By Bharath Sivasubramanian, Canada
I surrender this visiting card miracle through a testimonial to my Guru, God, Master, and Amma – Bhagawan Mohanji. It is he who writes. I am just his instrument.
The past 7 to 8 months of my life have been a time of intense personal upheaval. I have never experienced such a fast-paced, tumultuous, yet so beautiful period ever before in my life. Back in late 2023 and early 2024, I was going through many conflicts and issues at work, which not only made me cynical but also spilled over into my personal life. I desperately needed to find stability and an anchor, so I had a Mai-Tri session around mid-January 2024, where it was revealed to me that for my overall betterment and stability, it would be advisable to get initiated into Kriya and do the Empowered 1-5 program. Doing Kriya initiation meant accepting Mohanji as my Guru. I prayed to Mohanji for his blessings and accepted him as my Guru in late January. Little did I know that I was embarking on an exciting journey.
It is said that a Guru or a Master arrives in a person’s life to uplift him/her during a dark time in their life. This was particularly true in my case, for just a week after I accepted Mohanji as my Guru, I was laid off from my job on February 1, 2024. For the first time in my professional career, I was jobless. While it was true that my job was becoming more conflict-prone and stressful, the saving grace was that it was paying well and helping me and my family to lead a decent middle-class life. Furthermore, these are uncertain economic times and the job market is tough.
By April 2024, I had applied to over 800 jobs with a handful of interviews and no job offers. It was a difficult time, where I used to get into bouts of self-doubt, disappointment, and depression. As the family’s primary breadwinner, providing for my wife and daughter, I was under a lot of stress and felt uncertain about the future. I felt like a loser and a failure in life. I used to ask myself, what’s the point of having 2 Masters’ degrees and over 14 years of work experience when I am failing miserably at my primary duty as a provider to my family? Add to this, one afternoon in April, I met with a car accident, wrecking my car. I was fortunate to not be injured, and so was the person whom I collided with.
The silver lining during this period was learning and practicing Kriya and the opportunity for Kriya initiation by Mohanji at the MCB USA towards the end of April (this was around a week or so after my car accident). I continue to practice Kriya regularly. It centers me and keeps me aligned. Witnessing the Pranapratishta of Lord Ganesha, Shirdi Sai Baba, and Lord Dattatreya being performed by Mohanji himself was also a blessed experience. However, by May 2024, my job situation did not become any better. A few more interviews came, but I faced constant rejection. I would qualify for the 3rd or 4th round of the interview process at a certain company and, for some reason, get rejected. One such rejection at the final stage of a long-drawn job interview process that had lasted for about 5-6 weeks was particularly painful.
The main takeaway that I had from this experience was that after every successful stage of the job interview process, I began to place more and more expectations on being hired for the role. Invariably, when I got rejected, I was extremely sad and desolate. Definitely, as Mohanji mentions constantly, expectation is a recipe for disappointment. May and June 2024 brought renewed hope in the form of Empowered, Mohanji’s signature teachings offered in the form of four 1-week modules led by Mohanji Acharyas. I decided to take all the Empowered courses from 1-4 back-to-back.
I was visiting my parents in Toronto when I started Empowered 1.0 in May. The day after the Empowered 1 session began (around May 13 or 14 I believe), I had a health issue. In the morning, around 10 am, I suddenly had a severe bout of constipation (I have never previously had constipation in my life), and the pain soon became excruciatingly unbearable. I called the ambulance and went to the hospital with serious pain. I spent more than 10 hours in the ER and needed two enemas to flush out my system, and when I finally came back home a little after midnight, I was totally exhausted.
Despite the drama and pain, I regard the constipation incident as a huge blessing by Mohanji. It was clear to me during the day that I was at the ER that Mohanji was working on me and was probably clearing out a major blockage in the form of constipation. At some point during the day, it dawned on me that I should not focus my attention on the constant pain. I spent a lot of time reciting the Mohanji Gayatri, which helped me tremendously. The rest of the time, I had conversations with other ER patients, nurses, technicians, and orderlies and joked around with them. It not only kept me in a good mood and took my mind off the pain, but it also helped cheer up the other patients.
The patient in the bed next to me was an elderly lady with cancer. She and I soon struck up an interesting conversation about life in Canada and her love for mystery novels. As she did not have a phone, she borrowed my cellphone to talk to her kids and give them updates on her situation. I felt grateful to Mohanji for making me an instrument of his service and giving me this chance to be of use and add some value.
June and July 2024 rolled in – I had, by this time, applied for around 1500 jobs with no success. I did not give up, or rather, I could not give up applying; the stakes were too high. One of Mohanji’s teachings, which is that any situation or experience in life is only temporary, kept me going. But the uncertainty of the situation was eating me alive. I used to ask myself – when am I going to turn this around? When am I going to get back to a sense of normalcy? Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?
When it was announced that Empowered 5 would be conducted towards the end of July at the MCB USA in Dugspur, Virginia, in the presence of Mohanji, I was happy at the opportunity to see him in person again. It also meant that I would perhaps have the opportunity to interact with Him for a few minutes after the daily satsangs. I was in a dilemma as to whether I should discuss my job situation with him. On the one hand, he was my Guru, and I had placed my trust in him, so it made sense to confide in him.
On the other hand, Mohanji’s final teaching in Empowered 4 was “Look not for the finite, but the infinite (i.e., self-realization or dissolution).” And when the Guru is ready to give the disciple the infinite or the ultimate gift of self-realization, is it really worth asking him for something so finite and material, like a job? This dilemma tore me apart, and I had not quite reconciled, even a few days before Empowered 5, about whether I should discuss the job situation with him.
I finally decided to be brave and talk to Mohanji about my job situation during the Empowered 5 retreat. I got the opportunity on one of the days after the satsang when he was doing book signings. My wife, daughter, and I went up to him, and after getting his blessings, I began with, “Mohanji, I am going through a tough time in my life.” My next sentence was going to be, “Mohanji, please help me; I have been jobless for more than 6 months now”. But Mohanji, in his infinite grace and elegance, did not let me go past my first sentence. He immediately told me these golden words of reassurance, “I am with you. I am with you always. Always keep my card with you in your pocket.” I was moved to tears by these words.
I immediately understood that he, being omniscient, knew everything about my situation and that I need not say any more. I also immediately understood that Mohanji was preserving the sanctity of his Empowered 4 teaching of seeking the infinite and not the finite by stopping me from talking more and making sure that I did not explicitly ask him in person for a job. Indeed, when my Guru is able to guide me to that which is the ultimate of the 4 purushaarthas (i.e., Moksha or dissolution), why should I even ask him for anything else?
After an incredible Empowered 5 retreat, where I experienced Mohanji’s divinity in a number of ways (I have submitted my detailed Empowered 5 experiences in another testimonial), we returned home to Saint-Hubert, Quebec, Canada, spiritually charged and determined. Since I got back home, I made sure that I kept his visiting card in my chest pocket throughout the day, and I still do (in fact, the card is still in my chest pocket as I write this testimonial. I only remove it at night when I go to sleep!). I got a few more interviews, and with Mohanji always with me, literally close to my heart center, in the form of his visiting card, all of them went really well. I also started doing the Power of Purity meditation daily – this was a guidance that I received at a Mai-Tri session that I did during Empowered 5.
In the week of August 18 (this must have been either August 20 or 21), I had an interesting vision during my daily Power of Purity meditation. I saw an elderly gentleman around 70 years of age. I was somehow acquainted with this person. He used to pass by our neighborhood either on foot or on his bicycle and would ask people if they needed him to get the trees in their garden trimmed. He cut our tree in the garden once a few years ago. It was surprising that I saw this person out of the blue during the Power of Purity meditation.
Fast forward to August 23, 2024 – a day that I can and will never forget. In the morning, while cleaning up my side table in the bedroom, I discovered $55 in cash in an envelope. I decided to put this unexpected monetary gift in our seva jar, where we keep money that we use for service activities. At around 10 am, my doorbell rang, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the same person that I saw in my Power of Purity meditation at my doorstep! When I opened the door, something within me told me, “This is Shirdi Sai Baba.” I was determined to serve Baba and agree to whatever he, in the form of this person, wanted from me.
He asked me, as usual, if he could trim the tree in my backyard. I said yes, but forgot that I had any money to give him for his services. I later remembered that I had $55 in cash with me, so I asked him if he would accept this $55. He said yes, but also added that he needed $45 more to make it an even $100. He told me to write him a cheque for the remaining $45. I agreed and gave him the cheque for $45.
By around 10:40 am, the gentleman had finished trimming the backyard tree and left. Shortly after that, I went downstairs to check my email. I was wonderstruck to find that at 10:46 am, just a few minutes after the gentleman left, I had received a job offer! And add to that, what I got in the job offer as the salary was even much higher than what I had asked the company that I was interviewing with! I immediately thanked Mohanji for his grace and love and for this gift that finally put an end to my misery.
A few minutes later, the enormity of what had just transpired hit me and filled me with gratitude and devotion. I had just experienced a divine miracle orchestrated by Mohanji, Shirdi Sai Baba, and Sathya Sai Baba! The significance of the 45 dollars that the gentleman who trimmed our tree had asked me for became clear. 4 + 5 = 9. The number 9 has a special divine significance. Shirdi Sai Baba asked for 9 rupees from Lakshmibai Shinde just before he took his Mahasamadhi, with the number 9 signifying the 9 types of Bhakti (devotion). Sathya Sai Baba regarded the number 9 as a divine number and gifted the world with the Sacred 9 Point Code of Conduct.
Through this wonderful leela, Mohanji, in divine collaboration with Shirdi Sai and Sathya Sai, reinforced my faith in him and showed me that he knew everything and that he was always with me. Sathya Sai Baba often said, “My miracles are my visiting cards”. With this miracle, Mohanji showed me that his visiting card itself was his miracle! Indeed, within around three weeks of his telling me to keep his card in my pocket, Mohanji, through his visiting card, gave me the courage and strength to do well in the interviews and made sure that he was there with me all the time, guiding me (in fact, he is always there, I was just oblivious to it before! It was actually his card that made me feel his constant presence).
This miracle has reaffirmed my faith in Mohanji as my Guru, God, and Master and that he is always watching over me. Mohanji’s card has definitely accomplished what 1500 job applications and hours of networking could not! Most importantly, I find that keeping Mohanji’s card in my chest pocket has transformed me tremendously. My selfish thoughts have significantly reduced since I started keeping the card in my pocket. I am more consistent with my sadhanas and procrastinate less. I feel more empathy and love towards everyone and feel a constant stream of gratitude for everything that I have. I feel like sharing what I have more with everyone and doing more seva. This is a marked departure from my earlier self, who was more selfish and obsessed with “me and my.”
Mohanji has literally opened my heart with his visiting card and made me a better person. I am well aware that this is not the best of times in the economic sense and that there are hundreds of thousands of people, perhaps a few million in North America, who are jobless or have been laid off recently and looking for a job. So, I am even more grateful to Mohanji for this invaluable boon and for being able to do my duty and provide for my family. Thank You, Mohanji, for uplifting me and solidifying my Faith in You!
Thank you, Mohanji, for your reassurance that you are always with me! These words of yours are my anchor. I think of them whenever I feel down, and they propel me forward. Mohanji’s sankalpa, through his words, is indeed powerful. Looking back at the past 6-7 months, I realize now that I have been blessed. Losing my job was just the starting point of this turning point of my life. If I still had my old job, I would not have become more inclined towards spirituality. I would have been in my previous material world of stagnation, with perhaps the occasional visit to the temple, without a full-fledged intention of a seeker. I would not have become a disciple of Mohanji, and I certainly would not have had the time (nor perhaps the inclination) to get initiated into Kriya or attend the entire Empowered 1-5 program. I would still be in my comfort zone and not a serious spiritual seeker.
Mohanji has taught me over the past 6-7 months, “You are not your position in society.” This is my greatest learning. Everything happens for a reason, and the reason for my losing my job is making a lot of sense now. Have faith in your Guru. He knows what to take away and, what to give you and when to give it to you for your greatest good. Lose a job, Gain a Guru, faith, and his unconditional and infinite love – Best. Deal. Ever.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 5th September 2024
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