by Christopher Greenwood
Day 61 Lesson – Travelling with Mohanji and a birthday miracle
Good morning, everybody. I hope you’re doing very well.
Yesterday was our first day here in Palakkad. Although I’ve already talked about how Mohanji works at a pace, I hadn’t yet experienced what it’s like to travel with him. Things have definitely sped up. And you have to be very, very alert, aware, and active to keep up with the shifting schedule and the need of the time. Nothing is completely planned out for the days and events, and day by day, even hour by hour sometimes, things are changing.
What we have to work with is what we have. So, the lesson I’ve shared before of being flexible, working with what you have, has come in very useful here. For example, yesterday morning, we had to record a video on spirituality and veganism for a conference later in the year. The reason we had to get it done then is that we didn’t know what the rest of the schedule would be like, whether we’d have a chance to do it later. So, we had to find the right spot quickly, bring the right props from around the area to make it look good. We also had to keep to the time; we couldn’t stretch over if there were any mistakes. Everything had to be done well.
That’s another thing Mohanji is stressing on; things must be completed by when they need to be completed. And that’s intensified now while we’re travelling.
So, we finished recording it, it was great. We went to Mohanji’s family home, where we were greeted by everybody there and had a lovely welcome. You could see the joy on everyone’s faces as Mohanji arrived, came out of the car and walked up the stairs. Everyone was overjoyed to see him again after such a long time. We were served Chai, and people had their time with Mohanji.
One of the main reasons we went to Palakkad was to visit a Sai Baba temple, where Vittal Babaji, one of the great masters connected to Mohanji, performed the prana prathishta of the Sai Baba idol (where they infuse energy into the idol). And Mohanji said that Baba really is sitting there.
Mohanji comes every year to perform a flag hoisting ceremony, which will take place in a few days. We visited there just to arrange everything and finalize the schedule. Therefore, once we said hello at home, we travelled again to the Sai Baba temple. And here was another lesson or example for me: whatever we have planned must happen. If there’s an obstacle, you find a different way, but you reach where you need to.
So, as we were driving, we felt a rumbling in the car. When we stopped, there was a flat tire. But, within no time, the car behind us stopped, which was some of the group who were following. Mohanji just simply went to join this car, called me over as well, and we both jumped in. So, Ananth stayed with the driver to fix the tire, and I joined Mohanji in the new car. Within two minutes, we were back on the road, following the plan; there was no fuss, no frustration, no problem; the show just continued.
When we arrived at the temple, Ananth stayed behind because he was usually in charge of the camera, taking the photographs. This time, he gave me the camera. This was another lesson in flexibility because that’s not something I’ve done before either. And I quickly found out that when you’re trying to take photographs of Mohanji, he’s not going to stand around and wait for you. He’s got his work to do. You have to be in the right place, thinking of where he’s going to be for the right angle. And you have to be quick because he’s not going to be stopping in one place for too long.
Thankfully, the tempo was surprisingly very quiet. It was just our group there, maybe five people. There’s a local dog that stays there, too, who was very happy to see Mohanji. Mohanji said it was Baba’s favourite dog.
We said our prayers, and Mohanji had gifted an Ammucare 2021 planner at Baba’s feet, along with some vegan chocolates, which are part of that Ammucare package. The temple was very peaceful and powerful. Mohanji said that Baba is actually alive there, and he fulfils the earnest and most noble of wishes.
After discussing the plans for the upcoming event with the team there and arranging the timings, we went back to Baba’s Aarti, which was just starting. After Aarti, I was able to witness Baba fulfilling one of the most earnest of wishes. There was a lady there who had brought cake, and she was giving it to Mohanji, and I was taking photographs. I couldn’t understand the language, but I collected from the closeness that she was part of the temple, that she worked there, and she was giving Mohanji and the rest of us some prasad.
Later I found out that she had been coming there to see Sai Baba for some time, and she’d been praying. All she wanted in her prayers, if Baba would allow, is to meet Mohanji and share some words with him. Just a conversation. She had been praying for this. And yesterday was her birthday. Although she wouldn’t usually visit the temple on that day, she felt an intuition or calling that she should go to the temple for Aarti. She also brought some cake along.
It happened that Mohanji was there. No other people were there, no devotees other than us. It was just her, which is why I thought that she must have worked there. So, it was a real miracle for her, her wish came true, and she had her time with him. There was no one else around.
By the time we’d finished, the car had just arrived with the repaired tires, and Ananth was able to catch the last of the Aarti and give his prostrations to Baba. It was amazing to witness how everything came back together like that, especially for the lady, and that the car was repaired just in time to take us to where we needed to go next.
Finally, we returned to Mohanji’s parents for lunch before retiring. It’s been a real lesson to witness the fluidity at which the schedule emerges because there was no major planning at the beginning; it’s all happening day by day, hour by hour. It emerges, and we have to be quick to adapt.
So that was a little bit about what travelling with Mohanji is like.
I hope you have a great day and speak to you soon.
Day 62 Lesson – Reminders of lessons and witnessing the elements tamed ️
Good morning, everybody. I hope you’re doing well.
Travel continues with Mohanji today, and so does the pace. We’d been staying at a very rural location the past few days, which had at least given us some time to be able to complete unfinished work. However, that requires some juggling so as to fit it around the events that are happening during the day, as a lot of it is spontaneous.
Yesterday morning while we were preparing the next day’s schedule and plans, we were joined by Madhu (CEO), as he had come to help prepare for the book launch on the 17th and discuss some other plans as well.
In the morning, Mohanji informed us that we’d be joining a group of very serious business people, entrepreneurs, who come together regularly as a mastermind group to work on projects and share ideas and challenges. That was okay because we’re ready to travel at short notice and stay over.
But what I didn’t expect was that Mohanji had also arranged that we present the “Invest in Awareness” program there. Mohanji said that we should have some slides ready so that we can present them well. That would have a good impact because these were some serious people. So, it was a great opportunity.
I knew that our morning would be busy because we had guests coming for breakfast. We also needed to prepare, plan and pack for the t travel, too. So, I didn’t have too much time to create the slides. I thought, wrongly, as I’m aware now, that we would have some time once we reach the location, which is about two hours away, to settle into the room and have half an hour of spare time.
So, I’d ask the team if they could start working on slides that I’d be able to update a little bit later. This is where I was reminded of another lesson that I seemed to have forgotten at that time: to always ascertain and never assume, as Mohanji regularly says.
It became quite apparent once we started travelling that there wasn’t going to be any time once we arrived to do any more work on the presentation. We were going straight to the meeting. The lesson was to make the best use of time when you have it. When opportunities like this come, take them and readjust priorities to do the most important things first. Especially when travelling with Mohanji, because there’s no guarantee that there’d be good access to the internet, power, or even a stable surface to have a laptop on and work. Most of the time, we were in the car. So, this was something that I was learning.
On the way to the car, Mohanji asked if the slides were ready. They were being made but hadn’t been finalized yet because we were going straight to the meeting. I had to finalize them in the car. And, if you’ve ever been on Indian rural roads, that’s quite a task because it’s very bumpy. It would have been much easier if we finished them earlier. I wished that as well.
But lesson learned. The meeting was really great, actually. It was in a lovely location in nature at the top of a mountain. When we arrived, I was really admiring Mohanji because he had gone straight from early in the morning meeting people and guests and speaking all day, then in the car travelling, to then arriving at this meeting. Straightaway, he went into three and a half hours of Q&A sessions with the group. It was amazing to see how he was able to completely provide the same energy and enthusiasm as you would normally expect. Everybody was engaged, the questions were flowing. Mohanji was giving answers with complete clarity.
The majority of this group has connected to Mohanji via the 4 am Club, which is quite a large group of people from the Malayalam speaking community worldwide. For almost a year, Mohanji’s been giving daily messages of inspiration, advice, or talking about a relevant topic for the group. They were so happy to meet him in person, after a long time of hearing his voice.
The meeting was focused on the challenges that businesses were facing during COVID at that time. Although it was mainly in Malayalam, there were a few English words, so I was able to follow.
Another thing that was also good to observe, as it wasn’t so easy to follow the conversation, was incredibly windy there. We arrived late afternoon, and we were outside in the circle of chairs, and the wind was blowing, leaves were coming across, things were getting blown around. Mohanji’s hair was blowing in the wind; it was difficult to speak and hear each other.
But, a few minutes later, the wind completely dropped. It was completely still, and nothing was happening where we were, but in the distance, you could hear the wind still going and the trees blowing. It was a strange feeling; I felt that Mohanji must have done something because I’ve observed something similar in Bosnia at the Kriya training before.
Then the Q&A continued. It was about three and a half hours long, as I mentioned. Once Mohanji had finished, and we were saying our goodbyes, it was as though the wind just came completely back. We continued talking, I gave the presentation, and Madhu also spoke. But the wind was just ferocious again.
This morning I was curious, and I asked him: “I noticed yesterday that the wind had dropped.” He just said: “It was becoming really difficult to speak with my hair blowing around, and I wasn’t able to hear much.” He said that not many people would have noticed because obviously, they were in mid flow of the conversation.
So, another piece of amazement for me to witness yesterday. Personally, I’m really enjoying the fluidity at which Mohanji moves. I was also incredibly thankful for the opportunity to speak to such distinguished business people in the area about “Invest in Awareness” because we’ve made some good contacts now, and I’m looking forward to following up on them, too.
That’s the message for today. I hope you have a great day ahead and speak to you all again very soon.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 26th September 2021
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