As human beings, our nature is love. Our role as individuals and collectively as human beings is to be compassionate, tolerant, peaceful, non-violent, creative and responsible.
I believe in the path of love, peace, harmony and bliss and the omnipresent higher power which connects all beings in the universe whenever required. I bow in deep reverence to this divine presence which creates this inexplicable connectedness. For me, this divine presence is my Guru Mohanji. I have been in sheer joy and wonder at Mohanji’s leelas which repeatedly shows his deep love for all even the strays on the road.
The last fortnight has been tumultuous where I observed my Guru Mohanji working through me. I was instrumental in a lot of events which occurred one at a time. It all began when we received an email from a lady called Sujatha – who requested financial help. Her case was truly sad.
As Ammucare volunteers, we reach out to many, and it’s all about selfless service to society. So taking it up as yet another seva, I decided to look into the matter the following day. The lady had sent some gory pictures and details about her accident. It was already very late at night, and I was apprehensive of the unknown, so I decided to procrastinate till the next morning. But it was not to be. As I was about to retire for the night, I felt strong energy goading me to make that call to the lady. It seemed to be very intense instructions from an unseen force that I was compelled to call her.
A tired voice was at the other end. The words just flowed as I gently and lovingly spoke to her. She held onto the phone and cried. It was a long call. She purged all her pains, her difficulties, her trauma. I could feel her intense suffering and pain. Here is a first-person account of what transpired the next day onwards in her own words as WhatsApp messages.
“I was touched by the way you spoke to me, and I felt like you were holding my hands and not letting me fall, no words to express my devotion to Baba and Mohanji. I felt it was the angel, who the Almighty had sent after talking to you. Last night I slept peacefully after a long time. I troubled you last evening. I could not share my pain with anyone like this; I feel very pained. People do not respect if we are not financially stable.
I lit the diya in front of Mohanji’s picture and listened to Shiva Kavacham rendered by our Guru Mohanji. The voice is mesmerizing. It made me forget everything for some time; thank you for being there for me. To be honest, the first time I spoke to you, I was sitting with a bottle of pesticide (please pardon me). Your call came at that moment. I wanted to quit. I got tired of this life and struggle. Not a soul to share anything with. I was blessed to have you as an elder sister, mother, friend and guide. Your words are very soothing. Can I call you Amma? I got a mother and Guru after a long wait of hardship. How do I thank you? How do I show my respects to my Guru Mohanji?
Today there was no salt, no oil, nothing at home. I was offering Mohanji just plain rice, and the doorbell rang. I saw two guys standing with many boxes saying they were in my name. I said they are not mine. (For the last three months, I have not had proper food, just porridge.) After seeing all the grocery that Ammucare sent, it took me some time to come to my senses.
Guru Mohanji saved my family and me. I do not know how to react or express my gratitude. All these miracles and blessings are nothing but divine intervention. I was wondering all these years if something good will ever happen to me in this lifetime. Is there any soul on this Earth who will ever care for me? Yes, I have you, my Guruji Mohanji and my Sai. My Guruji’s actions and kindness touched me. Because of him, I have got my prasad.
I will never forget these days if my life. Felt like the sky opened up for me. Wish I could touch Mohanji’s feet. Love you Amma. It was a feast at home today that I shared with Mohanji. I celebrated Onam, Vishu, Diwali, Dussehra, Ganesh Chaturthi, New Year and Sankranthi – all in one day. Post lunch, I slept as if there is no tomorrow.
I will always remember this day. There is nothing more beautiful than someone going out of their way to make others happy. In my case, it is my Mohanji who reached out to me. I feel blessed. This is the second lease of my life. I owe this to you and Mohanji. It was your call that saved my life that fateful day. In fact, I had lost all hope.” Isn’t it amazing how the Guru works through others? Every word I uttered was literally put in my mouth by none other than Mohanji.
Every day the counselling sessions were powerful. Mohanji led every step I took. How beautifully my sweet Father Mohanji eased the situation, brought solace, hope, peace and contentment. It’s been two weeks now, and Mohanji changed everything for this family. Wonderful donors appeared who helped Ammucare to reach out to Sujatha. Deep gratitude to one and all.
Sujatha has accepted Mohanji as her Guru and has surrendered completely to him. She feels his presence often. The Guru Principle, the Guru Tattva, the Guru element watches over us all the time once we surrender. Of course, we need to have unshakeable faith in the Guru Tattva; then there is no need for anything else. The grace of God takes the form of Guru.
Sujatha who nearly attempted suicide was saved in the nick of time by Guru’s grace. There was no food. The Guru provided it all. No money to pay the rent. The Guru blessed her with the required amount, or else they would have been homeless. She could sleep in peace as the Guru held her hand. The Guru truly has the whole world in his hands. He’s got everyone in his hands.
My deep gratitude to Mohanji for everything. My prayer is that – may each step of mine be a circumambulation of you. May all that I consume be offerings to you (prasad). May all my thoughts, words and actions be offered as flowers at your feet. Bless me so that my life is complete. Bless me so that at death, I merge with you.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 18th February 2021
Disclaimer:
The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the authors and those providing comments on these blogs are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or positions of Mohanji, Mohanji Foundation, it’s members, employees or any other individual or entity associated with Mohanji or Mohanji Foundation. We make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of any information presented by individual authors and/or commenters on our blogs and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use.
We reserve the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner we see fit blog entries or comments that we, in our sole discretion, deem to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, of an express commercial nature, or otherwise unacceptable.
Since meeting Mohanji in 2014, in my journey on the spiritual path, karma yoga – the path of service has been my purpose. I have found my joy and peace volunteering for Ammucare. After being given the responsibility as the president of Ammucare since 2018, I feel Guru Mandala has bestowed me with a golden opportunity to serve the helpless and purify myself. In this role, I get to see the flow of divine grace in every single seva activity done by Ammucare through each volunteer as an instrument.
However, there are situations when I feel certain activities are just impossible to do because of hurdles, lack of funds, lack of manpower, resources etc. Then I see the grace flowing, and everything gets done smoothly. It is in such situations I realise the invisible supreme power behind Ammucare. That supreme invisible powerhouse is Mohanji.
Every single project is a story of Mohanji’s grace, miracle and a solid example about what conviction, consistency and faith can do!
Let me narrate one recent story. This is about feeding the sadhus (wandering monks) in the three holy cities of North India in September 2020. In 17 days, Ammucare fed more than 43,000 sadhus and needy people in these three cities – Varanasi, Haridwar & Rishikesh.
As per the Hindu calendar, there is a particular period of 15 days, which is extremely auspicious to pay homage to our ancestors. This is called ‘Pitru Paksh’. Along with many rituals that Hindus do in this period, feeding sadhus is one way of praying for peace for the souls of their ancestors or loved ones who have left their mortal body.
Just before this period was about to start, I saw a video by one of the Mohanji Acharyas regarding the importance of feeding sadhus during Pitru Paksh (homage to the ancestors). Since then, I had this strong urge to do some seva during Pitru Paksh. Soon after, I received a message from Mohanji.
He said that Ammucare must feed the wandering monks in Varanasi, Haridwar and Rishikesh who are not getting enough food as the ashrams are closed now. He also mentioned that feeding the sadhus would help not only by bringing peace to the souls of ancestors but would also help everyone to release a lot of their karmic baggage. Mohanji also specified that we must feed good quality food, ensuring their health and safety. There should be no compromise on the quality of the food that we serve to the sadhus.
Hearing Mohanji’s message, I realised it was a command from the Tradition. Watching the video, my urge, and the message from Mohanji – all put together was a divine command that I must plunge into this seva. One more of Mohanji’s leelas (divine plays) was about to begin.
Mission – feeding as many sadhus (monks) as possible.
I was excited. I had full faith that when Mohanji commands, he will also ensure that it will happen. I started the background work on this project. As we were progressing, there were many hurdles, many doubts unfolding – new cities with no volunteers, no local support and above all lack of funds! We were focusing on good quality food for hundreds of sadhus. I had a rough estimation done. I thought we would need at least Rs. 2 Lakhs (Rs. 2,00,000) for this. While we announced this project to raise funds, I was wondering how to collect this amount. The date was approaching fast, and we had to start quickly. One morning, after the announcement posters were circulated, I was feeling very low, almost felt like crying. I suddenly felt so nervous and weak that this project would not happen. I cried to Mohanji – “Mohanji, please help.” I could feel his assurance.
Within a few hours of this episode, Mohanji Acharya and ACT UK volunteer Subhasree called me. She said that seeing the poster for this project earlier that day, she had reached out to some people in London and one kind donor had donated 1000 GBP (that’s almost Rs.1 Lakh) immediately! I had goosebumps all over. That’s nearly 50% of the budget I was targeting! I had tears in my eyes; I didn’t have enough words to thank Mohanji. He had responded to my prayers in the morning and how! As always, no delay! Soon, yet another donor donated, and I had the estimated funds before I even realised what was happening!
This was only the beginning. My dear friends, sit back comfortably and listen to this story of miracles that followed on!
With enough funds in hand, we were ready to start. My second hurdle of no volunteers & no contacts in the cities were getting addressed. Somehow, we started getting connected to the right people at each location. Our breakthrough was our first connection to Kashi Gayatri Ashram in Varanasi. Our volunteers Savitri and Krishnamurtyji played a key role in getting this connection. Within a week, we were able to establish other connections as well.
Exactly as per Mohanji’s advice, we started the Annadaan (feeding) program in Varanasi on 1 Sept. Initially the food was to be delivered from a restaurant at a higher cost which worried me. This was sorted out, and the food was cooked at this ashram by the ashramites. We ensured that the food served was of the best quality. The fresh food was then picked up our volunteer and distributed.
All along, the entire process was being carefully monitored by our volunteers.
When an activity is not merely an activity but a command of Guru Mandala with the grace of Guru, the scale in which it happens become miraculous and magnificent. This is what I witnessed here too. Even though our initial plan was to distribute food to 100 sadhus in Varanasi, the first day itself, a few Naga sadhus who rarely come out accepted our food packets. That in itself was confirmation of the presence and blessings of the Masters.
Not just intention, but our perseverance is very important when we do seva activities of this scale as we are constantly tested in the form of some roadblocks. This project was no different. On the fourth day, we ran into a roadblock. The Kashi Gayatri ashram people informed us that they would not be able to continue as the police were not allowing the distribution of food anymore. We didn’t give up. We started exploring other options and soon found two other connections in Varanasi. A student from Banaras Hindu University, with a passion for serving others, came forward to help us. He connected us to Kabir Mutt (Mutt – living place in the name of Kabir who is a great saint of the Fifteenth Century.)
We really consider it our great fortune that we could serve all three meals; breakfast, lunch and dinner to all the residents of the Mutt. Every day, 160 people were served food, and on 17th, we were able to serve 600 people.
Not just this, yet another miracle happened when we found the third location in Varanasi. Mohanji Acharya and ACT USA volunteer Lata Ganesh connected us to her sister, and another noble soul, Guruprasad, who also loves to serve. He took charge of getting the food cooked at his place and distributed the food in Khemeswwar Ghat, Chowki Ghat, Kedar Ghat and the famous Dasaswamedha Ghat. Every day, more than 200 people were served lunch.
Though we had problems initially, Mohanji actually opened new connections by bringing like-minded people to us. In fact, we now have an Ammucare volunteer in Varanasi permanently!
These are true miracles of Masters. By the way, don’t be surprised to hear this – there were miracles after miracles, with police finally giving us permission to continue the cooking and food distribution at Kashi Gayatri ashram and that service was reinstated.
It is unbelievable, where we thought initially of serving just a few hundred sadhus, in the 17 days in Varanasi, 4770 people were served food.
Now, coming to the second holy city, Haridwar. There, we got connected to Sri Gautami Nityannadan Trust, and annadaan started on 1 Sept serving hot food all three times of the day. With each passing day, we saw the crowds swelling. The sadhus enquired from the volunteers about our organisation which was offering food to them daily and blessed everyone abundantly. The food was first offered to Mother Ganga. Every day more than 800 sadhus and needy people were served breakfast, lunch and dinner. However, on the final day, food was continuously served from 8 am to 4 pm, to sadhus and children. Almost 1200 people were served hot food on that day.
Not just offering food to the holy river Mother Ganga, but every evening, Ganga aarati was also done, sponsored by Mohanji Foundation team, which brought a completely magical atmosphere, the divine essence to everyone who was there at the time.
Finally, in these 17 days of Pitru Paksh, we served food to 16000 sadhus, children and needy people at Haridwar. Additionally, we provided food and grocery items for a month to 32 families.
Now, coming to the third city, Rishikesh. The incidents in Rishikesh reminded me of the divine plan of Mohanji to serve only satvic (pure) food to the sadhus. Our initial plan in Rishikesh was to get the food cooked at a local restaurant. For some reason, this plan didn’t work out, which made me quite stressed and flustered. I made quite a few frantic calls here and there, but nothing worked. Next morning, I was talking to Bharat Bhai on something completely different, I just happened to mention about Rishikesh to him, and he connected us to Swami Narayan Ashram at Rishikesh. This is an ashram where young Brahmin boys from needy families from different states of India are brought with the consent of their parents, and nurtured here and taught the Vedas to carry out the traditional Vedic rituals for the good of mankind. This ashram is on the banks of the River Ganges. When I saw the beautiful video of the food being packed into boxes and a gate leading to the banks of Mother Ganges, I was totally mesmerised.
Soon, we arranged with this ashram to prepare and distribute fresh food. I then remembered Mohanji’s instructions! He wanted us to serve only freshly cooked satvic food! One more miracle of Mohanji! He ensured that we got connected to the right people, at the right place and ensured that the food was cooked and served fresh.
Sukhbeer, our local connection and another volunteer Henry from the UK helped us with food distribution in Rishikesh.
While food seva was progressing in these three cities, I received yet another message from Mohanji. His advice was that we should do annadaan in other holy places as well. He mentioned Thiruvannamalai, Gokarn, Puri, Rameswaram, and Badrinath etc.
Keeping the intention of serving food in these cities in the future, we thought we could at least start immediately in Thiruvannamalai, and soon we were able to serve more than 7500 people! Not just that, we could give out a month’s groceries to 200 sadhus at Tarapeeth.
We could take up these additional locations as by now; we had a steady flow of funds! (Remember how I cried on the first day)
I was wondering if we could arrange Rs. 2 Lakhs (Rs. 2,00,000), by now we had a surplus of Rs 12 Lakhs (Rs 12,00,000), six times more than my expectations. Although we had aimed to feed a few hundred, in reality, in the 17 days of Pitru Paksh, we had served food to 43000 people in all these locations.
Now let me bring another angle to this whole miraculous story.
As I had mentioned earlier, for Hindus, this time is very auspicious. However, not many people get the opportunity to be able to do such rituals and feed monks and pray for their ancestors. As we were continuing this seva, many people across Mohanji’s global family and outside too, took this as a golden opportunity for them and started sending us requests for special pujas to be performed for their ancestors on the Amavasya day (New Moon day), which is the final day of Pitru Paksh, along with the annadaan. To be able to perform the rituals and annadaan for peace and solace of their ancestors, brought so much joy and peace to all those people who had requested us. This gave me additional satisfaction in being able to serve so many people from all over the world.
Mohanji’s command to me that day through the message had brought transformation in many people; not just feeding 43000 people but bringing moksha (liberation) to many ancestors, bringing satisfaction and peace to so many people. It was indeed a golden opportunity for Ammucare, its volunteers, and to me personally, a truly fulfilling experience. A miracle of my Guru Mohanji that will remain as bright as thousand Suns forever!
Thank you Mohanji, my eternal Father, for giving me this opportunity in the first place and holding our hands every moment, facilitating every single step and accomplishing everything so beautifully.
I wish everyone who reads this true experience that I have narrated with complete honesty, is able to understand that the true miracle of a Master is not about materials, but in transformation!
That’s what I witness every moment in my life, walking with Mohanji.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 15th October 2020
Disclaimer:
The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the authors and those providing comments on these blogs are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or positions of Mohanji, Mohanji Foundation, it’s members, employees or any other individual or entity associated with Mohanji or Mohanji Foundation. We make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of any information presented by individual authors and/or commenters on our blogs and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use.
We reserve the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner we see fit blog entries or comments that we, in our sole discretion, deem to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, of an express commercial nature, or otherwise unacceptable.
Inspired by Mohanji, Rowena from the Philippines shares her experiences of some of the service activities she’s carrying out with her team members, bringing love, friendship, and happiness to many children in her community.
By Rowena Conlu, Philippines
Being able to know and meet these little angels allowed me to witness God’s transforming power of love!
Our meditation group found Danica, a 12-year-old girl who is affected by cerebral palsy and meningitis, living in the coastal area of Cogon. She is the third in a family of eight children. Her mother died of a heart ailment in 2017. The father is a fisherman. When the group found her, she was skin and bones, dying of malnutrition. Darry, the father was lost in despair because of the death of his wife. Immediately, the group supported her family with food supplies for three of the younger children. Danica was on a liquid diet, so we got her a blender. Being a widow myself, I felt in my heart the hardship a single parent goes through, mentally and emotionally. I also connected Danica to a doctor friend who kindly committed to checking up on her every week, and supplied her with vitamins as well. We also supported the father by giving him work in our hotel as a groundsman.
I was new to the Mohanji family at the time I met Danica, and I was doing some seva activities in a few places where possible. In 2019, I also started a kids/teen yoga and meditation programme. It was my dream to share this consciousness to the kids, for them to have a better life in the future. So being in contact with Danica’s family, I asked Darlyn her younger sister, to ask her friends if they would like to learn yoga.
This became the first group of Mohanji teens/kids. Danica’s siblings and some of her friends joined the yoga sessions. At that time, I started practising Mohanji’s teachings about non-doership, living a life of surrender to God, selflessness, love, kindness, and compassion. I believe this is the perfect example of the transforming power of love. Danica thrives not only with good nutrition but by the love, support, and hope that was given to her family. We are all a part of the pure universal energy and that is what Danica feels when we are around her.
The group of 10 kids I started with has now grown to 35. The numbers increase every week, and we are serving two areas here in Roxas City. Children from the coastal areas and also from the main city join us for our sessions regularly. It gives me a lot of joy to be able to help so many people in my community.
Mohanji teens/ kids
‘Meditation Garden’ is what we call our group. We are a group of meditation students using Mohanji’s guided meditations that we found online. It’s been almost two years since we started feeding those who needed support and introducing yoga and meditation in almost all areas here in our province. Once I asked myself, “How are these activities going to be effective to people if we do not go back and encourage them to do the sessions regularly?”
It was February 2019 when a thought came to mind, ‘What if I gather the kids here in my place every week and teach them yoga and meditation, and give them vegetarian snacks?’
So I sent Darlyn a message, she is Danica’s sister, the person with a disability our group was looking after, near a coastal area. One Sunday, Darlyn gathered her friends and siblings and attended my first yoga and meditation session. We did some light yoga stretching, breathing techniques, and a short silence as an introduction and had healthy snacks afterwards. Then, I asked them to write down their experiences in a journal so that I could monitor their progress.
Then the next week, another 5 kids from the same area joined us to do the same activities. On the third week, Mataji invited five kids from another underprivileged area in the city, and every week the numbers are increasing. At the start, I thought the children were coming because they like the food since most of them are from poor families. But there are days when they hardly finish the food. And as I observe them, what I realised was, what they love in our meetings where the hugs, the conversations, and the games we play with them, because the parents hardly have time with their kids, so they feel unloved.
It’s been a year already, and now these kids have developed mindfulness through yoga; their behaviour has changed for the better. Even the ways they dress has changed, they are always clean and smell good, and are ready to learn new things. They have learnt to share with the other kids as well as we take them for our seva activities in different communities. Now we are introducing them slowly to chakras, some of Mohanji’s teachings like ahimsa, selflessness, etc. They love wearing their Mohanji t-shirts and wish to meet Mohanji in person. I gave each child a framed picture of Mohanji as a gift and shared with them that they can always talk to him because he is like a Father to them. He is someone who loves them, cares for them, and only wants the best for them. Now, even some of the mothers are joining the kids every Sunday for our sessions.
I am very grateful for the beautiful opportunities to help these children and their families. It’s wonderful to see how love can transform so many lives.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 21st May 2020
Disclaimer:
The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the authors and those providing comments on these blogs are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or positions of Mohanji, Mohanji Foundation, it’s members, employees or any other individual or entity associated with Mohanji or Mohanji Foundation. We make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of any information presented by individual authors and/or commenters on our blogs and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use.
We reserve the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner we see fit blog entries or comments that we, in our sole discretion, deem to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, of an express commercial nature, or otherwise unacceptable.
It is the second week of May. The UK is finally seeing a decline in the spreading of the Covid-19 virus. Lockdown measures are slightly relaxed, although restrictions for travel, school, shopping, socialising and for the elderly, as in many other areas still continue. After the loss of thousands of lives and devastation to so many families, we are hoping that life will return to relative normalcy soon.
The UK is one of the countries to be severely affected during the pandemic. During the peak time in April, nearly a thousand lives were being lost every day. Fighting this invisible force was a huge challenge for the country as it was for the rest of the world.
During this time, we all faced many other challenges too. Many people lost their livelihood. No jobs meant little or no income to support our families. While many people were asked to work from home, front line workers had to continue to go to work, potentially risking their lives daily. The National Health Service (NHS) was struggling to support its staff with adequate personal protective equipment (PPE). Many NHS staff members fell ill, and sadly many lives were also lost.
Despite all these challenges, the human spirit survived. We saw so many charities and organisations coming forward to support and help the NHS, to help the elderly and the vulnerable, to support those people who had lost their jobs. Mohanji ACT Foundation team also came forward to help wherever possible with many acts of kindness.
With generous donations from the Mohanji UK family, food donations were made to local NHS hospitals to help the staff. This meant that many of them did not need to face a long shopping queue at the end of a long and stressful working day. Food donations were made to food-banks where those without jobs come and receive supplies to help them with their daily essentials.
While work places brought many changes to most people, as an NHS worker, my work continued as normal. It also meant that social distancing was not possible, I had to make physical contact with patients as before. There was no PPE for regular ultrasound scan sessions, only when coming in contact with confirmed Covid-19 patients. During the first few weeks we did not even have masks to wear.
We have all learnt that life will always bring challenges, some harder than others, but when Guru’s grace and protection is present, we are immune to the shocks of daily life. This is something I have seen in so many ways within this short time.
During our Acharya training, I remember Mohanji saying many times,
“The Tradition is with you. Be fearless. Be compassionate and loving. Serve the society.”
This reassurance and guidance was definitely in need at this time of crisis. With Mohanji’s grace, there was no fear of the disease in me, whether it was at work or during service activities. Any of my patients could be carriers of the virus or might be in the incubation period of developing the illness. Never once did Mohanji allow a drop of fear to come in my thoughts. When people ask if it’s stressful going to work, the answer was a truthful, and cheerful, “No, I’m ok.” Fear, worry or anxiety would have definitely reduced my immune system and made be vulnerable to falling ill, and Mohanji made sure I felt stable within. It was also really nice to share that stability and positive attitude with my colleagues; it helped us all to have a relatively normal work environment.
All the Acharyas and other Mohanji Foundation volunteers were doing online programmes as inspired by Mohanji. My resistance to learning to use new technology, fear of facing a live camera, and all other feelings of insecurities melted away as we all realised the importance of doing these online activities. Reaching out to as many people as possible with love and bringing positivity at a time when so many people were facing various fears was paramount.
Amongst the various programmes, we were also chanting the Gayatri mantra and the Maha Mrithyunjaya mantra every day intending to bring love, light and positive energy to Mother Earth and all her beings. This was benefitting us immensely too. The energy and the vibrations of the chanting were definitely energising and rejuvenating, increasing our immunity. When I received unusually high numbers of requests for distant Mai-Tri sessions, I realised the amount of healing Mohanji was giving me also. How beautifully he takes care of us, whether we realise it or not.
Many of the ACT volunteers were not able to physically help with the food donations due to various reasons. This meant that I was able to help often, and it was truly a privilege to have the opportunity to help the NHS staff, the Covid hub staff and the homeless shelters by distributing essential food supplies. It was a heart touching moment to see the happy faces of the doctors when a volunteer took ice-cream bars to a local accident and emergency department. Mohanji has given us this amazing platform, to help and make a difference in our local communities, to make a positive contribution and it’s truly wonderful to be a part of it.
Mohanji has said this period in confinement is a time for contemplation and reflection. Nature has given us time to slow down and to reassess what is truly important in our lives. It has been a time for me to appreciate my time with the family. With universities and schools closed, my children are home and it’s wonderful to be together, to tease them, to laugh and enjoy their company. It’s great to play with our cats in the garden. We have been blessed with warm weather on most days and it has given me the time to sit in the garden and enjoy nature, to connect with the elements. This is something I have not done in years.
Social media has brought the global family to our homes. Friends and relatives, whom I have not spoken to or made contact with in many months, have been in touch. It has been a time to reconnect and to ensure the well-being of our dear ones. Even my parents who are in their 80s face time us to see the cats!
I’m truly grateful for the many moments of grace that has been possible only because of Mohanji. Thank you Mohanji for your presence in our lives, and for giving us the guidance and the platforms to serve the society with love, compassion, and kindness. Thank you for inspiring us with your words and actions to serve selflessly and fearlessly.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 17th May 2020
Disclaimer:
The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the authors and those providing comments on these blogs are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or positions of Mohanji, Mohanji Foundation, it’s members, employees or any other individual or entity associated with Mohanji or Mohanji Foundation. We make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of any information presented by individual authors and/or commenters on our blogs and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use.
We reserve the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner we see fit blog entries or comments that we, in our sole discretion, deem to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, of an express commercial nature, or otherwise unacceptable.
20th April 2020. Amidst the fight with the negativity of Corona situation all across the globe, while spreading positivity through various online programmes, shocking news came from the parental home that shook me to the core! News that I had not expected to hear! My 2nd brother Bibhu, succumbed to a sudden cardiac arrest and had left us all forever! He was healthy, happy, joyful and very active. He was just 50 years old. On that day he had been active, he had cooked a yummy special lunch that the family enjoyed, and after lunch when he was standing and talking, he suddenly fell backwards! Within minutes everything was over.
They were in Odisha, in India, my motherland. My father and mother, who are 83 and 77 years old respectively, are in deep sorrow and the whole family sunk into shock. Sitting in London, thousands of miles away, in the lockdown situation, I cannot even travel there to be with my family. What deep sorrow! Right now, with the Corona situation, we hear many shocking and deeply saddening stories of a sudden loss of family members. Going through one myself, even though not due to Corona, put me into deep contemplation.
I am writing here today, not to show how sad we are or how unfortunate the situation is, but I want to bring some facts into light that shows the amazing way that Mohanji’s divine grace works! Silently as ever in the background.
During my deep contemplation, the divine leela (play) was unfolded to me, I realised the greater truth. Once I realised this, I felt I must bring out this truth and express my understanding with all of you.
This is my expression of gratitude to my eternal guide, my eternal friend, my eternal Guru, Mohanji.
I will need to take you through some details, hence please bear with the long descriptions. But without these details, it will not be easy to understand the silent ways in which Mohanji works.
As soon as I heard the news that my brother is no more, I messaged Mohanji. He replied, “I am taking care of him.” Harish (my husband) said to me, “Don’t worry, Mohanji will make sure that all rituals happen smoothly.” There was a reason why I was worried. In the current lockdown situation, there is hardly any free movement possible, not many people can come to help my elder brother, who was at the hospital and was now solely responsible for sorting everything, with just my sister-in-law and one sister around. Since this was a sudden cardiac arrest scenario and he had already left the body by the time they reached the hospital, a post-mortem was necessary before they could release the body. It was nearly 6 pm and the post-mortem department closes at 5 pm! Police permission is required to take the body around in a vehicle with a few people. As movement is so restricted, this was a worry. And finally, where can they do the cremation? The lockdown situation was leaving my elder brother helpless. But when we have divine grace, when Mohanji is looking after us, nothing was going to be difficult! Retrospectively, we realised this. Quite unexpectedly, we got a relative’s help and the post-mortem was done quickly, police permission was received immediately and the last rights were carried out in Puri, Shree Jagannath Dham, at ‘Swargdwar’, the gateway to heavens. It’s a dream for all Odiya people (people from the state of Odisha) to have their last rights done in this place. This is a town about an hour and a half away and travels outside the city wasn’t an easy deal! But everything happened smoothly, the travel, the last rights at Swargdwar and all the rituals finished in mere 4-5 hours! Unbelievable! I remembered what Harish had said to me earlier, “Mohanji will make everything work out smoothly.” I was witnessing this!
The soul’s journey to Light:
Sitting in London, it was getting very difficult for me to accept the situation. Especially since I was unable to even travel immediately, it was making me very uncomfortable. Very much stressed, I dozed off for a while. After some time, I woke up with a start/unusual feeling. I felt that my brother’s soul was unsettled. I got worried. The last thing I wanted at this time was for his soul to be unsettled, not in peace! I got truly worried. I wondered what to do? What mantra can I chant? What ritual can I do? An immediate thought came to my mind, should I ask Mohanji? At that point, we called my elder brother and understood that the rituals of the last rights had just started.
Immediately after that, within 5 minutes, I received a call from Mohanji. And he advised me of a simple ritual to do. He said, “As a family member, you do this 3 times. After that, I will take care.” He repeated this a couple of times. That was the greatest reassurance to me at that point. Moreover, I was totally blown over by the fact that a few minutes back I was thinking of reaching out to Mohanji asking him what to do, and he called me and showed the way! After the ritual, I could feel a lightness and I knew, my brother’s soul was now at peace. The next day, I heard from my nephew (my brother’s son) who was doing the rituals that he noticed a peaceful smile on my brother’s face! And when I was looking into the timelines, this was just after Mohanji’s assurance and the rituals that he suggested! I realised, without a doubt, Mohanji had done his job! As he said, “I will take care”, and indeed he had done that!
Healing to me and my family:
Even though I was aware of the karmic agenda of the soul that I knew as my brother and the karmic agenda of all the family members, it was still a great sadness and I was unable to handle the heaviness. I was feeling very distressed and heavy. At one point, I felt if I should reach out to one of our Mai-Tri practitioners? Then I reminded myself of Mohanji’s words. Mohanji is looking after. He is taking care. When we are in his direct protection, why worry? Later on, when I was talking to my mother, I felt her extreme pain. Losing her son is unimaginable pain for any mother. I had no words to console to my elderly mother on the phone from so far away. I didn’t know what to do! Once again, I surrendered to Mohanji and I slept that night.
The next morning, when I woke up, I was feeling slightly lighter. And then I thought to myself, I should just write to Mohanji about my mother. Knowing that he is anyway taking care, sometimes by conveying my thoughts through words gives me a complete release of pain. So I did, and Mohanji immediately responded, “Yes. I am aware. I shall do whatever I can.”
He also wrote, “Inevitable karma decides the life of individuals. Like Maha Kaali told the Avadhoota that she cannot even extend one hour of his life from the original or decrease one hour from the original. Even deities honour karma. I am trying to reduce its impact on the people affected. Keep doing what I had told you to do that day. Puri Jagannath never lets anyone down. Believe me.”
After reading this message, I felt the heaviness from my heart disappear! At that time, I saw a new video message from Mohanji being posted. I opened it and while my eyes were watching Mohanji through the video and my ears were listening to Mohanji’s voice, I dozed off again!
Sometime later, my phone rang. I could barely open my eyes; I looked at the phone but fell asleep again!
After some time, I felt a slight pressure on my left shoulder. I saw Mohanji’s right hand with a red/orange thread on his wrist! Yes, I had a clear vision of Mohanji’s right hand holding my left shoulder! I woke up and just then my phone rang again. I picked it up this time. (It was as if Mohanji woke me up to attend the phone call!)
It was my mother on the other side. I was pleasantly surprised to hear her voice, with a clear difference from the previous day. I felt as if the huge dark load had been released from her too. She was still sad and was crying, but the heavy negative darkness from the previous day that was also making me heavy had gone! I spoke to her for a long time! After talking to her, I realised, Mohanji had surely healed her. I remembered the message he had sent me that morning! My eyes filled with tears at Mohanji’s immense compassion. Mohanji responds to me, my every thought, my every word, even when I don’t speak to him! He never stops delivering his unconditional love, support and compassion. Just then I received a message from my friend from Mohanji family in the USA, telling me that the previous night, Mohanji had asked her to do Mai-Tri for me! The previous night! When I was so heavy! I had no words! Mohanji himself had organised me to receive Mai-Tri! Remember, I was feeling like asking someone for Mai-Tri but didn’t? But Mohanji knew what was needed!
Oh, Mohanji! Only these words from my melting heart came out. Arranging my healing, removing the heaviness from my mother, I knew Mohanji had healed her too. I expressed my gratitude to Mohanji and my ever compassionate Guru wrote back, “I care for you.”
Well, do I need any more proof!
Mohanji’s caring doesn’t end here. Let me continue after this.
Sorry this is getting long, but believe me, every word of this story that I am narrating in my current grieving situation, is coming with my highest realisation of truth.
Arranging divine grace for the soul:
When I was talking to my mother, I was discussing the various rituals that we need to be doing here in London. I was wondering, in our current lockdown situation, that I cannot even call a priest to do the rituals on special days!
Once again, Mohanji heard this thought and sorted out my dilemma. Let me explain how.
Later that morning, I received a condolence message from Swami Surya from the Skanda Vale ashram. The moment I saw his message, I wondered if maybe I could request him if they could do puja on the special days as per our rituals. With slight hesitation, I mentioned this to him. Swami Surya, wrote back, the day for which I was requesting, was, in fact, such an auspicious day and they have special pujas in all the temples in Skanda Vale, ending with a Mahabhishek in the Maha Kali temple! He said he will gladly offer the puja that day for my brother. My eyes opened widely at this message from him. Puja at Maha Kali temple for my brother’s soul! And you know what? My brother has been a great devotee of Maha Kali from his childhood!
And now, amidst the lockdown situation, such a divine blessing was planned, all by Guru Mandala. My head bowed down to Mohanji again. It wasn’t too difficult for me to realise that this was indeed Moahnji’s leela, yet again answering my thoughts, “How can I do the rituals”, and arranging Swami’s message to come to me at the right time etc.!
Last but not least, feeding the Brahmins:
After arranging the puja at Skanda Vale for the 11th-day ceremony, I felt like arranging some food seva in India through Ammucare for these 11 days as Ammucare was already doing daily feeding of the poor people whose income had stopped completely due to the lockdown situation. I felt what better ritual can I arrange than offering food seva for the poor people in my brother’s memory.
I contacted Soma didi, Ammucare President and she very kindly agreed to this request. She asked me where I would like this annadanam to happen. I said anywhere they are doing is fine, but if they can arrange it in Shirdi, that would be great. She then mentioned that it may be difficult as there was a lot of police restrictions etc. in Shirdi at the moment. I assured her it didn’t matter, wherever they can do, that would be a great seva.
The next day, I was talking to my mother again. She mentioned at a point that on the 10th and 11th days, we needed to feed at least that many Brahmins/priests. But due to the lockdown situation, they were not getting more than 3!
As soon as I kept the phone, I saw a message from Ammucare team, in which they had given the schedule for the 11 days of feeding!
During the first 3 days, feeding in Shirdi!
During the following five days, feeding in Ganeshpuri.
And last 3 days, feeding in Arunachala, and to Sadhus!
This was clearly a divine arrangement again! We had wanted Shirdi, but it had not seemed possible. But the team had managed to arrange it there.
And the last 3 days, for the most important ritual days, if not Brahmins at my mother’s place, feeding Sadhus in Arunachala! Can it be any more auspicious than this?
Also, when we were worried that we were not able to call many people and offer food during these days, the food seva happening during all the 11 days in these places was much more than what we could have anyway done!
When I narrated about this to my family, all were so grateful to Ammucare and its volunteers, and above all to Mohanji.
It’s not a big thing to realise that it was no one but Mohanji, who was ensuring that all these wishes were being fulfilled, doing everything possible to bring peace to my brother’s soul and some solace to my grieving family.
I can’t end this write up without mentioning that hundreds of Mohanji Global family members have been with us during this grieving period, giving us their condolences and prayers. Many Acharyas have offered their online chanting and satsang sessions for the smooth transition of my brother’s soul.
All this is because we are one MOHANJI FAMILY! And truly, this has healed us so amazingly.
My heartfelt gratitude to the entire Mohanji Global family.
I offer my pranams and a heart full of gratitude and love to Mohanji, who has kept my family and me in his divine embrace.
Thank you Mohanji.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 27th April 2020
Disclaimer:
The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the authors and those providing comments on these blogs are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or positions of Mohanji, Mohanji Foundation, it’s members, employees or any other individual or entity associated with Mohanji or Mohanji Foundation. We make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of any information presented by individual authors and/or commenters on our blogs and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use.
We reserve the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner we see fit blog entries or comments that we, in our sole discretion, deem to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, of an express commercial nature, or otherwise unacceptable.
Mohanji’s birthday was celebrated joyfully in various parts of the world by the volunteers of the ACT Foundation, touching lives in many different ways – by donating food, school supplies, clothes, etc. It was indeed a fitting tribute to Mohanji as he believes strongly in giving and taking care of Mother Earth.
EUROPE
SERBIA
In Serbia, volunteers have been particularly creative about serving. The activities took place in various places in different ways.
In Belgrade, service to the homeless and birds
ACT volunteers from Belgrade donated 11 packages of food to the homeless in the city. Touched by the modesty of these people, the team experienced fullness of hearts and thought about the values in life.
Another group of volunteers fed birds on the streets of the city and thanks to the nice weather everyone enjoyed this gathering.
Reforestation near river Tamiš, clearing garbage, and helping two families.
Near Zrenjanin, ACT volunteers gathered and planted 34 mulberry seedlings, cleared rubbish from the riverbank, and visited two families living in difficult conditions to donate food. On February 22, in cooperation with Association ‘Zelene šape’, the afforestation of Banat and the clearing of the Tamiš river coast was done with the goal to restore the beavers and birds to their natural habitat as a contribution to the biodiversity of the area. 20 bags of waste were collected. This small contribution to Mother Earth was due to the inspiration of the founder of this platform, Mohanji.
Visit and donation to the Association for Assistance to the Mentally Disabled People in Kula.
Thanks to donations from the citizens, ACT Foundation in Serbia has been able to provide elemental components for the establishment of a sensory garden for the rehabilitation of people and children with mental disorders within this association. They were donated a trampoline, two lazy bags, a swing egg for vestibular stimulation, six interactive Montessori boards and a fountain for audio and visual stimulation. ACT volunteers had a beautiful time chatting and singing amidst laughter and hugs with staff and users.
MACEDONIA
On the occasion of Mohanji’s birthday, the devotees from Macedonia visited three needy families and donated food and hygiene supplies. Also, more than 100 kg of food was donated to a shelter of cats and dogs, and they spent some time playing with these animals.
CROATIA
Split and Pula visited a Youth Correctional Facilities home with vegan cake and donated two packages of cosmetics for boys and girls. Tuition fees were paid for two children.
In Split and Rijeka, food and a bike were donated to five families. The volunteers also visited a cat shelter and donated food and pellets.
In Krk and Zagreb, feeding of fishes, birds, and horses took place.
UK
During February, multiple seva activities took place to celebrate Mohanji’s birthday. Tiggywinkles, a Wildlife Specialist Hospital Trust in Bucks was given items from their wish list. Items included small animal cages, bird food, printing paper, and an ink cartridge.
More than 80 people at the Mother Teresa Soup Kitchen and more than 65 people at the DENS shelter were provided with food on 2 different occasions. Toiletries and underwear were also donated to the homeless.
In Dickwella and Panadura in Sri Lanka, 100 underprivileged school children were identified and were given school shoes, socks, and water bottles. Their parents were given dry food parcels and sarees. The families were also given a meal on this special day.
All the volunteers are grateful and feel very privileged to have been given these opportunities to help here in the UK, and also in Sri Lanka.
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
The team in Bjeljina visited and gave donations to a poverty-stricken family.
In Pilar, a town that is an hour and a half away from the main city, John dedicated the day’s seva to Mohanji for his birthday. The celebrations also extended and brought joy and love to the children of St. Joseph Orphanage.
MAURITIUS
Mauritius Mohanji Association celebrated Mohanji’s Birthday in an Ashram for senior citizens. Lunch and dinner Seva was sponsored by Mai-Tri donations and the Seva team. Some of them needed special attention as they weren’t able to eat by themselves.
The Seva team shared how they could feel these residents needed attention and care. They felt happy to be able to spend some time and bring some spark into the life of the seniors.
AFRICA
SOUTH AFRICA
JOHANNESBURG
ACT team cooked and served vegan lunch for many children who came to Shumbashaba from a very impoverished background. Special cakes were served too. The team felt a lot of love and gratitude for Mohanji through this selfless service.
SHUMBASHABA
Mohanji’s Birthday month seva continued over the last Saturday in February 2020. It also formed part of the weekly Saturday seva for the children at Shumbashaba, who come from homes of severe poverty and hardships. Children were provided with golden sun-soaked bananas, crunchy red apples, and nik-naks. There were muffins for the after-lunch treat. A piping hot lunch of samp and bean soup was served at the garden table. There were about 75 children. Those beautiful faces were heart-melting for the volunteers.
LADYSMITH
Mohanji’s birthday celebrations were done at a children’s shelter where the children were served peanut butter and jam sandwiches, hot dogs and party packs.
DURBAN
Saturday was spent in Seva activities. 100 beans bunnies (hollowed out bread with beans curry filling), 100 freshly baked vegan cupcakes prepared by the ashram baker and juice were offered mostly to kids from a very destitute informal settlement. Three huge bags of clothes were offered to the South African Prevention of Cruelty to Animals charity shop. The following weekend 150 medical packs consisting of everything required for a first-aid kit and hygiene were also donated to the destitute.
ETHIOPIA
In Addis Ababa, volunteers handed out food packets consisting of injara, shiro, pita bread, pita roti and water to 124 street dwellers in celebration of Mohanji’s Birthday. The volunteers felt immense gratitude for this opportunity to serve.
AMERICAS
PERU
Even though there were floods and roads were closed, some kids came to make birthday cards and to wish Mohanji a happy birthday. The rainy season has hit the area of Cuzco quite severely. The Peru team started food seva in that region in order to be of help to the many orphans left behind. The area is plagued by deadly mudslides.
USA
In celebration of Mohanji’s birthday, volunteers organized many events across the USA and in Varanasi and Bengaluru in India too. Food was served in multiple locations.
CORAL SPRINGS, FLORIDA
Florida started Mohanji’s birthday celebrations with a brown bag lunch drive. A team of moms and kids prepared peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. PBJ sandwiches, clementines, oat bars, and chips packets were included in the lunch bags. The team prepared 76 lunch bags and donated them to the Broward Outreach Homeless Shelter.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA
Pizza, pasta, fruits, cookies and salad were served at a Women’s homeless shelter on February 22nd. On 23rd February, bread, jam, peanut butter, oat bars, clementines, oranges and bananas were donated to a local homeless shelter.
HOUSTON, TEXAS
The team in Houston donated food to The Ballard House in Katy and served food for about 50 sick people under medical care. They donated idly (steamed rice cakes), sambar, coconut rice, pasta, spaghetti, lemon rice, pulav, peanut butter sandwich, gulab jamun, curd rice, juice, fruits, and cereal bars. The team of volunteers were not only willing to donate food but were also willing to travel to the place to serve food.
The Ballard House is a shelter for sick and recovering patients and their families. The patients and their families enjoyed the scrumptious meal and thanked Mohanji. Captivated by Mohanji, an inmate sought assistance in downloading the meditation on her phone. The next day after doing the meditation, she texted the volunteer saying that she felt very relaxed and nice. The team of volunteers felt blessed for this opportunity.
MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT
A food drive was organised on February 22nd. As the regular soup kitchen was not available, within two weeks the team located a place, very aptly called the Friendship Center in a nearby town called New Britain. It was a soup kitchen and a homeless shelter in one building and they were open to receiving any food. Arrangements were made with the cook in charge for vegetable rice and pasta trays. To this, fruits, snacks such as cookies and health bars plus water bottles were added. 5 trays of pasta, 3 trays of vegetables and fruits, granola bars and water (71 bananas, 6 lbs of apples, 6 lbs of clementines, 148 health bars including fruit and grain bars and chewy chocolate chip granola bars, and 155 water bottles) were served.
VARANASI, INDIA
ACT USA and ACT South Africa participated in seva activities during an Acharya program in Varanasi. Our volunteers went to an Ashram complex that has a school for boys, an old age home hospice and an ashram for sadhus (saints). The poor and homeless people are fed here daily.
On February 19th, our volunteers spent some time chatting to the elderly ladies there and also gave a donation for medicines. ACT and Ammucare (India) sponsored lunch. 120 people were served dahl (spiced lentils), chapati (flatbread), jalebi (an Indian dessert) and fruits. There was abundant food available for everyone to enjoy and lots of leftovers too which was not expected even by the organizers.
On February 20th, our volunteers made arrangements with the shrine of Kitcheri Baba to serve early morning breakfast. These incredible volunteers serve 1000 meals every day to the poor and homeless in Varanasi. The shrine is across the road from the Kashi Vishwanath complex and Kitcheri Baba has a massive cooking pot on site where he cooks fresh healthy dahl, rice, and vegetables to serve those in need.
BENGALURU, INDIA
ACT USA sponsored lunch on 22nd February at Manav charities which hosts foster and special needs kids. Lunch was cooked for approximately 60 kids. The kids also sent adorable videos wishing Mohanji a very happy birthday.
CANADA
Food Drive was conducted for the homeless in downtown Toronto. Mai-Tri -Method, where several participants received Mai-Tri and Blood Donation Camp was held at Mississauga.
One evening, after doing Mohanji Aarati, I got a very strong thought to go to Shirdi. It was late in the evening and I thought it might not be a good idea to start at that time. But the thought was so strong that I was forced to book a bus and leave. Within one hour I was on a bus to Shirdi.
Aditya doing seva
It is a 12-hour journey from Hyderabad to Shirdi. I reached Shirdi the next morning and checked into a hotel which I had booked while travelling. I had learned that one of our Mohanji Family member-Jyoti Bahl was also visiting Shirdi the same day. I went into my room and freshened up, As I came out, Jyotiji was in front of me, and she recognized me as I was wearing a Mohanji Foundation Kurta! This was the first time we met but I could feel the connection with her, being from the ‘M’ Family. We had a small conversation and decided to meet later. After eating something, I went for Samadhi Darshan.
When I returned to the hotel, I sat in the Ahimsa Vegan café (a vegan café inaugurated by Mohanji). Jyotiji also arrived there, and we started sharing experiences of Mohanji and Sai Baba. While Jyotiji was narrating her experiences, I could feel her devotion and deep connection to Baba. Her bhakti bhaav (devotion) is so strong, that it took me into a different mode altogether and I started feeling a deep state of bliss, as if Baba was filling me up. After that I wanted to spend more time with her and listen to her experiences. Luckily, I went to Dwarkamai with her. Throughout the way, she spoke only about Baba, as if the rest of the world does not exist and only Baba exists. As she was narrating with unbelievably intense bhaav (emotion), I was going deeper and deeper into a bliss state. I was already having the feeling that this visit to Shirdi was the most powerful to date, and would take my faith and devotion to another level. But wait! There was more to come.
I learnt from Jyotiji that they were visiting Meher Baba’s Samadhi the next morning. I did not know anything about Meher Baba, but wanted to accompany them. So the following day, I went to the Meher Baba Samadhi with them. As I entered the place, I felt a deep connection, and silence started settling within me. At the Samadhi, we had to form a queue, and go in one by one into the Samadhi room. When my turn arrived, I went in and prostrated at Baba’s feet. As I got up, I felt a change within myself immediately. I just wanted to sit there and meditate but there was no space as people were already sitting around the Samadhi. Luckily, a place got vacated soon, and I sat inside in meditation. I went into a deep state of bliss and silence like never before. It was the most intense meditation I have ever had. During the meditation, I felt the strong presence of Mohanji guiding me and instructing me. I wanted to meditate for a very long time there, but we had limited time and had to leave for Shirdi. As I came out, I learned from Jyotiji that Mohanji has visited Meher Baba’s place and she showed me a picture of Him standing near the Samadhi. I understood then why I had felt such a strong presence of Mohanji, and why I was brought there by Mohanji. Given the time constraint, we had to leave for Shirdi, but throughout the way, I felt deeply connected to the Divine: there were hardly any thoughts and nothing else mattered. This was the most wonderful experience I had ever had in Shirdi , and remember, it was totally unplanned from my side. But wait! There was still more to come!
Throughout the trip, Jyotiji was with me and I was totally mesmerized by her love and devotion. I wanted to spend more time with her and requested her to take me with her for Samadhi darshan, which she lovingly accepted. We went for Darshan and as always, Jyotiji kept talking about Baba and Mohanji and inside the temple, told me stories of Baba which I did not know. I was again taken into a state where there was only Baba and me, and nothing else existed. While we were talking, Jyotiji told me to read Shri Sai Satcharitra. I had started reading this previously, but discontinued it because of time constraints, and had not managed to complete it. Maybe this was a signal from Baba to start reading it again. Jyotiji took me to the Parayan hall (place inside the temple where people read books on Sai Baba) and told me to start reading again there. We went in, took the book and occupied places randomly. I hadn’t opened the book yet, and was just looking at it. Jyotiji told me to keep the book to my heart, think about Baba and open any page randomly. Keeping the book to my heart, I prayed to Baba to bless each and every soul and, placing my hand inside the book randomly, I opened it. It seemed a miracle to me that it opened at the very next page to the one where I had discontinued reading previously! It was the beginning of a new Chapter in Shri Sai Satcharitra that I was supposed to continue from. With deep love and gratitude, I completed that chapter and decided to read it daily from then on.
If this was not enough, I also unexpectedly got involved in Annadhan (food donation service) arranged by our beloved Mohanji Family members near the Samadhi Mandir of Baba. This was like the icing on the cake! I felt like I had jumped into a river of Grace and it was taking me effortlessly into bliss!
Aditya at an old age home
Aditya doing seva
I was having the most amazing trip to Shirdi. Each moment was transformative. I was wondering how an unplanned trip like this could be so transformative. But was it actually unplanned? Here is my answer: Mohanji had arranged it for me. When we were back in the Ahimsa Vegan Cafe and started sharing experiences again, I learnt from Jyotiji that she was with Mohanji the day before arriving in Shirdi- the same day that I got a strong urge to visit Shirdi. I believe Mohanji sent Jyotiji to create this experience for me. I do not know how to express my gratitude to my beloved Mohanji for all that he does for us. This experience has taken my faith and connection for Mohanji to a different level altogether, and made me understand how Mohanji and Sai Baba are one and same.
When I started following Mohanji, I did not know much about Sai Baba. But gradually, I developed a deep interest and love for Baba and became an ardent devotee of Baba. With my limited understanding, I could not comprehend how this connection with Baba was initiated and intensified by the grace of Mohanji. It cannot be a coincidence that the first time ever I visited a Sai Baba temple, was with Mohanji. It is hard to describe in words how blessed we are that Sai Baba is living with us through our Master- Mohanji. We still have Baba physically present with us as Mohanji. We must have gained a lot of merits in our past lives to be in his divine presence. Can we get any luckier? Can we ask for anything more?
We cannot comprehend how our Master works on us, how he takes us to the right place at the right time and to meet the right people. We are always fine at his lotus feet. We never miss anything, but we get the right thing at the right time, as per our capacity. This amazing transformative experience was made possible by the grace of our beloved Mohanji. I bow down at his lotus feet, and I am always secure at his lotus feet.
I also owe deep gratitude to Jyoti Bahl for being an amazing instrument of the Tradition and for helping me have these experiences.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI||
Compiled, Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 12th December 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.
We reserve the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner we see fit blog entries or comments that we, in our sole discretion, deem to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, of an express commercial nature, or otherwise unacceptable.
Ammucare Charitable Trust has volunteers across the globe carrying out selfless service activities of various types to reach out to as many people as possible. Through each seva, volunteers have wonderful, transforming experiences. Two such experiences are given below.
Blanket distribution in Chennai
You are expressing your highest. Let that highest be compassion, selflessness, sharing and caring. Let those be your highest expressions on earth so that you have no regrets.” –Mohanji
These words by Mohanji are very precious as this is what I truly experienced as a volunteer of Ammucare. I have tried to put into words the actual incident which taught me so much.
With the onset of winter in early November, Ammucare India decided on a ‘blanket drive’ campaign to distribute blankets to the homeless. I dismissed the idea immediately in my mind, as I lived in Chennai: a place where it is hot, hotter and hottest! I spoke with my friend Kishore too and we decided that we would focus on annadhan (food seva) and not on distribution of blankets. While in a conversation with Soma Seal (President of Ammucare, India) for some other matter, I casually mentioned this to her and said that it was not feasible for the Chennai team to participate in this blanket distribution. She too agreed and asked us to continue with our other seva! I could not have been more wrong and so far from the truth of our Master’s plan!
During the first week of December, with gusto, Kishore, Murali (my husband) and I planned to execute our monthly annadhan. One pleasant and windy Sunday morning, we set off for our food seva for the homeless. We came across a group of nomadic people who had pitched a tent in an open area. They eagerly accepted the food served and in their strange dialect communicated to us that they wanted blankets for their entire group as it was very cold! Coincidentally, it was a cold, windy day and Chennai recorded the lowest temperature for the year 2018! Our hearts melted in spite of the cold weather outside and we decided immediately to procure some blankets.
This is how our blanket drive seva started. Promptly, we began making enquiries to procure cotton blankets which people could use throughout the year and not just for the few days in December. This had to be done immediately as it was the need of the hour! During the week, Kishore and I went around to different shops to buy blankets at a reasonable cost. Finally Kishore zoomed in on one shop and we were able to purchase 25 good quality blankets! Feeling very happy, we decided to distribute them the next day itself to complete the seva. The urgency was because this was the first time that the temperatures had dipped a little and people required them now!
Late in the evening, three of us (Kishore, Sreenivas and I) set out to distribute the blankets. We drove around for two hours and managed to distribute only 7-8 blankets! Some people even refused to accept the blankets. We also carefully looked for people who had no belongings including old women and men sleeping on the streets. As we did not make much progress, it was decided that I would distribute the remaining blankets during the week as the other two volunteers were travelling.
Contemplating on the turn of events, I realised there was a message and a huge learning through this seva activity. One thing I understood was to be completely devoid of doership and operate with detachment and compassion. The entire seva was ordained through the divine command of our Guru and Master Mohanji! I was however curious about the outcome of this whole exercise. In the meantime, during my Kriya practice, I saw a beautiful, green, single mountain peak and guessed that it was Thiruvannamalai (Arunachala). I understood that it was a call to visit this holy place soon!
During the third week, Murali and I drove around every alternate night in search of homeless people. Once we went around the entire length and breadth of Chennai and managed to find only one man who was settling into sleep in front of a shop with a towel and a water bottle. During this week again, we were able to distribute only five blankets.
I was not perturbed and felt that our destination was Arunachala! This was when the call of the Arunachala Mountain came true. During the last weekend of December 2018, Murali and I set out to the temple town of Thiruvannamalai. After a parikrama of the holy mountain (girivalam), we went around the town distributing the blankets late in the night. It was extremely cold and there were lots of sadhus sleeping on the platforms along the parikrama path. Initially, we could spot only a few without blankets but later on late at night, we located many more sadhus sleeping bare on the platform with just their dhoti as a cover. The sadhus graciously accepted our offer of blankets and blessed us. As we ventured further, we saw a few people covered head to toe in blue plastic sheets and in deep sleep. I was not aware of who these people were but I just covered them with a new blanket and moved from one person to another. My eyes filled with tears as I experienced non-doership and the person receiving it was also unaware! What we plan and what is executed are two different things! Thus the 10 days of activity ended as a blissful and heart-warming seva in Arunachala, the Kailash of the South!
The next day, while returning home, I did identify a couple of sadhus sitting on the pavement with the new blankets. One sadhu with matted hair had the blanket next to him and was noting down something in a diary. On the way, we stopped to give some fruits and biscuits to an old woman. Suddenly, out of the blue, she asked for a blanket. As I did not have a new one, I gave her the one I had for my personal use. It was such a beautiful and blissful experience that my heart overflowed with gratitude for having been able to complete this seva with Mohanji’s guidance. Thus ended the blanket saga!
This entire seva was an eye-opener and helped me understand the true meaning of giving back to the earth! Sitting in my comfort zone, I did not realise the actual need of the people on the streets. During the course of the seva, there were talks about giving only to people who ‘deserved.’ The question that came up in my mind immediately was: who are we to judge? Our duty is to give and those who need it will automatically receive. This was probably the reason why we were guided to the right people at the right time! It removed the remnants of doership completely and my heart was filled with only unconditional love.
Seva is an inner call with immense benefits to the volunteer. These were the few key points which each of us can contemplate on:
Selflessness – Through this entire act, Mohanji showed me how the hand that gives and the hand that receives is the only connection. Doership falls away and the true joy of giving can be experienced.
Promptness – Any seva has to be done immediately and effectively. Although we scouted around the same day for reasonably priced blankets, we could not give them to the people who asked for them as they left town the next morning. However, the seva was completed in a short time and delivered to people who were meant to receive them.
Conviction – This was clearly brought out through my inner vision of the mountain and the annadhan experience changed my thought process within seconds, giving me that conviction that the blanket drive was a necessity at this point in time.
Compassion – When the heart is open, compassion finds a place in it. All of us as volunteers are compassionate and that is what makes us swing into action immediately when required.
Awareness – With unconditional love as the driving force, the entire seva was carried out with awareness and commitment.
Gratitude – The gratitude that I felt at the culmination of the activity can only be experienced. This was a wonderful opportunity for self- growth and learning.
Healing – It was a process of self-healing as with giving unconditionally, we shed a lot of our baggage and are on the path of spiritual progress
Needless to say, in all of the above, Mohanji’s loving hand gently steered us in the right direction, pointing us correctly to the people who were meant to benefit from this blanket drive. Not only that, Murali and I were blessed to visit a beautiful Vittal temple through Mohanji’s grace. It was an overwhelming and blissful experience where I felt one with the divine. This is how Mohanji showered His blessings on us.
Thank you Mohanji for the wonderful platform that you provide for these acts of giving!
Jai Mohanji!
Another Ammucare volunteer, Savitri also shared her experience of Blanket distribution at Shirdi.
Blankets for the special needs orphan children in Shirdi:
9th of November is celebrated as Ammucare day in India and as ACT day in other parts of the world. Ammucare volunteers across India were doing selfless activities according to the needs and capabilities in their areas.
For this special event, Savitri and her husband Jayasurya planned to distribute blankets at an orphanage of special needs children in Shirdi. When they went to procure suitable blankets, they realised that the cost was way beyond the budget! Immediately, Savitri prayed to Mohanji to help them and without any delay, Mohanji’s grace worked as a miracle! The shopkeeper gave them a discount of 50%! He reduced another 20% from the final bill, saying that it was his contribution towards the seva! The ultimate cost of the required number of blankets came well within the budget.
After procuring the blankets, Savitri, Jayasurya and their daughter (a young Ammucare volunteer) reached Shirdi a couple of days before the 9th. Selfless service with unconditional love is one of the main pillars of the Datta Tradition and the grace of Shirdi Sai Baba is always seen for people involved in any seva activity. It was evident this time too.
When Savitri and Jayasurya entered the Samadhi temple, they met Sulakhe Maharaj (the head priest of the temple). Upon their introduction as Mohanji’s devotees, Sulakhe Maharaj immediately gave Savitri a coconut and a flower. He also gave her a shawl and a flower and asked her to give them to Mohanji whenever she meets Him. Savitri felt Sai Baba’s blessings upon receiving these gifts for Mohanji and herself.
Coming out of the temple, she immediately noticed on the TV that Sulakhe Maharaj was not sitting at the Samadhi anymore. It was as if he had suddenly appeared to give this special gift to Mohanji on the auspicious day of Lakshmi puja. Savitri realised that this was a special blessing from Sai Baba!
On the following day, as planned, Savitri and her family along with other Ammucare volunteers distributed blankets to the boys at the orphanage. Not only did Savitri feel immense satisfaction for having met the needs of these underprivileged children, she also felt immense gratitude towards Mohanji and Sai Baba, and for the grace of the Guru Mandala!
Mohanji cleared the hurdle of high expenditure, enabling them to purchase the correct number of blankets at a reasonable price and facilitated smooth execution. In addition, Sai Baba’s blessings came through Sulakhe Maharaj, who gave them the gift of a coconut, which is now a rare prasad inside the temple.
The message is clear. Mohanji and Sai Baba have shown us how much they love people who do selfless service.Mohanji carries out every selfless ACT with compassion through devotees like Savitri.
‘If we ADD VALUE to the society, we have value in this life. In this whole life, it’s all about how much we can give; it’s not how much we can take.” – Mohanji
||JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI||
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“Happy Guru Poornima to all of you.
This is not one day dedicated for the remembrance of your Guru. We should remember guru every moment as a reminder of who and what we actually are.
This day is for you to remember that the true guru is the real you. Your highest truth is your real Guru. Life provides the presence of Guru in your life through various incidents. When incidents are witnessed, when there is a witness, you will feel Guru. When you do not see incidents, instead see only the essence behind all incidents, you dissolve into the Guru. You will realise that you and guru have always been inseparably one. There is essentially no Guru outside of you.
My job is just to take you to yourself. You are the origin (of the journey) and you are the destination. I am just a reminder.
I bow to my Guru who opened my eyes, that were blinded by the darkness of ignorance, and revealed to me the light of knowledge.
Traditional aarti to our yoga gurus during the Teacher’s Training course in Ganeshpuri, Jan 2018;Sanjay Sir leading group aarti to Brahmarishi Mohanji and all the Masters and Brahmarishi Mohanji and Sai Baba
Maryland, The USA
HSTY yoga and freedom meditation offered to the local community at the Thai temple in Maryland USA.
GURULIGHT
DIVINE M HERITAGE
On the auspicious occasion of Guru Poornima and with the grace of Mohanji, we are presenting to you a new initiative “DIVINE M HERITAGE“.
Divine M Heritage is an initiative to present products inspired by our beloved Mohanji worldwide.
We are offering the products to add on to spiritual journey. Product’s at Divine M Heritage are designed with great intricacy and with the blessing of our Guru.
All important aspect like ahimsa, compassion, seva are taken into consideration during the production.
Most important ingredient of the venture is Guru’s Grace. We bow down to our dear Mohanji for showering this immense blessing on us.
I will be soon sharing with you the exclusive products truly inspired by Mohanji which is surely going to add on to our spiritual journey.
Stay tuned…
If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to write us at divinemheritage@gmail.com
We are always happy to hear from you.
Divine M Heritage
Jai Mohanji
SOUTH AFRICA
Johannesburg
It is with gratitude that the Mohanji Centre in Johannesburg and the members came together to celebrate Guru Purnima with the presence of Swami Bhaktananda and members from the ashram.
Swamiji lovingly discussed what is Guru Purnima before we all proceeded to chant Mohanji’s Gayathri mantra.
A Homa dedication to Guru was then conducted and the energy in the room felt so calming, beautiful and pure.
Mohanji’s aarti was then performed followed by dhoop aarti to Shirdi Baba was done.
Love and gratitude to our beloved Guru Mohanji and the entire lineage of Masters!
Mohanji Ladysmith Centre
With love and devotion to Guru Mohanji, the entire Guru Parampara and Lord Shiva, devotees began Guru Purnima with a food seva. Where various children were treated with snacks.
The centre continued with Guru Purnima celebrations through the night as chants, bhajans and prayers to Guru where done.
Members had done Freedom Meditation, followed by chanting of the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra 108 times.
Members also listened to the Vishnu Sahastranam and did 108 × 5 rounds of Aum Namah Shivaya mantra.
Through the night, religious songs and chants were listened to and members concluded with Mohanji’s aarti.
ASIA
INDIA
In DELHI
Gurupurnima was celebrated in the newly opened Mohanji Sadhana Centre at
Janakpuri, Delhi.
The Celebrations included Mohanji Gayatri Mantra Chanting, Power of Purity
Meditation followed by Mohanji Aarati.
2. In KOLKATA
In Kolkata GuruPurnima was celebrated with Chanting and Bhajans and with a
session of Power of Purity Meditation.
3. In CHENNAI
Chennai city centre celebrated the Gurupurnima, starting with Guru Puja
with a chant of GuruPaduka Stotram, followed by Mohanji Gayatri Mantra
Chanting, and Power of Purity Meditation.
4. In JAMSHEDPUR
Jamshedpur team celebrated Gurupurnima by conducting the Power of Purity
Meditation, Shiva Kavacham chant followed by Aarati. And Arati was also
done at Mohanpur, a village near Jamshedpur where a centre for stitching
for women was opened recently.
5. In GURUGRAM
GuruPurnima was celebrated in Gurugram, starting with the GuruStotram,
followed by Shiva kavacham and Mohanji Gayatri Mantra Chant.
6. In JAMMU
GuruPurnima celebrations in Jammu included, Mohanji Gayatri Mantra
chanting, followed by Bliss of Silence Meditation, Bhajans and Mohanji
aarati.
7. In KERALA
GuruPurnima was celebrated in Kerala at various places like Palakkad,
Kochi, Malappuram and Guruvayur. Poojas were conducted for Mohanji in
various temples in Kerala. The celebrations included Guru Puja with Guru
Paduka Stotram, Mohanji Gayatri Chanting, Power of Purity Meditation, Sri
Gurugeeta Chanting and Mohanji Aarati.
AMMUCARE
Guru Purnima week was celebrated from 22nd July – 29th July focussing primarily on Annadaan. Overall, 21934 beings have been fed including birds, dogs and other animals.
The cities spanned across Jhansi, Chennai, Bombay, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Hosur, Tirunelveli, Kolkata, Palakkad, Gurgaon, Jammu, Delhi, Jamshedpur, Assam and Pune.
Jhansi: The Ammucare team served food to 400 slums dwellers. These people live in huge number in an open area at the outskirts on Gwalior Road. Amongst the Ammucare volunteers was also an Army personnel who lent a helping hand seeing the huge crowd. beings were fed.
Chennai: The team distributed rice mixed with lentils to workers and the homeless along the Marina Beach. 360 beings were fed including birds and dogs.
Bombay: Food distribution across various parts of the city. Despite the infamous Bombay rains, the team was determined and performed Annadaan at every available opportunity. 3109 beings were fed.
Bangalore: Food and stationary items were distributed at various slums. Also, in collaboration with another NGO, basic necessities along with an entire month’s groceries were provided at daycare centres of the kids of the migrant construction workers. 8355 beings were fed.
Hyderabad and Secunderabad: The teams performed various activities as part of the sewa. They visited a Cancer hospital where medical supplies were distributed. Various slums were visited through the week where food packets were distributed. Clothes, an air cooler and medical supplies were donated at an Old Age Home. Snacks, fruits, groceries and clothes were distributed at a Girls orphanage. 4004 beings were fed.
Kolkata: The team visited a blind school and a slum 830 and beings were fed.
Thirunelveli and Hosur: Amar Seva Sangam is a charitable society. They have been doing a phenomenal job in empowering the differently-abled and people with special needs by helping them grow into the mainstream and become self-sufficient. Annadaan was performed here. 325 beings were fed.
Pune: Food packets and dentals kits were distributed at a slum. Also, part of the volunteering team was a dentist who gave demonstrated and educated the slum dwellers on the importance of dental hygiene. The team also visited an old age home where they shared groceries and distributed blankets and spent quality time with the elders. 1517 beings were fed.
Palakkad: The team visited 2 schools and served lunch to 300 kids.
Gurgaon: Food sewa was performed for 500 beings.
Jammu Aangan: Annadaan was done for 45 kids which also included distribution of juice and cupcakes to kids at a Cancer Hospital.
Delhi Aangan: Food seva was done for 200 kids.
Mohanpur/ Jamshedpur: Food packets were distributed throughout the week at various villages and 1890 beings were fed.
Assam: Food packets were distributed to 100 needy people.
…
The Ammucare team of the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad concluded the GuruPurnima seva week spanning across 5 locations serving 1400 souls.
Location 1 : Basavatarakam Cancer Hospital.
To start with, the volunteers had the herculean task of managing the huge crowd gathered and they did a phenomenal job at it.
They were made to sit in lines post which commenced the distribution of rice, dal and clothes. The kids were excited to be treated with Halwa and other sweets. Also, dates and medical supplies were distributed to cancer patients.
Location 2 :
Meal packets were served at a Sai Baba Temple.
Location no 3: Kothaguda:
Leading the grp was a 83 yr young at heart and a strong willed lady.
Foodpacks were distributed to the homeless and the underprivileged.
Location no 4 :
Rice bags were distributed to a family at a Security house.
Location No 5 : Slums behind Vasantha
Valley :
Snacks and kichadi packets were distributed to the needy.
Kudos to the Ammucare team of Hyd & Secunderabad. This would have not been possible without the Guru’s Grace and the hardworking team.
Day 1
Day 1 had volunteers perform food seva for 200 souls at Minakshi Slum and Convention slum. In addition to this, new dresses were distributed to the needy.
The Ammucare volunteers were thanked profusely by one and all.
To volunteer, pls write to info.ammucare@gmail.com or ammucare@gmail.com
If you would like to contribute towards the same, PFB the details:
Ammucare Charitable Trust
Acc no: 10620047858
State Bank of India
State: West Bengal
IFSC Code: SBIN0014532
Branch Code- 14532
Day 2
Mother – The one who loves unconditionally. The one who provides before the child even asks. The one who sleeps on a half belly so that her child can have some extra. The one who leaves no stone unturned to ensure the child gets all the happiness in the world.
It is disheartening when the same child is unwilling to provide a safe roof, extend a supportive hand, a patient ear and a warm hug when the parent needs it the most, as they age.
Mother’s Nest Old Age Home for women is one such shelter which houses aged women who have been abandoned by their kith and kin. Ammucare volunteers at Hyderabad visited the shelter and distributed sarees, groceries and medical supplies and spent some quality time with them.
The elders very happy to just be able to chat with someone and have someone hold them.
Day 3
On 24th July the Hyderabad and Secunderabad Ammucare teams visited Cheers orphanage and Biodiversity slum.
Cheers is not only an orphanage but also a rehab centre. It houses 37 kids in the age grp of 4 – 17 years. Since the Ammucare team is a regular there, the kids were jumping with joy to greet them and wanted to know what goodies where they going to receive.
The team distributed snacks, groceries, text books and clothes to them.
There are a few college going girls who wanted to shop and buy clothes of their choice. The team has decided to pamper them and take them shopping this Sun.
The Jhansi Ammucare team served food to 400 slums dwellers. These people live in huge number in an open area at the outskirts on Gwalior Road. Amongst the Ammucare volunteers was also an Army personnel who lent a helping hand seeing the huge crowd.
Volunteer Preeti Yadav says “We were fortunate enough that the rain which was continuing for last four five days gave us enough time to serve the needy. Feeling blessed to do seva”.
The Ammucare Kolkata team served a sumptuous lunch at a blind school to 130 kids during the Guru Purnima seva week. The children were very happy and thoroughly relished the food.
Heartfelt gratitude to the two sponsors who generously contributed.
Team Ammucare at Kolkata performed Annadaan for 600 humans at a slum colony near Narkeldanga.
“The hunger is the same for all. Rich or poor. It was so satisfying to do the seva today” says Ammucare volunteer Sunita Madan.
Thanks to all the donors for contributing generously.
Jammu Ammucare team treats children – our future in the making, no lesser than a queen or a king.
At Mohanji’s Aangan, nutrition is provided to not only the body but the brain too;
Paucity of basic necessities is faced by many kids, not just a few.
Life lessons are imparted with all fervour;
Spreading smiles is our only endeavour.
Jammu’s Mohanji ka Aangan pampered its 45 kids on the occasion on Guru Purnima. The team also visited a Cancer Hospital and distributed juice and cupcakes to cheer up the kids.
On the occasion of Gurupurnima, Ammucare team at Palakkad did Annadan at 2 schools.
Food was distributed to 36 & 263 students at KM L.P. School and at Vidyaniketan School respectively.
The Ammucare team at Chennai distributed Sambhar rice to workers and the homeless along the Marina Beach.
200 souls were fed including birds and dogs.
“We had a great time doing the food seva” says volunteer Rekha Murali.
Ammucare team at Mumbai fanned itself across the entire city and performed Annadaan at various locations. “The smiles on the kids’ faces charges us up” says Ammucare volunteer Bharat V Gada.
The smiles on the kids’ faces is indeed precious, priceless and tugs at the strings of the heart. There can be nothing more valuable than spreading smiles and a compassionate heart and good intent is all it takes.
Spare a moment to reflect. Let us all do our bit and ensure that the needy do not sleep on an empty belly while we waste gallons of food.
On the occasion of Guru Purnima, the Ammucare team at Bangalore distributed food packets, notebooks and stationery to 75 kids of construction workers.
The Ammucare team at Pune carried out multiple activities on the occasion of Guru Purnima.
The team visited two slums where food packets were distributed to kids and adults alike. The icing on the cake was the distribution of a dental kit to the slum kids and a small demonstration and talk on dental hygiene by none other than a dentist herself who has newly joined the team as a volunteer.
The team also visited an old age home which houses 20 elders and shared groceries. This was followed by bedsheets distribution and spending some quality time with them.
“The love they showered on us and the stories they shared with us filled us with warmth. They desired only one thing and that was time” says volunteer Nikita Naredi.
Mohanji ka Aangan kids got their share of biscuit packets too.
Ammucare Gurgaon team performed the good deed of feeding 500 souls on the occasion of Guru Purnima.
Hunger is the same for all;
Rich, poor, big or small.
Donate while you can;
To all beings alike and not just man.
Share your love, share your time;
Heart filled with Compassion, that is the intent prime.
MALAYSIA
On Saturday 28 July 2018, there was a lot of excitement in the air as we prepared for Puja of our dear Mohanji’s paduka. We started with the Maha Mantra and with each chant, beautiful sounds that seem like church bells ringing were heard. We flowed into chanting the 108 names of Mohanji whilst performing the Paduka Puja with offerings of milk and flowers and rose water.
Family members then performed Aarti and thereafter settled down for the Bliss of Silence Meditation. Peace and silence was experienced but one family member heard footsteps near the altar. Presence of Mohanji, Shirdi Baba and Devi Amma were deeply felt.
For the first time at the centre, our Prasad was food specially cooked by some family members topped up with a chocolate cake.
It was indeed a day of celebration remembering our beloved Guru Mohanji.🙏❤️
On Sunday 29 July 2018, visit to a childrens’ home began with the purchase of groceries under wish list of orphanage. Many family members, friends and devotees of Satya Sai Baba had generously contributed to the purchase and also tea for the home. Used furniture still in good condition was also arranged for delivery to the home.
The caretakers of the home are a couple and their children and two helpers. We had arrived at a time where the caretakers and some children had gone to arrange a burial ceremony of a dog which had been killed in an accident. The children had insisted on a proper burial for the dog. Love for animals flowed at such a young age.
There are 22 children ranging from 2 months old to 17 Years under the care of the home. We started with the Freedom Meditation. Children as young as 2 years and below, tried their very best to sit upright and keep their eyes closed. It was such a joy watching them. But alas, the warm day and lunch had taken its toil on them as they struggled to stay awake listening to the soothing music and voice of Mohanji.
There was much laughter and fun as the singing and games started and the highlight was tea time. Heart melting moments as we watched the children, the older ones feeding and taking care of the younger ones. The little ones ate their food with relish and even cleared their own plates and cups on finishing their meal.
Ending the event with sweets and chocolates distribution, brought more cheer and smiles from the little ones.
AMERICAS
CANADA
Datta Tapovan Canada
Gurupurnima, a remembrance to offer Gratitude to our Guru, Master, and all the teachers who gave us knowledge to recognize our best capacity and inner strength. Guru Tatwa that resides in Nature, Guru Tatwa that connects us to the Supreme Consciousness. Food was offered to shelter as part of the Gurupurnima celebrations. Devotees at Mohanji Datta Tapovan Canada got together to celebrate this auspicious day in Unison. Vegan is the theme of this Ashram. Vegan is one of Mohanji’s teachings and by following HIS teachings All the prasad that was prepared was total vegan. The event started with Pranav chants and Mohanji Pooja. All Deities were invited with deep gratitude and total surrender with devotion that drenched each eye and touched deeply within each heart. Mohanji Pooja was followed by Mohanji Gayatri Mantra chanted unanimously 108 times. The vibrations thus generated made many tremble and Speechless. All Devotees got their Padukas and we had a Paduka Abhishekham chanting Mohaji’s 108 names. That Holy water was then distributed as Prasad amongst all. After the Paad Pooja each heart was radiating with love and heartfelt gratitude towards Mohanji and all the Guru Tatwa that continuously guide us and bless us all.The bhaav was so deep that it inspired into spontaneous kirtans that became the soul of the event, many sang, many danced, many just swayed away in HIS Glory. Though externally to honour the flow of life the pooja was concluded by offering Bhog{Food} followed by aarti, internally the celebrations continued each moment with Mohanji’s presence residing in each heart. All present relished the Holy prasad and took home peace and love. We ever remain grateful in the Lotus Feet of Mohanji and Sainaath Maharaj.
Jai Jai Sadguru Shree Mohanji Maharaj.
USA
We started the Guru Poornima observance by the Mohanji Family in the USA on Friday, July 6 with a group chanting of the Mohanji Gayatri mantra for 108 times. This continued for 21 days until Thursday, July 26. Our group of hosts, Vidya from Connecticut, Vidya from Florida, and Pia and George from the DC area took lead in chanting and were joined by a group of dedicated chanters from all over USA via Zoom. On the day of the Guru Poornima, devotees offered prayers individually, with devotion and reverence to the Guru Parampara and to our beloved Guru Brahmarishi Mohanji and some conducted group meditation in their homes.
Devotees here have had many service projects in the pipeline for a while and it is worth noting that even though many tasks have taken long to culminate successfully, they reached fruition just in time for Guru Poornima, owing to the Guru’s grace. The following are a few noteworthy contributions made by our M family members to honor Mohanji and to offer love and gratitude:
Vidya from Connecticut successfully worked with Insight Timer, a very popular meditation app, to add the Power of Purity Meditation, opening it to the community of meditators all over the world.
Pia introduced the HSTY Kid’s Yoga at the Wat Thai Buddhist Temple in Washington DC as she took the children on an imaginary and fun-filled journey through a jungle, enjoying various animals through yoga poses. The pictures taken at the event reflect the palpable sense of joy among those children.
Several members of the US family also participated in the global Guru Poornima Food Seva in Shirdi coordinated by Viji and other members of the ACT Foundation.
Anu introduced Conscious Dance in Virginia, to participants ranging from ages 3 to 75. Everyone who participated enjoyed the session with the same level of enthusiasm and energy.
GURUDEVA – OH MY MASTER LISTEN TO MY CALL – the trial recording of a new song, composed and sung by Lata, accompanied on the piano by Benjamin and video choreography by George was posted on Mohanji USA FB page here. We will be working further as a team to complete full recording.
With the blessings of Mohanji, the excerpt from a new recording of a chant originally conceived by Devadas, jointly sung by Natesh and Jelena – Guru Mohana Sharanam – was released. The full recording will be available through Gurulight. A global effort led by Natesh!
Manu has been working hard for the past several months to put together some exclusive merchandise inspired by Mohanji. With Mohanji’s Grace Divine M Heritage was launched on the Guru Poornima Day.
Guru Poornima celebrations concluded on Sunday, July 29th with a beautiful gathering at the Celebration Center for Spiritual Living, Virginia. The magical evening started with the Freedom Meditation and everyone present became as a child. The evening filled with joy and love, and moved on from meditation to dance, music and chanting, and concluded with a beautiful Arathi to Mohanji and the Guru Parampara. Mohanji’s presence was felt intensely as unconditional love filled the air and the hearts, when Ben who joined the evening towards the end, played the song ‘Unconditional Love’ on the saxophone leaving everyone in bliss and silence. JAI MOHANJI.
EUROPE
SERBIA
We celebrated this special day in several centers in Serbia.
In Novi Sad, Guru Purnima was celebrated with Devi Mohan and Conscious Dancing followed by Shirdi Sai Baba Aarati which was performed for the first time in Serbia, then Bliss of Silence meditation, chanting and Aarati to Mohanji. Participants say the energy was divine.
Novi Sad
People from Belgrade say there was laughter as well as tears, deep cleansing and most of all bliss and gratitude for being all together and for Mohanji’s presence in our lives.
Belgrade
In Zrenjanin the day started with going to a lake where little ducks, pigeons, fish, ants… were fed.
The evening started with Conscious Dancing, continued with Gayatri mantra chanting, meditation and ended with Aarati. The participants said it was all intense, they felt Mohanji’s presence very strongly, they celebrated, laughed, and their hearts were filled with tremendous gratitude.
Zrenjanin
In Vrsac, it was magnificent, Mohanji’s presence was felt. It was heart-touching and overwhelming. For the first time experiences started flowing from each participant. “We were burning, shining with brightness, cried and laughed. Everybody opened their heart, which has not happened so far.”
Vrsac
MACEDONIA
Mohanji Macedonia did POP meditation with MaiTri Healing to mark Gurupurnima, with hearts full of gratitude towards our Guruji Brahmarishi Mohanji.
UK
A blessed morning filled with purity, bliss, joy and grace of Guru to offer our gratitude to our Gurudev Mohanji and entire Guru Mandala.
Guru Paduka puja commenced with Maha mantra Om chanting, then Pratham Pujya Genesh mantra followed by Mohanji Gayatri mantra.
With the verses from Guru paduka stotra, we offered our gratitude to Guru’s paduka.
Finally we purified ourselves by chanting Mohanji Ashtotari mantra.
With every chant, the atmosphere was filled with purity and presence of Mohanji.
We felt totally merged with Guru Tatwa…
Finally after offering Arati and Prasad to Mohanji everyone enjoyed the prasad too with some informal satsang. Mohanji, with his usual joyful presence brought bliss and sparkle in everyone’s face, heart and soul.
This was only the beginning of Guru Poornima celebration that will continue in Food Seva over the weekend at Skandavale.
As part of Guru Poornima celebration, we carried out food seva at Skandavale temple on the weekend through a snack stall. While we served snacks and tea to the devotees outside the main food time (temple serves Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner to all devotees) in the times while they wait between the pujas, the income generated from this snack stall goes as donation towards the Hospice that Skndavale trust maintains. So in turn, our seva was to the terminally ill people who are being looked after by the Hospice. More than 600 devotees were fed over the weekend and we generated a good amount from the snack stall, that went to Hospice. This seva was more than just merely a snack stall and generating money. This entire two days of event was, as ever, a clear sign of divine play. Things thats ususally not easy for us, happened smoothly. We will not exaggerate if we say that we feel Mohanji’s presence in every bit of activities that we did. From the food being tasty to people being satisfied and not hesitating to praise and buying more to even taking away our tiredness of constant standing and working with hardly any rest! There was joy all the time! Smile never left our face! This joy and happiness was so evident to others, we even get complimented on that! This is not ordinary. Times when we needed something and would have just thought of Mohanji, in no time, that issue would have got sorted out! On top of all this, we even got chance to be part of all the special Pujas in temple, which otherwise with so much crowd, is an impossible chance. Divine ensured that all our unasked desires were fulfilled too. We thought we were doing seva!!! In reality, we were blessed with the opportunity just with Mohanji’s pure grace! How much ever we explain, words will not be enough to express our gratitude to our “Incarnation of Compassion” – Mohanji for BEING with us every single moment!!! Mohanji your Love for us all is immesurable! Thank you for making our tiny effort, successful with your presence. All our efforts surrendered at your feet.
CROATIA
Guru Purnima in Split, Croatia with meditation Power of Purity and Mohanji Energy transfer & Aarti. We all felt the grace of pure energy of our Tradition. We felt exactly how much the energy was stronger than usual, thanks to the power of the full Moon eclipse. The program continued by chanting ‘Om namah Shivaya’ 108 times which deepened our connection with Shiva aspect of our dear spiritual master Mohanji. Finally, through Aarti, we thanked Mohanji for his blessings that he showered us with this evening. After the program, nobody felt like going home, so we continued enjoying in energies, good company and sharing our spiritual experiences.
AUSTRALIA
Glimpses of Guru Purnima celebrations in Melbourne, Australia. It began with paduka puja accompanied by gurupaduka stotram, Mohanji Gayatri, Mohanji Ashtottri and Aarati. Another location had Gayatri chanting followed by Bliss of Silence meditation. Everyone experienced immense peace and upliftment. Prasad was served in the end
INDIVIDUAL EXPRESSIONS
By Natesh Ramsell, Jelena Fassbender and Devadas
Our Beloved Guru has blessed the release of this excerpt from a new recording of a chant originally conceived by Devadas. The full recording is close to finished and will be available through GuruLight. Jelena F. joins on vocals. Details coming soon.
Words: Guru Mohana Nayanam Sharanam Guru Mohana Vadanam Sharanam Guru Mohana Charanam Sharanam Bhava Sagara Tharanam
Meaning: Surrender to Mohanji Eyes, Surrender to Mohanji’s Face, Surrender to Mohanji’s Feet, And cross the sea of samsara/suffering (to get liberated)!
Happy Guru Poornima everyone!
…
Mohanji Official Facebook Page launched the Mohanji Chalisa, sung beautifully by Sanjay Acharya, Canada
By Biljana Vozarevic
By Mohana Bhakti Priya
By Nikita
The Master’s Stroke
Grace was just another word in the dictionary
Till you took me under your wings;
Surrender was never a word I knew
Till your words taught me;
Surrender I did and what followed was only and only Grace.
Love, you gave me so unconditionally
Never did I fathom its boundaries till you loved me;
Faith, not a feeling but a tradition so powerful
Dawned on me as your blessings enveloped me
Richer and richer I became, no trophies or bounties could give me.
Service and Compassion could be so magical and expanding
Every cell of me started experiencing
Because you were present every moment
Guiding to be pure in thoughts, words and actions
Being meaningful in existence for one and all.
I have only one thing to offer you my Master
Gratitude and Gratitude every second of my life
Half a decade and a metamorphosis I have undergone
With your love, your grace,your blessings and omnipresence
For this, none other than me can vouch and comprehend.
…
On this auspicious day an amazing experience shared with deep gratitude by Neelu Vepu. As below:
“One more Mohanji Leela graced by Him on my family…
My cousin Sameer was admitted in a hospital in Hyderabad, last Saturday with high fever.(He is a young boy of 25 yrs old.He has lost his parents and little brother in a tragic road accident while returning from Shirdi ten years ago). Doctors first diagnosed it to be Dengue, owing to the rapid fall in his platelets.
But after some time, tests came positive for malaria and Jaundice too.His body temperature was not coming to normal even after medication for 3 days.As soon as I came to know of this, yesterday afternoon i messaged Mohanji for help. He immediately replied even though he was very busy and advised some thing to be done for removal of his Karma.His consciousness was there with him helping Sameer recover.When i prayed Mohanji before I went to bed yesterday and asked him, whether Sameer will be ok, then he replied in consciousness that he was there beside Sameer. Last night the situation was very grim.
Just in one night, Mohanji changed the whole scenario .
Now today, he is having a normal body temperature, no signs of malaria, dengue, or jaundice after further tests.And he has been shifted to a normal room in the hospital from ICU. And he will be discharged in just two days after some observation. Mohanji made the ordeal of one week over in just one night.
Such love and grace is possible only from him.
Thank you so much my Gurudev for everything.
Always at Your Lotus Feet,
Neelu
…
By Sulosh Pillai
We fed 70 kids at Plastic View today. They had apples, oranges, bread, chips and a sweetie.
‘ “Big doors swing on small hinges” this saying comes to mind when we visited the Baby Home, home to abandoned children, poverty and homelessness are often causes of child abandonment but we can make a difference by sharing unconditional love for them, one person at a time! In honor of Guru purnima we spent time at this home today giving them token gifts but most importantly our Love! Spare a thought for these beautiful embodiments of Love by visiting these places and just spreading love by giving them the gift of your time and love, so simple! Blessings!’ says Sulosh Pillai
By Preeti Duggal
By Sandra Sankar
By Salona Surjoo
By Sunita Madan
By Usha
By Ananth Sankaran
We all know nothing except your Feet Father. Please help us stay there forever.
By Sakshi Gupta
By Mahesh Bhalerao
Baba …keep us united, as always next to your lotus feet.
By Devadas
*गुरु ही सांस है*
*गुरु ही आस है*
*गुरु ही प्यास हैै*
*गुरु ही ज्ञान है*
*गुरु ही ससांर है*
*गुरु ही प्यार है*
*गुरु ही गीत है*
*गुरु ही संगीत है*
*गुरु ही लहर है*
*गुरु ही भीतर है*
*गुरु ही बाहर है*
*गुरु ही बहार है*
*गुरु ही प्राण है*
*गुरु ही जान है*
*गुरु ही संबल है*
*गुरु ही आलंबन है*
*गुरु ही दर्पण है*
*गुरु ही धर्म है*
*गुरु ही कर्म है*
*गुरु ही मर्म है*
*गुरु ही नर्म है*
*गुरु ही प्राण है*
*गुरु ही जहान है*
*गुरु ही समाधान है*
*गुरु ही आराधना है*
*गुरु ही उपासना है*
*गुरु ही सगुन है*
*गुरु ही निर्गुण है*
*गुरु ही आदि है*
*गुरु ही अन्त हैै*
*गुरु ही अनन्त है*
*गुरु ही विलय है*
*गुरु ही प्रलय है*
*गुरु ही आधि है*
*गुरु ही व्याधि है*
*गुरु ही समाधि है*
*गुरु ही जप है*
*गुरु ही तप है*
*गुरु ही ताप है*
*गुरु ही यज्ञः है*
*गुरु ही हवन है*
*गुरु ही समिध है*
*गुरु ही समिधा है*
*गुरु ही आरती है*
*गुरु ही भजन है*
*गुरु ही भोजन है*
*गुरु ही साज है*
*गुरु ही वाद्य है*
*गुरु ही वन्दना है*
*गुरु ही आलाप है*
*गुरु ही प्यारा है*
*गुरु ही न्यारा है*
*गुरु ही दुलारा हैै*
*गुरु ही मनन है*
*गुरु ही चिंतन है*
*गुरु ही वंदन है*
*गुरु ही चन्दन है*
*गुरु ही अभिनन्दन है*
*गुरु ही नंदन है*
*गुरु ही गरिमा है*
*गुरु ही महिमा है*
*गुरु ही चेतना है*
*गुरु ही भावना है*
*गुरु ही गहना है*
*गुरु ही पाहुना है*
*गुरु ही अमृत है*
*गुरु ही खुशबू है*
*गुरु ही मंजिल है*
*गुरु ही सकल जहाँ है*
*गुरु समष्टि है*
*गुरु ही व्यष्टि है*
*गुरु ही सृष्टी है*
*गुरु ही सपना है*
*गुरु ही अपना है*
By Sholane Surjoo
Inspired by Guru Brahmarishi Mohanji and the incredibly transforming impact He has in every moment of my life, (in all of our lives) coupled with His lovingly, fatherly nature – a video and song dedication spontaneously came together as a tribute to my beloved Guruji on Guru Purnima. These words are a small attempt to try to describe the indescribable way that Baba makes me feel. The song dedication “You raised me up” by Westlife (2005) felt like the most appropriate dedication to the One who truly Raised me up in every aspect of this life.
This video dedication can be viewed here. Jai Brahmarishi Mohanji! Love, gratitude and surrender to the Feet of Guru.Sholane Surjoo
Pretoria, South Africa
By Pramod Nair
A Mystique Yogi Nath Mohanji
“Mohan”
He captivates everyone
Like his name
He walks with a grace
Glow on his face
A Bewitching smile
With an innocence of a child
On his path
None goes empty
Animals or Humans
He showers his blessings
He gazes with compassion
With never ending love
Some address him as Guruji
Some call him Master or Baba
Some call him Father
For me he is my all in one
A “Big Brother”
An assurance he gives me
“I am always with you ”
Is a reminder from my beloved Guru
All I can say is I love him
All I can see is Love personified
Jai Matha ! Jai Bhagwan !!
Jai Mohanji ! Jai Guru Parampara !!
…
By K.D. Row
Rishiver. Pranaam!!! I cannot forget the day you majestically walked into my Life. I then understood the meaning of the maxim that when the time is ripe, the Guru will himself appear before you. My deep salutations n reverence at your Feet. I know nothing more. Happy Guru Purnima Father
Love you loads
My humble Pranam at your lotus feet
So blessed are all of us with you being with us at every moment of our life.
By Subhasree Thottungal
Pranam Mohanji. Happy Guru Poornima. I am out of words. Silence will probably be able to convey what I need to. Beyond this existence, in the true merger, You and I are One. Simply because I do NOT EXIST. Let me be WITH You, Let me be IN You, Let me BE You! After your beautiful message, I better keep Silence. Thank You for every moment.
By Dr Harpeet Wasir
I was looking forward to a blissful Guru Purnima day as the work front was light. Surprising it started with an Emergency at 5am. I was rushing to the hospital at the same time thanking Mohanji as I realised he had already planned my day. With His Grace all the four situations were handled and I cud reach back by evening. Was conscious of the Gurus day as well as instructions for the Lunar Eclipse ,when Mohanji said, Connect as much to me. Physical tiredness crept in yet prepared a small make shift Alter bed side and as I was by myself started a mixture of chanting, Mantras, Gayatri and few talks as means of connections with Father. Could go on till around 1.30 am when was conscious of total lunar eclipse. Same time like an small innocent child crying for ice cream, my mind also wanted to feel his presence but kept on telling myself to just stay connected as rest was his job. Was in and out of next side bed, still awake and throughout chanting something. By 3.30 am sat in the alter a bit more before retiring in about 15 minutes surrendering all what He could make my tired body do. Around 4am I am awakened, but to my utmost surprise not my myself but the VOICE OF MOHANJI who enters my room. No physical form seen but only in Ether form asking me, What about the Aarti? Is the speaker plugged in. All get ready for the Aarti.I immediately get up only to realise firstly that Mohanji is here completing my unfinished Sadhna with the Aarti.
The time coincided exactly with the end of the Eclipse. Secondly, the last candel finished the moment I opened my eyes after Aarti and thanking Mohanji for making it complete.
Thirdly, I was in Connect with all the Mohanji Family doing all Sewa throughout the day so am sure when Mohanji said, all of you get up, I truly believe that all of you were present in my subconscious in a big way. It was nothing to do with only me but the whole Mohanji Family.
Like always He just made me do my plugging in and rest of the Deliveries he made both on a physical and spirit level.
Am sure each one was blessed their own ways by Mohanji.
All in His feet🙏❤🙏
On 23rd February is Mohanji’s birthday and a very auspicious day for selfless actions, charity, helping the needy, then spiritual practices, prayers, chanting and connecting to the Highest. This Friday, like every day, I fed my flock of pigeons in front of my balcony first. I poured a few kilos of wheat. About 30-50 pigeons happily flew down to have breakfast, wheat grains.
The day before, I was happy to hand over the last full car boot of clothes out of three to Adriana, for ACT Serbia clothes and food donation activity in Petrovac na Mlavi. I am grateful to all my students and parents from „Speak Up“ school who donated their clothes or the clothes which their children had overgrown. You really did a great job.
Before this day, I thought how I would be busy with classes in two shifts, morning and afternoon until late at night and in between with making a cake for my son Vukasin’s 15th birthday celebration which was to be on Saturday. His birthday was on Wednesday but we were preparing for the Saturday celebration with his friends. No place for silence, spiritual practice, chanting, prayer, I thought. “That’s life“ I was consoling myself, “I must be practical.“ So I appreciated the day as I expected it to continue.
However, how the day continued was totally unexpected.
I had one morning class and was waiting for the next one. The student didn’t come.
I had time to go home and prepare the cake. Immediately after that, I squeezed in some moments with myself and focused on the best wishes for Mohanji’s birthday. I wanted to write a poem, and there it came! Just flowed out of me. Here it is:
I managed to write it in a few minutes but didn’t have time to make a poster. “I’ll make it tonight, I thought.“ And I did. I rushed to school and, unbelievable but true, I managed to arrive in the nick of time. I took off my jacket, unpacked my things, to find out that my hands were dusted with fragrant white-greyish flour-like powder. Oh, Gosh, my vibhuti! The sacred ash spilled all over the pocket in my bag.
Out of several things, I have kept mala in the pocket, too.
Don’t misunderstand me. It did not materialise out of thin air. This vibhuti had been in a well folded little plastic bag and then wrapped in its paper wrapping. I got it when I first went to India in 2011. I had kept it there all the time and it had been safe for 7 years. But after so long, untouched and with the wrapping undamaged, now, like ceremoniously thrown confetti on a celebration, it was all over my bag pocket. How did it happen? I didn’t know. I remembered that maybe Mohanji was playing with me. I took and ate some I also put some on my crown chakra. Cheers! I said to Him silently, within. Happy birthday! I feel Him very close to me.
Then I sat to start with classes. The student didn’t come. “Wow, I have time now to sit quietly and enjoy the silence and prayer, chanting,“ I felt, relieved.
An hour passed. I waited for the next student.
The next student didn’t come, either.
Good heavens! I sat and used the second hour for sitting quietly and enjoying the silence and prayer, chanting. I was melting in bliss, my eyes welled up with tears.
After the second hour, and in total, the third empty class that day, I really felt I managed to use the day for what my heart longed for – it was not hectic and I was not turned to external world all day as I had thought I would. I was gifted something precious. Later on my classes continued regularly until late at night.
There have been too many coincidences here to be usual sequence of events. I know Mohanji took part in it and blessed me with His presence, showing me even physically one of His different dimensions, His presence in a totally different, but for me easily understandable way.
Dearest Mohanji, I love you sooo much. You love everyone who connects to You and in spite of numerous devotees, nobody stays unattended.
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