pilgrimage

Girnar with Mohanji, a journey of bliss!

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Mohanji Editorial Team

By Hemkant Laxman Pagdhare

Mohanji and a small group of 12 people had the ultimate opportunity to visit Girnar in the state of Gujarat, which is considered as one of the most ancient ‘Datta Kshetras’ in India.

The very appearance of the mountain symbolizes that ‘A Guru is always on top of the world.’ Lord Dattatreya is considered as the ADI GURU or THE SUPREME POWER and he meditated here for over 12,000 years. Lord Dattatreya’s lotus feet are on the Gurushikhar peak which is more ancient than the Himalayas. Another great symbolism of Girnar is that ‘To reach and have the darshan of Lord Dattatreya’s holy footprints, one should have a lot of determination, dedication, surrender and utmost faith. One should follow the same path as his Guru in the same direction, and only then can we reach our goal. Lord Dattatreya is present here and he is protecting all his devotees.

In Mohanji’s words, “A visit to Girnar is not an ordinary journey. It is surrender and commitment to the Tradition. Unless you have deep commitment and conviction, you may not be on this land. Many people may visit not fully knowing why as in some instances; Lord Dattatreya could be their family deity, etc. However, for people who are consciously going, it reaffirms their deep conviction to the path of Avadhoota. In fact, there is no better place more powerful and more relevant than Girnar for a true spiritualist on the path of Avadhoota (total dissolution). We aren’t talking about enlightenment or even the path of Siddha here – this is much beyond human realms or thinking. In fact, even today, the nine Naths and 84 Siddhas visit Girnar in sookshma form, chant and pray for the darshan of Lord Dattatreya who continues to guide them along. Only grace alone can bring an individual to this land, and grace and surrender alone will help one complete this holy pilgrimage.”

Visiting Lord Dattatreya with our own Datta Master is never complete without a share of his leelas.

Since October 2017 when I had done my 1st pilgrimage to Girnar; it was my wish to be with Mohanji in Girnar. With Mohanji’s grace, my wife Shilpa and I could join Mohanji on the Girnar pilgrimage last month, on 11th February 2020. This was my fourth and Shilpa’s second visit to Girnar.

Girnar, also known as Girinagar (city-on-the-hill) or Revatak Parvata, is a group of mountains in the Junagadh district of Gujarat, India. It is an important pilgrimage site for Hindus and Jains, who gather here during the Girnar Parikrama festival. Mount Girnar is older than the Himalayas and the Jain temples upon it are amongst the most ancient in the country; it is the Nirvan bhumi of the 22nd Tirthankara, Lord Neminatha (a Jain saint).

Junaghad

It is advisable to start the journey at dawn generally, or evening on full moon days as it takes hours to complete the pilgrimage. Climbing the 10,000 steps is no easy task and takes a fit person about 4 to 5 hours to complete the yatra. One has to reach Junagadh first from where autos are available to reach Bhavnath Taleti, the starting point of the Girnar yatra.

The plan was to start the ascent by late evening. We reached the ashram in the early morning on the 11th. Ananth welcomed us at the Guru Gorakhnath ashram also known as Triloknath ashram and escorted us to our room. This is one of the best ashrams here which is well kept. The ashram provides good quality meals. One can easily enjoy the magnanimous and serene view of Mount Girnar from the ashram. Evening aarati at 7 pm is mesmerising and soothing.

Damodar Kund

Ananth informed us that Mohanji would arrive in the afternoon. The rooms were quite spacious, neat and clean. We rested and waited for the rest of the group members to arrive. By 10 am, we met the other group members and then left the ashram. We visited the holy Damodar Kund. Many devotees prefer to bathe in the Kund or immerse the cremation ashes (asthi-visarjana) here; as it is believed that the departed souls would get moksha by doing so.

After dipping our feet in the holy Kund, we went to the nearby Damodar Hari temple and Muchukund cave. The Muchukund cave has a temple of Lord Krishna and a Shiv Linga believed to be established either by Lord Krishna himself or by King Muchkundh, the ancestor of Lord Rama. This is also the place where demon Kalayavan, who was chasing Lord Krishna, was killed by Muchukunda’s gaze.

Later on, we went to Bhavnath Mahadev temple. The Shiva Ling here is said to have emerged by its divine intention. Reportedly, when Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati were travelling over the Girnar Hills, their divine garment fell over the present Mrigi Kund, making this place an auspicious site for Lord Shiva worshippers. After coming back to the ashram, Ananth called us to meet Mr. Joshi, a professor at a local college and an enthusiastic historian cum writer. He gave us some crucial information about Mount Girnar.

By this time, we were all eagerly waiting for Mohanji to arrive. Mohanji’s flight had got delayed and he arrived late in the afternoon. Everyone gathered in his room to see him. Despite the tedious journey from Bangalore to Junagadh, Mohanji looked so fresh and happy to see us all. We noticed that Mohanji’s left foot was swollen. Due to his busy schedule, he could hardly rest or take care of his left foot. Sonia di and Ruchika immediately started massaging his feet. Sonia di gave Mai-Tri to Mohanji’s swollen foot with Mohanji’s energy.

Mr. Joshi also joined us. Mohanji asked Mr. Joshi to sit on the chair next to him saying that we are all bhaktas of Lord Dattatreya and we are all equal in his eyes. Mohanji’s practice of insignificance was quite heart melting. Mr. Joshi gifted some books to Mohanji, written by him on Girnar. Mohanji honoured the books by touching his forehead to them and readily accepted them. Mohanji said, “The importance of Girnar and the Datta Tradition is not well known to the outside world; hence the books must be translated into English.”

We all had a great satsang. Mohanji mainly spoke about the importance of alignment and rituals, and said that no ritual is a waste; they all have a deeper significance. After two blissful hours, we returned to our respective rooms to prepare for the Gurushikhar pilgrimage. We had to climb 9999 steps to reach there.

Since Shilpa wanted to walk comfortably at her own pace, we took Mohanji’s permission and blessings to start early. Kamath da, DB, Ananth, Naresh, George, Christopher along with Mohanji were supposed to start the trek after Christopher’s arrival.

Five of us, Soniya di, Ruchika, Jaya di, Shilpa and myself started the ascent by 9 pm. We prostrated at the first step and began our pilgrimage to Gurushikhar to have darshan of Lord Dattatreya’s padukas.

Generally, the temple closes after aarati at 7 pm and reopens by 5:30 am after aarati. So ideally, to reach Gurushikhar before aarati was what we were aiming at. The temple remains open for 24 hours during full moon days.

We bought some orange candies to keep our mouth wet while climbing. It helps as drinking a lot of water is not practical. We had limited water stock to reduce the load while climbing and there was no chance to get drinking water till the next morning.

I was chanting the mantra given by Mohanji, “Aum Hreem Dram Shri Gurudev Datta.” The silence of the Gir forest was quite pleasant. I was also guided by Mohanji in the mind to be with the group at least till the Neminath temple (which is at about 3500 steps). I also told Shilpa about this message.

Shilpa and Jaya di were walking steadily while Sonia di and Ruchika were some steps behind us. So I told Shilpa and Jaya di to go ahead and keep moving at a steady pace and started walking with Sonia di and Ruchika.

“The destination is important but the journey is important as well!” Mohanji reminded me in the mind.

After about 1000 steps, we came across the first rest-house. There were cement benches to sit and relax. We sat there and meditated for some time. It was a wonderful experience. I told Shilpa that Mohanji telepathically conveyed that they have left the ashram. We resumed our ascent with renewed energy. I checked the time; it was 11:09 pm.

After climbing some steps, we met an elderly couple from Maharashtra. We introduced ourselves and started walking together. They were relieved to meet us, as they were advised to walk in a group in the Gir jungle which is a home to Asiatic lions, leopards and many wild animals. There has been no incidence of attacks till date. But as a precaution, local people guide us not to wait in the dark or go off the steps. If one has to rest, one must rest under a streetlight during the night journey. There were streetlights along our way but in between two lights there were dark patches as well. We used a torch whenever required. Two days back it was full moon, but for us the moonlight was obstructed by the Ambaji Peak.

After about an hour or so, we saw George nearing us singing Jay Gurudev Datta loudly. He hugged all of us and left singing Jay Gurudev Datta loudly. His speed was amazing. Aunty noticed that George was bare footed and exclaimed, “Look, he is climbing bare footed. His faith is stronger than ours!”

Somehow something changed inside me. It was truly inspiring to see George float on the mountain like this. Even I started climbing at a slightly faster pace, despite instructing others to walk at a steady pace! Unfortunately, everything happened so suddenly and unconsciously that I did not even notice that our group was left behind.

Climbing at a faster pace, I injured my left knee. A big lesson was learnt. I was guided by Mohanji well in advance to be with the group till the Neminath temple, but my mind was not aware enough to follow it. My left knee was hurting. I stopped and waited for the rest of the group. It read ‘2500 steps completed’ at that place. I waited for almost 20 minutes till Shilpa and Jaya di came. I informed them about my mistake and we all resumed our journey. Jaya di was getting ‘Keep walking’ messages telepathically, so she retained her pace and went ahead and joined the Maharashtrian couple.

Kamath da and DB joined us after some time. It seems transformation by being on this holy mountain had already started in them. They seemed to be deeply inspired by the Naga Sadhus around the area and were wandering topless. They informed us that they left the ashram by 11:10 pm. This time was a close match with the message that I had received telepathically during our meditation, a few hours back.

Kamath da and DB left us soon. Our speed had slowed down considerably. Sonia di and Ruchika joined us. Sonia di did Mai-Tri to my knees. Ruchika gave some ‘blessed oil’ which Shilpa used to massage my knees with. I felt better. She also offered pain killer tablets which I denied politely. We kept climbing slowly and steadily.

As we were nearing the Neminath temple which is at a height of about 3800 steps, the pain got worse. To reach Gurushikhar Datta temple, we have to cross two peaks; one is Ambaji and the other is Gorakhnath. Gurushikhar temple was on the third peak.

I told Shilpa to go ahead and join the rest of the group, while I wait at the Ambaji temple, but she encouraged me to keep walking. Seeing my condition, Sonia di insisted that I have pain killers which I did hesitantly. I wanted to avoid them but Shilpa also advised me to have them.

Later, we saw Mohanji nearing us. Ananth was walking along with him. Mohanji blessed us and went ahead. When we reached the Neminath temple, we were delighted to see the whole group relaxing around Mohanji.

In Shilpa’s words, “It felt as if Lord Krishna was playing his flute on the banks of the river Yamuna, and all the enchanted Gopis had flocked around him. While all the Gopis were spellbound by the melodious music, our Chittachor Mohana was working on their causal layers, stripping them of their unwanted karmas. While all the Gopis were deeply assured that they were the Lord’s closest and most beloved, our Dharmastapak Mohana was truly interested in uplifting the whole society by transforming and empowering them. It was all Mohanji’s leela.”

We had a wonderful satsang for about 15 to 20 minutes. Mohanji mainly talked about walking the path with clarity and conviction. We resumed our climb. After some time, “Come to Gurushikhar,” Mohanji conveyed telepathically. So I decided to climb till the Gurushikhar Datta temple and changed my plan of staying back at the Ambaji temple.

We reached the Ambaji temple located at about 5000 steps. We prostrated from the outside and resumed our journey. The Ambaji temple is one of the 51 Shakti Peetha.

The Shakti Peethas are significant shrines and pilgrimage destinations dedicated to Devi Sati. The story goes like this: After Devi Sati’s self-immolation, Lord Shiva picked up the remains of Sati’s body and performed the Tandava, the celestial dance of destruction, across all creation. The other Gods requested Lord Vishnu to intervene and stop this destruction, for which Lord Vishnu used the Sudarshana Chakra, which cut through Devi Sati’s corpse. Various parts of the body fell at several spots all through the Indian subcontinent and formed sites which are known as Shakti Peethas today. It is said that the stomach of Devi Sati had fallen here at Girnar. There is an idol of Devi Sati in the form of Devi Chandrabhaga here.

It was 3:30 am and we were still somewhere between the Ambaji and Gorakhnath Peaks. ‘It was mission impossible to reach the Gurushikhar temple by 5:30 am with knee pain and a slow speed,’ this thought was noticed.

Gurushikhar Shri Datta Paduka Temple4 (1)

We kept chanting and walking. Strong cold winds were blowing at Gorakhnath Peak. It is the tallest amongst the three Peaks at about 7000 steps and the tallest peak in Gujarat too. We prayed at Gorakhnath ji’s Samadhi and started descending the Peak.

When we had descended the whole Peak, there was a gate at a junction point where on the left side, the steps led up to the Gurushikhar Datta temple while on the right side, the steps descended further to Kamandalu Kund. I requested Shilpa to move ahead, so that at least she can have this rarest opportunity of attending the aarati at Gurushikhar with Mohanji.

Junction point to Gurushikhar & Kamandalu

Shilpa and Ruchika went ahead of us and Sonia di and I kept walking after them. By now, the steps were getting very steep. We were at about 200 to 250 steps from the summit when I took a long deep breath, closed my eyes and meditated while standing. I saw Mohanji with his head wrapped with a thin red angavastra (cloth).

Just after the above vision, when I resumed the climb, I heard some noise. When I turned around, I saw the priest of the Datta temple climbing with a milk pot in his hand which was making the sound. His head was wrapped in a similar red cloth, exactly as per the above vision.

I had no strength by now to climb faster. It was 5:27 am and about 150 steps yet to climb. 5:30 am is the aarati time. It seems that there was no chance to be part of the aarati now. But Mohanji had some other plans.

As I neared the temple, I could see many people sitting along the steps waiting for the temple to open. The Maharashtrian couple was also sitting there. I returned the pain balm they had given me and thanked them.

Finally, with Mohanji’s grace, we reached the temple. Everyone from our group (except George) were waiting just outside the temple door grill along the steps in a queue. We had arrived late, probably after 5:40 am but aarati had not even started!

Lord Datta’s temple is a very small structure on the narrow Gurushikhar peak. It has a sanctum with Lord Datta’s murti and paduka at the centre. Lord Dattatreya is an incarnation of the Divine Trinity – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. He is revered as the Adi-Guru. He meditated at this lonely peak of Girnar for nearly 12,000 years. His footprints are preserved here in this temple. It can host about 15 to 20 people but no one is allowed to stay long inside; so everyone must keep moving after darshan.

The aarati started and Mohanji along with some of our group members were able to witness it from the outside. Cold wind was blowing and everyone was fully covered in warm clothes except for Mohanji who was standing there in a dhoti and a thin white shawl. But he was standing there totally detached, completely unaware of his bodily discomfort, be it left foot swelling or extreme weather conditions.

Although I was the last one in the queue, standing on the steps; I was able to see lord Dattatreya’s idol and the priest who was performing the aarati. It was a great blessing to be with Mohanji at the Gurushikhar temple during aarati.

Mohanji was the first one to enter the temple after the aarati and I was the last one in our group. When Mohanji was coming out of the temple, Shilpa and I were entering exactly at the same time! This gave us the rarest opportunity to prostrate at Mohanji’s feet at the Gurushikhar temple; a wish to be with Datta Swarupa Mohana Sai at Gurushikhar was fulfilled!

“Welcome”, he said. “How are you?” Mohanji enquired. “Despite the physical discomforts, Mohanji you chose to be with us. Thank you so much for everything you do,” I thanked Mohanji with gratitude.

After darshan, everyone left as there was no space to sit and meditate outside the temple complex. I wanted to walk slowly. I asked Shilpa to go ahead and be with the group, but she chose to walk with me.

We slowly descended to the Kamandalu Kund ashram. It is said that Lord Dattatreya travelled from place to place for meditation. When he came to Mount Girnar, there was no drinking water. He threw his calabash (water container) with full force. The rocks cracked from this force and out flowed Mother Ganga. She was pleased and told Lord Dattatreya that her flow will continue for the welfare of devotees. After that, Lord Dattatreya kindled the Holy Fire (Akhand Dhuni) which keeps on burning here since then.

We had Mahaprasad at the Kamandalu Kund ashram. Then we sat near the Akhand Dhuni and meditated for some time. Every Monday, the Mahants (priests) of the ashram clean the dhuni. Then they arrange wood in the dhuni. Later, when they chant the Shri Guru Dattatreya mantras, the holy fire kindles without any external means like a match box, fuel etc. The sacred ash from the Akhand Dhuni is given as prasad to devotees. This ash is believed to be very sacred, curing many ailments.

We left Kamandalu Kund ashram. The second phase of our test began.

“Climb using both your legs,” was the message conveyed telepathically by Mohanji. As my left knee was hurt, naturally the load of my body was taken by the right knee, thereby overloading it. But I didn’t realize this, till I received this message. This had made my right knee suffer and now both knees were hurting. Because of the above message, I consciously started using both the legs and thus equally distributing my weight on both legs.

At around 10 am, we reached the Gorakhnath peak. The wind velocity was so high there that I had to sit and climb one step at a time or I felt that I would be blown away!

Guru gorakshnath ji — Guru Gorakhnath Temple

Guru Gorakhnath is considered a Maha-Yogi who did not emphasise on any specific metaphysical theory or a particular Truth. He emphasized that the search for the Truth and a spiritual life are valuable and normal goals of every man. Guru Gorakhnath championed yoga, spiritual discipline and an ethical life of self-determination as a means to reaching samadhi and one’s spiritual truths.

No samadhi of Guru Gorakhnath has ever been found. The caves where he meditated are Gorakh Gufa in Nepal, Goraksh Tilla in Pakistan and Gorakhnath temple at Girnar where Guru Gorakhnath’s dhuni still exists and are worshipped. Guru Gorakhnath is considered to be ever existent by Nath Yogis.

We prayed to Guru Gorakhnath. While standing on the highest peak of Gujarat, my knee-pain had also reached its peak! We started our descent. After every two steps, I had to sit and rest. At last, I started descending by crawling down the steps for some time, slowly. One hour had passed and we did not even cover 100 steps!

I sent a WhatsApp message to Sonia di to get Mai-Tri done to my knees, whenever possible; as network was not available there. Thoughts of hiring a doli (modified chair to carry a person) for myself had started whirling in my mind by now. We somehow reached the Ambaji temple and enquired about a doli with a shopkeeper. He said, “You will get it near the Neminath temple.”

Meanwhile at around noon, Shilpa advised me to wrap her dupatta (shawl) around my knee for support. This idea worked. We slowly started descending towards the Neminath temple. Between the Ambaji and Neminath temples, we rested near the Gomukhi Ganga temple. A family of 10 to 12 local people also sat nearby us. We had some chitchat with them. They told us that after the Lord Dattatreya paduka darshan descent, they had plans to visit the Jamal Shah Datar Darga on the nearby Datar mountain which is some 5000 steps! We were fascinated by their stamina and spirit.

When they came to know about my knee pain, one of the people from the group offered to massage my knees with oil that he had. I thanked him and refused politely.

On our way down, just some 500 steps before the Neminath temple, there is a small Dattatreya temple. We could see the Lord’s idol from the outside. It was very lively. I instantly started connecting mentally. The Mahant of the temple saw us and came outside. When we asked about a doli, he gave us the detailed information and finally concluded, “If you can walk, then walk. Maximum that will happen is you will arrive late by a few hours.”

While talking to the Mahant, I was able to see Lord Dattatreya’s beautiful idol behind him. I instantly remembered Mohanji’s guidance to Jaya di given the previous night, “Use a doli only if you cannot walk.” The same message was delivered again via the Mahant. We thanked and told him that Lord Datta had guided me through him.

Finally, after contemplating on this incidence; I decided to climb down on my own, no matter what time I reach the ashram. I told Shilpa about it and asked her to go ahead but she denied again. When we reached the Neminath temple, it was already 1:30 pm. There are some 16 Jain temples here which form a sort of a fort on the ledge at the top of the cliff. The Neminath temple is the largest temple amongst these temples.

This was the only place in our journey where ablution facility was available. We took permission and freshened up. Later, we sat in front of a radiant black Neminath idol for some time and left after a mini meditation. I was feeling very energetic. I connected to Mohanji and updated him that we were at the Neminath temple. Mohanji acknowledged and replied in the mind, “Eat well!”

Mohanji, you have been taking care of even small aspects of our existence like a mother. How can we thank you enough for your presence in our lives …

Upon receipt of above telepathic message, I realized that we had not had lunch till then. So we bought a few packs of chiwda, wafers, biscuits, water bottle etc. There was a big banyan tree nearby with some arrangement made of flat rocks around. We sat under the tree and had our refreshments.

On our way down, a doliwala noticed the way I was walking and voluntarily offered his doli service at a very reasonable price. But we politely refused.

After some descent, I noticed that despite it being sunny there was some sort of shade on us. I looked up at the sky and found that there was a dark cloud which was surrounded by many white clouds; they were blocking the sun for us! What a blessing! What grace!

We fed biscuits to squirrels on our way down. Our speed was extremely slow but we were enjoying the bliss of being on the sacred mountain. Chanting was happening too.

When about 2000 steps of descent were remaining, all of a sudden, we were accompanied by a troop of about 40 to 50 monkeys along with their cute babies. It was late in the afternoon. Our way was deserted except for us and the monkeys. The overall situation was exciting as well as challenging as the monkeys were very friendly and coming near us. They started climbing down with us. A monkey made a hissing noise very close to me from the back and I naturally turned to my right suddenly. I was just about to slip but with Mohanji’s grace, I was protected from the fall.

Mohanji with monkeys — Mohanji feeding the monkeys

Shilpa came to me and we both started walking together, hand in hand. After a few steps, our path was blocked by two monkeys sitting opposite to each other with their tails on the path. This reminded me of the incidence when Hanumanji had sat on Arjuna’s way and blocked his way with his tail. Some baby monkeys were playing on the path too.

We tried making some noise using our sticks without any success. I had no clue how to cross them but we kept moving. As we got near, one of the playful infants tried to hold my stick which I lifted high, a little rapidly. But the infant was determined to hold the stick and so it jumped again unsuccessfully. This made its mother also jump and our way was cleared unexpectedly!

After about 500 to 600 steps with the monkeys, I felt a sudden urge to deliver MPM (Mohanji Protection Method) to the monkeys. I did it. After that, all the monkeys disappeared. Later on, I noticed that the monkeys were moving with us on our left side by jumping along the trees nearby. None came near us after that!

The whole monkey episode had made our journey colourful as well as fast. We descended some 1000 steps without exhaustion. Now we could see our ashram from the top.

We had some lemonade at a nearby shop. The shopkeeper was an old man who knew Girnar’s history which he happily shared with us. He said, just 250 steps are remaining now.

As we came to the end of our yatra, near a Dattatreya temple, a Sadhu welcomed us saying, ‘Jai Girnari!’ We similarly greeted him.

We prostrated at the first step of Girnar and expressed our sincere gratitude to Lord Girnari for this sacred yatra. We finally returned to our ashram after almost 24 hours at around 9 pm!

On reaching the ashram, we wished to see Mohanji but he was resting. The rest of the group members welcomed us. Sonia di and Ruchika had already left. They left the blessed oil for me. Though everyone was exhausted, Ananth massaged my legs. I was reluctant initially but he was persistent, so I had no choice left; as such resistance is ego, I just allowed the mind to move on. As Ananth was massaging my leg, I felt as if he was massaging Mohanji’s leg. I was experiencing Ananth’s deep devotion towards Mohanji.

Next morning, everyone was ready for their return journey except us and Jaya di. Our bus was in the evening. We all went to see Mohanji. I told Mohanji that I got approval to proceed with Mai-Tri sadhana and took his blessings. We had satsang with Mohanji for about 30 minutes.

While seeing off Mohanji, whilst he was seated in the car, he looked at me and smiling mischievously said, “Hemkant, eat well.” This was the same message that he had conveyed to me telepathically at the Neminath temple, the day before! This incident must have impacted Shilpa with mechanism of telepathic messages being sent & received; as she was with me and had witnessed them.

Later that day, Jaya di, Shilpa and myself were sitting together and were sharing our experiences about how we met Mohanji, our transformations after we met him, etc.

Ananth, who had managed the whole Girnar Yatra, called and requested me to meet the Ashram Admin and resolve some issues that had happened. When I went into the Admin’s room, he exploded with his grievances. There was a caretaker with him too. I tried my best to pacify them. After sometime, when he cooled down, he explained that stuff like used bottles, tissue papers, etc. were scattered in few of our rooms which were supposed to be thrown in the dustbin. But most importantly, he was disturbed as a room key was missing.

So, I went upstairs to each room allotted to us with the caretaker, tidied the room as best as I could and searched the room for the missing key. Finally, we found it. The caretaker informed me that, this being an ashram and not a guesthouse, the rooms needed to be left neat and clean. I apologised again and assured him that we will surely take care of it in the future.

During all these happenings, I was calm and kept responding constantly without any internal distraction. Later, I noticed that this made the caretaker also calm. This is a big lesson I have experienced that when we are connected to Mohanji, no storms of life can shake our mind, as the connection brings peace within as well as around us.

We offer our deepest gratitude and humble pranaams at the holy feet of Mohanji, Guru Mandala and Lord Datta – for continuing to guide us in the path of the Ultimate, the path of Dissolution.

Words fall short to express my heartfelt gratitude to Mohanji!

|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI||

Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 20^thMarch 2020

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Kumbh Mela 2019 with Mohanji – a dream comes true

Posted on February 20, 2020February 20, 2020 by Mohanji Editorial Team

by a devotee, India

Kumbh Mela was always a dream since childhood and to be able to attend this someday was indeed a big milestone in my life. Due to the grace of the Tradition, I had the opportunity of doing my first Kumbh in the year 2015 in Nasik with Mohanji and again in 2019 in Prayag. I had read about the Kumbh in Prayag in the book ‘The Autobiography of a Yogi’. I would imagine the visuals of how it would be to be there in person but never knew one day I would physically attend one.

Since the time ‘Kumbh with Mohanji’ was announced, I was eagerly looking forward to this yatra (pilgrimage). However, to complete this desire I went through a lot of hurdles for months. Amidst all the circumstances when my wish was fulfilled, I realised that it was purely my Guru Mohanji’s grace which makes sure that all our wishes and desires are fulfilled.

In August 2018, my grandma (94 years of age) had a fall and fractured her hip. Following surgery, her health condition required our full-time care for her. At the same time, I also came to know of a close relative’s wedding planned for February 2019, exactly coinciding with the dates of the Kumbh Mela pilgrimage.

My hopes of doing Kumbh with Mohanji in Prayag came shattering down. Needless to say that I was disappointed but surrendered to my Guru and consoled myself that maybe this was not the time for me. A few days later, I had an early morning dream where I share with Mohanji my desire to attend the Kumbh. Soon after, I heard that the wedding had been advanced by a month and that meant it would have been completed before the Kumbh Mela pilgrimage. I was taken aback and knew that Mohanji had heard me. Although I was elated at the chance of doing the Kumbh with Mohanji, I was still unsure if I could surely make it, as my granny was bedridden and still needed our full-time care.

As the months progressed, we had some more issues in the family front, losing some close relatives. There was a lot of grief and sadness in the family. Amidst all this, I still had the desire to do the Kumbh which got rekindled when I happened to speak with Preethi Gopalarathnam one day in Dec 2018. When I expressed my deep desire to attend the Kumbh Mela with Mohanji to my dad, he encouraged me. Finally, by the end of Dec 2018, I booked my place on the pilgrimage.

Just before starting my journey, one day while caring for my granny and brushing her teeth, she bit my finger hard which later developed into an infection. I noticed swelling and heaviness in my finger accompanied by pain. The doctor put me on antibiotics right away. Normally I am a hyper person but was very cool about this situation. I wasn’t sure if I would get any medical aid at a place like Kumbh but with Mohanji’s grace all was taken care of and I received the required care by the medical facilities available at the Parmarth Niketan camp where we stayed.

Mohanji had even made sure that my travel to Kumbh was taken care of. I had the amazing company of two sisters travelling from South Africa during my train journey from Mumbai.

Even when our train was delayed, we had help from strangers who guided us to get down at the right station. Despite issues with local commuting, we finally arrived at our destination safe and sound. I was so amazed to realise how well Mohanji took care at every step making the journey comfortable and making my dream come true.

Immense gratitude to Mohanji for everything that he does for us. My journey to Kumbh was only possible because of his grace. Now I would like to rewind a bit and share what I was going through during the time of the plan to the Kumbh Mela.

I was going through a lot of emotional and mental issues since the end of Dec 2015. My mind kept telling me that everyone around me disliked me. I felt unwanted and I felt that I should keep away from everyone. I went through this negative phase for a long time, alienating myself from those around me. These thoughts were empowering and seemed to be so real. These thoughts were eating me up. I remembered during the Pune retreat, Mohanji telling me that I was possessed by entities, but at that time I did not understand what he meant. It was only during Khumb while listening to someone else’s experience, I could relate to the phase I underwent.

I did many pilgrims/retreats with Mohanji while going through this phase. It was only after the Bosnia retreat, I noticed a transformation in myself and thoughts became more positive.

Right from the first time I met Mohanji, I was unable to speak with him freely, the way others do. I would become tongue-tied when in front of him. I would want to say a lot to him but when in front of him I would get nervous and go blank. A part of me kept telling me I am not worthy to be in his presence and should maintain a distance. Maybe he does not want me to be near him. Hence many times I have lost opportunities of being in his proximity. It is much easier to talk to his picture or communicate with him mentally.

After one such trip to Kurnool, I felt that Mohanji was avoiding me and ignoring me. Every time I met him I would hope that he talks to me like he does with others. Even this time I was hoping he would talk to me, take notice of me. Now when I look back, these thoughts seem so silly.

After this background, now fast forward to the Kumbh.

As mentioned earlier I had hurt my finger and was hoping that at least once Mohanji would enquire about it. Finally, on the day of the homa when my turn came to do pranams to Mohanji (at first I felt he wouldn’t speak with me but he did), he enquired about my finger and made fun of it (I loved him pulling my leg) but as usual, despite wanting to reply, I just kept murmuring as I was unable to speak. But I was happy with the thought that he spoke with me.

Throughout the Kumbh, I had a burning desire to ask Mohanji if he was upset with me, why he ignored me and wanted to apologize to him if knowingly or unknowingly I had hurt him. I also wanted to thank him for all that he had done for me. I had put in a request if I could meet him for a few minutes so that I may convey my apologies to him. Then we were told that he will not be doing one on one meeting but would meet people in groups of 4. Now, I just didn’t know what to say to him in front of others. As usual, I was feeling very nervous before meeting him and was going blank. When I met him, I expressed my gratitude to him with tears in my eyes and got my bracelet and paduka blessed by him. I was finding it very difficult to speak to him. He mentioned to our group that the dip he had with our group was the best amongst the three dips and that he did a lot of mental and spiritual cleansing along with a lot of cleansing for ancestors for some. I somehow managed to tell him that after the Bosnia retreat, the panic attacks that I had been suffering from had stopped. Since returning from Bosnia, I had got these attacks only twice, but the intensity was much less. Earlier, I would choke when I got these attacks, gasp for breath along with spells of giddiness. Mohanji said that he did a lot of cleansing this time.

I remembered that during the Kailash Yatra, it was easy for me to take more than 10-15 dips in the freezing water of Mansarovar lake, but at the Kumbh, after Mohanji poured water on me thrice, I was gripped with the fear of not being able to take the dips. I was shaking with fear and was in tears and then Preethi Gopalarathnam helped me take the dips. Thanks to her I managed to take 5-6 dips. I don’t know what this was but now when I look back, I realise it must have been the cleansing that he did.

After an exhilarating Kumbh trip, we left early in the morning for the Varanasi airport. We had an afternoon flight to catch but keeping the traffic in mind, we left early. At the airport, I connected with a participant with whom I hardly interacted throughout the trip. It was 3 of us sharing our experiences. It was then I understood the significance of sharing experiences and why Mohanji emphasizes on the same. I got answers to many questions that were bothering me. I realized that I was not the only one who was getting these thoughts of being ignored. Others have also felt the same. I was surprised at myself for the answers I came up with for questions such as why I felt Mohanji was ignoring me. I realized it was he who was talking and not me. I was just the medium. He gave replies to my queries through me and that too in the presence of those who felt the same. Many more thoughts that were common with others were cleared.

Since my return from the pilgrimage, I feel my awareness level has increased. I only pray that this is a permanent transformation and not temporary. Only time will tell. For me, the Kumbh experience was more about understanding myself and my thoughts. I feel more positive now. I feel I am more accepting of others and I am not holding on to the past. All thanks to Baba and Mohanji for their grace. Immense gratitude to the Masters of our Tradition.

|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI||

Compiled, Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 20^thFebruary 2020

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— Mohanji Testimonials Team

Eternal Grace

Posted on December 26, 2019December 25, 2019 by Mohanji Editorial Team

Travel with Sonia Gandhi on a magical pilgrimage, where Grace showers her with the fulfilment of her smallest desires.

By Sonia Gandhi

It was only by Mohanji’s grace that the Badrinath-Kedarnath trip happened for me in September 2018.

Flashback to March 2018: On the last day of the Machu Picchu trip, I had this weird dream early in the morning, where I saw Mohanji going away from me. I was a bit disturbed by this dream and ended up speaking to Mohanji and requesting him never to leave me.

He said to me, “I’ll never leave you.” Then after a pause, he said, “Come to Badrinath.”

With my eyes wide open, I was thinking, ‘How will I manage this?’ I had just taken 15 days off work to come to Machu Picchu, and I was about to change jobs. I did not think that I would have enough leave left to travel again in September, as I was to join my new job in June.

Fast forward to August 2018: My boss approved my leave as it was the start of the financial year for us. However, I had to work from India for a few days to enable me to travel during the weekend. Since I live out of India, a trip to India was an opportunity to meet my family as well. I thought there would be nothing better than getting my whole family together on the Badrinath-Kedarnath pilgrimage. As my mom was a bit low (following my Dad’s passing away), this would be a good change for her and we could all spend time together at a holy place, in the presence of Mohanji.

It so happened that seven members of our family were part of a group of 33 to Badrinath and Kedarnath, beautifully managed by Mamuji, Preeti Velekar & all the lovely volunteers! It was a joyous journey and full of unexpected events, as you will read.

Our family got lucky and were able to attend the public Satsang that happened in Rishikesh, the very day we reached Haridwar. (The towns of Haridwar and Rishikesh are at a distance of approximately 25km from each other- Ed.) We spent time in the bus singing and chanting in bliss, although we were stuck in traffic for a while and thought we would be late.

As the bus stopped and I stepped down, the first thing I saw was Mohanji, who was stepping out of his car at the exact same time! We rushed to meet him, filled with so much joy at seeing him and taking his blessings. It’s always special meeting Mohanji although we know he is always with us, guiding us.

The next morning was scheduled for the Homa- a ritual with offerings to a consecrated fire. This was something I had always wanted to attend, ever since I first read about a Homa in Canada in 2014, and had learnt about the amount of cleansing that had happened during that event. We were fortunate enough that Mohanji decided to do the Homa himself in Rishikesh.

Mohanji told the group that he likes to start on time, as all the deities are present, once the start time has been announced, and it is not good to make them wait.

The energy was so intense from the start. Mohanji’s face shone like the sun and the heat from the rising sun made him shine even more brightly. He did not move until the Homa was finished, which took around 4 -5 hours. The intensity of the Homa was such that the presence of Masters was strongly felt.

Towards the end, each of us had to offer a dry coconut to the fire, which kept burning till late night and did not easily urn into ashes. It’s unheard of that a dry coconut does not burn, with so much of ghee (clarified butter), wood etc. added to the fire as an offering. We understood that this was due to heavy karmic baggage that would not let the coconut burn!

We were also asked us to write what we would like to offer to the fire and put that paper into the burning flames, lit separately from the Homa fire, in a place a little distance from it (after the Homa was completed). Mohanji was personally standing there till everyone put their papers into the fire. Some of the papers refused to burn in the fire: yet another unheard or unseen event! The heaviness it was meant to be clearing from people was so intense, that it took ages for all the papers to burn! I have so much gratitude to our beloved Guru Mohanji, who works tirelessly and unconditionally for uplifting all beings.

We then started our journey by visiting Neem Karoli Baba’s Ashram and Shri Lahiri Mahasaya’s Ashram. Both places are very powerful with amazing energy!

While visiting Lahiri Mahasaya’s Ashram, we got a chance to go inside the cave where he did Tapas (spiritual practices that often involves a high degree of self-discipline, solitude and periods of deep meditation – Ed).

I was sitting with some other group members, in silence, in a small room, in front of the cave, waiting for the others to come out. There were a few pictures in that room, one of them was of Mahavatar Babaji. I looked at the picture and felt intense energy coming from it. I sat there silently praying to Babaji to give me a glimpse of him in a physical form. ‘I may not be eligible, but you are ever merciful. Please give me your Darshan (Divine sight)’ I thought, and cried.

I had never prayed to Mahavatar Babaji this way before, and I wasn’t sure, why I was doing it, as I am usually deeply in love with Sai Baba and believe he is my best friend, my Divine Father. I realised what the link was later while entering the Kedarnath temple.

En route to Badrinath, our group was stuck on the road due to a landslide, which is common in that region, when it rains heavily. We had to find a place to stay for the night. With Mohanji’s grace and Mamuji’s tenacity, we got two hotels to stay in, for our group.

The next day, we met the rest of the group.

I was talking to someone, sharing one of my experiences in Machu Picchu. Mohanji was talking to someone else, but he looked at me and suddenly said, “I told you to get in the bus!” I was puzzled. He said again, “I told you earlier too, to get in the bus”, and said to the person next to me, “She (me- Sonia) knows what I’m talking about, she will tell you later.”

I stood there even more puzzled and started thinking about what it signified. It was only later that day that I realised what Mohanji meant. This explanation has two parts: one part that happened in Machu Picchu in March 2018, and another part in Oct 2010 in the form of a dream.

I will narrate the dream first. In Oct 2010, before I physically met Mohanji, Sai Baba had been my best friend and protector. While I was going through a tough phase in my life, I saw this vivid dream at about 3.00 am.

In the dream, someone was harassing me and I was asking this person to let me go. Suddenly my mom appeared, together with my (deceased) grandparents, who came to rescue me. I went with them and we were waiting for a bus. I was getting impatient in my dream, as it was taking a while for the bus to arrive, but they told me the bus would arrive soon. So it did. A white bus arrived, which had white chairs outside and inside, and all the interiors were white too.

As it seemed full from the outside, I complained that I might not get a seat, and my mom said, ‘You will get one, don’t worry, get into the bus’.

A few people got off and I climbed up the steps of the bus. I looked at the driver’s side of the bus and the driver was wearing white clothes too, with a white turban. As I looked at the driver, he turned his head and looked at me – it was Baba! My beloved Sai Baba!

At this point, I woke up, with so much joy in my heart and went to Baba’s picture to talk to him, and saw him smiling in his full glory that made my heart expand so much, during those tough days.

Now to March 2018, Machu Picchu:

While walking near our hotel in Machu Picchu, Mohanji, who was ahead of me with some others, suddenly turned around and asked me to go and click the picture of a bus!

This was a bus that looked like a toy bus, which was on a small bridge, in the small town of Machu Picchu. I rushed to the bus, clicked a picture quickly and returned, but he pointed again, and said, “You didn’t click it properly- go and do it again.”

So I went again, knowing in my heart that I had rushed it. Later on, when I saw the picture, it had four dogs with the bus, which were missing in the first picture.

Four dogs represent the four Vedas and are always seen in representations of Lord Dattatreya.

So this is what Mohanji was asking me to do: to “Get in the bus”, i.e. to completely surrender my words, thoughts and actions, to the Tradition and let them take care of my journey onward. This was such a beautiful message, in the most subtle way linking the dots from 2010 to March 2018 and finally to Badri-Kedar in Sept 2018!

I felt so sad for taking so much time to understand Mohanji’s message. I surrender to him to give me Buddhi (intelligence) to understand the message, quicker.

Yes, I believe that Mohanji knows the past, present and future, and can see things which we fail to see with our human minds and limited awareness.

Back on the road, while waiting for the roads to clear, we were enjoying Mohanji’s company. We started singing, and I took up the song that goes: Om Jai Sainath, Jai Sainath, Aadi na anth tumhara, tumhe shraddha naman hamara, Dharti par rahkar prabhu tumne tan ambar tak vistaara. Translated, this means: O beloved Sai, there is no beginning and no end to you! I bow down to you with faith. Living on Earth, you have expanded into the Sky and beyond!

The roads did not open that day and a few members left on foot to walk towards Badrinath, while the rest of us decided to stay back. My mother was with us, so all our family decided to stay back.

We had a beautiful satsang that evening, with Mohanji talking about the manifest and the un-manifested universe, and many other deeper topics. I was not feeling well but attended the satsang as it always lifts my spirits.

The next day we started our journey again, as we were told that the roads would be open that day.

We packed our bags and were on the road again, but we had to stop on the way as they were sending traffic through from another side, before letting us go up. While we were waiting, there was a beautiful waterfall next to where we had stopped. After spending some time with the group, I decided to go up by myself near the source of the waterfall where I sat down to do my Kriya practice. Within 7-8 minutes of Kriya, I felt expanded.

Suddenly, I saw myself inside Mohanji’s consciousness. I became part of him and I could see myself expanded to the extent that everywhere I looked, everything was Mohanji: not just the earth plane, but outside too – the manifest and un-manifested Universe. It is hard to explain, but there was no sense of ‘I’, as I became part of him and part of the Universe.

He made me experience the expansion I sang for him just the day before and that he had talked about in Satsang the evening before! This little mind is not capable of knowing how Masters operate, but I believe that it was through sheer Grace that I was able to experience this.

Then suddenly, someone came up to take my picture and I came back to normal consciousness, and back onto the rock that I was sitting on. I went down to the road after a while and was told that Mohanji was asking about me.

I went to see him and offered my pranaams (salutations), and he enquired, “Ah! Sonia Gandhi! Where were you?” I said ‘Father I went up near the waterfall’ to which he replied, “Yes! I know! I was there, I came to meet you, but other people came. I feel shy when there are other people, so I came back, you see! I’m very shy!”

What could I say to this? Our beloved Parabramha, who is One with the whole universe, after showing me the glimpse of it, says “I’m very shy!” I burst into laughter and Mohanji gave me a big smile.

I love you to eternity Mohanji! Only gratitude at your lotus feet.

We had a blissful darshan at Badrinath. The first sight itself was mesmerising, the beautiful main entry with vibrant colours. The view is a sight to behold and enough to melt the heart!

The next day, we had a dip in the hot water spring and got ready to go for a morning Darshan at the temple. If I tell you that I had no idea that it was a Narayana temple, you might laugh at me! Yes, I thought it was a Shiva temple, going by the name. I later came to know that it actually had been, until Lord Narayana came there for tapas and made it his abode.

We went inside & witnessed the whole shringar ( dressing up) of Lord Narayana. There were around 40 people in the temple. Apart from us, there was another group. We started chanting, and the other group began to respond so that they would sing one chant, and then we would sing another. I sang to my heart’s content and loved every minute of it.

After the blissful darshan, we resumed our travels and I was back in the car. We stopped at a small dhaba (roadside eatery) after a while. While we were waiting, we saw Mohanji’s car arriving. He too decided to eat at that dhaba with us. I was seated next to him with gratitude in my heart for this wonderful opportunity! I began to feel energy swirling inside me and felt my mind begin to go blank.

While eating, Mohanji said, “You know I’m eating spicy, because I’m …. cutting Karma.” I couldn’t hear the full sentence and just nodded. He said again, “Tell Kamath what I just told you.” I repeated the part sentence to Kamath who completed the sentence, ‘Cutting your Karma’. I sat there in complete shock. Within seconds, Rajesh and Sanya took the remaining spicy food from Mohanji’s plate and ate it.

Sonia — Mohanji eating spicy food at the dhaba

I just sat there in shock processing what I had just heard! How does our beloved Avadhoota in jeans work? No, the mind cannot understand his subtle ways of working.

Only gratitude & surrender.

We reached Kedarnath very late and stayed overnight in a beautiful resort.

While I was in the queue for Darshan & silently chanting, like a flash, appeared a very vibrant and young (around 16-17-year-old) yogi, coming out of the Kedarnath Temple, in just a dhoti. His appearance was similar to Mahavatar Babaji as in the portraits I had seen, and he had a very bright face. Just then, a lady behind me said something to me, and as I turned to the lady and then looked back in the yogi’s direction, he had disappeared! It was all an open area, but I could not see him anywhere!

Was it that my wish (that I made in Lahiri Mahasaya’s Ashram) was granted?

I do not know, but it was a most beautiful sight and I can only bow my head in gratitude.

As I took the first step inside the temple, something shifted inside so strongly, that I could not hold back my tears, and I actually cried out & sobbed loudly!

I felt I belonged to this place, and energy and a strong sense of love enveloped me. It felt like a homecoming after lifetimes. I was sobbing and the guards were looking worried, thinking I was getting altitude sickness and breathing heavily.

I could not really tell them that I was completely fine; it was strong energy, the connection and feeling of belonging to the place.

They left me alone in one corner for a while, and I ended up standing sobbing there for almost 15 minutes with so much bliss & love that my heart could not contain it! So I was standing there in the inner sanctum without being disturbed for almost 10 minutes and was able to offer my prayers and gratitude, whilst others were hurried out of the sanctum.

The next morning, Mohanji was talking to someone about the Kumbh Mela and its significance, while I was standing at some distance, listening. I felt it was a message for me and it turned out that I ended up going to Kumbh in Feb 2019, which is for another blog that I am writing!

While driving back from Kedarnath, we had to stop on the way due to the road being blocked at one point in the journey. We got out of our vehicles and were taking pictures. I saw a beautiful waterfall, and my heart expanded. I started visualising the waterfall doing abhishekam (ritual pouring of water or other offerings) to Mohanji. Lo and behold, in less than 5 minutes, I saw Mohanji walking out of his car and he stood near the waterfall and I was able to capture exactly what I had visualised a few minutes previously.

Mohanji waterfall — Mohanji near the waterfall

I had no words to say anything. I just felt so blessed to have such a compassionate Father, Master, Guru and friend in the form of Mohanji in my life. He knows every wish and fulfils it without a delay if it is from the core of one’s heart.

The last day of the pilgrimage arrived all too soon, and it is always hard to bid goodbye to Mohanji. When my turn came to offer my Pranaams, I had only one question in my heart, ‘When are we meeting again, Father?’ Before I could say anything, Mohanji looked at me and asked me the very same question, “So, Sonia Gandhi, when are we meeting again?” What can I say, he knows my every thought and wish!

So I asked him, ‘Please call me to Kumbh, Father’. He gave me a big smile and said, “Come.”

There are many more subtle instances that touched my heart, but it’s hard to list everything. Yes, he knows my every little wish & fulfils it.

I have only gratitude and more gratitude to our beloved Mohanji.

|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI||

Compiled, Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 26^thDecember 2019

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— Mohanji Testimonials Team

The Grace of the Blazing Sun

Posted on August 3, 2019August 3, 2019 by Mohanji Editorial Team

By Dhritiman Biswas

As my eyes closed that night, I saw Kailash – bathed in the blue hue of the bright moonlight, with the shimmering white crown of snow. I was lying down in one of the rooms directly in front of the north face of Kailash at Dirapuk (Tibet, China) in the only guest house that the place had to offer. The day had begun as any on the Kailash parikrama trail. This was the third time Lord Shiva had permitted me to walk the parikrama. Although this time in 2016, my pilgrimage was to take me on the inner kora parikrama, day one was standard for both the outer and inner parikrama.

It is always tiring; no matter how many times one has walked the parikrama. After a light meal, the whole group slowly settled down for the night to rest the aches and headaches. I was sleeping in a room with at least four other fellow pilgrims. I slept in anticipation of the next day’s trek to Charan Sparsh, a place very close to the north face of Kailash and considered to be the lotus feet of Lord Shiva. At a certain point in time, around 2:30 am, I was woken up by a bright light. Through my sleepy eyes, I saw (or thought I saw) the blazing sun right outside the window.

The intensely burning sun was at my eye level, and I could even see concentric circles of other colours around it, like rings around a planet.

I was confused. I panicked. I witnessed. In a drugged state of sleep.

Through the haze of sleep, thoughts were running across my mind: Why has no one woken me up, although the sun had risen? Has everyone from the inner kora group left for Kailash without me? I raised my left hand to see the time on my Fitbit. The blinking digits gave a time around 2:30 am. Something just did not make sense! Time was 2:30 am, yet the sun was out. My sleepy and foolish mind got overloaded with these very complicated questions and promptly escaped back to sleep.

Next thing I know: it was morning, and other pilgrims were waking up. Tea was being served by the Sherpas. I forgot all about the blazing sun. That day, the inner kora group walked to Charan Sparsh and with the grace of Lord Shiva, Divine Mother and Mohanji, ten of us even managed to walk farthest and touch the holiest, most sacred Kailash itself (you can read about the whole inner kora experience of the author in The Inner Kora book available on Amazon).

In fact, the ten of the inner kora pilgrims could go and touch Kailash only because Mohanji sat down on a rock facing Kailash and anchored all those who were walking towards Kailash and protected us from all the dangers.

Few days later, Mohanji was chatting with the inner kora group at the base camp at Darchen where he explained that he was in communion with the Saptarishis (the seven sages of ancient India, who are extolled in many places in the Vedas and other Hindu literature) and other divine beings during the night on the first day of the parikrama. I suddenly remembered that this was the night I saw the blazing sun.

The blazing sun. Was it the blazing sun?

What did I see?

The penny dropped. I realized that the blazing sun was none other than the Saptarishis/divine beings that Mohanji spoke about! To understand that this was not my mortal imagination, Mohanji’s sharing proved the reality of my vision. They allowed me, a speck of dust to see them, even if momentarily.

Oh, what brightness I saw! I still vividly remember the intensity of the ‘blazing sun’. It was so bright that it still lights my inner lamp, even after all these years.

I am sincerely grateful for this experience which was bestowed on me. I search for words to explain the grace, I fail miserably.

Eternally grateful I am also to Mohanji, my guru, my guide, my protector and the blazing sun of my life, for allowing me to witness this divine communion.

Now comes the twist in the tale!

I have a confession to make. Ever since I came to know about the inner kora (way back in 2012), I had harboured a dream to meet a divine being (in the form of light) somewhere along the inner kora path. This is the first time I am even uttering this in public. I have never discussed this with Mohanji before.

Yet He knew. He always listens. He loves unconditionally. He blesses.

He fulfilled my yearning. And how!

To get a sight of the Saptarishis/divine beings on the inner kora pilgrimage.

It has taken me three years to write this.

It has taken me three years to assimilate and genuinely understand the grace of Lord Shiva and Mohanji on me. It has taken three years to find enough words to pen down this experience.

As I embark on my fourth yatra to Kailash, all I carry is a smile on my lips and the grace of Lord Shiva, Divine Mother and Mohanji.

Har Har Mahadev! Jai Maa! Jai Mohanji!

|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI||

Compiled, Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 3^rdAugust 2019

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.

— Mohanji Testimonials Team

The Master Beckons to Kailash

Posted on June 16, 2019 by mohansuniverse

By Rajesh Kamath, India

Kailash! To paraphrase Star Trek, it is the final frontier, a place where few people have ever gone before. Eight billion people on the planet and yet only a chosen few are privileged to undertake this amazing pilgrimage. And this privilege comes only through grace – the grace of one’s ancestors, the grace of one’s Master, the grace of Lord Shiva, and the grace of the Guru Mandala (the Masters of the Tradition). Nothing but grace gets one an invite from Lord Shiva.

It is this grace that opens the doors to various experiences on the pilgrimage. It is this grace that keeps one alive in the harshest of environments on this pilgrimage. It is this grace that allows one to successfully complete the pilgrimage. I have seen some pilgrims who feel that they were entitled to receive this grace – wishful thinking that they are special in some way to deserve it. To mistake grace with entitlement can only be termed as sheer ignorance and, without a shadow of doubt, ego and ingratitude of the highest order.

According to Mohanji, a pilgirimage to Kailash is complete when one takes a dip in the holy Manasarovar lake and has a darshan (holy sight) of holy Mount Kailash. Optionally, one can perform a circumambulation around holy Mount Kailash – either via the Outer Kora (circumbulation) route or the Inner Kora route. By the grace of Mohanji, I have been very fortunate to be on the Kailash pilgrimage twice – once in 2014 on the Outer Kora route and once in 2016 on the Inner Kora route.

Like most Hindus, I had heard of the holy pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar. Thanks to an amazing mythology attached to it wherein Lord Shiva stays atop this beautiful white snowy mountain in the middle of nowhere with His family and His army. It could as well be a fairy tale because not many even dream to undertake this pilgrimage unlike the Char Dham (“four abodes”) pilgrimage – a pilgrimage to the four holy sites in India widely revered by Hindus and considered highly sacred to visit at least once in one’s lifetime.

The Kailash pilgrimage is not even visible on anyone’s radar, much less doing it. Even those that wistfully think about doing it feel that it is a pipe dream. And yet here I ended up doing a Kailash pilgrimage with a powerful Master a couple of months after vaguely thinking about doing it. If that is not grace, what is?

Listening to the experiences of a (now ex) colleague who had done the Kailash pilgrimage twice with the Chinmaya mission, got me thinking about doing Kailash. I checked with his contact but they said that they did not have any pilgrimage planned in the near future and would get back to me if and when they do. Out of the blue, I received an SMS from the Mumbai Mohanji center that Mohanji would be in town.

And guess the topic at the satsang (divine discourse) when I entered the room – Mohanji had just asked one of the attendees, Dhritiman (aka DB), to talk about his Kailash experience from 2013. At the end, DB mentioned that the pilgrimage would happen in four weeks at the end of that same month (July 2014). Talk about synchronicity! For me, it was like a huge flashing neon sign that I should join the Kailash pilgrimage.

In spite of the last minute runup, the whole registration process was unusually smooth thanks to Sumit from the organizing team and the invisible grace of Mohanji. It was sheer grace that allowed me to participate in the pilgrimage.

Someone canceled at the last minute opening a slot for me to join the group. The Chinese usually required the group permit to be applied a month or two before the pilgrimage (which would have ruled me out). However, that year, the Chinese delayed the group permit application process to just before the start of the pilgrimage.

Finally, my mind started playing games. Do you really want to go to a pilgrimage where you don’t know anyone? Wouldn’t it be better to use the two weeks to finally do the much-awaited motorcycle trip to Leh and Ladakh (a holy grail for bikers to ride on the highest motorable road in the world)? Finally, better sense prevailed and I decided against the motorcycle trip to join the Kailash pilgrimage.

2014 was a special year for the Kailash pilgrimage– the year of Dev Kumbh which comes once every 12 years. Dev Kumbh is special in that each Kora counts as twelve. Each Outer Kora (a 56km circumambulation around Mount Kailash) done that year got one the benefit of doing twelve Outer Koras and equivalently the twelve whammy of transformation.

This enabled me to qualify for the Inner Kora. So, I “accidentally” ended up doing the Kailash pilgrimage during the best possible year. Amazing “accident” or infinite blessing? You decide.

On the flight to Kathmandu, I bumped into a girl from the Mumbai meditation group who was also doing the pilgrimage. She mentioned that there were around 85 people from around 20 different countries. I balked at the size and diversity of the group. I was expecting the group to be small – around 20-30 people. A vague thought surfaced to hijack the plane, turn the flight back and head back home.

When I reached the hotel, I saw a multitude of people outside the hotel enjoying the traditional Nepalese welcome. Most of them apparently knew each other. Hugs and greetings were being liberally exchanged. The one person I knew in this huge group had disappeared into this overfriendly sea of humanity. I tried my best to dematerialize myself.

I usually feel very conscious in a group setting. Breaking the ice is an ordeal for me because I am not sure what to say. The awkward pauses after the initial greeting are the stuff nightmares are made of. Once I get to know people, I am the loudest one in the room. When people who know me meet people who don’t know me, they get surprised because either group can’t seem to correlate my quiet self and my loud self.

Since there was not much I could do now, I decided to go with the flow. Since I lacked the spiritual abilities to disappear at will or the Harry Potter invisibility cloak, I did the next best thing. I moved over to where the bags were being offloaded and started helping there. Interestingly, this happened to be one of my fun tasks throughout the pilgrimage.

I had volunteered to help out with the pilgrimage and was assigned to daily task of getting the bags ready for loading each morning and unloading and distributing the bags in the evening. Interestingly, this pilgrimage is all about releasing baggage. Much like life, people would initially let go of their baggage, feel empty without it and take it back very soon.

It turned out to be a richly diverse group with all the obvious differences of color, race, religion, culture, nationalities, etc. Yet, it was an amazing group and, by the end of pilgrimage, they all seemed like family.

The pilgrimage felt like a special homecoming where long lost loved ones met after a long hiatus. Subsequently, I have come to expect this at most retreats with Mohanji. Our wider spiritual family reuniting with us and getting every closer, re-igniting the flame formed from the sparks of numerous past life interactions.

Back then in 2014, I smoked heavily. The first thing I did was to find the kindred company of fellow smokers in our pilgrimage group. And I found two active (a Romanian and a UAE born Indian) and two passive German smokers who were only there for the company. We whiled the night away discussing spiritual conspiracy theories over coffee and cigarettes. One of the Germans (henceforth referred to as Z-man) was very interesting.

Z-man could tap in and figure out the past life connections of any two people. He was also sensitive to energies; and had an “eye” that could see and “ears” that could hear. There was a Serbian doctor in our group who, for some reason, I kept referring to as Boris (wasn’t his name). I would apologize and the kind doctor finally told me, “Never mind. You can call me Boris since you like that name better.”

I told Z-man about this Boris episode. He went quiet, closed his eyes and on opening them said, “Russian war. 1800s. You were soldiers. You were younger. He was older. He died before you. His name in that life was Boris.” Such interesting “factoids” would be served at a moment’s notice by the Z-man!

Back then, I was a spiritual greenhorn with energies, visions and such amazing happenings in the parallel spiritual reality. Still am! The Z-man was my guide helping my “blind” self understand the import and magnitude of the spiritual occurrences that were unfolding during the pilgrimage.

He was instrumental in unravelling, to me, the significance of the pilgrimage. Post Kailash, he also helped me decipher some of my spiritual experiences. As you can see, the Divine always provides for the spiritually disabled. My sincere and heartfelt love and gratitude to the Z-man.

The day before we were scheduled to leave Kathmandu, my fellow smokers decided to go cold turkey. Inspired by them, I made one feeble attempt to quit smoking the following afternoon during our visit to the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu. I left my packet of Indian cigarettes and the lighter on the wall near the temple and threw a conciliatory hopeful prayer in the direction of the Lord Pashupatinath (Lord Shiva) to take care of the addiction.

My resolve was steadily weakened and eventually undone by the evening as I headed out to the bar in search of cigarettes. Thus, began my parallel experimental odyssey into the murky world of Nepali and Chinese cigarettes through the pilgrimage. The ones where the brands are recognized by color and the potency by how the smoke burns on the way in.

A landslide happened in the countryside the day we were supposed to leave Kathmandu. This took place exactly between Kathmandu and the Chinese border. The landslide broke a dam and almost 500 people died that night. The tour operators informed all Kailash groups that roads leading to the Friendship bridge had been devastated effectively cancelling the pilgrimage.

No pilgrimage and the money paid would be forfeited since it was caused by “acts of God” circumstances. Mohanji told Sumit that cancelling the trip was not a solution in his Tradition and tasked him to find alternatives. Sumit acted quickly and took a decision, which was backed by Mohanji, to engage helicopters at an extra cost to pilgrims and fly over the impacted area to get to the other side.

It took a whole day of back-to-back sorties to get the entire group safely to the other side. After our last sortie, these helicopters were recalled back to assist with the emergency and were not available for general purpose usage. We literally made it through the skin of our teeth. Remember, almost all pilgrims from other groups were still stranded in Kathmandu. Isn’t this a sheer miracle?

In spite of smoking heavily all the way through the pilgrimage in high altitude environments, I hardly faced any breathlessness save some teething acclimatization issues on the first day at Nyalam. I breezed through the first day of the circumambulation of Mount Kailash and blazed all the way up to Dolmala pass on the second day. Dolmala pass was the highest point of our pilgrimage and the trek up to the pass was supposedly the hardest part of the pilgrimage.

I was so proud that I had reached Dolmala pass comfortably despite my smoking habit. I decided to celebrate with a cup of noodle soup and entered one of the tented restaurants. I noticed Mohanji and some of the group were already sitting there and joined them. After a while, they left and I proceeded to enjoy my noodle soup.

As the noodle soup spread it’s warmth through my body, I decided to spend some more time resting. Time went by and I realized that I was just sitting there. I was glued to the wooden bench. I had no interest to get up and proceed with the trek ahead. I just sat there watching everything around me. It felt like eternity. I struggled to do something but I was paralyzed.

Suddenly, I heard a voice from within saying, “Run!” Here, I couldn’t even get up and something within was asking me to run. I shook my head. And then, the voice pronounced even more powerfully, “Run! Run! Run! Just run” Something took hold of me and, as if pushed out, I jolted off the bench and started running out of the tent and across the trails leading downhill from Dolmala pass.

In those high altitudes, people walk slower to conserve energy and here I was running through the trails in heavy army boots like a crazed mad man. Must have been quite a sight! I kept running for a very long time until I was sure that the inertia and lethargy had left me. I stopped running and continued to walk the trails to Diraphuk, our camp for the night.

That’s when the ordeal started. One turn around the mountain led to another; and then another; and then a new mountain would appear; and the scene would repeat all over again with no end in sight. I was stuck in an infinite loop like in the movie Groundhog Day. To add to my woes, I met the girl from the Mumbai meditation group who was in a terrible shape and was sitting by herself on the side of the trails.

She had all but given up and was preparing herself to get petrified into the surrounding barren mountain landscape. Here, I was struggling to finish the day’s trek and God sends me another struggler for company. And a “tortoise” at that. Reminded me of the Marathi idiom, “Dushkalat terava mahina” (the thirteenth month in the year of famine). Abandoning her was tempting but not an option.

Given that she was doing worse than me, I had to focus on her and how to get her to complete the day’s trek. I prepared for the worst. I had figured that it may be past sunset and possibly way into the night before we get to the camp at Diraphuk. A fuller moon in the sky would ensure that we had enough light along the way.

I buckled in a bit tighter to be ready for the long haul and do whatever it takes to get both of us there. I had to employ every tool in the book to encourage her to take a few steps every now and then. And the elements played their part by peeing on our efforts by raining at frequent intervals and making things just a little bit harder.

In hindsight, her entry turned out to be a blessing in disguise for me. From the top of Dolmala pass, I had zombie walked the whole way till I met her. Because of her, I forgot all my troubles and was provided a strong intent to complete the day’s trek. As we got closer to the camp, she regained her mojo and we walked into the camp by twilight.

And, the same zombie walk was repeated for most of the last day (day 3) of the Outer Kora as well. Mohanji once remarked to me, “You only think you walked Kailash. You were unconscious. Someone carried you.” I have no choice but to grudgingly agree. I know that if it had been left to me, I would never have completed the trek by myself.

All through the Kailash pilgrimage, I felt a deep anguish of being separated from the Divine. It kept expressing itself very strongly several times at periodic intervals throughout the pilgrimage. Like there is an awesome party happening in the neighborhood. You can hear the sounds and see the lights. And you want so badly to be there. But no one invited you and you don’t know where it is happening so you can’t gatecrash it.

And you feel that they don’t want you there. I felt a deep agony for the fall from grace that required me to be born on earth. When alone, I would sing devotional songs, be deeply moved to tears and call out to be taken back from whence I came though I had no clue where that was.

After the first day’s trek, we reached Diraphuk which is the closest one gets to Mount Kailash on the Outer Kora. Mohanji wanted the priest to do a puja at Charan Sparsh (literally “touch the feet”) – considered the feet of Mount Kailash located a 3-4 hour trek from Diraphuk. That year, the Chinese army were denying access to Charan Sparsh.

A few members of our group went to request for permission. I didn’t know it was Charan Sparsh and erroneously thought that we were going to the base of Mount Kailash. I stood alone in front of Mount Kailash and strongly implored that I wanted to be let through to come closer (more like I deserved to).

For some strange reason, I felt I was entitled to go there and touch Mount Kailash. I cried with a deep anguish both within and without. However, we were denied access. So, we had to abandon the prospect of going there. It was not to be. I had deep feelings of betrayal and abandonment at that time.

Like the Godfather “Fredo, you broke my heart” kind of let down. I still can’t explain why I felt that way on that day. But the Master listens to all true cries of love and showers His grace to grant those wishes. This wish found fruition in my Kailash pilgrimage part deux in 2016. To read about my Kailash Inner Kora experience, please check the Kailash with Mohanji – The Inner Kora book on Amazon.

I remember the night vigils when we were staying on the shores of Lake Manasarovar. We were told that divine beings come to take dips in Lake Manasarovar and appear to us as beautiful lights. Mohanji had warned us to watch and pray to them from a distance. He specifically asked us not to interact with them since their high energies could fry our nerves leaving us dead or worse in a vegetative state.

Late in the night and in the wee hours of the morning, we would sit in groups just outside the gates of the compound and patiently wait for them to show up. And show up they did! Bright lights in multi-colored hues. They would radiate a bright luminous glow, increase or decrease in size, change colors, move in all directions – come closer or go farther, go up and down, left and right – flash on and off, come close to the surface and disappear for a while (presumably taking dips in the lake).

You couldn’t mistake them for anything else. In particular, I distinctly remember this group of three with one shining brighter than the rest. They kept flashing in sequence and moving around as if dancing to unheard celestial music playing in the background. A truly blissful experience.

I did have a “surreal” out-of-the-ordinary experience. On one of the vigils, I ended up staying out longer than the rest of the group. The place was so serene that it felt just good to spend some more time out there all alone. Suddenly, I noticed light shining from my right. The place gets hazy and misty in the night and hence the light was diffuse which made the scene all the more surreal.

Imagine my surprise, when I saw a few hazy white beings of light walking around a couple of hundred meters in front of me. They were slightly tall and were walking in a straight line. It looked like a scene from the movie, The Village, when the beings visit the village. I watched them with baited breath unsure whether to stay put or quietly head back.

They were too close and I was already in their presence so I decided to stay put while praying to Mohanji and the Masters to protect me. They walked quietly past me towards the end of the road. Suddenly, there was a commotion as I heard them talking to each other followed by the sound of vehicles revving up to life. They started their vehicles parked in the distance, got into them and left.

My “divine beings of light” turned out to be a group of local villagers. The light was possibly from their headlamps and they were covered from head to toe with blankets (that appeared white in the ambient light) to protect from the biting cold. Stupid people! If only they had parked their vehicles out of sight and hearing,

I would have been convinced of my surreal supernatural experience of bumping into divine beings of light. They ruined my perfect story for future generations on how I was lucky to encounter a group of divine beings and survived to tell the tale.

Throughout the pilgrimage, I got a first glimpse of the Master that was Mohanji. I was in awe of Him and maintained safe distance yet kept meandering close to Him. I was shadowing Him most of the way not really sure what was expected of me or what I expected of Him. I got to observe, first hand, some of the miraculous experiences like His face showing up on Mount Kailash complete with sunglasses and head dress. He told us, “Shiva is teasing me.”

Or when we were massaging his feet on Dolmala Pass, his thighs and calves became as hard as stone and he teasingly enquired if they were like Hanuman’s. In one of the odes to Hanuman, he is referred to as Vajra deha Rudravatar – the avatar (divine incarnation) of Rudra (a form of Lord Shiva) whose body is as hard as the vajra (the thunderbolt weapon of Lord Indra – the king of Gods). Yes, they surely felt like Hanuman’s.

A brief background. Since the start of my spiritual journey, I have felt a deep connection with Mahavatar Babaji and felt his guiding hand. Incidentally, I discovered Mohanji while looking for Mahavatar Babaji spots in Maharashtra to visit during my two week motorcycle trip through Maharashtra in December 2012. I chanced upon Mohanji’s three-part blog post, “Babaji beyond Definitions”. A must read for those who haven’t.

Later, I explored his writings and teachings and also his meditations. I distinctly remember that when I left home for my first meeting with Mohanji, I had the intuition that I would meet my Master. Throughout the satsang, my eyes were glued to his feet. And yet that didn’t feel strange to me either. After the satsang, my mind played its usual tricks and I was not so sure anymore.

After the meeting, I remember telling my friend that Mohanji is good but I don’t think he is my Master. In hindsight, as Morpheus said in the movie, The Matrix, “Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.” I followed his practices quite regularly but never accepted him as my Master. Through the pilgrimage, I was led to consider the possibility that Mohanji could be the One. The question, “Who is my Master – Mahavatar Babaji or Mohanji?” bothered me.

On our return to Kathmandu, I happened to be sitting in front of Mohanji over lunch and, as usual, an informal satsang started as he answered questions asked by the people seated around the table. In response to one of the questions, he answered my unspoken question while looking straight at me. He said, “The Master in front of you is the Master for you.”

“You may want to learn from a ‘higher’ Master but that has no relevance. A student of the first standard may want to learn from a college teacher. But he needs to progress through the intervening standards and reach the collegiate level before the college teacher can teach him anything.”

“A Master can, of course, hand a disciple over to a ‘higher’ Master if he so feels but that is based on his complete understanding of the disciple’s needs. It is not appropriate for a disciple to harbor that expectation since they don’t understand the bigger picture. The Master that is brought to you is your Master.” That put paid to the recurring question in my mind.

Since I was a relative newbie to being around a real Master, I got acquainted for the first time with the different flavors of devotion to the Master. I observed public displays of fawning devotion from many pilgrims and naively took them to be real expressions of love. I felt sad that I lacked the deep devotion within myself compared to what I saw out there. A few months later, most of them disconnected from Mohanji for trifling reasons.

Image 13-pic-15-m-biba-and-big-m-on-kailash-north-face — Mohanji, Devi and big M on Kailash north face

They chose to weigh the words of others over the truth of their own experiences. I now realize that one’s outward expressions are never a reliable measure of the depth of one’s connection. However, some like Sumit who preferred to work silently in the shadows, left a deep impression and inspired me to dig deeper and achieve a greater degree of surrender.

The same goes for experiences shared by people at the end of the pilgrimage. Some pilgrims had amazing visions of Shiva and His family or other deities. Some pilgrims had reached a point of perfect peace, bliss, joy and other good-to-be-in states. Some were experiencing perfect stillness and silence. Some released a lot while others were feeling emptiness. Some had become enlightened (ok. nobody said that but you get the drift). I, for one, felt even more confused than I was before the pilgrimage.

Another pilgrimage experience. The Manasarovar lake was very cold when we entered to take our dips. During my first dip, I found the fellow pilgrim next to me chanting the Lord’s name loudly in a continuous stuttering repetition. His body was also shaking wildly. He was not very responsive and I felt that he was in a very deep trance. Probably in communion with the Lord. I decided to discontinue my dips to watch over him and help him back.

He was in this state for a while as I stood with him and held him steady. After some time, he hinted that he wanted to head back. I held him firmly and guided him back. As we came closer to the shore, he started collecting stones excitedly and also handed me some. I figured that spiritually imbued objects become more apparent in a higher state of consciousness.

Anyways, I helped him back, got him into some warm clothes and headed back to complete my dips. The next day, he sought me out and thanked me for helping him. He said that his body froze in the icy waters and he was unable to move. The chanting and the shaking were his involuntary reactions to the chilling experience. So much for my awe at being fortunate to observe one in an exalted state.

I now realize that experiences are just indicators given to seekers to suggest that they are headed in the right direction. The reason they are given and the manner in which they are given have significance only to the seeker who is experiencing. Hence, it does not make sense to compare our progress based on other people’s experiences. In some cases, the experiences are just elaborate illusions constructed by the mind to entertain itself. One’s transformation is the only true metric of one’s progress.

Life after Kailash was never the same. I attended the Rishikesh retreat with Mohanji later that year in December. Over the months, I had the grace to travel with Mohanji several times. I disappeared from office so regularly that people in my office started joking that I worked between vacations. Slowly but surely the spiral loop of my connection with Mohanji kept getting closer and closer.

Exactly a year after Kailash, I decided to quit work, a day before my birthday, to be with Mohanji for good. I wanted to be free (of the corporate rat race) on my birthday. The interesting part was that it was a very natural process. Not easy but natural. Mohanji suggested that I continue for one more year so I have time to decide before quitting. But I had had enough by then and chose to cut the cord immediately.

The Kailash pilgrimage effected a major transformation in my life and set me firmly on the path. Hence, I have nothing but the highest respect for the Kailash pilgrimage. For me, the choice to do the Kailash pilgrimage is the clarion call that a spiritual seeker answers to indicate to the universe that he is done with playing games and is ready for the highest that evolution has to offer – total and complete liberation.

|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI||

Published by – Testimonials Team, 16^th June 2019

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.

— Mohanji Testimonials Team

Hovering “I” on Bosnian Pyramid with Mohanji

Posted on April 2, 2018April 5, 2018 by Mohanji Editorial Team

Author: Biljana Vozarevic, Serbia

“I am the source. I am the powerhouse. I do not become tired or depleted, ever. I am just like the candle that can light many candles and still maintain the same glow and glory.” Mohanji

Apart from the visits to the pyramid of the Sun, the pyramid of the Moon and other pyramids as well as spending time in the amazing Tunnel Ravne, our 5-day pilgrimage to Bosnian Pyramids in 2016 included a visit to the Vratnica Tumulus. It was a spring sunny day, suitable for such an endeavour. It had been raining for several days before our visit. So this sunny day was like a gift.

Hovering “I” on Bosnian Pyramid with Mohanji 2, experience — *Day 1 before climbing the pyramid of the Sun*

Vratnica means “gate” – a gate to the pyramids. It is an artificially made, conically shaped hill, which is why it is called tumulus. It happens to be one of the biggest tumulus in the Balkan region. This place was discovered in 2010. A team of Croatian physicists detected electromagnetic phenomenon – an energy beam of 28 kHz on top of it.

Hovering “I” on Bosnian Pyramid with Mohanji 3,4 experience — *Climbing to Vratnica Tumulus*

We were very interested in this phenomenon. It is a frequency which defies gravitational force and allows levitation. This explains how they moved such huge concrete blocks up so high. Our primary and loving guide, Ajdin, who had been there with us for the first few days of the pilgrimage wasn’t available. The guide who accompanied us was quieter and provided less information. Mohanji had suggested that we should FEEL more along the way rather than talk, drink, smoke, check messages on Facebook, Whatsapp, Messenger, etc. To be mindful with our mind present with each breath, thought and action. To eat mindfully with our mind present with each bite and sip. Following Mohanji’s instructions, we really did FEEL the pyramids the last few days. Now we were looking forward to feeling the Vratnica Tumulus. We wanted to experience what the energy of the place would be like. This very place called the “Archeological Park – Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun” works on you and transforms you as much as you are receptive. We were also eager to hear more about it.

We first walked past the faded blocks whose colour was diminished by exposure to water, storms, etc. After that, we went up to the tumulus which is a huge megalithic terrace, built alternately from clay and concrete blocks. Our group meditated and did Consciousness Kriya at the top of it. My heart danced in joy for being given the chance to do Consciousness Kriya so close to Him physically, in His aura.

Climbing to Vratnica Tumulus

Hovering “I” on Bosnian Pyramid with Mohanji 8, experience

Hovering “I” on Bosnian Pyramid with Mohanji 9, experience

Next, we moved to the other side of the tumulus. Mohanji felt energy radiating from several hills around the tumulus. On the first one, He said that the energy was very subtle and it was not easy to feel it unless you had developed great subtlety. We tried to feel it. However, there were a few houses around where people lived and were in the midst of activity. We were distracted by what sounded like a lawnmower, a drill, or a chainsaw coming from the valley, at the bottom of the hill. Hmmm. Looked like someone was working in their garden. But we needed silence not for our satisfaction, but for our elevation. We couldn’t properly hear the beginning of the guide’s talk either. Mohanji was silent. Suddenly, the noise stopped. “Oh, what a relief,” we thought. We could feel the place and hear the guide. We enjoyed these precious moments in higher energy. For a short but good amount of time that we could tune in and listen to the tumulus. Later, somebody asked, ”What happened?” Mohanji just smiled and said, ”He went to the toilet.” We laughed. He said it like it was a joke. But we knew it wasn’t.

Mohanji is one with all. He was also one with the man with the chainsaw. He knows my, yours or his heart, thoughts and aspirations. That is why He could direct his actions. The same way as He directs the actions of whoever is connected to Him. For the one who is one with everything and everyone, with absolute stability in oneness and unconditional love, timelessness and ever presence, it is simple to guide disciples away from distractions and wrong choices, while making them go in the directions which turn them to themselves, pulling them from the inside and pushing them from the outside.

Removing this noise, a small distraction on our pilgrimage may look like a trifle, and it went unnoticed by a lot of pilgrims. But it made me ask myself, ”Why am ‘I’ me? And not something or somebody else?” The body is like a shell, and we occupy it for some time, for several decades. At the same time, why wouldn’t we expand to everything, everywhere while still alive? Like Mohanji? The power of the spirit is immeasurable and intangible. To be liberated from our own body while still alive. Keep living in it, but not be bound by it. Be liberated from birth and death and have eternal life, i.e. immortality.

In Song of the Soul, Mohanji writes about an avadhoota who illustrates exactly this. Furthermore, Avadhoota Nadananda told Him that He is also an avadhoota Himself, so these words are valid for Mohanji, too,

“Just like one sun gets reflected in many objects without losing its intensity and energy, through the cycle of generation, I exist. I am the string that kept the generations together. I am the only imperishable entity in this highly perishable earthly existence. Sun, moon and stars are formed out of me. Galaxies are within me. All forms of deities are formed out of me. Darkness is non-existence of light. Being me is non–existence of Maya or illusion. I am everything. I am the in-dweller of all beings. There is no hierarchy or supremacy. I exist with the same intensity in all beings. Beings are different, in looks, in feel, in characteristics. I am the same. I am changeless. I am everywhere. I am Oneness.

I have no form. I assume the form of the vessel that contains me. I assume the characteristics of the being that encases me. Even though I remain neutral always, I empower actions, words and thoughts. No one can touch or feel me. One can only realize me. One has to become me, reach my subtlety, to realize me. One has to shed a lot of grossness to reach me, recognize me and understand me. I have no agenda. I assume the agenda of the being and, like a faithful and non-interfering servant, serve the embodied entity till the end. I allow myself to be trapped in the body. I assume the body. I allow myself to be called the body. I even pretend I am the limited body. I never interfere. I liberate myself at will.”