
One of the things which Mohanji had said to me when I took up this position, and also where I am now, spending time with him at home in India, is that there are many people across the world, who would love and are craving for the opportunity to see him physically and be in his presence. So, never forget that. And do what you can to serve those people, so that you can, through some way of your own, share the experience and give people a feeling and a flavour of what it’s like to spend time with me.
So, this is the first in a series of recordings. It is probably some videos, which is my humble attempt to share some of the learnings and the teachings, which I’ve managed to be privileged to since staying with Mohanji.
Now, for anyone who’s spent some time in close proximity to Mohanji, they’ll probably tell you that his pace is incredibly quick and efficient. And in fact, he said to me, numerous times: “If you could all go faster, then I could be doing much, much more. I have to actually reduce my speed down to about 20%, just so that you can cope and keep up.” And even then, we still struggle. So, the potential is there for much much more. And I’m sure this will come in the future.
So along with that theme, the first insight that I wanted to share with all of you today, is something that I’ve really been thankful for, which is this idea of efficiency, productivity and doing tasks now, doing them today. Because this is how Mohanji operates, and it’s how he has trained us here to work. And I’m now personally finding a lot of benefit from it. I mean, I get much more self-esteem, because things are completed on time, there’s much less stress because the mountain of activities to complete is much less. And also, there’s movement, a momentum, which, again, creates more motivation.
So, I’ll give some examples soon. But generally, if I speak about Mohanji’s way of working, he has a purpose, without a doubt, and he is completely crystal clear on what outcome he wants to achieve. So, everything for him is driving towards that. And as quick as we can reach that, the better because it’s better for everybody within the family and better for the world.
So, one thing that he does not compromise on is efficiency. So, he is incredibly efficient in his own work. And all the work he’s tasked with within a day, I’m still astounded at what he completes. And he manages to make sure that everything that is pending with him is completed within 24 hours. There are some exceptions, but generally, that’s the rule, any request, any call, any conversation, any message, any activity is completed within 24 hours and moved from his desk, as he says. So, sometimes that might not mean that everything has to be completely finalized. But if you imagine the work that comes into you, the request that comes into you, you’ve at least done some consideration, you’ve done some activity, you’ve transformed it in a way, and moved on to somebody else. So it’s now on their desk. So the idea of creating that movement is something that I’ve observed and taken into my day to day work, which is really good.
And he also does not accept any delay; the delay is not something that exists within his vocabulary because he doesn’t understand why that would happen. Any time there is a delay or ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’, can’t be accepted; there’s no tomorrow for Mohanji, it’s always now. It’s always today. Do what you can now when you have the time and do it promptly because that brings auspiciousness to the activity, generating further movement and momentum. Mohanji does not accept delay or inertia.
From my perspective, the examples of what I’d sort of share is how I used to work would be: if there was a request for Mohanji’s time, a task which I needed to complete, something which had come in unexpectedly, I would begin writing my list, and I’d be like in my mind ‘Okay, I can do that tomorrow, or I can leave this for tomorrow’. I soon realized that the pace of work means that you’ve got a mountain for tomorrow if you leave it for tomorrow. And if you leave that for tomorrow, the mountain grows, and quickly you become under this absolute burden of tasks and activities.
So now, as an example, if somebody says or Mohanji tells me: “Someone would like to meet me, can you arrange a time?” As soon as he says this to me, I’ll be on my phone; I’ll contact that person. I’ll look in the calendar, suggest the time and then pass that on to them as a suggestion. So straight away, it’s come from Mohanji to me, and then it’s gone to the other person. So, it’s off my desk. The same if I need to make a phone call, or the same if I need to make just a general conversation with somebody, as soon as I can, it’s done. If possible, the same for tasks is completing a document or completing a draft, sending them to be reviewed and updated.
So this might be an insight which you may not consider as so spiritual. But I’ve started this first talk because Mohanji quite often says that he’s more practical, before being spiritual. And when we’ve got activities to complete, a whole variety of platforms, activities to progress and strengthen, build up what we’re doing in the world, this momentum, this efficiency, and being practical before being spiritual are incredibly important. And that’s a general theme, which we have day to day working here. There’s a morning routine where we come together. We’ll have a conversation about the activities that completed yesterday, what needs to be completed today, discuss what has to happen. I’ll take that away and work on it so that everything needed to move today has moved by midday or by afternoon, and there’s momentum.
So, I hope that was useful insight for you; there’ll be more to come. You can send me questions or comments. And if there’s anything I could orientate towards or any questions which anybody has about being with Mohanji, living with Mohanji, I’d be happy to answer them as well. Have a great day.
Answer to a question about the delay:
Today, I was asked to clarify what no delay and procrastinate means and how to overcome this. So, I’ll share my experience and also the original message from Mohanji. So, no delay. That means no postponement, no tomorrow. It’s now. As simple as that. And if we can take that teaching into our life, we can become incredibly powerful. And if we take it to another level and look at Mohanji’s larger work, which is to take people to liberation – What’s he liberating us from? It’s this cycle of birth and death in the world. This karmic cycle. And what is karma? Unfulfilled pending desires. So, if to be liberated, we have to exhaust our karma, then there is no postponement, no tomorrow, there’s only now. That’s how he sees it. If he is taking us to the highest, finish it now, complete what needs to be completed. And that’s another dimension to the message.
The second point about procrastination is that I also had to come out of it recently here. For me, I had a little bit more encouragement, because Mohanji is here, and he definitely doesn’t allow people to sit idle, you have to move, so there’s an extra motivating force. But if we think of ourselves as a bundle of habits and patterns, we have essentially trained ourselves to be lazy and procrastinate. And the most predominant force is gravitational, to pull us down into a comfort zone. Suppose you take exercise, for example, when you’re trying to work out, increase fitness, increase strength, or increase muscles while doing the activity and having the momentum. In that case, it’s very easy to maintain. But once you stop, you quickly slip back into poor, unhealthy eating, not much movement, and it’s very easy to do that—the same with procrastination. You have to combat it with the opposite, which is action, and the activity of just doing it—getting on, getting moving. And do it now. And that can be cultivated. And I find that once I start just putting myself into action, looking at the task, don’t let my mind think ‘okay I’ll do that later’ or ‘I can do something else’, I just push through it. It’s an effort to rebuild and retrain to start activities. Once you start the activities and keep moving, you generate some momentum, which then brings results, which then brings motivation, which then brings satisfaction. And so it’s almost like you’re starting, pushing a big, heavy boulder. But once you start moving it and it starts rolling it’s much easier. So, it really is just taking that effort to achieve a purpose. And if our purpose is liberation, as for many people connected to Mohanji, then it is that message of no postponement, no tomorrow. It’s now.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 14th January 2021
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.
Surrendering at the lotus feet of Lord Datta, who is also known as “Girnar Raja” – the king of the Mountain Girnar, I am beginning my story of “Journey to Girnar with Mohanji”.
More ancient than the Himalayas is Mount Girnar – the mountain that symbolizes “a Guru is always on top of the world”. Lord Dattatreya, the Adi Guru of Dattatreya Tradition, is believed to have meditated at the peak of this mountain for over 12,000 years. Many devotees of Lord Datta climb up Mount Girnar throughout the year to get a glimpse of the benevolent Guru, Dattatreya. It is said that to reach the peak of the mountain and to have the darshan of his (Lord Dattatreya) holy footprints, one should have a lot of determination, dedication, surrender, and utmost faith. One should follow the same path as his Guru, in the same direction, and only then can he reach the destination. Lord Dattatreya is present here protecting all his devotees.
I had travelled to India in Jan 2020 to attend a retreat with Mohanji, spend some time with my parents, and to attend a cousin’s wedding. I was going to be in India for some more time, and while I was there, I tried to spend as much time as I could, being around Mohanji. In late January 2020, the Bhumi Puja of the ‘Home for Seniors’ land was happening in Thiruvannamalai, and I was so fortunate to attend the ceremony and to be able to meet Mohanji there.
A few days after returning from Thiruvannamalai, I heard about a short trip that Mohanji was making to Mount Girnar, to the temple of Lord Datta. I had not heard about this mountain and Lord Datta’s temple before. I had no idea what it takes to go there! But as soon as I heard about it, a calling from my heart came to travel with Mohanji to Mount Girnar. A wet blanket was soon thrown over my excitement when I heard that going to Lord Datta’s temple on top of the mountain means climbing up 9999 steps and down the same too!
I shivered with the reality check. I didn’t think I could do this as I am not very fit physically. I gave up the idea. That’s when I got a message from Rajesh saying “You are coming to Girnar. Jo Dar Gaya Samjho Woh Mar Gaya.” (The one who is scared, is dead). His words were motivating enough, and I felt as if these words were coming from Mohanji! So, I decided to take the journey! On top of that, Rajesh assured me about the possibility of using the doli service, where you can be carried up rather than walk. I decided I would go to Girnar and take a doli.
I reached Junagadh in the afternoon of February 11th. Several people from Mohanji family had already arrived there, and I was taken to the beautiful Gorakhnath Ashram overlooking Mount Girnar. After lunch, Ruchika and I went around feeding cows around the Gorakhnath Ashram Later, after Mohanji arrived, all of us gathered in his room. Mohanji was very happy to see all of us. I noticed that the swelling on Mohanji’s left foot had not reduced (which was there since the Thiruvannamalai event). Seeing all of us worrying about his foot pain, Mohanji very lovingly told us, “You are all Mai-Tri Practitioners. So why don’t you do Mai-Tri to this body? To the body only, not to Mohanji!” It’s beyond our imagination to heal Mohanji’s body, but we realized that to keep our worrying mind at rest, Mohanji was giving us this opportunity. In my heart, I was praying to Datta to relieve this physical pain from Mohanji’s foot.
Mount Girnar
We had a small satsang with Mohanji about Girnar and the plan to climb in the night so as to reach the top by early morning for aarati at 5:30 am. Rajesh Kamath mentioned that I wanted to take a doli as it was difficult for me to climb. Mohanji immediately said, “Shinde has to climb, she will climb, it’s her sadhana”. This was a command from my Guru, and I bowed down to this and said, “Yes Baba, all your grace, your will”.
As Mohanji reminded us all, “A visit to Girnar is not an ordinary journey. It is a surrender and commitment to the Tradition. Unless you have deep commitment and conviction, you may not be in this land. In fact, there is no better place, more powerful and more relevant than Girnar for a true spiritualist in the path of the Avadhootas (total dissolution). We aren’t talking about enlightenment or even the Path of the Siddhas here – this is much beyond human realms or thinking. Even today, the nine Naths and 84 Siddhas visit Girnar in sookshma form, chant and pray for the darshan of Lord Dattatreya who continues to guide them. Grace alone can bring an individual to this land. Grace and surrender alone will help one complete this holy pilgrimage. Jai Gurudev Datta!”
After the empowering satsang with Mohanji, we got ready to start our climb to Mount Girnar. Along with me, Ruchika, Sonia, Hemkant and his wife Shilpa were ready too. After attending the aarati at Gorakhnath temple and dinner, we started our walk around 9 pm. We took blessings from the idols of Lord Datta and Hanuman at the bottom of Girnar and started climbing from there.
We had no idea about what the climbing path would be like, or how long it will take. We all carried a stick, a bottle of water, and chanting Lord Datta’s name, we kept on climbing. As we picked up our pace, a couple of people fell behind. As I was walking, I felt that there were Masters from above looking at us. I could feel their energy around us.
Walking up the steep steps wasn’t easy for me. My knees hurt, and my legs felt weak to move. I had to take frequent stops to sit down and then kept on walking. At some point, all of us met up again, and we sat down at that point to meditate for a few minutes and then continued walking. As we were walking, another elderly couple joined us. As we were climbing, I spoke to them about Mohanji, Mohanji’s mission, liberation and gave a brief of his teachings, too.
At some point during our walk, we noticed that George had arrived. He was walking very fast, chanting “Jai Gurudeva Datta, Hari Om Tat-Sat” loudly. When he saw us, he hugged us and kept on walking. Seeing the energetic George walking with such speed, chanting loudly, I felt a sudden surge of energy in my own body. He reminded me of Lord Hanuman, who was empowered because of his faith and devotion. Hemkant started walking fast, ahead with George. The rest of us were walking at our own pace, Shilpa and I were together, walking, talking, resting. It was not so easy, and the body would give up. In those moments, I thought of Mohanji and Lord Datta and reminded myself that this is my path; this is my destination; this is the goal – to reach Datta, I have to do it.
Surrendering each step to Lord Datta, I kept walking. Something in me started telling me, “keep walking.” Slowly, the energy started flowing and I could climb with lesser effort.
After some time, I saw that Hemkant was resting because of severe pain in his knee, and Shilpa was with him. George went ahead. I could not wait with Hemkant because the inner voice said, “keep walking”. I kept walking, and another old couple were walking along too. We sent a balm for Hemkant that the couple had with them through some people going down, and we kept on walking ahead.
After 3000 steps, we reached the Neminath Tirthankar temple along with the elderly couple.
Following a brief rest, I started climbing up again alone. It was pitch dark. I had no torch. The couple were still resting behind, but I kept walking even in the darkness. I could feel the pull of some divine energy which was making me walk. I didn’t know the path, but I kept on walking. When I felt tired, I would feel a sudden surge of energy as soon as I surrendered to Mohanji and Dattatreya. After a while, I heard Mohanji and his group coming behind us, Mohanji in a doli. I looked back at them, and I wanted to go towards Mohanji. Mohanji saw me and said, “Shinde don’t come back, keep walking, and go ahead”. Now, I was walking with even more energy and joy knowing that Mohanji and the group are walking just behind me. I had no more fear, no more pain; I started climbing higher and higher. With each step, I was surrendering and climbing.
It was dark everywhere and pin-drop silence. Not a single soul to be seen. I was just taking each step slowly and going up with complete faith. After the 5000th step, I reached Ambaji’s temple. The doors of the temple were closed, and I did not know what to do. Mohanji’s words “keep walking” were always ringing in my head. So, I got up from the temple and started climbing again. Through ups and downs, amidst the dark in the silent path, walking continuously, finally I reached the Gorakhnath temple at around 7000 steps. At this point, the only sound was the sound of the wind blowing; hard-hitting, strong and cold. I also knew there were wild animals in those mountains, which I could not see or hear. I felt the presence of some Masters above me, walking along with me. It was not that I was walking alone. Datta Guru Mohanji was watching over me and that was the reason for this huge surge of energy coursing through my body, making me walk. I remembered only these two things while walking.
At one point, the steps go down, and then they take off to go to the ultimate, Guru Shikhar – the peak. Climbing these steep steps towards the peak, I suddenly felt there were no thoughts. There was only emptiness. I had only two thoughts in my mind, to reach Guru Shikhar and be at the Datta temple before the aarati and to keep walking.
I was walking like a daredevil, without any fear of the solitude or darkness. Suddenly at one point, my stick slipped from my hand and went down somewhere in the dark. It can be quite a discomfort being without a stick in the darkness. I started chanting and climbing down slowly. Maybe after 50 steps or so, I saw my stick! It was stuck to something, and I had spotted it even in the dark. I picked up the stick, thanked Mohanji and Datta and started walking again with focus. At times, the fear of walking alone came to mind, but at those times, I felt the Masters watching over me and Mohanji’s presence with me, protecting me. My fear vanished with this understanding. I remembered Mohanji’s words, “keep walking” and so I kept walking.
The final part of climbing was very steep, but I didn’t even realize how I climbed that part. Finally, I saw a flag and the top of Guru Shikhar, the top of the temple and I started climbing further. It was getting even windier at the top, and I felt that I might fall. After climbing carefully, I reached the top, and I saw George sitting just below the Datta temple. He guided me to go further up near the temple, and when I reached there, I saw Rajesh Kamath and DB. It was 4 am (Brahma Muhurtha) when I reached the Datta temple.
I walked up and touched the temple; now was the time to sit down! At that point, I had an immense surge of energy in me, and I wasn’t feeling cold or wind beat. Rajesh forced me to wear my jacket and then I sat down. It was as if Mohanji acted like my mother, making sure I was protected from the cold wind. As soon as I put on my jacket and sat, intense pain started in my stomach centre near the navel, going back to my spine, like some pull, it was very painful. I didn’t know what it was and I started crying out to Datta. Rajesh helped me lie down and to rest completely, and soon I felt better. Datta’s healing energy had taken my pain away in minutes!
After about half an hour, Mohanji and the rest of the group arrived too. As soon as Mohanji saw me, he said, “Ah, Shinde, you are already there”. I said “Baba, all your love and grace” and I bowed down to him.
We were waiting for the temple to open at 5:30 am for the aarati. While the slight delay was happening, Sonia and Ruchika arrived. Then after the temple opened, while we were going inside, Hemkant and Shilpa arrived too. The entire Mohanji family was inside the temple just in time for the aarati. Mohanji ensured that everyone was there together with him.
Lord Dattatreya
This was the great divine grace of Datta.
Just before the aarati, while I was standing behind Mohanji, he said to Ananth who was there in the front, “You know this Shinde, she can talk about liberation in three minutes”. I blushed because I realized that Mohanji heard my conversation with the couple while we were walking about our Tradition, Masters, liberation etc. Mohanji reminded me once again that he is always listening to us.
Soon aarati started. It was such a powerful and divine moment to attend the Datta aarati in the physical presence of Mohanji. I couldn’t believe myself; I was physically there receiving this grace!!! I was speechless, completely merged with the divine grace of Mohanji and Datta. Time had stopped for me at that moment. So far, it was one of the greatest moments of my life.
After aarati, we went around the Lord Dattatreya’s idol inside the temple, had a good darshan and came out.
After the 7-8 hours long sadhana of climbing up, the descent was joyful. Yes, Mohanji ensured that the descent was joyful. Sonia, Ruchika and I started climbing down together, talking laughing, eating, our legs were flying with joy! Such satisfaction, such contentment!
We had many interesting incidents during our walk down, like meeting some strange people. We went to Gorakhnath temple, heard the inspiring story of the priest there who had left his banker job to serve in the temple. We then reached the Ambaji temple where we had darshan of the divine Mother and finally decided to sit down for some time to take rest. We were feeling as if we were flying, and we felt so light. We laughed at small things. On our way down, we met an old man looking like a yogi. He told us so many stories of Mount Girnar. We kept walking down, enjoying our journey together. After a while, we saw some monkeys and gave them watermelon. Then, from nowhere, a person started walking with us even after we said we didn’t need any help; he just wanted to accompany us. In between an old mother wanted some food for her children and we bought some food for her. Finally, in the mix of laughing, sitting, and walking, we reached the bottom of Mount Girnar and arrived at the Gorakhnath ashram. We offered food and some money to the person who had been walking with us all this time.
The next day, before leaving Girnar, we met Mohanji to express our gratitude and take his blessings. Again, Mohanji said to me, “Why do you need a doli, when you have this body?” He explained to me what a beautiful gift we have as this body and its importance. I was in deep gratitude, and tears rolled down my cheeks. Everything that happened the day before was only by the grace of my Datta, Guru Mohanji.
After returning from Girnar, I felt Mohanji was Lord Datta and daily did the Swami Samarth Datta aarati. However, Mohanji fulfilled every desire of mine within a few days. Mahesh Bhalero sang a new Girnar Datta aarati to Mohanji. I was overjoyed and now I do the Mohanji datta aarati every day.
On my return to Bangalore, I also visited Devi Amma to give her Ganga water from Varanasi and some tamil books and spoke about the Girnar trip with Mohanji. Devi Amma said, “You have shed many lifetimes karmic baggage by climbing Girnar with Mohanji.” Then I understood what Mohanji had meant when he said, “It’s your sadhana.” It meant shedding karmic baggage.
Visiting Girnar had not been on my bucket list. Not even a thought had been there, at least not in my conscious mind. But it all just happened with the grace of Datta and the miracle of my Guru Mohanji. Even today, when I look back, I get goose bumps. How did it happen?
The truth is that the journey to Girnar happens only with complete faith and devotion, the grace of Dattatreya, and Datta Guru Mohanji, who carries you ahead.
This yatra (pilgrimage) to Girnar with Mohanji will remain close to my heart forever.
At the lotus feet of GURUDEVADATTA MOHANJI!
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 7th January 2021
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.
Here are three beautiful experiences which highlight Mohanji’s statement, “I am always with you”. He understands the needs of every person who connects with him and fulfils their wishes or gives them the guidance needed to move on this path of pathlessness.
The price for gossiping is a heavy burden
By Dragana Tesanovic
“When somebody creates gossips, scandals; when somebody character assassinates another person, who’s responsible? Primarily, the person who’s initiating it is responsible. He or she ends up paying the real price. And it’s quite a huge debt, based on the impact it created. First of all, the person who initiates it has to pay a huge debt. Maybe it will take various lifetimes to clear. It’s absolutely not worth it. Secondly, the contamination that it creates in the minds of various people, who gets to pay for that? The person who initiates pays for that also. If that person whose mind has contaminated the reader, the listener, and they transfer it further; they also end up paying a part of it.”
Mohanji
I would like to share my experience on this point. Even though my Guru Mohanji spoke many times about the price of gossiping, still I could not grasp the understanding of this important matter. I understood it intellectually, but never did I assimilate it properly.
Not that long ago, I was speaking to my friend, and I willingly indulged in gossiping and creating prejudices about certain people. Even though I am aware of Mohanji’s warning about the debts and everything, I still gave myself to it. That same night, while I was asleep, I got my lesson. The lesson revealed itself on Kailash (The holy mountain known as the abode of Shiva; symbolically represents the ultimate destination and the crown chakra of planet Earth; an energetically high spot; and one of the holiest places where the spiritual aspirants go on pilgrimages).
Kailash
So, as I am sleeping, I see myself in a very familiar place, but I know for sure I have not been there yet in this lifetime. The sky is darkish blue; I knew it was several hours before dawn. All the people that are deeply connected to Mohanji were present in this place. Mohanji was also there, but not physically. He was working on all of us, energetically, cleansing us, helping us go easy through this journey. We were at some kind of a place before we started moving towards Kailash again.
While waiting, everybody was scattered in random places, sitting at tables with random people. I was sitting with my two friends, the same people that I had gossiped with about the other people that night. In one moment, they both flew away, they went somewhere, and I stayed sitting at the table. We were about to move, but the two of them were still out of sight. Then, because we needed to start moving, I decided to take their stuff along with mine. I dragged their baggage with me. It was getting harder to take each new step forward, as the things that I was carrying were becoming heavier and heavier.
I was feeling helpless but determined to keep moving. My each and every step was hard, as my legs were like stones, my head dizzy. I felt a big pressure in my head, and my mouth dried out completely. I was still moving, but very slowly, more slowly than it was normal. Still, I felt Mohanji was supporting each and every single one of us on this journey, but it was me who did not want to drop these bags.
During this dream, I was aware that the reason this is happening was the gossiping and prejudice that I had been a part of, with those people the previous night. I learned a lesson that these things are making us heavier, and it is only logical that they affect the speed and the factor of lightness on our journey towards liberation.
The reason why I wrote all this is that I always wanted to remind myself of this experience and that hopefully, I will not fall into the trap of gossiping and having prejudice about anyone ever again. My dream was just a brief reminder, how painful it was to be slowed down on my trip towards liberation.
I am deeply grateful to Mohanji because, without his grace, it would not be possible for me to realize this deeply. I am also deeply grateful to all our Masters of the Golden Tradition of Liberation – Dattatreya Tradition – and to Dattatreya himself, because of their constant support and upliftment we receive, without any judgment and discrimination.
All Masters are one!
By Nirupama Chowdary
I completely surrender to my Guru and the Guru Parampara with deep gratitude. I am always protected and taken care of.
The last few weeks were not easy. A lot of things were happening. I knew my Guru (I was initiated into the Nath Tradition before I meet Mohanji) Shri Shri Gulaab Nath Ji was not well. He was 94 years old. Lately, he was not even talking on the phone. All who have taken birth have to go. This is the reality of life. And one midnight, I got the news of his merger with the supreme consciousness.
There was an urge to go immediately and be there for his samadhi at his village in Rajasthan. Due to Covid, travelling by local transport was not possible. And my husband was just recovering from Covid. So I couldn’t make it. On one side, I wanted to be there to pay my Shradhanjali (a tribute to the departed) to Baba, who brought me to the path of liberation, to the Nath Tradition and brought Mohanji in my life. He always said to me to be with Mohanji, that Mohanji would lead me forward and give me the answers I needed.
Baba always gave pointers, and one had to search and find out what it indicated, whereas Mohanji clarified each concept in simple words. Once I mentioned to Mohanji that Baba only gives pointers. Mohanji laughed and said, “Nath Masters are normally quiet, I am different. I talk a lot. Ah! I have a different agenda.” Both Masters complemented each other. Both for me are like my own prana.
I was unable to go for Baba’s samadhi. Then I thought of going for the 12th-day ritual. But again, I couldn’t make it. I was in great pain. Baba always treated me like a daughter. I was praying for a miracle. Nothing happened.
One night, I had a dream. I found myself in an open desert-like place. Many people were there, scattered around the place and talking in small groups. Suddenly everyone was quiet. And we saw Mohanji coming. With him were few people. Mohanji was wearing a white kurta and dhoti. I ran and bowed down. He blessed me and made me stand. Then he started walking, signalling us to follow him. He went towards the raised platform where priests were sitting. He sat on the asana (special seat) and signalled me to sit near him. No words said. Prayers began. With full attention, Mohanji started putting flowers where ever the pundit (priest) indicated. This was followed by a homa.
After the homa, Mohanji asked me to bring my forehead forward, and he placed his forehead to my forehead. An electric current passed through my body. I was dazed. No feelings left, only contentment and peace. Suddenly I heard my morning alarm and was back in this world. As I got up, I realised Mohanji had come to Babaji’s village, and sitting on the platform with the pundit had done puja for Baba on his samadhi.
Now I realise Guru and Guru Tatwa (Guru Principle) are one. In his subtle form, Mohanji not only fulfilled my wish, but he did a puja also, to make me realise that both Nath Gurus are one. Only we see them as separate beings. My deep gratitude to Mohanji, who made this experience possible. Each time Mohanji says I am with you, he keeps his promise.
Always in the consciousness of Mohanji.
A dream that transformed me with many messages
By Madhuri Araligidad
Being Sai baba’s and Mohanji’s devotee, on Sunday, Nov 8, I started doing a weekly parayan (saptah) of the holy book Shri Sai Satcharitra. In the morning of the 4th day of my parayan, I had a dream. It’s one of many, and it goes like this.
Along with my friends, I visited one of our lecturers’ home, where we enjoyed a lot of hospitality and spent much time there. Then we left her house and went to a lush green park which surrounded a beautiful monument. Our time together was full of joy, laughter and chit-chat. We took so many pictures and had some good food. The park was filled with many people like us, and all were truly having a joyous time.
Suddenly, we heard gunfire around the monument, leading to a stampede in the surrounding narrow streets. We were all in a panic, and I witnessed some grenades falling in front of me, causing a massive fire, but somehow I escaped, unhurt. I got to see some militants with snipers in their hands in ambush. Luckily, they couldn’t see and harm me. After a few moments, I, along with my friends, reached a nearby bus stop which seemed a very safer place compared to the former.
In that area, charity workers were providing food for the people who were the victims of this incident. The place encompassed tables and chairs occupied by many people and as such, we managed to sit on the floor and were served some good food with a bowlful of dessert. They served everyone with a lot of compassion, and there was no trace of panic on their faces or in their behaviour, which baffled us. We all enjoyed sumptuous food. After a while, everything became peaceful again, and there was no trace of attack that had suddenly happened.
We all gathered in the park again and started having a good time and forgot to make our way home. After a few moments, the gunfire started again, and we regretted not going to a safe place, our homes. Then I saw two fighter aircrafts flying above us and dropping missiles in the vicinity of the monument. Luckily, the aircrafts missed the target, and the missiles fell in a pond, which was a part of the monument, causing a huge surge of water. Right at that moment (even though in a huge panic state), we all got to see fireworks in the sky indicating our victory over evil.
Meanwhile, a group of militants boarded on a four-wheeler, started subjugating people gathered in the park, and again, nobody was hurt. So many people, including ourselves, took refuge near the huge beautiful walls of the monument. Amidst all these horrendous acts, there stood a small Shiva temple in the middle of the park, not affected by any negativity, instead of radiating solidarity and valour. And I got to see a huge surge of milk pouring on the Shivaling, without anyone’s assistance, in the sanctum of the temple through an inlet present in the sanctum. With this beautiful scene, peace pervaded again in that area.
Around 7:45 am, I opened my eyes and woke up from my dream. Suddenly, I thought to myself, this is why Mohanji promotes non-violence and peace, and this very statement kept lingering in my head. The dream was so vivid that it took a few minutes for me to cope with the real world, and I just wanted to wipe out the entire dream, which was so unpleasant to handle. I’m penning this down because I don’t want to disown my experience. As Mohanji says our gross minds are such that they often dismiss and disown true experiences and Mohanji also says anything that transforms you, be it tangible or intangible, is real. In this case, though it was a dream and an intangible entity, it had transformative effects.
Messages I learnt from the dream.
1) Throughout the experience in this dream, I didn’t witness any bloodshed or any casualties. That meant grace was protecting us. As Mohanji says, “Grace protects you; it does not stop an event. Grace flows. It is pitched against collective consciousness. Collective consciousness creates situations. E.g. it elects the ruler or the king! Grace protects you from the sun but cannot remove the sun.”
2) If we completely surrender ourselves to our Guru, he always keeps us protected and unhurt. In this dream, I found myself completely unhurt and safe.
3) Through the charity workers, I got to witness how positive collective consciousness saves the lives of many and sends positive vibrations to the universe.
4) If we discard doership, grace flows beautifully. We should practice beingness.
5) How our thoughts affect the beings on Earth. Hence non-violence in thought, word and action are very much necessary to have a peaceful, prosperous and happy existence.
6) Being a Power of Purity meditator, I also understood why we should express our gratitude to inanimate objects. In this case, the monument gave us refuge to keep us hidden and safe.
May Mohanji keep blessing and protecting all of us. May Mohanji provide everyone with good health, wealth, happiness and peace. May Mohanji fulfil our selfless wishes. May, by Mohanji’s grace, we all practice positive collective consciousness and make the world a better and peaceful place to live in.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 3rd January 2021
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Experiences With Mohanji 