Experiences of
The MASTER/STUDENT
Relationship Nityanandaji & Mataji
Sai Kaleshwara with stu power journey, Febru 01 Table Of 02 Content
Swami’s Darshan of Baba
Master’s Testing During Swami’s Yoga Samadhi
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udents during extended uary 1998, Hampi, India
03
A Saint Comes for
05
Swami’s Help
04 Purification Before Darshan of Mother Divine
Mother Divine’s Power Object in Bukkapatnam
06
Guru Raghavendra’s Jiva Samadhi 3
CHAPTER ONE
Swami’s Darshan of Baba
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2004
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The biggest pain in his life is that his guru is not in a physical body. Mataji: We were working with Swami late into the night. I was looking at him, asking in my mind, ‘Who are you?’ Many times, I’ve wondered that. In that moment he looked at me and said, ‘Who are you?’ “Well, I’m thinking that of you.” “I know, I’m using my psychic. I’ll show that. It’ll be the last touch up.” Swami has said the biggest pain in his life is that his guru is not in a physical body. When he talks about Baba, you feel the devotion for his master. He knows the blessing of sitting with the master. But Baba didn’t give that to him in this lifetime. He did that in another life, but Baba gave him a
painful to hear. He was demonstrating how to be with soul mates. You have to share. You have to be totally yourself and honest with at least one person. He was teaching us about Shiva and the Shiva leelas. Of course, Swami is completely like Shiva. He demonstrated that that night. As we were sitting together, he received a phone call. We were listening as the caller told him about a tragedy that had taken place, a terrible accident where many children were killed. He was talking in Telugu, and you could see by his facial expression and tone of voice that it was serious. He got off the phone and started translating his conversation, all these children had been violently killed. He was feeling the pain of the parents. Tears came to his eyes. He surely like Shiva in that moment, receiving the pain of the children and parents. We were just listening and watching him. He said the souls of the children were coming to him and he was releasing them. All of that was happening as we
different duty in this life. Swami said that is what he really wanted to do, just serve Baba. He doesn’t have the happiness of serving Baba. He said, “I just want to sit and talk to him, I just want to tell him, you know? I want to cry out my tears to him.” The master takes your suffering. Of course, only advanced souls have a guru not in the physical body. But still, it is painful for him. Nityanandaji: You remember, he did get a beautiful experience with Baba in the physical form. Can you tell that story? It was not too long ago. Mataji: It was in January. Nityaananda and I were working with Swami. We were sitting with him in his office for many hours. He was sharing his frustrations some students’ behaviors. He shared heartfully some struggles he was going through. It was a blessing to share that in that even though it was
Sai Kaleshwara worshiping his guru, Shirdi Sai Baba, 2001, Penukonda, India
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I heard talking in a strong and very interesting voice. I remember thinking, wow, what is that?
watched. He was taking care of the suffering. As a human being to hold that pain – he’s also a father – what that would be like. You could see he was also experiencing that. It was a very intense evening. After a long while, he got up to go to his bedroom and said good night to us. He left us there, straightening up. Soon after, I had gone past his bedroom door when I heard talking. I heard talking in a strong and very interesting voice. I remember thinking, wow, what is that? But I quickly turned back as I didn’t want to intrude by focusing my attention there. I came back to the office. After a sometime, Swami was suddenly just standing there! Without our notice he had slipped by us, and we were all was standing next to the refrigerator. He was standing very close to Nityaananda. It was a little startling and unusual behavior for him. He blurted out, “Great, great good news! Baba came!” The energy was just pouring from him. His happiness and joy were a dramatic contrast to earlier in the evening. “Baba came! He appeared to me! I
Shirdi Sai Baba 1838-1918
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couldn’t believe it. I was squeezing his thigh, you
he shared was, “Baba, why are you making me wear dia-
know, like is this real or not real.” Baba took him
monds, and have nice clothes and nice cars? I hate that.”
and kept slapping him on his back. Baba is a very
He’s a pure Shiva character. He said he prefers his sim-
physical guy. Swami showed us the red marks on
ple protection string rather than a gold necklace. That’s
his back to prove it.
the lifestyle that he prefers, lifetime to lifetime, to be in
Baba just kept hitting him saying, “It’s okay, I’m
nature in the pin drop silence in the caves or under the
the doer. I’m the one doing this.” All of Swami’s
trees working energetically. In this lifetime, it’s not like
frustrations and pain dissolved. Swami asked
that. That is a suffering for him. Baba said, “You have
Baba, “Take me with you.” He wanted to go, he
work to do. I am the doer.” What an interesting kind of
wanted to take samadhi. Baba said, “No, you have
suffering, isn’t it? It is a suffering because Swami’s work-
work to do. You have to stay.”
ing and living is always focusing on the level of the soul,
Baba manifested a power object for Swami and
not on the surface of the world.
told him to put it on his altar. There are two oil
He’s been working for western students for more than
lamps on Swami’s puja. “Those two lights were
thirteen years. He’s been telling us from the beginning
really brilliant at that moment,” Swami said.
what his ambitions are, what his goals are, what his aims
Baba held Swami in his lap. When Swami got up,
are - what it is he came to do. Years ago, when I first
he turned around Baba was gone. Swami said, “I
heard some of the things he said, it sounded great,
missed the moment! Just like I tell my students
but didn’t sound believable. He was sharing the tip of
not to miss the moment.” He hadn’t utilized the
the iceberg then, he keeps sharing, keeps sharing, keeps
moment fully. After he shared his story, I went to
sharing. We know now, with the benefit of these years
into Swami’s room to get something for him, and
watching his work and the thousands of hours of teach-
the oil lamps were incredibly bright and there
ing and travelling around the world and the of thousands
was a huge fragrance in the room.
of pages of knowledge. These ambitions are real.
Nityanandaji: Yes, he had gone out of this long work session obviously drained, an unusual thing to see. He is the “Energizer Bunny” plus, plus, plus. Unbelievable work ethic. He had gone to his room to rest and meditate, but within a short time he came back after his experience. After that, he sat down at his desk and started working. For the next 90 minutes he was on the phone – three phones! He had huge inspiration. He said he got a lot of information from Baba and still he said, “I missed it.” But I don’t really believe that fully. He’s a sharp, sharp character. He said a couple of things that night that will stick with me forever. One of those was, Baba really helped him with his suffering. One of the things
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2003 9
CHAPTER TWO
Master’s Testing During Swami’s Yoga Samadhi
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200611
“You need to take care of my body. You need to protect my body.”
We were all beginners in the reality knowledge we are studying, even though the spectrum of people including amazing 30-year meditators. And there were people brand new to meditation, like me. Swami invited me especially because I’m a medical doctor. He said, “You need to take care
Sai Kaleshwara in his swing between yoga samadhis, May 18, 1998, Penukonda, India
of my body. You need to protect my body.” He had done his first yoga samadhi earlier with a group of Indian devotees in a house in Penukonda. The strictness of the dikshas is to protect his body while he was gone, but this was not fully appreciated by the devotees. During that first yoga, the village learned that Swami had taken a yoga samadhi. But they misunderstood. He was just a teenager and already revered by thousands of people. If he went out in the village he’d be surrounded by the whole village in the amount of time it takes for them to come from wherever they are, to him. Many of us have seen him surrounded by thousands of people who wanted to touch him, who would do anything to touch his body. He just comes and sits and jokes with us. We should appreciate that. They had learned his yoga samadhi was happening and a huge crowd came and surrounded the house. The police came and said, “If there is a dead body it needs to get burned.” The people taking care said, “Please, please,
Nityanandaji: This is my experience during my first trip to India, in May of that year (1998), Swami invited a group of people, for a yoga samadhi, an experience of him leaving his body and soul traveling, and all the blessings that comes around that. It’s a yoga.
please, don’t go in, don’t go in. He’s coming back, he’s coming back!” It’s so much like that story of Baba, isn’t it? The officials wanted to bury Baba when he was in yoga samadhi; they mistook him for dead. It’s in the SRI SAI SATCHARITRA. There is a Datta energy thread
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here.
belief system and expectations. He was happy to ac-
Ultimately the police waited, but the devotees got in. In
commodate my thoughts. He was leading me down a
their devotion they poured kilos and kilos of flowers on
beautiful path.
his body. They buried his body in a mountain of flow-
He said people around him would have the most
ers. In doing so, his neck moved a little bit to one side,
amazing meditation experiences. “Some of them
and when he came back to his body, he had nerve dam-
will soul travel with me to the Divine Court. Some
age in one arm and couldn’t use that arm. He had to
of them will have incredible experiences. They will
spend several months in the supernatural channels to
all receive incredible blessings that will take many
regenerate his body. We are not focusing on the body,
years to digest and understand. You have to take care
but you have to take care of the body.
of them too, because some of them might go out too
He shared with me that he was going to do another
far.” I said, “Ok.” By now I was starting to wonder
yoga samadhi and asked if I could come and take care
what was in this for me. It sounded like a pretty
of his body and protect his body. I said, “Of course.” He
good experience. I had been in India for a couple of
said, “You can examine me every few hours if you like,”
months with him and was just beginning to under-
because I had a very skeptical mind. I was operating at
stand the reality of meditation energy and the bliss
the level of, ‘What have you shown me lately?’, wonder-
of that trance. I was a little addicted to it.
ing what I could prove for myself based on my existing
He said, “No worries, no worries. I promise you, in return for your service, there’ll be an amazing power object growing in my body during these experiences. It’s a special kind of a lingam, and it’s a great high healing object.” That was my whole ambition! The reason why I had come to meet Swami in the first place was to master healing. He said, “I’ll give you that, and you can take it to your clinic, it’ll do wonders.” I said, “That sounds great.” So, the yoga samadhi happened just as he had explained. One of my dikshas (rules) was not to sleep the entire time. He took samadhi several times. Mataji wrote about this in her book beautifully. The people that were meditating, it was remarkable to see them in trance and to feel the energy. I mean, this place was transported to another vibrational realm. Everything he said about the blessings that would flow were exactly as he described. I did get to experience, examine, and verify the ‘dead-
Sai Kaleshwara giving instructions to students before taking yoga samadhi, May 17, 1998, Bangalore, India
ness’ of his body. The reality is that he can command on life and death. He can take his soul from his body,
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do something, then come back into that body. I can verify that. That was a miracle that took me many years to appreciate the blessing of. It was quite a miracle. When he came back, when he walked out of this door unexpectedly, I almost fell over. I knew he’d said he was going to come back, but the doctor part of me had all these questions, and I was planning my exit strategy. It was a dead body! For twenty-eight hours! Then he proceeded to give incredible teachings and transmissions for days on end. Whenever I’d catch his eyes, he would say, a little bit under his breath, “Oh, your power object is coming!” My expectation was growing, my happiness - my pseudo-happiness that is. Then one night, the next night, he talked for almost 18 straight hours. That next night he sat at his dhuni with a group of two-dozen people and taught about the illusion circles. Amazing knowledge. He’d gotten permission during this samadhi to release the Shakti Channels (access God’s pure Cosmic Energy) to the students. And he did. He hasn’t stopped since! Finally, at about 3:00 in the morning, he sent everybody into the Baba temple to sit and wait, while he sat outside with one student. He gave me a kind of a clue, like, “Okay, your power object is coming.” It meant that he was ready to give birth
“He can command on life and death. He can take his soul from his body, do something, and come back into that body.” stage at that time was simple, a bare aside from the Baba statue, and a big bright orange ‘Om’ behind him. Swami walked up on the stage, then started drinking water. At the time, I didn’t know what was happening. Since then, I’ve seen many atma lingams born and know he drinks water right before giving the birth. Boom! Suddenly Swami gave birth to a Ganesh lingam, and the other student on the stage with him caught it! Then Swami announced how lucky that guy was to catch it, it was given to him. Then Swami left the temple, and that was that. What was going on? I never ever felt a punch like that before in my life. The only word that came to my mind was “liar.” I’m telling the truth! I had high expectations there. I felt it was quite unfair
to the Ganesh lingam. The only people who knew that this story was unfolding, were Swami, me, and Mataji. I had shared the story with her while he was in yoga samadhi. I was ready, sitting with my towels in my hand. He had taught that an atma lingam would come with a lot of blood and I had to catch it with my own hands. I was on pins and needles. Swami walked in and moved directly onto the Baba stage. The
Sai Kaleshwara (left) in the midst of delivering a Ganesh atma lingam, 1998, Penukonda, India
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and I was very hurt. As a human being, I was very hurt. That was one of the worst nights in my life. I
Nityanandaji (right) taking blessings from new Ganesh atma lingam, 1998, Penukonda, India
mean, it wasn’t much of a night. There wasn’t anywhere to go for privacy in the ashram. The Baba temple was the only place anyone could spend time. Behind Baba were Swami’s private quarters. There was nothing above ( Jesus temple had not been built yet). There was nothing outside other than cobras, weeds, and scorpions. No lawns, no gardens, no Dwarkamai. There was only
idea. Thank God, Swami didn’t give me the chance.
the hut next to Hanuman and Swami’s swing.
I endured the day as an outcast. I wasn’t allowed
We were all sleeping in the Baba temple. I cried my-
to join this discussion, I wasn’t allowed to sit there.
self to sleep. It was a terrible cry. It wasn’t really
Swami didn’t come back until the next day. During
crying; it was more just torment of raw heart pain.
that time, if there would have been a taxi service,
I don’t know when I finally went to sleep, but I woke
if there would have been a bus, if there would have
up to the wind blowing a door open and slamming
been a phone, I would have gone out, left the ash-
it shut over and over next to my head. Constantly,
ram. But there was no way to leave. I’m not kidding.
slamming, boom, boom, boom, boom. It was very
There was literally no way to get help from the out-
poetic. It kept rhythm with the pounding in my
side world!
head.
Swami came back late afternoon the next day. I was
The rest of that day felt like the creation was re-
still spinning. I’ve experienced miracles, I’ve seen
flecting my inner pain to me to make sure I got the
people receiving blessings, I’ve seen him leave his
lesson. Everything that happened, everywhere I
body, I’ve seen him giving birth to an atma lingam.
turned, it seemed I was an outcast! There was a stu-
Those are all divinely made things. I’d also been in-
dent-led satang going on, it had already started be-
side that energy. I’d seen everybody on the greatest
fore I woke up. I came out, but no one would make
high when they came out of that night. It seemed to
any room for me to sit down. It was like I didn’t even
me that verybody was so happy, except me.
exist! No one but Mataji knew of my little private
When he came back, he immediately asked if every-
drama. So, I just sat down on a big pile of rice bags
body had eaten dinner. Nobody had eaten, so we had
in the corner while everybody ignored me. I wasn’t
food ordered from a local hotel, and everybody sat
welcomed to participate if I’d tried. But I didn’t try.
on the ground, eating. I didn’t have an appetite. He
When Swami got up that morning, he had imme-
went and sat by himself in his swing. He said to the
diately jumped in a car and left the ashram! There
whole group, “Come over when you’re done eating”.
was no chance for me to talk to him. I was ready to
I waited a few minutes, then went over and sat down
do what I thought was the “right thing,” and that is
in front of him. He was just swinging and watching
to stand up for myself. I didn’t know how; I had no
me intently, pure eye contact. I was looking back at
15
him, feeling my confused state inside. Before I could say anything, he said, “Are you happy?” That seemed to be the most unexpected comment he could’ve made! It shocked me. Then he said again, “Are you happy?” Then I got it. I got it! I realized something new. What I realized was, I actually was happy! I was happy to be sitting in his presence. I was happy! I realized I was happy without being attached to any physical ‘thing’. I didn’t need some object to be happy. I didn’t say anything. It was a blessing like an arrow hitting me. Sai Kaleshwar always says, the greatness of the master is their use of sankalpam to heal a soul, to create something great, like sculpting a raw diamond into a priceless gem. That was a stroke like that. Then the rest of the group came over, and he gave a beautiful talk. To this day, I have no idea what he talked about that evening after the others joined. I was in bliss. After the talk, as we were walking back to the Baba mandir, he put his arm around me as we walked together. He said, “What do you want?” I said, “Only what you want to give me.” From this experience I learned a priceless lesson in spiritual morality. We all know it is important to tell the truth. But from the spiritual point of view, what matters more is helping the soul, lifting the soul whatever it takes to do that. Swami had given me something of much greater value than any object could ever be. He demonstrated to me what is truly valuable and what’s not. I am so grateful for this experience.
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Sai Kaleshwara meeting with Mataji and Nityanandaji immediately before taking yoga samadhi, May 18, 1998, Bangalore, India
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2004 18 1995
CHAPTER THREE
A Saint Comes for Swami’s Help 2004
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Nityanandaji: There was one night in the early days, when Swa-
It was an elderly sadhu, in his late seventies, ear-
mi used to open the ashram to the public. We can
ly eighties, who walked a little crippled. He was
barely imagine what this place (Shiva Sai Man-
dressed all in safron orange, carrying a stick and
dir, Penukonda India) would be like if it was
bag. A pure sadhu and from the looks of it, he’d
still open to Indians like it was in the beginning.
lived a hard life. He was waiting and waiting.
Twelve years ago, thousands would come every
Swami came in during Aarthi, sat in his chair im-
moon. Some of them would wait for days, for the
mediatly got the old man’s attention, and called
chance to sit in a large group with Swami. They
him over. We students were standing in the cor-
would stand in the rain, they would lay in the rain,
ner of the temple. When that old saint knelt at
they would sit out there until they had a chance to
Swami’s feet, he gazed up at him with the most
see Swami.
earnest, pleading, focused look. An eighty-year-
“That saint, he really touched my heart.”
old man kneeling at the feet of a 25-year-old man.
During one of these moon periods, it was a Full Moon, it was pouring rain. There were hundreds of Indians still waiting. It was the third night; they’d been there for a long time waiting to see him. And the Westerners – you know, we’d just kind of waltz over and expect Swami to give us attention -- actually, he often did! In retrospect, it’s painful to think about our expectant attitudes. But in any case, that’s our karma now. That night one of the Indians waiting stood out.
A quite jolting scene from the normal human values point of view. Then the Aarthi concluded, and Swami called us up upstairs to the terrace of the Jesus temple. It was just an open roof then. He was uncharactoristrically silent, and seemed to be in a wistful mood. He sat on one little bench and looked quietly into the distance for quite a while. When he spoke, he asked us, “Did you see me talking to that old saint?” We said, “Yes.” “That saint, he really touched my heart.” He said, “He knew perfectly how to handle the Divinity. It offends the human sensibility in me for an old
Sai Kaleshwara posing with local Penukonda devotees, 1996, Penukonda, India
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man who’s crippled and in pain to hobble over and painfully kneel in front of me.” At the end, the saint had layed his elderly body out in full pranam, putting his head on Swami’s feet. Swami said, “That offends my human values, but he’s not pranamming to this flesh, and these bones, he’s pranamming to the Divinity inside.” The man had asked Swami, “Please help me,” then described his problems, because Swami is a sadguru, a true master. We’ve seen many saints come for his help. They come because they are stuck in their relationship with Mother Divine, they want Her darshan or they’re stuck with the angels or stuck with whatever yoga or advanced practice they are doing. He didn’t say what this saint asked for, only that he asked for help in his process. Swami was quiet again. The saint said, “Please, I’m doing my job as a student, you do your job as a master.” With that phrase, Sai Kaleshawar told us, “that saint really hit it!” Swami was touched, and that old sadhu would absolutely get what he asked for. It was a golden moment for Swami, he said, to be in the presence of that kind of humility and reality. That saint wasn’t looking at his physical form and feeling shy or embarrassed. No way! He knew how to use the moment with Sai Kaleshwar and ask for
Sai Kaleshwara, 1998, Shirdi, India
what he needed. He knew how to talk in a very humble way, “I’m doing my job as a student.” He had the ability to command on Swami through his devotion and humility. “You do your job as a master.” The master is powerless against our love. That’s a big secret.
Sai Kaleshwara receiving aarathi from local devotee, 1996, Penukonda, India
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CHAPTER FOUR
Purification Before Darshan of Mother Divine
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1999 23
Sai Kaleshwara teaching group of Western students, 2001, Hampi, India
Nityanandaji:
of hurry, the urgent desire to have a darshan ex-
It was many years ago, in the beginning stages
perience with the Divine Mother. It’s hard now to
of what Sai Kaleshwara was calling ‘the strokes
believe I could be consumed for months with one
with Mother Divine’. One December, a group of
desire, and then I could completely forget it a few
us, along with most of the students in the ash-
months later. But that is spirituality.
ram, were put on a sadhana with the outcome
I kind of gave up on that desire, totally forgot
being to connect with Mother Divine. It was an in-
about it by June of that year. In November I had
tense sadhana. It was a beautiful sadhana. It was
left India on personal business for a few weeks.
a blissful time. She could come anytime, and we
When I returned, there were a whole bunch of
had to be super alert and on our duty. After a few
new processes running, but I wasn’t a part of any
months, a few in the group had succeeded, they
of them. I’d been away. Without any intention, I
had darshan of the Mother. After that, Swami said,
was in the beautiful blissful place of not having
“Well, time is running out, so it is going to happen
any expectation that any big expereince would
soon for a few, but not for everybody.”
happen. I wasn’t a part of any group that was do-
I thought, ‘Okay I’m going to win this.’
ing a sadhana together. I wasn’t on a meditation
Then one night in April, Swami called all the stu-
process. I was just back dealing with my jetlag.
dents at the ashram, there were about 30 students
Soon after returning, one night Swami called and
at the time. We all went up to the Jesus temple.
said, “I need your help as a doctor. Bring your
There he told us, “I’m sorry but no more strokes,
medical kit.” I went to see him with my doctor
the sadhana is over. If you haven’t reached it now,
bag, and he told me, “There’s going to be an expe-
it is over, you’ve lost it.” Oh my God! That was
rience with a few students, if you feel open heart-
painful. That was terrible. It washed a lot of ego
ed, maybe you can help them out. They can use
things in me. The sense of hurry was one of them.
your help as a doctor.”
But I kind of lost my inspiration for a while. Then
“Okay, I’m happy to help them out Swami. I’m
Swami put us in difference processes and took us
here for whatever you need.”
different ways.
Then in the car in the way there, Swami men-
After a few months later, I had completely forgot-
tioned, “Well if there’s any extra energy left, may-
ten that sadhana. I completely forgot the feeling
be you’ll get a shaktipat.”
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“Okay. Great.” I had no idea what was unfold. That was the bliss. That IS the bliss. I had a pure be-
“Turn around and see Her.” I turned around and there was Mother Divine. Wow!
ginner’s mind, but by no doing of my own. My sadhana was already done earlier in the year, the austerity power I had generated was already ‘in the bank.’ If we do our job as a meditator, the energy goes in our soul’s bank account. Then it’s in the master’s control when anything is released. He said years ago, “I’ve given the channels to over 70 people.” And this was in 2006. He said, “They don’t know yet.” Who knows how many it is now. When we got to Mother Divine temple in Bukkapatnam, he gave darshan of Mother to another student. That’s what I was there to support. I was very happy thinking about the person getting darshan. I was in real bliss, because I wasn’t tortured by expectation. I could just be peaceful and joyful, enjoying the beautiful full moon night in the rural Indian countryside. After a while, he called for me. I had a small expectation then, that maybe he would give me shaktipat. That would be great. When I entered the tiny temple with him, he gave me shaktipat. Then he said, “Turn around and see Her.” I turned around and there was Mother Divine. WOW!
Sai Kaleshwawra with Chaumundeshwari Kali Mother Divine Murthi, 1994, Bukkapatanam, India
25
Chaumundeshwari Kali Mother Divine Murthi 2001, Bukkapatanam, India
26
CHAPTER FIVE
Mother Divine’s Power Object in Bukkapatnam
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A crystal manifested out of Her head into his hand. He said, “You see that?”
credible power object linked directly to the energy of Mother, “Let’s go take darshan of the statue then come back to the ashram.” Before we left the farm, he said maybe there’s a chance some of you can get Mother Divine darshan tonight. Ooooh! Then my heart rate and interest really went up. “Okay, okay, now we’re on our way!” When we got there, it was in dilapidated condition, repairs needed seemingly everywhere you looked. The inner sanctum
Nityanandaji:
where the Mother statue sits is very cramped. You
Many years ago, Swami took a process group
enter by ducking through the single, small en-
seemingly to see Mother Divine. It was a group
trance. Inside the tiny inner sanctum, the statue is
of ten men. We had been basically living togeth-
huge. It fills up the whole space. You cannot walk
er upstairs in the Jesus temple with Swami, doing
on either side of it, or behind it. Stepping inside,
our process, grinding our blocks of sandalwood,
there is just three to four feet in front of Her to
lots of things. We didn’t leave the upstairs Jesus
stand, The statue of Her is massive. She’s sitting
temple day or night, which is really an amazing
down in a half lotus position. It’s a form of Kali
experience. But it’s a little claustrophobic too.
and She is holding a sharp sword, the priests al-
Casually one late afternoon, Swami said, “Would
ways put a lime stuck on it. In a sitting posture,
you guys like to get out? Let’s go to my farm.” We
She is seven feet tall and four feet wide.
were happy to go. We came downstairs to the cars
Arriving, we all went into the outer sanctum,
which were already prepared and ready, as if by
where Swami had everybody sit down. He told us
magic. We piled in and we went to his farm.
to meditate with our process mantra. Then Swa-
It was really a magical setting, the late afternoon
mi went inside the inner room and was there for
sun was setting, the dusk was coming and every-
a while. When he came out. He said, “Sorry, the
where was beautiful greenery and groves of coco-
energy is not cooperating. No chance for darshan,
nut trees. Swami was very nonchalant, not letting on about anything. He had his staff serve coconut water to us, we were just chit chatting. When the stars came out, he said, “The stars are blooming. That’s the perfect time. There’s a Mother Temple nearby in a little place called Bukkapatnam,” which it turns out is the village where Swami grew up. There is an ancient Mother Divine temple there where he did a huge amount of sadhana. He had had conversations with Mother Divine there many times. That Mother Divine statue is an in-
Jesus temple, 2002 artist: Joani Mitchell
28
but anyhow, I want to give shaktipat to you guys.” He called me and two other men, an American and a Japanese, to follow him inside. We went through the little curtain that covered the tiny doorway. It was dark by now, the only light two small oil lamps burning. Swami gave the three of us each a handful of yellow powder - sugandam - and told us to say our personal mantras silently while we threw pinches of sugandam powder at Her head. Swami did this with us too. We were standing around Her, wildly throwing this sugandam towards a place on Her head. Then he said, “Go faster! Faster!” Suddently a gust of wind came in the room and blew the lights out, which is a bad symptom during divine energy processes. “Uh oh.” I didn’t know what was about to happen. Swami quickly relit the lamps, and we continued our process, throwing the charged yellow poweder at Her head again and again. Then Swami sai, “That’s enough.” We stopped. Her head was covered with our yellow powder. Her crown is a kind of corrugated steel, and it is sloped. There was a mound of sugandam built up on it. Swami took his bare hand and put it on top
Kanaka Durga Mother Divine Murthi Penukonda, India
of that spot, seeming to hold the powder laying on
Her head. Then his hand turned opened to reveal a large, intricately multifaceted crystal, two inches in
Kanaka Durga Mother Divine Murthi Penukonda, India
diameter. It appeared from the powder on Her head
happened” After we shared the story, we passed the
in his hand! He said, “You see that?”
new crystal power object around. We were like chil-
“Yes, yes!”
dren, “Oh, oh, oh.”
He said, “Did you see what happened?” We said,
Swami asked us all then, “Do you know how that
“Well, we think so. Yes!”
happened? How was it created?”
“No, definitely you missed it.”
We all agreed that Swami had done it. He said, “No.
Ok. But we didn’t miss the whole thing, because
That’s bhakti. The devotion energy of the thousands
there was a crystal in his hand. He was very happy
of people who worship that statue is what formed
driving on the way back to the ashram. As soon as
that crystal.”
we got back, he said. “Choose a handful of women in the ashram. Call them and tell them what’s
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CHAPTER SIX
Guru Raghavendra’s Jiva Samadhi
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2000 31
Group meditation with Sai Kaleshwara (far right) February 1998, Mantralayam, India
Nityanandaji: We went to Mantralayam on the first power journey with him (1998). That experience really blew my mind. We were visiting the jiva samadhi of Guru Raghavendra. In a jiva samadhi, the saint has taken final samadhi and left their body, but the body is still alive. I’d never even heard of such a thing. When taking jiva samadhi, the saint sits down and meditates, while they build a tomb around them. Generally, they build a six-by-sixfoot cube of granite rock. There’s no way out. After they build this rock structure around the saint, closing them in forever, the saint meditates until they enter samadhi and the soul leaves their body. But the body stays alive. Guru Raghavendra’s samadhi in Mantralayam is a jiva samadhi, and they built a big circular temple around it. When we first arrived in the larger temple complex, it was a bizarre scene. There were a lot of working elephants, which was very exotic to me, with large mounds of elephants droppings and pools of elephant urine to step around. There were devotees doing interesting and unusual worship. A lot of the worship involved doing pradakshina, prayer while moving in a circlular fashion around the center point of the temple. A circular lane, 15 feet wide or more, encircles the central jiva
I felt like a lighthouse beam come and hit me, and say, “Who are you?” samadhi. Some people were doing rapid walking pradakshina, while other people were doing slow walking pradakshina. Some people were layed out fully on the floor, rolling in their pradakshina. Some people were walking for a while, then laying down and rolling. Obviously pradakshina is a big mechanism here. In their pradakshina, it didn’t matter what they encountered, they just kept going, literally rolling through the elephant urine and dung! ‘Gosh, what is going on here!? When is my flight back to America?’ This scene was just a few weeks into my first trip to India. Only men are allowed to go down and get into the area to see the actual jiva samadhi, the granit box where his body is sitting. There was a strict diksha that men have to wear lungis to go there. I didn’t even know what a lungi was, and I certainly didn’t have one. I was wearing gym shorts and a tank
32
top!. So, the women and me sat in the larger temple watching the pradakshina, while Sai Kalehswara and the other men went into the inner chamber, to see the stone box, the grave, the jiva samadhi there. I sat to meditate and really enjoyed the divine vibrations. These energy channels taught by Swami are really miraculous. Anyone who has practiced them experiences amazing energies. I was still purifying the Five Elements and quickly started to feel a little drowsy and heavy. It was nice. I was forgetting how strange everything looked around me. Suddenly, I felt a beam of energy like a lighthouse come and hit me. I heard a voice in my head asking me, “Who are you?” Then it went away! It was like a consciousness was circling, witnessing, interacting, in a cycle as the light turns around a lighthouse. Every time it came around, it gave something to me. I started waiting for it to come back around, and every time, it felt a little deeper. It was like receiving a blessing in a time cycle, shaktipat... shaktipat... shaktipat... .
see a temple, and this temple had a saint’s body in the middle. When he came out, he was smiling and very happy, “Oh, how’s your meditation?” “Wow, what is this, Swami? I’m feeling like something’s watching me.” “It’s okay, we’ll talk later.” The mystery is that the body is being accessed by the soul of the saint, even though the soul has gone on to another life. Swami would eventually teach a lot about the mechanisms of different types of saints’ samadhis. He taught about jiva samadhis, yoga samadhis, jala samadhis, and maha samadhis, and how they were benefitting the world. So, a jiva samadhi gives incredible blessings to the planet. There’s a time cycle for their energy blessings. Jiva samadhis usually take three hundred years to start really giving out the high divine vibrations. Jiva Samadhi’s energy is powerful and sustained for another 600 years, then the energy starts to diminish. So, jiva samadhi is one way that a soul through a body can be blessing the planet for more than a thousand years.
I didn’t know at the time what a jiva samadhi was. Swami didn’t say much, just that we were going to
Group meditation with Sai Kaleshwara February 1998, Mantralayam, India
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