It is the 19th anniversary of the Divine Guru Shri Swamiji’s Mahasamadhi Aradhana, a commemoration which is to be held here in Dehra Dun Ashram.
Shri Babaji’s Mahasamadhi Day Message
As a young boy, when I read about the great spiritual giants like Adi Shankara, Buddha, Ramana Maharshi, I always dreamt that one day I shall have such a Guru who would have Liberated Himself and can lead me to Liberation by removing all my egos. Without such a Guru every moment was agonizing for me. I constantly used to pray to grant me such a Guru. Finally one day I found Him by the Divine’s Grace and guidance and when I saw Swamiji, that dazzling glow and aura on His face and the great Tapas that He had performed, how fortunate I was that my Guru had come, it was God who lived with us.
Whenever Gurudev Swamiji came to the Dehra Dun Ashram I had nothing to ask or complain about but always waited for any precious moment that from His compassionate lips great Spiritual Truths for sadhana, to lose the ego, to have faith, determination, patience – such things came out.
Mind is the root of all problems. So control this mind and make it absorbed into the Self, make this mind quiet and silent, it will then get absorbed into the Self. Gurudev Swamiji repeatedly spoke of mind-control and meditation. This is what Swamiji meant. If the mind’s silencing is taken care of, all else falls into place.
When a Guru is a Realized Jnaani, He is like mother, father, Guru and God, all in one. Once someone asked the beloved Master this question, “Is there a necessity for a Guru?” Swamiji was used to giving blunt perfect formula answers. Swamiji retorted, “When you were born did you need your mother or were you just dropped from the sky? In the same way you need a Guru if you are interested in the Spiritual Truth of knowing your Self.”
I felt Swamiji has been Guru, mother, father, best friend, great Master, and everything since the beginning of my mind’s journey which has been getting involved in this delusion of this illusion life after life. Enough of this bondage, may the mind remain united with the Self effortlessly, contented. Prostrations and surrender to that Guru, seeking refuge at His Lotus Feet.
May the Divine Guru bless all His children on this auspicious day. Love and Blessings Babaji
Maa Amba Shiva Ranjani’s Mahasamadhi Day Message
As a request from devotees and with Shri Babaji’s blessing Amba Shivaranjani, Babaji’s chief disciple, has composed a beautiful piece to commemorate Shri Swamiji’s Mahasamadhi day, giving an account of her own experiences with Babaji of the events leading up to Swamiji’s Mahasamadhi 19 years ago.
On 27th March 1994, Babaji (at the time He was Seenu Baba) was at our house in Delhi, conducting His monthly Swamiji Kirtan. On this occasion He was requested by Delhi devotees to stay back as it was Holi festival. That night Baba seemed troubled and was seen pacing back and forth in His room. When asked what was wrong Baba replied that He was very worried about Swamiji’s health. He decided to make a long distance call that evening to check on Swamiji’s well being and was told that He had been in hospital and was now recovering at home.
Baba did not sleep that night at all. The next morning before everyone had got up He had already packed His bags to travel back to Dehradun. By around 2pm Baba had returned to the Ashram.
Within half an hour of returning Baba then received a phone call from one of the devotees from Bangalore Ashram asking Baba of Swamiji’s well being. No one seemed to know what the situation was. At 4 O’clock that afternoon Babaji received the fateful call from a devotee confirming that Swamiji had attained Mahasamadhi. Immediately Baba set off again for Delhi and arrived there at midnight.
The next morning a group of eleven Delhi devotees including myself and Baba took the Kerala Express train to Rajmandari. The 2nd class AC train tickets which usually require minimum 2 months advance booking were surprisingly purchased straight away without a hitch. We arrived in Adivarapupeta on the morning of 31st March. On the way Baba seemed like a lost child, not knowing what to do with Himself, whether to sit or stand. He could not accept that Swamiji’s physical presence was no more. As soon as He saw Swamiji’s body seated on the platform, He immediately sat down and without even taking a sip of water after the 40 hour journey took the harmonium and started to sing Swamiji bhajans for several hours non-stop, tears flowing uncontrollably down His face.
Although Baba knew that Swamiji was everywhere and that His own mind had become one with Swamiji, the physical loss of His Guru was not acceptable to Him. He was unable to reconcile Himself that He had to live the rest of His life without Swamiji’s physical presence, that the body He had lovingly massaged, bathed and looked after for twenty years would not be there anymore.
A detachment towards the world dawned on Him and Babaji retreated into solitude. While meditating in the Chamundi Hills, He had a vision of Swamiji who told Him to go back to Dehradun where He would sit for Tapas. Babaji, taking it as a symptom of His own mental attachment to Swamiji, dismissed the vision and did not take it seriously. Eventually He returned to Dehradun where Swamiji once again manifested and placed Baba into Tapas.
Swamiji was everywhere and everything for Babaji. The one Undivided Supreme Divinity. Twenty years of His service and single-pointed devotion to Swamiji made Him a living embodiment of Swamiji’s teachings. Even today, 19 years after Swamiji left the physical body, from morning to night Baba still only talks about Swamiji and His teachings. Just this morning He spoke about Swamiji not only being His Guru, Mother, Father, Friend – He was His whole Universe. He called himself a droplet in the vast ocean called ‘Shri Swamiji’. His Realization is nothing apart from Swamiji.
How blessed we are that Swamiji has given us Babaji. Ultimately the constant Divine Grace of our Supreme Guru Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj has made everything possible. My love and greetings to all Swamiji’s devotees around the world. My prostrations to the Divine Guru Shri Swamiji Maharaj and Babaji.
May Swamiji bless all of us on this special occasion. Amba Shivaranjani
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