Day 201 – Make plans on individual and collective capacities
Today, I wanted to expand a little bit on some messages that I’ve shared before, which are about Mohanji’s approach to work, his fierce willpower, and the way that he lives a “get it done” attitude. He has a clear plan, and he’s moving ahead with that, regardless. This means it can be very challenging and demanding to work closely with him. Because the words “it’s not possible” or “it can’t be done” are not something you can easily say to Mohanji because for him there’s always a possibility. Impossible doesn’t exist. Or, if there’s a lock, then that also must be a key and it’s a job then to find it. This is the approach that we’ve been taking and it’s incredibly rewarding and inspiring to work this way because I’ve seen over the year that my capacities have really increased from what I thought was possible before.
One of the extensions of this type of lesson is to plan based on individual and team capacity, because if we don’t do that, and we plan on somebody else’s support, banking on the belief that they will help, there’s no guarantee. If we’ve started a project saying: “Okay, this is going to happen because this person said that they all support and this person has also decided they’ll contribute,” there’s not really much guarantee that it will happen, and if it doesn’t, it can become a problem. But if we plan based on what we can individually and collectively do as the Mohanji family, then there’s a greater chance of success.
Then in bringing people, and having them also walk with us, he always reminds us that we can only inspire people with our life, what we do, or our actions; words don’t mean so much. If people decide to walk with us and support us, then we’re lucky. But if they don’t, it’s still important to achieve what we want to, even if that means sometimes taking steps backward to go forward again. But leaving or stopping a project is not a good idea because that really would hit self-esteem very badly. In that sense, success is the only real purpose.
Day 202 – Connecting with nature
This morning, we’re doing some film shooting with Mohanji and a cameraman, taking advantage of the early morning hours in the good light. As we were here, just waiting for people to set up, Mohanji asked me to just look at a tree and explained something from that, which I thought would be really great to share with you all today.
As we were waiting, he just said, “Look at the tree and look what you see.” That’s what he said, and after some time, he said, “Okay, now go beyond the form. What do you see? What do you feel?” So, looking at the outward tree, then connecting with it more, and then that sense of stability comes, and peace too. He said, “Like that, with everything in nature, it speaks to you.” Then he also asked, “Where do you feel it? Where does it connect with you?” For me, it was in the chest in the heart area. He said, “That’s the feeling. That’s what we can get from nature.”
He shared this before and has also recently been speaking more and more about why it’s important to connect with nature, especially for children. Because all of nature is talking to us all the time, if we can be with it, listen to it, and we can receive from it, from the tree for example, that communication of stability, strength, and peace. He also spoke of how in the modern day, we live in a world that is very much divided up into squares, boxes, rectangles, and cubes. Rarely are we natural, out in the wildness of nature, and reconnecting with that can bring a lot of stability for people.
So, this was something small I wanted to share with you today, but it is also very, very big, as it is about the power of connecting with nature, and especially how we can bring that more into our lives.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 19th 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.
Yesterday, Mohanji attended a fantastic panel discussion here in Belgrade, which was organised by the Vlade and Ana Divac Foundation. This panel discussion was really good. The title of it was: ‘The role of an individual in overcoming conflicts in a polarised society’. Many distinguished guests attended. There was an NBA Hall of Famer, a motivational speaker, the head of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, and a Harvard professor. Obviously, Mohanji was there too, and many other guests, and Vlade Divac too.
Here is the link to the whole event. Mohanji’s speaking time starts at 19:08
Mohanji’s speaking slot opened by answering a question from the host, who shared Mohanji’s quote: “Dare to be different. That is your signature in the world,” and he asked, “Is it easy to be different in today’s world?”
The answer to this question was a good one for me, so I wanted to share this, almost in its entirety, because it also left me with a question that I will share in this morning’s message. So, it’s dare to be different; that’s your signature in the world, and how easy is it actually to be different in today’s world. Mohanji answered this nicely actually. He started by saying that the whole world is actually unique. All creations are unique; we’re all unique. So, we’re already different by birth; by nature, we’re neither higher nor lower nor equal to anyone else, which is a really good reminder.
Our thumb impression is unique; our eye retina is unique. So, each of us has something unique with an amazing potential for expression in the world. But we refuse to accept that, and society, how it’s constructed; mainly, its education is provided to compete and compare. And this could be for positions, money, space, or anything, but that’s the predominant teaching, to beat the other. And then this is where all the other divisions happened. Then we become attached to the positions and the relations. So, if anything becomes a threat to those or affects those things that we’re attached to, we become upset. So, Mohanji also explained that, now, within the world, fear is given in bulk to people, with COVID especially. With all the changes and all the turbulences, there’s a really destabilising atmosphere in the world at the moment. So, there’s a big fear also of losing those positions and relations. But we forget, as he reminded us very nicely, that we are all here on a tourist visa. We came with nothing; we leave with nothing. Everything is temporary.
So, in also explaining this, against the quote, we realise that there is something beyond all these things, and we realise what we are, minus all these temporary attachments. There’s a power there, where there’s no need for fear. And this gives us that dare or that Lion’s heart to face the world. So he explained the real reason, or the fundamental reason that you can trace it back to, is that there are polarities in the world because of that education, wherein we’re taught to compare and beat and win against the opponent. But the real victory is winning over ourselves. So this statement left me contemplating yesterday and this morning, so I know what that means for me. And so, I’ll save any explanation of what I think and leave this space so that you also can think about what that means for you, winning over yourself. Daring to be different because that’s your signature in the world. Hope you have a great day ahead.
Day 198 – The benefit of extreme action
Mohanji’s mode of work is extreme action. We were speaking the other day, just a general conversation and Mohanji shared a story that made me laugh. It was at a time when we were passing through the security at Delhi airport, and the security guard asked him what he does as a job, and he told him that he teaches meditations and yoga, so the guard said, “Oh, so basically, you do nothing.” Then Mohanji asked, “Well, how many hours do you work? Eight? Well, I’m pretty much working 24 hours,” and I think the conversation shifted slowly.
But this was a good prompt to share a bit more of my understanding, now that I’ve spent more time with Mohanji, about the benefit of being in the presence of that state, of that energy of extreme action, even though it can be quite demanding. It’s related to the guṇas that we are made up of: the tamasic – the sort of slow sluggishness, the laziness – rajasic action; and sattva – the peaceful, stable state. I’ve shared before that the pace of working with Mohanji is really relentless; it’s constant. There’s not much time to think. The level of activity is so high that there’s very little time to think, in fact, and what I’ve learned and confirmed with Mohanji is that that’s exactly the point. Because when you’re working with Mohanji, and also he said, any other Master for that matter, you’re pushed into a state of hyper action. Because you need to move from the usual easy, sluggish, downward energy, or tamas, which is your procrastination, laziness, doubting, criticising, gossiping, comparing, all that type of stuff, and shift into a mode of action, where you’re beginning to do things.
That’s like a momentum building up over time, one activity, another activity, another, and then another, so that it’s really speeding up that state of action, and the idea is that it becomes so intense that eventually it becomes a state of sattva, where it’s an extreme action, but actually inside, you’re completely calm. Things are happening, but you’re not fully attached to them. So, until you’ve reached that state, there are obviously peaks and troughs; you’ll move up into a state of action, where things are really going well, and then fall back down to tamas. In the presence of Mohanji, that’s when the butt-kicking happens, and your butt is kicked so that you get moving again and are pushed up into that rajasic state.
So, that’s generally the benefit of being with a master because that happens much more frequently. Why is it a benefit? For many, it seems like hard work, which it is, because it can be quite demanding. But what’s actually happening is that tamasic tendencies – your laziness, heaviness, being caught up in emotions – bind you to mindsets, and also, ownership is more. Being pushed into that action, there’s no time to think, and when there’s no time to think, there’s very little emotion attached to the activity. There’s very little ownership attached to activity too, and the lack of emotion and lack of ownership means that there’s not much karma that you’re accruing from the work that you’re doing. So, it’s heavy and quick purification whilst not acquiring anything more.
That’s one of the benefits, but at the same time, it’s challenging. This was a different perspective on being with Mohanji, the work, and the pace, with the ultimate goal being to move up towards a more peaceful state of sattva.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 12th 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.
This year in August, it‘ll be ten years since Mohanji appeared in my life and took me under his divine wings of protection.
Although I shared my story of how I met Mohanji on many different occasions, I would like to put it on paper form as well, as a possible inspiration for others to share their experiences too and as a reminder to myself to sit and write more! Therefore, I sincerely thank Monika Dizdarevic, who inspired me to make this step.
It all started in Berlin in 2013 when my marriage hit bottom. At that time, I was an unhappy married woman who left her homeland Serbia, friends and family and a decade of numerous attempts to pursue a career as an actress, with deep wounds and suppressed pain caused by unfulfilled dreams, broken relationships and poverty.
I met my husband in the summer of 2011 in Berlin. It was love at first sight, and soon after we met, we decided to get married. After seven months of knowing each other, I became Frau Fassbender, ready to start a fresh new life in one of the most welcoming cities in the world.
In the beginning, it all seemed well between us. We were different, our cultures and habits too, but I believed I would be able to accept them, digest them and learn to live with them.
Then reality hit. My long-term depression, fears, painful memories, everything came crashing down on me. I was in a foreign land; I didn’t know the language, I didn’t have friends and contacts, I was jobless, and I was unhappy with my marriage!
My husband loved me but was limited within his capacity, and he could not fully understand my depths and accept me. Little did I know that acceptance from his side wasn’t possible because I was the one who was sabotaging myself. I was the one who was torturing, judging and rejecting myself, unaware of the fact that he was only the reflection of my inner state. I had expectations. I was angry and scared; I was lost. The idea of reinventing myself was creating even more resistance in me. The pattern of victimhood in its peak!
By this time, our marriage became an agony for both. We constantly fought about everything.
One morning, I was alone at home, sitting in the kitchen, with the laptop in front of me, without any solution for my problem. Nothing seemed possible. Divorce was out of the question; I was not ready to accept that my marriage wasn’t going to last, but I couldn’t continue living in such misery either. Why this life? What’s the point of me being alive? I disappointed my family and friends; I was a complete failure, and so many other heavy thoughts ran through my head. Suddenly, I felt that the walls of my kitchen were coming towards me, and it was like the space around me was getting smaller and smaller. I’m going to suffocate; that’s it. The end is near.
I felt a heavy and sharp pain in my chest, but I managed to take as much breath as possible and said loudly: “GOD, PLEASE, HELP ME!”
Then I looked at my laptop and saw a notification on my Facebook. Its title was “How To Heal Your Life”. The video was about the book written by Louise Hay. I watched the video and immediately downloaded the book, and read it that same day. In the book, dear Louise says that the first step on a healing journey is to stop at least one bad habit immediately.
That day LIFE gave me a chance, and I didn’t want to blow it away. I decided to quit 17 years of a heavy smoking habit. If that will bring me out of “living on the earth” hell, I am ready to do whatever is necessary. I was determined.
I couldn’t believe how easy it was for me – like I’ve never smoked. Then I thought coffee doesn’t have the same taste without cigarettes and alcohol as well, so I quit them too. Soon after that, It was the same with meat. At that time, I also had big issues with some strange sort of pimples on my face and by removing all these habits, my face began to look better.
In a recent conversation with Mohanji, I mentioned that many of our people had/have skin issues, including himself. He said to be in the presence of the Master, one has to raise the frequency, and for many, the skin is the way to cleanse negativity; it’s a part of a cleansing process.
Soon after I read Hay’s book, I recognized an enormous hunger to understand the real cause of my suffering and the suffering in general. I thought, whatever is happening, my husband and I deserve better lives, even if we divorce.
I became eager to learn more about who, how, when, and what I truly am. That’s how I got in touch with many important spiritual books. One led to another, and two of them seriously helped me. The first one is the one and only Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramahansa Yogananda. The second one is A New Earth, by Eckhart Tolle.
Therefore, I am and will be forever thankful for books and their authors that opened many doors and put me in a better place within myself, but that was obviously not enough.
After three months of literal isolation from everybody and of constant reading and accumulation of knowledge, on one particular day, I suddenly felt very upset, like an animal before an upcoming earthquake. I was walking nervously from one room to another, not knowing what could possibly calm me down, and no book seemed comforting enough at that moment. I needed tangible proof that I was on the right track and not going insane.
I decided to check FB, and guess what? The first that popped up on the feed was an article with the title “Mohanji, The Guru Who Finds You”. The title immediately caught my attention. That name Mohanji was somehow familiar to me. Then I remembered I heard about an Indian Guru, Mohanji, from Milan Bojic, a friend who opened the spiritual world door for me long ago when I still lived in Serbia. Still, I couldn’t remember anything more than that.
While reading the article, one sentence resonated with me very deeply: “Mohanji says: “The Guru is not a form or a person. Guru is a principle. It could take a human form and talk or come as a message from nature.” ….. or pop up on Facebook!
After I read the article, I went onto Mohanji’s website, and there I found guided meditation called Power of Purity. To my big surprise, this meditation was translated into many languages, including Serbian too. I decided to give it a try.
It was a quiet summer afternoon. I was alone at home and was more than ready to experience the meditation, mainly because I’d never meditated before. Power of Purity was my first meditation ever. I sat down on the bed, put the sound on and started to follow the instructions of the soothing voice of Devi Mohan. The atmosphere was solemn.
The heat overwhelmed my whole body. At first, I felt scared of the unknown feeling, but I decided to continue, no matter what. Then something happened which was beyond my wildest imagination. The moment I put the right hand in the blessing position, I felt a strong spiral vibration coming right out of my palm. I could clearly see how it reached my parents, my brother, and my friends and blessed them with white light. I was in shock and started to cry uncontrollably and continued to cry even when the meditation was over. I couldn’t move out of bed for more than an hour. I was heavy but light, strangely sad but unexplainably happy. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of love, a new kind of love, which was unknown to me until then.
Then I managed to get to the balcony and get some fresh air. To my surprise, all outside objects were very sparkly, and I couldn’t hear the noise from the streets. There was silence everywhere. I was in awe.
Then I felt a need to calm down. I went to the living room and intuitively picked the biggest book from the bookshelf, with the most beautiful architecture in the world and started to turn pages with maximum concentration on the content. By evening, I finally managed to calm down and fall asleep.
The next day, I wrote to Milan Bojic, hoping he would have an answer to what actually happened to me. Milan was visibly excited about my story. He said: ”Well, your Guru has appeared. There is nothing more important and sacred in life than to meet your Guru. You have ridden the wave, Lela! Don’t get off it, ever!”
So it was—the life before the Guru and the life with a Guru. My rebirth happened that afternoon in August 2013. Mohanji introduced himself in the most unusual and unconventional way. His way!
Since then, everything in my life has changed. EVERYTHING! Heavy baggage of lifetimes, full of expectations, anger, fears, unfulfilled desires and many other emotions, became so light.
At the first retreat, in a one-on-one session with Mohanji, he told me: “We have a lot to do together for this world, you’ll see.” Back then, I didn’t understand what he was talking about. Is he going to direct a movie or produce a movie? OMG…how limited our minds can be!!!
Now, after 10 years with Mohanji, I understand what he was talking about. His deeds speak for themselves! Mohanji is a platform. He created it for all of us. It’s on us to use it well and contribute with our talents to make this world better. Since I met Mohanji, I have lived a life of abundance. I have friends all over the world. I have a home and a family. I have clarity, mission and purpose!
Yes, people, that’s life in the presence of a living Master. One has to be, to live, to experience all those blessings, to be able to try to understand the love that the Guru has for each one of us. The unconditional love that he showers on us, regardless of how many times we fall.
What does he need from us? Nothing. He is presence, a mountain, the brightest sun that is always shining and is always available. It’s up to us whether we want to be plugged in.
Through all these years, I’ve learned that consistency, conviction and connection to the Guru (in my case – Mohanji) are the most important for grace to flow. Life is difficult without grace, and we all know how painful it can be. With the Guru’s grace, life is like a big pillow. Even when we think we got some bruises, they vanish within the shortest period, taking us one step closer to the final destination, total DISSOLUTION.
Mohanji’s grace, please, be with me always to make my human birth purposeful.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 9th 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.
The other day Mohanji was speaking in satsang at the program in Serbia named “The Truth Called You,”- that being our innermost essence, beyond all our identifications of personality, beyond the mind, habits, patterns, fears or phobias, all these types of things. What is the innermost essence with which we can connect?
He shared a great metaphor, which had me thinking this morning, and this was about the connection that people have with Mohanji. When you come into connection with him, transformation automatically begins to happen. I’ve mentioned in some previous recordings that a Master is an external projection that points you back to your inner guru, which is your innermost reality. That’s what you’re coming into connection with. As Mohanji explained this, I reflected on the previous year I spent with him and connected with him before that.
He described that coming closer to him is like a candle coming closer to fire. So, if you imagine a candle, it will slowly begin to melt as you bring it closer to the heat. Like that, the layers of wax, the coatings of wax melt. Similarly, for ourselves, our layers and our coatings begin to dissolve in that connection. Those layers are being removed! That’s the shedding of our patterns or habits or even desires.
In retrospect, before meeting Mohanji, I had typical Western habits like eating meat, drinking, etc. Although I was eating less red meat then, soon after meeting him, I realized that these began to drop off. It seems like that connection was something that didn’t allow that anymore, or it wasn’t necessary. So, they left. Not that it became pressure, they just dropped off.
As I’ve spent more time with him, with that proximity or that connection increasing, these things have become more intense and subtle. Rather than some outward habits, hidden insecurities start to surface, fear of what other people may think, fear of society, and these types of things. These are typical things most people have, and then other things like emotions, such as anger and maybe some jealousy; these layers start to melt away.
I’ve also witnessed this with others who connect more closely with him. The candle metaphor mentioned earlier does not necessarily imply physical proximity. It’s instead the intensity of the connection. So, although people might not be physically around him, the intensity increases when that connection increases and this shedding of the coatings of layers happens in people’s lives. For me, this helped crystallize experiences that occurred previously and over the past year.
Day 196 – When we compromise, we are weak, and when we complement, we are strong
“When we compromise, we are weak, and when we complement, we are strong”; this was something that Mohanji said yesterday. The quote caught my attention and stuck with me. Often when I look back at the person I was, I understand the lessons and transformations that have taken place.
Yesterday was the last day of the Serbian retreat “The Truth Called You”. It has been fantastic. Mohanji remarked on the high level of receptivity and level of understanding of the participants, which meant that most of his satsang was liberation orientated. People had a strong desire to know, to have more profound realizations.
Mohanji asked some good questions. One of them prompted writing and recording this daily message. It was, “How much time do we spend on someone who doesn’t care or love us, and because of that, how much do we compromise ourselves?” It was a good question. I was thinking about this as he spoke. As I peered into my past, I realized that I was often trying to bend, adjust, and do cartwheels; all sorts of tactics to make some people love and accept me. In that process, I would bend myself completely out of shape and become unnatural, not in alignment with who I was or what I wanted to be doing.
I know now that it doesn’t work when we try to be something else. So, a clear message is that we become weak when compromising. It’s beginning to dawn that being my authentic self is my true strength. And chasing after others or compromising my own life makes me weak and unstable, with higher insecurities and complexes. I truly understand that my authenticity is my strength,
On the other hand, complementing each other has brought strength. Accepting myself and allowing others to be themselves entirely, gave all stability. In Mohanji’s talk, he said that what naturally follows is our commitment and responsibility towards those who love and care for us.
If people don’t like us, it’s no problem. We must live our own life, who we are, our truth, and our frequency because that’s the best we can give. He stressed that we must remember to be ourselves and connect to ourselves. It’s been my experience that as I’ve changed naturally, my relationships have had to adjust too. As my journey unfolded, my relationships with family and friends had to adapt somehow. It was a difficult time.
It’s crucial to have that stability and security inside so that you’re still stable no matter what happens outside. No storms can bother you, and it’s possible to sail regardless. It’s the idea of not compromising too much. People will love you or hate you, but you can always be okay, stable and content with yourself. So that was my reflection and lesson from the satsang yesterday.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 5th 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.
After experiencing a myriad of wonders and pleasures, there came the point where I was at the lowest ebb of life. All that was held precious until then started collapsing. It dawned that every privilege and experience came with an expiry date. Then a question arose, “What is it? What is the ultimate nature of existence? What is it that lies at the core of everything?” This question pierced in such a way that life seemed to have no value without experientially knowing it.
One night, while sitting on a sofa in a relaxed mood, something took over, and the awareness started travelling inward. So many things ranging from magnificent to ugly began to surface within the mind at an overwhelming pace. So many impressions that did not make logical sense were coming to the awareness and leaving. It was as if something was purging the mind and the intensity of it was unbearable.
Sometime later, the awareness went beyond the muddle of thoughts and emotions. As a result, the mind appeared like a third person and was unbelievably complex. To give an analogy, the mind appeared to have a million chambers, and each chamber seemed like a world in itself. It also gave the impression that multiple lifetimes could be erased with the awareness trapped just within a few chambers of the mind.
After this, the awareness reached the energy layer. Here it looked like the entire being was occupied with various energy patterns. These energy patterns seemed to be the repository of information. These patterns were actively moving and dispensing the information to the body and mind, making them work in a particular way. At this point, it was also visible how a meeting of two beings/entities results in their energy patterns getting mixed, merging and growing in complexity.
Sometime later, the awareness penetrated even deeper. Here it was pure, dynamic energy, which was formless and flowed like electricity. It was moving effortlessly and activating all the energy patterns present within the being. It came across as the root energy whose graceful dance within an individual keeps them alive and functioning.
For some time, only this dynamic energy remained in the awareness and nothing else. A little later, the awareness advanced further and touched the source of this dynamic energy. The source appeared to be just Nothingness. The moment the awareness came in touch with that Nothingness, it occurred that this is my true self (it is like a self-revelation, not that you think and say, this is me). I was screaming in awe, that’s it? That’s it! This Nothingness appeared to exist at the core of everything.
We commonly refer to this as Consciousness, as it is conscious of everything. At that very moment, the awareness grasped the fact that an individual is never born, never dies, but always remains in its essence as the eternal Consciousness. This is why all the Masters say, “You are Consciousness,” “You are what you are looking for!” or simply put, “You are that!”
Consciousness looked absolutely still, with no movement whatsoever. In the lap of that absolute stillness, there was no experience of time but that of just timelessness and being one with everyone and everything around. Only at the surface (physical level) was there an experience of separation, but at the core, there was only union. There was no such thing as multiple Gurus, Guru-disciple, good or bad, and superior-inferior; in other words, all duality disappeared at the level of Consciousness. We are, in our truest essence, that Consciousness; in reality, we are all one.
Consciousness was like an all-pervading canvas that projected many forms and bodies which interacted with one another. Although it is the source, it appeared non-interfering, still, and as a witness to the entire creation. This glimpse of Consciousness gave me an opportunity, and a peek into the process of creation.
To briefly summarize what was observed, pure dynamic energy emerged out of Nothingness/Consciousness. Then it took various geometric shapes and patterns, repeatedly forming to a certain point where it became multiple concentrated energy patterns. It was indicative that these concentrated patterns transformed into the physical matter over time. When the dynamic energy flowed through the newly formed physical matter, it activated it, and a new life was born. Thus, the overall impression was that all the physical creation we see emerges from that Consciousness and dissolves back into it.
After tasting Consciousness, the awareness returned to its previous state in the early hours of the next morning. A few hours later, the following was posted as Mohanji’s quote of that day.
In retrospect, it was quite apparent how much love and work goes behind a transformation of a person when he/she connects to a Master (one with Consciousness). Mohanji’s work resulted in my awareness hurling inward, peeling layer after layer of creation until it touched the very source, the Creator. This is the inner Master, or the true self, that lies in all of us. Once a person finds it, his/her search comes to fruition. Many questions a seeker encounters on the path simply crumble or cease to exist.
A seeker, at some point in their life, might experience a feeling of stagnation. The mind can give a false impression of no progress, or worse, it can make one believe there is no such thing as Consciousness and that we have been chasing some mirage all along.
This brief experience of Consciousness uprooted all such doubts and uncertainties and led me to walk the path with absolute conviction. The reality is that every seeker is moving towards Consciousness, a state of unfathomable freedom. This should be a reassurance to all of us walking on the path. A Master who has already attained Consciousness is working out every possible way to move the seeker toward Consciousness. We should just hang on to the Master with immense gratitude for carrying us.
I want to thank Mohanji and all the other great Masters and evolved beings who have given themselves, held my hand and led me to experience the all-pervading Consciousness. Truly grateful to all of them.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 2nd 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.
Today, I wanted to talk about one of the simplest lessons, yet one that can also be the hardest; at least, that’s what I found in my experience. This is simply letting go and forgetting any wrongs, injustices, hurts, and all the bad things that people may have done to me throughout my lifetime, the most hurtful or unpleasant experiences in life.
Like many, I’ve experienced them, and although I’ve never really been someone to hold on to a grudge or go to any extremes to seek revenge, those memories would stay, and they would be quite painful. The specifics of those aren’t important, but they mainly involved relationships, family, work, or something unpleasant that had happened to me. But after being with Mohanji and learning from him, and observing him, my perspective on forgiveness has completely changed.
Now, I have more appreciation for the power of forgetting. Once I began to forget these events, “Okay, I recognise that this happened; this was the situation…” it brought the awareness that I’ll never truly know why that event occurred. I’d have my perspective, I’d have my view, based on my experience, but I would never understand the full picture, the full past of what brought that event to life, but there was no need to carry it either; completely letting go meant that I felt light inside.
There are some great meditations and processes now that are available for this, which really helped that cleansing inside, the inner cleansing, The Power of Purity being one, and the specific forgiveness process is available too.
Also, what is interesting is that I’ve heard Mohanji say that forgiveness itself can actually be a subtle mind game. Almost a subtle play of the ego because who are we to actually forgive? We make statements like, “Okay, I forgive this person; it’s okay. I’m happy now; I’ve forgiven them, I held on this long, but now I forgive.” But really, what’s happening in that situation is that nothing has changed the event that took place, but you’ve created some sort of satisfaction because you’ve come to a point where you are saying, “I am now forgiving,” which has an element of the ego and ownership of the situation. But forgetting generally, Mohanji said, is very important because as we move through life, we can collect and hold on to too many events, emotions, and situations, and these can really bog us down.
He says, in quite a funny way, that we often then become walking trash cans, or we carry so much junk from these events and simply live as a hangover of the past, not knowing what burden we’re carrying. So, simply forgetting has a lot of power. Now, during a recent satsaṅg, somebody asked a very good question; I think in their culture, their language, there’s a phrase, I can’t remember it now, but they actually emphasise the importance of “Don’t forget: A bad situation happens to you, but never forget it”.
We clarified that this has some value or merit in it. It’s not that you’re not forgetting what that person has done or what the event was or what the situation was, and holding on to it. It’s more that you don’t forget the lesson that you need to learn from that. You take the lesson, and you remember that, but you detach from the situation itself.
So, those were some short words on the lesson of forgetting.
Day 194 – Increase Self-dependence
Today, I share a lesson on increasing dependability on ourselves. When you look at what Mohanji has established in the world, he is incredibly impressive, especially when you consider the circumstances that he has had to go through in life, such as the loss of his daughter, being betrayed in business, developing illnesses; essentially, he was reduced to nothing, he had to start again from fresh.
If you look at all the platforms that he has created, these are powerful platforms, a collection of organisations that are serving the world in many diverse ways. Many people have helped him over the years, and he really, truly appreciates everybody’s contribution and what everybody gives to the organisation. But what I see is that it has been his strong willpower and determination that have given life and energy to all of these activities.
When you observe him, you realise that he’s not afraid at all to walk alone because he has done that before and he would happily do it again. It’s not that he doesn’t enjoy the support and the teamwork; he will regularly say, “If we’re going to do something, let’s do it together, let’s walk together. At the same time, if you feel it’s not for you, then no problem, but I’m still walking”. That’s the attitude he has, which means that whilst he appreciates everybody, gives respect to everybody, and gives opportunities to everybody, he’s not dependent on anyone.
That’s a very powerful way to live life. It’s a fierce way to live life, and over time, I’ve been learning this on various levels. In the past, I would be reliant on or have a subtle need for approval or validation for happiness. For example, I’d like to know that I’ve done something well or be recognised or for someone to comment on my work, which I think is natural for most people. But now, living with Mohanji, it’s like living with a mirror, which is showing you all the aspects of myself that I would tend to ignore, or I would tend to push away.
It is not comfortable to confront them. Generally, the action and the behaviours will do everything to highlight those, so you can push through them; it’s not nice. This was one of the subtle dependencies that I realised I had, which was a need for approval or recognition. How did I know that I had that dependency? When I would feel affected if it didn’t come, and with Mohanji, it rarely, if ever, comes, especially for me, and especially if there’s an expectation. If I believe I’ve done something well, and I think there’ll be praise, it won’t come. So, a good job or work completed would often be met with just one word from Mohanji: “Good,” followed by: “Okay, this is what we need to do next.” It’s always on to the next steps.
Another dependency, which has been a really big lesson, is trying to complete the work in the office because it’s great to work together as a team. I really enjoy achieving something as a team. But in the office, it can be a very challenging situation because timelines are very, very, very tight, and the pace is quick, which means the work is dynamic. There’s a pace that has to be achieved, and sometimes, it’s not possible to rely on or be dependent on others to work at that type of speed or have that kind of flexibility. If someone can do it, great, but what we do, and what I’ve learned, is that we should try not to have a dependency on someone. If something’s not happening, then okay, no problem, that’s fine, we’ll find another way, or we’ll find another option or outsource the work. That even applies to my activity; when Mohanji has given me tasks, and if he sees that I can’t do something, it will go to somebody else.
There’s no dependency anywhere, and I include myself in that. The lesson from this is that I find great stability, which comes from an increased self-dependency or self-reliance because it forces a connection to the potential within, and the realisation that there’s always a solution to every situation, and we have the capacity inside and we can expand that capacity too. That’s what’s happening now; I’m exploring and deepening the potential for what is possible, and that is actually fun to explore as well: looking at what I can handle myself.
Not that life has become a solo endeavour, but it has become much smoother and much more free and enjoyable, as the happiness and the corresponding successes are also coming and being developed within. Some of the dependencies that people could think about as well are dependencies on places, materials, and even events.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 29th January 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.
During the evening part of my daily sadhana, I face a tapestry of Shirdi Sai Baba and an image of Mohanji. Around the last week of December, when I would do my sadhana, I would look into the tapestry and get the feeling that Baba is myself, and I am Baba. On December 28th, Baba’s presence was with me the entire time I did the sadhana.
The next night, I was in the car driving back from my dad’s, and I got the similar lovely feeling I had the night prior. I parked my car, closed my eyes and took in the beautiful sensation. I began to feel Mohanji inside of me. I had a vision of him sitting inside my body; he was meditating in this blue ball or aura. It disappeared quickly.
I tried so hard not to get my mind involved in this experience. My mind began wondering what if my neighbours saw me sitting in my car, but the feeling was too lovely to leave! At one point, I even tried to turn my neck, and it was like my spine wouldn’t let me. I knew I could move but at the same time…. Could I?
I simultaneously felt that I was in Mohanji while Mohanji was in me. I started to get the sensation that I was Mohanji.
I then felt this sensation on my scalp, like something was about to be pulled away. I wondered if my personality was going to go. I felt that it would be like death; my mind/personality would be gone. Not a death in the sense of me leaving the body. I could feel something in my head physically, almost being removed. My mind presented its concern about what would happen if it was not there, and at the same time, I was begging to continue feeling that connection. I didn’t want the feeling of Mohanji inside me to leave.
I then felt from my heart Mohanji say he would never leave me. It wasn’t an auditory experience. In fact, there was only silence. It was something from inside me that I was able to know. I could also feel the sensation of wanting something to be pulled away from the back of my spine, too, like the sensation of taking off a tight t-shirt. I wanted it to be gone! Get it off me! Please. It may not be time yet.
I couldn’t help but not want to move and continue with my experience. Still, I felt I should go upstairs, as if that was the solution preventing my mind from bothering me about the neighbours seeing me sit in my car with my eyes shut. I came into my room and stood before my photo of Mohanji, then closed my eyes. I could see myself in white clothes and Mohanji also in white clothes; he was standing a little behind me, to the right. We were in bright white light!
If you have met me, you know I am very short. I am only 4 feet 9. But at that moment, I felt BIG, taller, and expanded. Even though I am shorter than Mohanji in height, it felt like we are energetically equal. I felt more of myself; it was different again than how things feel in the waking state when I am distracted by something outside of me. The waking state is so heavy and dense. Things go fast. But in this sensation, there was no sense of time. I noticed it was only my mind keeping track of the time because I still needed to do my daily sadhana!
Before, I couldn’t understand how to look inside and see the Master there. After seeing him sit there in my chest, I understand why he says don’t look for him outside. Since this night, things have been changing inside me. Things have been changing for a long time, but after this night, a series of events kept occurring. After I saw him meditating inside me, I started to feel his presence more and more from within.
The following week, January 5th, I started a new part of my sadhana. I had a candle lit as I did mantra japa. I gazed into the flame and laughed, remembering how Mohanji said he did the same when he meditated. I felt I’m following in the footsteps of my Master. I then got the sensation of a hand on my head. I could feel the fingertips along my scalp. The grip became strong. I closed my eyes and knew it was Mohanji. This love pierced my heart, and I cried. Love was growing in my heart; I also began to do the Power of Purity. My heart has been expanding over days and weeks. I feel a sense of peace and stillness inside, and I feel very connected to all from my heart centre.
As some may have noticed, I also became insanely inspired out of the blue. I started to make videos of Mohanji and his quotes. I did not plan this out prior. I just did it spontaneously. I am falling in love with spontaneity. When I began making the posts each day, more internal changes inside me would take place, and other quotes would appear that matched exactly what I was processing the night before. Some synchronicities have been occurring.
When I have a realization from within, not long after that, I would see Mohanji’s quote posted saying the same thing. So I make a post out of it. For example, I felt very empowered to begin speaking about Mohanji. Talking about Mohanji is something I do almost 24/7 with people who talk to me. But this is the first time I have done it with a social media platform. I felt really good to be showcasing it more online.Talking about Mohanji is talking about my own self, life and heart. We can make our Guru’s message and presence available everywhere without expectations. We can do it out of the sheer love that we have.
Around this time, I saw a quote by him saying, “The easiest thing to do for liberating oneself in this world is to spread the message of our loving Guru while spreading the love with our very existence unconditionally. Your personal wealth has nothing to do with it. If you are afraid to talk about your Guru, who gave you himself, you are a hypocrite. Grace will not enter your doorway. Hypocrisy prevents grace.” That is a big confirmation for me that I will keep going.
I made a video out of that quote I mentioned above, and as I was making it, I asked Mohanji to select the music because I couldn’t decide. Somehow it got picked, and I thought to myself how much better it feels when there is a sense of togetherness, Mohanji making the videos along with me or even through me! Again, I saw a quote not long after that where Mohanji mentioned the joy of togetherness and non-doership.
One night this week, I was asking Dattatreya, Mohanji and the Tradition to protect me, cleanse me, and do something with me! The Tradition is my family, and I wish to be part of it, doing something for the Tradition. Hours later, a Mohanji family member saw my posts and asked me to make some for MyDattatreya platform. I agreed! I made the first video for it and started to feel very connected to Datta, from the heart and not the mind. Actually, the feeling of connectedness I get in my heart about Mohanji and Datta is the same. There’s no difference in the feeling in my heart.
A couple of days later, I was walking home and decided to cross the street, meaning I didn’t use the crosswalk to get to my apartment. A couple of moments before that, I thought about how we shouldn’t be scared of any negative forces as we are protected. I didn’t see any cars, so I took a few steps. What I didn’t notice was the fact that to the left, a car was making a turn towards me. But a parked mail truck was on the way, and I couldn’t see the car coming. I thought the road was clear. The car came right towards me; her car was going towards the sidewalk and not straight into the road. I backed away, and the lady even had to turn her wheel quickly not to hit me.
In the past, when such things happen, I would feel a sense of guilt or worry after that. “How could I have been so stupid?” But this time, things were different. I felt an insane amount of peace and stillness inside my heart. I felt that Mohanji had just saved my life. I asked for protection, and I truly got it. I could feel this certainty inside my heart. I was actually so happy to have experienced that. I really feel it inside my heart. I am changing. I can’t describe the feeling and will leave it at this for now. I’m nothing but a child of the Tradition. My life is for them!
Mohanji, I wish to dedicate this post to your consciousness. And I really thank you for your presence which is turning me towards my true nature. You sparked inspiration inside of me, and I’m grateful for you. I love you so much. You are my life. Spreading the word of God has sparked so much joy and courage inside of me. This sensation that has awoken my heart makes so many other silly things not worth anything. The words of George Harrison from his song, ‘Your Love is Forever’ describes what I mean as well, “I feel it and my heart knows you’re the one guiding light in all, your love shines on, the only lover worth it all, your love is forever.”
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 26th January 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.
A few days back, Mohanji held a satsaṅg for all the participants who had been participating in the 21-day ‘Beat your Tamas’ challenge, run by the Early Birds Club. In short, he shared something very simple about the Early Birds Club – that, at its core, it is about transformation. As I listened, he said some really good points I wanted to share today.
When we want the transformation to happen, there are two things that we need to consider. The first is that we have to walk for it to happen; we have to take steps; we have to take action if that’s what we want. The second is that we need to know where we’re walking to. This is the path of liberation, freedom from all the usual bindings, patterns, and everything that keeps us bound within the mind. Mohanji is there with us, energising us and smoothing the way, but only we can walk. That really stuck with me because whilst he’s here, he’s giving the guidance, the support, and the suggestions, which are coming from a higher awareness of what’s good for us, what’s specific for us to exhaust our karma and take us towards those steps. But we have to walk, and we need to know where we’re walking to.
I also found it interesting that he said, in this talk, that it’s important that we understand our realities and how we interact with the world. For example, he mentioned that we’re eager to love something outside of us, to interact with the usual world with all its entertainment, things that the senses can enjoy, and the mind can roam around. Because we like what gives us pleasure, and we find that in relationships, materials and experiences.
“But in those activities,” Mohanji asked, “are we truly satisfied?”
For me, this was a question that came to me many years ago before meeting Mohanji. In fact, that’s probably what prompted me to search and then eventually come into contact with him.
I was involved in many things in life: relatively successful, travelling, and doing everything I wanted to, but it was empty. I also thought that many people are eager to rush back out to the patterns that we once had, how we used to live life, and because of that, it’s creating a lot of frustrations because the reality in front of us is that it’s not possible anymore. The COVID situation has really created a different world. That resistance is bringing challenges for people. In that talk, Mohanji shared again that this is a good time for us to go within to connect with something that is much more permanent. He posed a really good question, which I was contemplating too: “Are we more committed to our patterns or to liberation?” This was a really good question, I thought, especially now, because there’s a lot of fear, worry, and anxiety.
He also made the point that liberation is the opposite of fear. It’s love, and that’s enough to be able to take steps to progress. He shared that that first starts with ourselves, spending time with the person that we wake up with every day: our own self, appreciating ourselves, respecting ourselves, accepting ourselves, and that’s actually love in action.
So, for me, it was a really good message, a really good reminder, and it also brought a new depth and understanding of the power of transformation that’s possible through the Early Birds Club and that morning routine of waking early, connecting with yourself, being with yourself, and then taking that stability into the world.
Day 190 – The Inner Guru is our Ultimate Reality
Today, I wanted to share something that Mohanji said recently, which became a real point of contemplation for me. This was about external gurus, and I’m sharing what I took from that conversation.
Mohanji said that we all have an inner guru, a personal guru inside us; we have that essence. That inner Guru is our ultimate reality, then the waking state guru, whom we connect to and identify with in the waking state. I’ll say that again because it was an important distinction for me: in the waking state (we have three states: the waking state, the dream state, and the deep sleep state). In the waking state, the external Guru is a reminder of our inner Guru. All external gurus are purely reminders of what’s already inside us. He continued that our job, really, of a lifetime, is to find that inner Guru and fully connect with it, and if that’s our job, then the job of an external master is simply to point their finger towards what’s inside us, our inner Guru.
That, he said, is a reason why it’s important to connect with ourselves, understand ourselves, spend time with ourselves, respect ourselves, and come to understand that what we are habituated to connecting to outside, all the things which the mind loves to enjoy is something that is pulling us away from that, keeping us outside.
This was a small statement, but for me, it left a deep impression and required much more contemplation because I feel that the connection inside is also reflected outside; at least, that’s how I’ve experienced my connection with Mohanji. Over the time that I’ve spent with him, it has changed, and it’s because of an increasing connection within. He continued that the moment that happens, we fully connect with ourselves, we understand that there’s no conflict, and if there’s no conflict within, there’s no conflict with the outside world. At that time, there’s no fighting, no criticism, no judgments, no anger, no hatred, no jealousy, and no competition. Because at that point in time, once we’ve reached it, we will see ourselves in everybody, in everything. In order to become spiritually mature, that’s what we need to reach.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 15th January 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.
Radha: Sathya, can you tell me the significance of the Puri Jagannath Temple?
Sathya: Jagannath, as the name denotes, is the Lord of the Universe. This sacred Dham is one of the four holy abodes revered as the Char Dham. These comprise Jagannath in the East, Dwaraka in the West, Badrinath in the North, and Rameshwaram in the South of India. Legend has it that the universal consciousness radiated its presence in the Nilanchal caves, condensed to an embodied presence as Daru Brahma, and revealed itself with the auspicious symbols of Lord Vishnu (Shanka, Chakra, Gadha, and Padma), in the sacred waters of Mahodadhi, to king Indradyumna.
The idols of Lord Jagannath, Bal Bhadra, and Subhadra were carved out of this wood by the celestial architect Vishwakarma himself. He undertook the mission under the condition that the doors to his workplace remain closed until he completes his work. However, the queen’s curiosity rose as the days passed, and she persuaded King Indradyumna to unlock the doors. On opening the doors, they saw Vishwakarma had vanished. The promise had been broken, and the work was left incomplete. Therefore, we only get to see the semi-manifested forms of the deities. This allows one to perceive the Lord according to one’s devotion and understanding. It lets the devotee unravel His mysteries in myriad dimensions, unique to the one witnessing Him.
This reminds me of Mohanji’s words, “Those who have eyes will see!”
Lord Shree Jagannath has captured the hearts of Mahagyanis, Bhaktas, and Yogis. True to his name, He has a universal appeal and is revered by devotees of both Vishnu and Shiva.
The devotees of Shiva consider Him as Bhairava. He holds a special place for Buddhists too.
Balabadra, Subhadra and Shree Jagannatha
Radha: It would be interesting to share some of the events leading to this trip. It is different for each of us, although we travelled together. For me, the highlight before the trip was choreographing for the Ashtapadi – Chandana charchita Neela Kalebara!
Last year, I happened to choreograph for the Ashtapadi, “Nath Hare, Jagannatha Hare”, exclusively for the opening of the Jagannath Shrine in the UK. This inspired me to work on more Ashtapadis. I took your suggestion of choreographing for “Chandana charchitha” and started exploring its various dimensions. “Chandana charchita” describes the eternal romantic Lord Sri Krishna anointed with the fragrant sandal paste and radiating the bewitching bluish hue.
A friend of Radha describes to her the pastimes of Shri Krishna. As we dive deep into the composition, we realise that Radha, the one who is fully integrated with Krishna, experiences this oneness even though it is the other Gopikas who are actually playing with Krishna. What was very exciting to me was the fact that I was getting an opportunity to perform and record this at Puri, the birthplace of Jayadeva, an ardent devotee of Jagannath! When I expressed the intention, Mohanji blessed me in his style, “Tatasthu! Blessings! Take help from the organising team!”. I meditated on the song incessantly to internalise the Bhaav (feeling) of Radha as we interpreted from the composition – only when we soak into the feeling can we become the dance!
Sathya: Your thoughts resonate with me. I see the divine hand in the making of Chandana charchita in every step. Even your costume in shades of yellow and blue was in perfect sync with the elements describing the shades of Krishna. To me, this trip broke the patterns and barriers that I had confined myself to during the pandemic. I consider the trip a blessing from our Guru, Mohanji.
The abode of Puri Jagannath is Durlabh Kshetra meaning “difficult to attain”. Unless Lord Jagannath himself wills it, one cannot step into the sacred Dham. In the last two years, I was restricted in my commuting, mostly staying within my locality and stepping out only in case of absolute necessity. I was not sure if I would join you even when you informed me about it. When our mother reinforced the invitation, I decided to join.
The stage was set for the pilgrimage with the flight tickets and cottage booked. It was heartening to know that Mohanji’s parents, uncle, and aunty were also joining this yatra. With more elders and children joining the trip, I was certain that it would have a different yet enriching flavour to the trip. It is a blessed opportunity to travel to an abode of such greatness in the presence of the Guru and elders.
On January 3rd, 2022, we took the morning flight from Bangalore to Odisha. As we waited at the airport, I continued the Tamil translation of the Jagannath Meditation given by Mohanji. With our mother adding finer touches, the meditation was taking me into a zone inside. We greeted Mohanji’s parents as we anticipated his arrival. Mohanji arrived. I knelt to take his blessing but was held in his embrace. All members of the group exchanged some greetings eagerly, describing each one’s entry to the trip. I was already lost in a reverie when Mohanji’s voice boomed loud and clear as a seeming instruction to his mother, “Keep the boarding pass ready!”, bringing me back to the ground. Mohanji always teaches us to focus on the present and never take the practical aspects lightly. His teachings are valuable to the ultimate journey of dissolution and easy navigation in the terrestrial world.
“Presence of mind in every thought, word, and action can eradicate karmas. It can liberate you.”
-Mohanji
As I completed chanting a few rounds of the Hanuman Chalisa, we landed safely in Odisha. Mohanji Acharya Subhasree and her Odia team extended a heartwarming welcome to Mohanji and the group at the airport. We were introduced to Manaswee, and we understood that he would be our point of contact and guide during this trip. The marine drive from Bhubaneshwar to Puri was enjoyable. Manaswee exhibited his innate hospitality by offering to buy us tender coconuts on the way. After a short break, when the car zoomed through the road, you alerted him that a black thing had flown past and that it could be his wallet.
Radha: Yes! We quickly realised that it was indeed his wallet! As we drove back, a cyclist told us that another man was getting the wallet for us. As we got it back, Manswee said that the people living in the section stretching between Bhubaneshwar and Puri are extremely honest and truthful and would not act otherwise.
Sathya: It is hard to believe such places still exist in this world of opportunism. The Puri Dham is described in the Purana as Purushotama Kshetra, where the pious and the noble-minded reside. I was moved to find that a fraction of that is still a reality. “The pride in PuriTY” logo was all over the walls stretching across the marine drive. I felt the logo rings with truth and is not remote from reality!
“Purity of thought, word and action liberates man from everything and strengthens his existence. Purity is power. Purity is truth. Truth is pure. The whole universe resonates with truth and purity. When we live the truth, purity happens. Purity liberates. It fills life with faith and hope. It connects us to the Highest of consciousness. The Power of Purity is unfathomable. It is the nature of the Supreme.”
-Mohanji
Radha: We reached Puri by 3 pm, and in the evening, we were surprised to know that we could go to the Temple of Jagannath the same night. We entered the shrine consciously, submitting our obeisance at each step leading to the shrine.
Outside the Jagannath Temple
Mohanji took my hands and placed them on the fingerprints of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, which got deeply etched while he was in a trance, enraptured by the Lord. These marks are eternally enshrined on the wall behind the Garuda stambh.
Sathya: That was indeed an unplanned visit to the temple. Mohanji made sure that everyone in the group joined the visit. As we left our cottage, we saw Mohanji waiting for everyone to assemble. Standing beside him, I was filled with soothing, cool vibes. I enjoyed it and wondered if it was physical or metaphysical when Mohanji remarked, “It is very cold here!”
Immediately, the experience of cooling dissolved! I did not analyse it further. At the temple, we were told by Mohanji to keep our arms extended up as if ready to receive the embrace of Lord Jagannath. All of us hugged the Garuda Sthambha.
The first darshan of the Lord was filled with so much excitement. Stepping into the sacred shrine where every stone and pebble radiates his essence is a gift of a lifetime/lifetimes. We slowly moved in, drawing in that divine energy with every breath. The fragrance of sandalwood wafted in the air, and we exchanged glances, recognising it as soon as we entered the temple premises.
As we neared the sanctum, our eyes were glued to the deities trying to absorb all that we could in one go as the Panda/Priest described, “The dark one to the Right is Krishna, Devi Subadra in the middle, and the light-complexioned one is Balabadra”.
I tried to connect what I heard and saw as the arathi flame was burning bright in front of me. I realised that I had come really close to it! I moved to the other side, tucking away in a corner, trying to hold on to images for a while longer. Not for long! A panda waved in my direction to take the arathi and make way for the others.
Coming out from the other side, I saw Mohanji standing there, away from the hustle and bustle. I quietly offered my prostrations to Mohanji with deep joy and gratitude for being there!
Radha: That was such a great darshan! As soon as we stepped out of the sanctum, soaked in Lord Jagannath’s energy, we saw Mohanji standing there and I could only see him as Lord Krishna himself. This is a solid reminder to each of us that the Guru and God are the same. Immediately, you prompted me to get the calendars blessed. We released the HSTD (Himalayan School Of Traditional Dance) calendars just outside the sanctum of Lord Jagannath! Mohanji patiently went through each of the pages and blessed everyone. Can there be a more incredible blessing at the start of the year for the HSTD platform?
Following this, we went to the Shrine of Bimala Devi temple.
Sathya: The shrine was closed. I was told that this temple is one of the Shakti peeths. We waited in front of the shrine. Our mother looked at a figure in a small niche and asked me what it was. I did not want to give a wrong answer. The other niche was Ganesha. So this was Skanda. Mohanji came to the shrine. He, too, saw that the shrine was closed. He had the darshan of the deity in the niche and said, “Skanda!”. Mohanji took Appa’s (Dad) hand and placed it in the niche, and said, “Subramanian, you should see Skanda”. At that same instant, a priest came out of the shrine, the gates were opened, and we could see Bimala Devi. It was just for a few minutes. Mohanji casually stated, “The gates opened”. Amma remarked, “Yes, I saw that!”
Radha: Opposite this was the small shrine of Matha Ekadashi. There is an interesting story connected with Puri. I was under the impression that this shrine honoured the Ekadashi devi and devotees who fasted on Ekadashi – the eleventh day of the fortnight. As per the scriptures, observing fast on this day grants many blessings and Moksha, too. Here, Ekadashi devi’s hands are tied. She was overcome by pride, and Jagannath tied her hands, symbolically suggesting that partaking prasad in Puri is considered auspicious even on an Ekadashi day, and devotees should not hesitate to do so.
Sathya: Well, that brings us to one of the highlights of Puri Dham – the sacrosanct Puri MahaPrasad! Chappan bhog, comprising 56 dishes, is offered daily to the Lord.
“Puri Mahaprasad can be taken even if it is the leftovers from a cat’s mouth!” Amma exclaimed. Saints and legends have talked so highly of Mahaprasad. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Paramacharya of Kanchi who never partook food without completing the sacred rituals have relished the Mahaprasad.
We were not so conscious of the greatness of the prasad then.
It was pure grace that we could partake of the Mahaprasad. After climbing a few steps, we entered a space that seemed like another shrine. I was surprised to see Mohanji, Mila and the others seated with a banana leaf in front! It then occurred to me that we were going to be dining there. Mohanji’s uncle and aunt sat next to me as I sat down. I told them that I enjoyed watching their interview about Mohanji. One gets to see the house where Mohanji was born in that video.
The priests brought Mahaprasad in earthen pots and served the dishes. Some of the dishes had the flavour of mustard, and the Kheer that was served at the end was really divine!
Another name for Mahaprasad is Kaibalya – that which gives Moksha, salvation or liberation. It is said that if one takes this food of Lord Jagannath, he will have no rebirth.
Radha: I remarked to Subhashree, sitting next to me, “The kheer is nothing but Krishna. It tastes heavenly,” and took a second and third serving, too, without any inhibition!
The darshan was a bonus, and I did not expect the Mahaprasad that evening. Absolute grace! That was the first day at the sacred Dham.
Radha recording the dance
Sathya: The next morning started with a bang and Chandana Charchita was recorded. A big open lawn resplendent with the morning dew as the sun was rising and the birds chirping became the perfect stage for recording the Ashtapadi. After recording, on our way back to the cottage, we met Mohanji, who was on his way to the reception. He told you with a smile, “I knew you were dancing!” We had quite a few unexpected chance meetings with him during the trip.
Radha: The day started with a visit to Bedi Hanuman temple, where Mohanji officially released the Himalayan School of Traditional Dance calendar.
Bedi means chain. The story goes that Jagannath appointed Hanuman to protect Puri from the fury of the sea. Varuna entered the place, and the place bore the brunt of his raging waves.
Jagannath asked how this happened when Hanuman was taking care. Hanuman told him that he was nostalgic about home food and had gone to Ayodhya. From that day onwards, Lord Jagannath ordained that special offerings be prepared and tied Hanuman here, with the love of his Prasad.
Sathya: As we exited the temple, we saw some calves. Mohanji fed one of them heartily. I watched it joyfully as the calf ate the bananas; there were some dogs too, but we had only bananas.
Mohanji feeding a Cow
How could one just feed only the cows and not the dogs? Aditya too had the intention to feed the dogs. I remembered that there were some biscuit packets in the car. We went and brought the packets and fed the dogs. They, too, got their share of food.
We then went to Chakra Tirtha, which is considered the place where the Daru Brahma arrived first. It is known as Adi Jagannath Kshetra.
After spending some time in the shrine, we proceeded towards the sea. Mohanji and a few others had walked ahead and reached the beach. As we got down from the car, the sight of a dog drew our attention. It was in its final moments and was not in the least interested in biscuits. When I called out the name “Mohanji”, it lifted its head up, turned, and looked in that direction. I did it a few more times, and it responded. Manaswee got some water and poured it carefully so that it could take in a few drops.
I was reminded of Mohanji’s teaching. “Every meeting has a purpose.”
We then resumed our walk towards the beach. I saw Appa offering ablutions at the sea. He sprinkled some water on us as a blessing of the sea, and we then walked back to the car, feeling the sand between our toes and the gentle breeze from the sea.
Radha: The next stop was Tota Gopinath temple. As we entered the temple, a priest described the place’s significance in Hindi. He said that it was there that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu felt such intense separation from Krishna that he burned to ashes. Mohanji asked us, “What is the word in English to describe his feeling?” All of us tried to come up with the words – Yearning, Duality, Separation! Mohanji finally said, “Longing”, looked at me and said to the group, “I thought she would be able to tell.”
Tota Gopinath Temple
Sathya: Upon entering the shrine, Appa felt attracted to the painting of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu on the wall and anointed it with Sandal paste. What struck me about this Dham was that nearly every priest said, “Krishna bakthi!” when we sought their blessings. May you attain the love for Krishna. We rendered a few bhajans there; we witnessed a powerful arathi at noon. With the drumbeats accompanying the arathi, it felt as though the dance of Krishna and Radha was coming alive. After the arathi, we went to the backyard from where a body of water was visible at a distance. A priest accompanying us mentioned that it was Radha Kund. Mohanji was also with us. He joked, “Radha is idhar, Kund is udhar”, looking at you.
Radha: Later, we went to the chief priest’s house. Mohanji was presented with a sacred cloth called the “Gita Govinda Kanduva”. The priests then blessed Mohanji’s family with the accompaniment of chants. The place reverberated with sacred sounds. Each of us was presented with the Flag of Jagannath.
Sathya: That has to be treasured. It is a dream and a lifetime aspiration for even the people of Puri to offer a flag or receive it as Prasad. It was such a precious moment to be blessed with the Banner of Jagannath in the presence of Guru Mohanji! I prayed that the flag of Purity, Ahimsa, and Truth fly high and let us witness the triumph of supreme love over all darkness.
Radha: In the evening, we had a satsang. After the satsang, we went to the temple of Jagannath. Mohanji asked all of us to sport the flag around our necks while going to the temple that evening. We took a short van ride to reach the temple.
Sathya: As the van zipped through the streets of Puri, the names of the hotels “Guru Estate and Guru Empire” that flashed in the night captured my attention. It so happened that just as we entered the temple, I was next to Mohanji. We entered the space demarcated by the wooden barricades. As I was lost in that moment, I heard the song “Poornam-adah, Poornam-idam!”. It felt so apt as if to describe Mohanji!
Om, That (Visible outer world) is Full, This (Invisible inner world) is also Full, From Fullness comes that Fullness, Taking Fullness from Fullness, Fullness indeed Remains, Om, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti
Mohanji always says just like a mother who delivers a child, a Guru can transfer energy to create many masters, but just like the mother, the Guru remains complete and full.
Radha: We neared the sanctum and had to wait outside for an hour. I went in. It was crowded. I was standing right behind a priest who was sitting down. It was surprising that nobody asked me to move from that place. I felt as though Lord Krishna was embracing me; I was immersed in that for almost an hour. This unimaginable experience was enhanced by the sounds of the drums. I was unaware that we keep our hands raised to embrace the Lord. This I came to know later from Mohanji in the sanctum. This lasted for some time and is one of my most memorable experiences.
Sathya: We were all waiting for the darshan and sat on the steps. Mohanji was leaning on the arched niche, just a few steps below the entrance. I was chanting the Hanuman Chalisa. A little while later, a priest opened the door, and it happened to be Hanuman inside.
The scenes from the temple are still vivid in my mind. The devotion of the pilgrims really touched me; some of them were bringing their aged parents and little children along with them. Family members chanted in chorus “Jai Jagannath!” while ascending the steps to the temple. ‘Sanatana Dharma is so beautiful!’ I thought.
“Hindu tradition trained us to respect plants, trees, birds, and animals as celestial representations. Respect helps preservation. Annihilation is a sign of alienation. When we preserve every being of nature with reverence and respect, nature preserves our life and health too. This is Sanatana Dharma.”
-Mohanji
What I perceived was pure devotion. They were oblivious to any concerns about the pandemic. Only the joy and ecstasy of the Lord’s darshan were palpable.
The sound of the bells and drum beats transported me to a different world. After some time, the priest called us inside. There was a seating area to the side where we were asked to wait again. An elderly person who was carrying the drum blessed us by placing it on our heads. The powerful vibrations were from the same instrument. He also gave us sweet prasad, which he had kept safely tied to his dhoti.
Finally, we had Darshan of Jagannath a little while later. The decorations were in progress, and the Lord was being decked up in a new set of garments. Subhasree was standing next to me. I asked her if it was the garment we offered Jagannath, and she said she didn’t think so. We later found out that the special garments that Mohanji had offered would be draped in a later ceremony.
After the darshan, we had the opportunity to soak in the sacred aura of the temple. Mohanji sat near the steps facing a tree. The priest was explaining that it was the Kalpabata-The Wish-fulfilling Tree. I associated what he was saying with Mohanji. Our Guru is indeed a Kalpavriksha, fulfilling the righteous and innocuous desires of all of us.
A white flag offered by Mohanji was flying high on top of the temple tower. The Neel Chakra and the flag were a spectacular sight to behold.
A little while later, we were called again for another Darshan. Lord Jagannath was draped in the special clothes offered by Mohanji. As Amma and I gazed at the deities intensely, trying to identify if it was Mohanji’s offering, Mohanji, who was right behind, confirmed it for us by saying, “These are our offerings!” The bright red garments dazzled and it was a visual treat to behold Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra, and Balabadra in splendid Besha.
Radha: After a fulfilling darshan, we prostrated at the “Mukthi Mantap” on our way out. As we exited the temple complex, the Narasimha, enshrined at a towering height, caught our attention. We prayed for his protection and left the temple.
We were informed that we were going to the chief priest’s house again as he was hosting us for dinner. We were not hungry after the sumptuous lunch, but the thought of kheer was inviting!
A sumptuous meal with Mohanji at the Chief Priest’s house
Sathya: We were served snacks that day – Puri, Dal, Kachori, and Kheer. It so happened that we were dining next to Mohanji that night. Preeti came suddenly and offered to clean the leaf for Mohanji.
He said, “I have cleaned. You can do it for your satisfaction. I don’t want you to have a birth for cleaning leaf!”
Mila, sitting on the other side, was aghast when she heard that. “A life for cleaning leaves?” she asked.
“If a thought is so overpowering, it becomes the main agenda for the next life”, explained Mohanji.
As I was eating, I had a desire for a picture. Mohanji’s explanation was also working in my head at the same time. All our phones were in the car, as we were not supposed to carry it to the shrine. I was trying to drop the thought as we had almost finished and were ready to leave when Mohanji said, “Get the camera!” Another desire was fulfilled instantly!
Presenting HSTD calendar to Devi Mohan
Radha: After dinner, I presented the HSTD calendar to the chief priest. Your desire ended up with many pictures being captured that night to record those precious moments.
Sathya: The following day, we went to Totapuri Ashram. Totapuri Maharaj was the Guru of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and guided him to use the sword of wisdom and find Goddess Kali within.
“Every prayer should become another inner communion and a deeper connection to the truth within until you recognise that what is inside you and outside of you is indeed the same. There is no prayer, and there is nothing to pray to except an inner activation of omnipresent truth through external symbols and representations.”
-Mohanji
Mohanji bowing at the feet of Totapuri Maharaj
When we walked into the ashram, it radiated peaceful energy. At the ashram, before entering the samadhi, we all wanted to take a group picture. I was still soaking in the Jagannatha experience, and to me, the dual camera on the cell phone appeared like Jagannath, with two round eyes and a nose!
As the others entered the shrine and prayed, I stepped away to buy miniature Jagannath dolls from two kids at a stall outside the Mandir. A while later, when the crowd inside subsided, I went in and prostrated at the feet of the idol. We were also shown the treasured cot of Maharaj.
Nowadays, I feel like the mongoose whose body became half-gold after eating the leftovers of a pious Brahmin. It rolled over on many leaves but was only half gold. After rolling on the food left on the leaf of Lord Shri Krishna, it finally turned fully into gold.
I have had some amazing energy experiences connecting to Mohanji, and most other things don’t give me the same feeling. It feels like I am always in a quest for that indescribable ecstasy, that energy surge that fills me now and then at times when it is most unexpected.
Any object or place could also start vibrating with the magical touch of a Siddha.
We were now on the other side of the cot. Mohanji smiled and patted me gently as though he was reading my thoughts.
We stepped out and sat before the shrine. A spider on a wall opposite where we were sitting caught my attention. The spider was oscillating between movement and stillness. I wondered, “Is this my state?”
In the Dattatreya tradition, every being is significant and can reveal the mysteries of our magnificent universe if only we align with it. On returning to Bangalore, I was surprised to read a quote from Mohanji that was related to a spider.
“As a spider gets trapped in its own web, man gets trapped in his own thoughts. Spider makes the web with the thread from his own body. Man makes his trap with thoughts from his own mind. His reality is a product of his own thoughts. He creates his own destiny. He can change it too. Only the one who made the trap can untrap himself.”
-Mohanji
Another thing that caught my attention was a picture of Totapuri Maharaj on the outside wall of the Shrine. The picture with his intense eyes gazing up was powerful. There were four conches placed beneath a portrait of Totapuri Maharaj.
I wondered aloud, “What could be the significance of four?”
Amma, beside me, responded, “What do you think?” and I suggested, “Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha, maybe?”
Radha: I was also moving about in the ashram without many expectations. I went in and came out since many were inside. I then circumambulated the Samadhi mandir. By now, the group was sitting in the Samadhi Mandir. I wanted to attend the Darshan of Padukas. At that time, the doors were closed. I thought if I was fortunate, the doors would open. The Priest came from nowhere and opened the door. I went inside and placed my forehead on the padukas. I felt a strong energy and had no thoughts. This had happened so vividly once before at Vashita Guha when I went on the Badrinath trip with Mohanji. It was so magnetic that I could not take my head off the Padukas. All that I could hear vibrating in my inside were the words, “Neeye Naan! Naane Ne! (You Are Me! I am You!).”
I came out and took a couple of pictures opposite the well. We left the place, and then you remarked, “Did you read the words inside the shrine? Aham Brahmasmi!”
Although I did not read the words, the feeling of oneness and no mind did last for a short while in that powerful presence. This was not an imagination or my projection either. Because I came in just like you with zero anticipation, but one person can just do a quick reality check on all of us. That is our mother.
“If this is the oneness you feel, be ready to eat whatever I give without complaints!”
We went to the Sankareshwar temple next. Mohanji and Devi performed Poojas there. I enjoyed the chanting of the priest in a mellifluous voice.
Pooja at the Sankareshwar Temple by Mohanji and Devi Mohan
Sathya: A cow constantly moved about in the outer area and stood between Mohanji and Devi like a child. The story of the temple itself is connected to Kamadhenu, the celestial cow- which spontaneously bathed the Shiva Linga with her milk.
One of the priests described the significance of Jagannath Dham. As he explained, I was drawn to the description of Lord Sudharshana. At Jagannath Dham, the deities are worshipped as a quartet. Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra, and Sudarshan. Now I perceived another relevance of my observation of the four conches earlier. It was also visually so evocative when the priest explained. Before Lord Jagannath appeared as Blue Light or Neel Madhav, Lord Sudarshana came as fiery red rays, purifying everything. I was connecting that with Kriya. Purification at all levels should happen before presence is revealed. I meditated on the glory of Lord Sudarshana.
What we both thoroughly enjoyed was the final song after Sri Rudram.
“Hey Shiva Pati, Parvati Pati Trahimam Bhava Sagaram!”
The priest asked the entire group to join the chorus of these few lines. Some sanctified rice was sprinkled on us, and we were asked to keep it tied to the tip of our sarees.
In the evening, we went to Ganga Mutt. Mohanji addressed us all and said we were all part of a special group to have had this experience.
Painting on the wall of Ganga Mutt
He summed up the trip as Grace in Abundance.
Appa called it Oceanic Merger, for which Mohanji said, “Sagara Sangamam!”
After the talk, when the assembly dispersed, I was engrossed in penning down my takeaways from Mohanji’s speech on a sheet of paper when I saw Mohanji, who had been walking, pause in front of me. I was curiously watching, wondering what he was pausing for, when I noticed that there was an insect in his way. He looked at me.
I realised that he did not want to step on it and tried to take it out of his way quickly, but it had already moved away. That was an exhibition of ultimate compassion! Conscious walking of the highest degree and perfect awareness at every step.
The Priests with Mohanji at the Ganga Mutt
Radha: The next day was an open agenda. None of us really wanted to see Konark and the plan was fluid. Amma mentioned the Sakshi Gopinath temple. This was on our way back to Bhubaneswar and we decided to go.
At Sakshi Gopinath, the cows actually knocked on the window of our car when we arrived. Appa was so moved that he bought a lot of bananas and fed them heartily. An old man guided us to the temple.
At the temple, we were told that Krishna is the witness to the pilgrimage that one makes to the Char Dham. After singing bhajans, we thanked Krishna for the memorable experience.
Sathya: Our last stop was the Lingaraj temple. Lingaraj means the king of Lingas. After having a pleasant darshan, we circumambulated and sat at a place, singing hymns.
“Shiva is Supreme Consciousness, brightness, full awareness. We worship Shiva linga, li or la is connected to Layana – dissolution, dissolving. Ga means vast, unfathomable. So, the shiva linga is an expression of something which is vast and cannot be contained into any form, structure or frame. We are worshipping Shiva, that state of being fully conscious. That is more or less the method of the Datta or Avadhoota tradition. They are fully occupied with Supreme Consciousness. Fully aware of Supreme Consciousness. Every movement of every atom, they feel. They are fully occupied, fully aware. Datta tradition is that aspect of being fully aware, fully conscious but at the same time fully responsible, fully here”.
-Mohanji
Radha: There was a Hanuman shrine just opposite the place we sat. After performing pooja at the Hanuman temple, we were asked to go to the shrine of Baidyanath.
Sathya: When we entered, the priest was struggling with an object. One of the eyes of Baidyanath had fallen off, and the priest was trying to fix it.
You said, “If this is the condition for Baidyanath (Lord Shiva as the Chief of Doctors) himself, then what of the common man?” That was such well-timed humour!
I remembered that Appa had sandal paste. He was hesitant about offering the sandal paste at the shrine as he had very little left, and it may need to be more. I insisted that he should offer it to the priest to anoint the lingam. The priest took the paste, applied it on the lingam, and attached the eye of the Lord to it, and it instantly fell back in place! I left the premises with prayers to heal the world from the effects of the pandemic
One more shrine awaited us in the same temple complex. It was a shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva as Vishwakarma, the celestial architect.
The priest at this shrine told us that Lord Shiva himself took the form of the celestial architect Viswakarma and constructed all the shrines. An Akandadeep (Eternal lamp) is kept burning here.
Radha: I visualised the beautiful Mohanji Ashrams that would be built in the future as the priest described the glory of Lord Shiva as Viswakarma!
The entire trip had been such an amazing experience! I remember on our return flight, a co-passenger who had been to Puri shared with me that it had not been easy for him to get Darshan of Jagannath! It made me cherish our experiences even more, and I mentally thanked our Master for it.
Sathya: Last but not least, our pilgrimage culminated with another meeting with Mohanji and a thrilling visit to the airport before he boarded the flight. I express my heartfelt gratitude to Lord Jagannath, Mohanji, Subhasree, and everyone who made this trip truly memorable. Before we knew it, we were back in Bangalore. The following days saw a bit of churning, with all of us experiencing some signs of cold and fever.
But even while experiencing that, some soothing waves constantly massaged my spine. Puri waves, indeed! Jagannath’s vibes were so overpowering that they kept us hooked to Him.
Radha: Truly memorable. I am awaiting the next one now. Will it be Dwaraka?
Jai Mohanji! Jai Jagannath!
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 12th January 2023
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Day 187 – Willpower (Iccha Shakti) is Your Strength
Yesterday was an inspiring day for the team here in Slovenia. We received confirmation that the Mohanji Institute has been officially registered, which means we have a registered entity here in Slovenia. The papers arrived only hours before Mohanji was to depart from Serbia. It was an opportune time to reflect on what was achieved here in the past one and a half months – an outstanding achievement.
The experience has been a real practical lesson of what can be achieved through willpower and determination. It’s been a group effort of many people with tremendous determination to complete work in good time and to achieve something together. Mohanji, of course, was the energy and the driving force behind many tasks, such as setting a clear vision, giving a clear picture, subsequent steps, and advice when we encountered obstacles; the team pulled together and achieved a lot.
It has been a different experience for me as most of my work is with people or on the computer. It was possible to see tangible results daily as the boundary markers on the land were laid, fences put up, trees planted, hedges planted, and birds began to feed on the bird feeders. We were witnessing the Peace Centre come to life before our eyes. It has been an important lesson in teamwork when there’s clear focus and determination because there were many obstacles and issues to manoeuvre.
It was also a humbling lesson of the grace that comes when working with Mohanji because he arranges nearly everything if we only take the first steps. For many of these tasks, such as fencing and planting the bushes where we needed more experience, the right people came with proper support. And whether this was with expertise, contacts, skills, machinery, or even coming to feed us lunchtimes, it all fit into place and flowed with ease. Even the weather was held at bay on days of meaningful work, and when we would return to share the day’s progress and our surprise at how it didn’t rain, Mohanji would smile, thus achieving a lot in a short time.
I’ve shared the details in various Mohanji groups. We’re all looking forward to continuing the following steps to bring to life the Mohanji Peace Centre here in Slovenia. I was reflecting on Mohanji’s main points, where he stresses this path and life in general, the need for willpower and determination, especially if we want to achieve something in life.
The other day, we were speaking about karma and destiny, and I wanted to know if it’s possible to change this. Because for example, we may have some patterns which keep pulling us back into the usual terrestrial world of senses and experiences. I wanted to know: Is this destined to happen? We’ve got these solid patterns and inclinations to do specific tasks and activities. We’re indulging in certain things or being a certain way. Is that destined, or can we do something about it? He replied that it all depends on our priorities, what we want in life and then, of course, our willpower.
If our goal is to achieve the highest in this lifetime, and we have the corresponding willpower or icchā śákti, then it’s possible. Mohanji said that’s enough to take you to the highest – willpower, focus, and determination.
Day 188 – “A Month with Mohanji”
Yesterday, I shared a message on what can be achieved with willpower, and the focus of that was the progress we’ve made here in Slovenia towards the Mohanji Peace Centre, and it has been a lot. It’s been a productive time, despite all the challenges of COVID. We’ve completed much more in that short space of time, and I wanted to share more of this because I think it gives an authentic flavour and colour of the pace, the speed, and what we’re capable of once we have that willpower, determination, and focus.
For me, it has continuously been a living lesson of what is achievable personally, and everybody involved has also found new capacities they didn’t believe or know that they had before, which is incredibly satisfying and rewarding.
Today I’ll give a chronology of what we’ve done since Mohanji arrived in Slovenia as an inspiration of what we can do with his energy behind us. It also gives more of a flavour of Mohanji, his laser focus, clarity, and proactive steps to do more in the world, leading from the front.
If we go back to when we first arrived here
Slovenia Peace Centre work
We arrived on the 22nd of March and then had to spend ten days in quarantine. During this time, it wasn’t possible to leave the apartment. After our quarantine period ended, there was a 10-day lockdown in Slovenia for the Easter period because of COVID. So we were left with just a month, four weeks, in which we’ve completed everything on the land, including sourcing the suppliers, sourcing people, agreeing on the work, finding suitable materials, arranging events, arranging the meetings, and completing the work. I’ll share the progress we made for the Peace Centre again.
Humane Airports
Alongside this, what’s impressive when we look back is that we launched the “Humane airports” initiative, which was sparked by an incident in Frankfurt. We launched humaneairports.com, which was formed after the incident of severe harassment at Frankfurt Airport. The purpose is to change how air passengers are treated in airports globally. This was all the good work of contacting authorities, the embassies, and everything we did to move that campaign forward.
Launch of coffee table book “Mind.”
Another significant achievement is completing the first ever coffee table book, titled “Mind”, a beautiful book. It’s a collection of quotes on the mind by Mohanji, which is also set to a charming design with great photos of him, which can be a perfect gift.
Mohanji asked for this, and when he initially asked how long it would take, the response was probably three months. So, we set a target, “Okay, let’s aim for three weeks,” and then, in the end, we did it within three days. People were surprised at themselves; that they could do it at that time. It gave a deep sense of accomplishment as it involved setting a focus, meeting a challenge, and a timely goal to achieve it. This was alongside all the usual calls, meetings, several satsangs and interviews.
We even visited Lake Bled’s beautiful, incredible natural surroundings, which also doubled as an inspection for future projects and activities here in the Slovenian region.
I wanted to share this again because many can take inspiration from this. All of us became aware of our new capacities and could reflect on the limitations we placed on ourselves, of what is possible and what is not. I include myself in this.
Mohanji allows us to go beyond what we believe we can, and it’s gratifying when you see the results.
The key learning is that we can do much more than we think; the main ingredients are willpower and determination. “A Month with Mohanji” is the perfect case study.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 8th January 2023
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Experiences With Mohanji 