How "Art of Living" evolved in Guruji's words : as shared by a friend
There were so
many stories floating around, including one that Maharshi was angry and
disappointed with Guruji when he left. I asked him once if there was any truth
to these rumors. He frowned to me and shook his head back and forth, indicating
that these tales were not at all accurate.
He spoke softly, almost whispering, and i leaned forward so i could hear. He said that there was never a face-to-face meeting. Maharshi was in Europe, preoccupied with health challenges at that time, "I was literally at a crossroads, waiting at a train station," he said. "I could board a train that would go to Shimoga or another that went to Delhi". If he chose to return to Delhi, he would continue to be with Maharshi but restricted by the limitations and politics of the TM movement. Then he smiled and said, "I knew that if i took the train to Shimoga, something new and original would come up. There were so many people waiting for me there."
It is still hard to know what happened after that. Guruji said that there was some correspondence with Maharshi by mail and there was a phone call or two. But I'm still not sure if they ever saw each other again.
Guruji is often cryptic about past. I have never heard him give a comprehensive history, though I would sometimes probe like a detective in a crime novel, assembling the bits and pieces into a time line.
Guruji told us that during the time he was serving Maharshi, he was well aware that he would eventually become a personal guru to millions who were waiting for him around the world. But he was still hesitant to start something new.
"At one point I had to make a decision whether or not I should start teaching the program, Sudarshan Kriya," he explained, "I know that eventually courses were going to happen, but i still had a one-percent reluctance, wondering whether i should bring this knowledge out at that time. It wasn't that i was confused, I just didn't think that we needed to start another organization. I was already giving knowledge and so many people appreciated and loved me."
"I decided to seek some advice from a 300 year old saint, he said "Devraha Baba, who lived above the Ganges River."
He so casually mentioned the man's age. Was he exaggerating ? I knew that yogis had the ability t do many supernatural feats, but I didn't think that anyone could live to be 300 years old.
"As i was traveling on this long train ride from Delhi to Varanasi," he continued, "the conductor on the train approached me. He was a nice person. I could tell he was very evolved. He didn't know me, yet he started speaking to me as though we were old friends: 'You've come into this life with a special purpose. Why do you want to go back without completing your purpose, or postponing it ? Then he told me he had a vision: Coming out of the heart lotus was a young man with long hair and a beard who would be ushering in a new yuga(era), spreading knowledge and having satsang with huge crowds of people all over the world. At the time his words made no sense to me, "said Guruji. "I couldn't understand why he was telling me this. And I don't think the conductor knew that i was the man in his vision. He even told me about our (Art of Living) logo. He said he saw the sun surrounded by two swans.
"By the time I arrived at Ganges, "he continued" , "it was dusk. There was no moon that night and it was getting darker and darker, and you couldn't see anything. The man who ran the ferry that went across the river refused to take me to hermitage. He said that it was too dark and he couldn't see where he was going. I had to promise him fifty rupees more so that he would finally take me.
"Devraha Baba lived alone along the Ganges in a small hut that was on a platform elevated by poles. The 300 year old saint had a disciple who lived in a small boat that was tied to one of the poles of hermitage. He stayed there day and night like a watchman, bringing the old man fruits and vegetables, or anything that he needed.
"When i arrived, Devraha Baba came out to greet me. He said, "I" m so happy to see you have come'.
"I felt it a little shy. I was very young and he was such a old man saying this to me," Guruji explained. "I thought he might be teasing me. He gave me a big melon and said, "Water is flowing, it has to flow. If it stops, it will rot. So satsang should flow. Satsang is that force that allows the grace to flow in the world. Satsang is essential in the world so that the world dosen't rot. You have to carry on the satsang everywhere in the world'.
"I didn't even have to ask the question, "Guruji said, "and still an answer came."
I was still struggling with the notion of a 300 year old saint, when Guruji continued.
"Later when i back to South India, I met another saint, Kodi Swami, a 450 year old man. He's a very nice being. People came from all over for his blessings, his darshan."
A 450 year old saint ? I thought Guruji was really pulling our legs now, But he wasn't. I later learned that Kodi Swami was a revered saint who spent the last thirty years of his life in Puravipalayam, a small village near Pollachi, in the state of Tamil nadu.
"This 450 year old saint had a devotee who attended to him who was 80 years old, "Guruji said, explaining that the devotee's father and grandfather had served the saint in the same way. "So when i met Kodi Swami, I said to him, 'Baba(father), give us some knowledge. "He just smiled and laughed. This man speaks very little. Then he said, with a bit of sarcasm, "All knowledge is already there. If Shiva comes and asks me for some knowledge, what knowledge can I give ? He too said that I must do this work and bring out the Kriya and this knowledge. He gave his blessings, 'You should not stop. You should teach this course, this program, all over the world'.
"Although the advice was clear from two saints, I still hesitated to start another organization. Yet I knew, when knowledge has to some, it will come."
There were other factors that pushed Guruji to venture out on his own. For one thing, he needed to protect his father's and Maharshi's reputation. In the late 1970s Maharshi started a Vedic gurukul, a Vedic school for Brahmin boys who wanted to be trained as Vedic pundits. Maharshi's vision was to have a school where, in addition to a traditional vedic education, these boys could be given the knowledge of accessing the Self through deep meditation.After establishing several schools across India, Maharshi wanted to open one near Bangalore. He contacted Guruji's father, Pitaji, a respected leader in the Hindu community, to recruit some boys for this new school. After nine months of traveling through South India. Pitaji had recruited 175 students for the new school. But soon after it opened, the TM movement decided to consolidated its schools, and relocated the new students to Maharshi's ashram outside Delhi.
Coming from South India, these young boys found it difficult to adapt to the northern climate and culture. The cold winter, combined with drastic changes in diet and austere conditions at the new makeshift ashram, made it difficult for these children to adjust, and many wanted to leave the school. The parent were contemplating legal action against the TM movement for breaking their agreement. A lawsuit would not only affect Maharshi's reputation but also Pitaji's. He was directly responsible for the children welfare. To complicate matters, Maharshi couldn't be reached. Yet something had to be done.
"I had to start a school in Bangalore", Guruji told us, "Everybody was baffled by my decision to take over the school, even my friends. "He doesn't have any income. He doesn't work anywhere. He doesn't gain money or earn money, nor does he ask donations from anywhere. How is he going to manage this school ? 'People thought, may be he has gone a little bit crazy, " he said with a laugh
His eyes widened as he told the story. He seemed amazed at his decision, "its difficult to manage two children and bring them up, "he said. "Here i am taking over a school with 175 children, with the responsibility to house them , feed them, and teach them -- every - thing free of cost, like an orphanage, without any aid or any help from anywhere."
For six months, the children stayed at parents' home, "cooking, bathing, sleeping -- they were everywhere in the house." Then one day, while the boys were performing one of the traditional vedic rituals, a gentleman approached Guruji. "I am so touched by this ceremony," I am going to New York for a trip and will be gone for a while. Here are the keys to my house. Use it as you like." So the school moved to the man's huge house, which was called Gurukrupa, and was able to stay there for the rest of that year.
Today young pundit boys continue to attend Ved Vigyan Mahavidyapeeth, which is an accredited institution, and they live at the ashram campus near Bangalore.
The school wasn't Guruji's only challenge, While he was in TM movement, he met with opposition from the other devotees. Despite his sweetness and calm presence, these devotees were jealous of his closeness with Maharshi. At that time, Guruji was blossoming into enlightenment, and many of India's chief ministers and government officials, as well as other swamis in Delhi, were becoming very fond of him. People would request his company and seek his blessings. So his rivals had him deliberately put in charge of vedic school in Noida, so that he would be kept away from public.
At another time, Guruji was running a center in Delhi, and while traveling to train Vedic pundits in meditation, his adversaries cut his phone line, put a stop on his bank account, and even had the tires slashed on his car. And one day, when he was expecting many dignitaries for a huge banquet, the cook was diminished, and he was left with no food or any way to entertain his guest, But somehow, miraculously he managed to pull it off and everything worked out.
When Guruji was talking about these times with us, he said, "All these obstacles brought many siddhis(abilities), somehow, i was able to manage. I never complained to Maharshi, never grumbled. I would never tell Maharshi all the things they used to do. However, he found and asked why i didn't tell him. I said, 'I can't be useful to your work then. You have so much to attend to. I want to lessen your burden and not to add it"
Listening to his stories, i felt inspired. I wanted to serve Guruji in same way he had served Maharshi. But part of me wondered if it was always going to be as easy as it had been so far.
-An excerpts from book "Stumbling into Infinity" by Michael Fischman
He spoke softly, almost whispering, and i leaned forward so i could hear. He said that there was never a face-to-face meeting. Maharshi was in Europe, preoccupied with health challenges at that time, "I was literally at a crossroads, waiting at a train station," he said. "I could board a train that would go to Shimoga or another that went to Delhi". If he chose to return to Delhi, he would continue to be with Maharshi but restricted by the limitations and politics of the TM movement. Then he smiled and said, "I knew that if i took the train to Shimoga, something new and original would come up. There were so many people waiting for me there."
It is still hard to know what happened after that. Guruji said that there was some correspondence with Maharshi by mail and there was a phone call or two. But I'm still not sure if they ever saw each other again.
Guruji is often cryptic about past. I have never heard him give a comprehensive history, though I would sometimes probe like a detective in a crime novel, assembling the bits and pieces into a time line.
Guruji told us that during the time he was serving Maharshi, he was well aware that he would eventually become a personal guru to millions who were waiting for him around the world. But he was still hesitant to start something new.
"At one point I had to make a decision whether or not I should start teaching the program, Sudarshan Kriya," he explained, "I know that eventually courses were going to happen, but i still had a one-percent reluctance, wondering whether i should bring this knowledge out at that time. It wasn't that i was confused, I just didn't think that we needed to start another organization. I was already giving knowledge and so many people appreciated and loved me."
"I decided to seek some advice from a 300 year old saint, he said "Devraha Baba, who lived above the Ganges River."
He so casually mentioned the man's age. Was he exaggerating ? I knew that yogis had the ability t do many supernatural feats, but I didn't think that anyone could live to be 300 years old.
"As i was traveling on this long train ride from Delhi to Varanasi," he continued, "the conductor on the train approached me. He was a nice person. I could tell he was very evolved. He didn't know me, yet he started speaking to me as though we were old friends: 'You've come into this life with a special purpose. Why do you want to go back without completing your purpose, or postponing it ? Then he told me he had a vision: Coming out of the heart lotus was a young man with long hair and a beard who would be ushering in a new yuga(era), spreading knowledge and having satsang with huge crowds of people all over the world. At the time his words made no sense to me, "said Guruji. "I couldn't understand why he was telling me this. And I don't think the conductor knew that i was the man in his vision. He even told me about our (Art of Living) logo. He said he saw the sun surrounded by two swans.
"By the time I arrived at Ganges, "he continued" , "it was dusk. There was no moon that night and it was getting darker and darker, and you couldn't see anything. The man who ran the ferry that went across the river refused to take me to hermitage. He said that it was too dark and he couldn't see where he was going. I had to promise him fifty rupees more so that he would finally take me.
"Devraha Baba lived alone along the Ganges in a small hut that was on a platform elevated by poles. The 300 year old saint had a disciple who lived in a small boat that was tied to one of the poles of hermitage. He stayed there day and night like a watchman, bringing the old man fruits and vegetables, or anything that he needed.
"When i arrived, Devraha Baba came out to greet me. He said, "I" m so happy to see you have come'.
"I felt it a little shy. I was very young and he was such a old man saying this to me," Guruji explained. "I thought he might be teasing me. He gave me a big melon and said, "Water is flowing, it has to flow. If it stops, it will rot. So satsang should flow. Satsang is that force that allows the grace to flow in the world. Satsang is essential in the world so that the world dosen't rot. You have to carry on the satsang everywhere in the world'.
"I didn't even have to ask the question, "Guruji said, "and still an answer came."
I was still struggling with the notion of a 300 year old saint, when Guruji continued.
"Later when i back to South India, I met another saint, Kodi Swami, a 450 year old man. He's a very nice being. People came from all over for his blessings, his darshan."
A 450 year old saint ? I thought Guruji was really pulling our legs now, But he wasn't. I later learned that Kodi Swami was a revered saint who spent the last thirty years of his life in Puravipalayam, a small village near Pollachi, in the state of Tamil nadu.
"This 450 year old saint had a devotee who attended to him who was 80 years old, "Guruji said, explaining that the devotee's father and grandfather had served the saint in the same way. "So when i met Kodi Swami, I said to him, 'Baba(father), give us some knowledge. "He just smiled and laughed. This man speaks very little. Then he said, with a bit of sarcasm, "All knowledge is already there. If Shiva comes and asks me for some knowledge, what knowledge can I give ? He too said that I must do this work and bring out the Kriya and this knowledge. He gave his blessings, 'You should not stop. You should teach this course, this program, all over the world'.
"Although the advice was clear from two saints, I still hesitated to start another organization. Yet I knew, when knowledge has to some, it will come."
There were other factors that pushed Guruji to venture out on his own. For one thing, he needed to protect his father's and Maharshi's reputation. In the late 1970s Maharshi started a Vedic gurukul, a Vedic school for Brahmin boys who wanted to be trained as Vedic pundits. Maharshi's vision was to have a school where, in addition to a traditional vedic education, these boys could be given the knowledge of accessing the Self through deep meditation.After establishing several schools across India, Maharshi wanted to open one near Bangalore. He contacted Guruji's father, Pitaji, a respected leader in the Hindu community, to recruit some boys for this new school. After nine months of traveling through South India. Pitaji had recruited 175 students for the new school. But soon after it opened, the TM movement decided to consolidated its schools, and relocated the new students to Maharshi's ashram outside Delhi.
Coming from South India, these young boys found it difficult to adapt to the northern climate and culture. The cold winter, combined with drastic changes in diet and austere conditions at the new makeshift ashram, made it difficult for these children to adjust, and many wanted to leave the school. The parent were contemplating legal action against the TM movement for breaking their agreement. A lawsuit would not only affect Maharshi's reputation but also Pitaji's. He was directly responsible for the children welfare. To complicate matters, Maharshi couldn't be reached. Yet something had to be done.
"I had to start a school in Bangalore", Guruji told us, "Everybody was baffled by my decision to take over the school, even my friends. "He doesn't have any income. He doesn't work anywhere. He doesn't gain money or earn money, nor does he ask donations from anywhere. How is he going to manage this school ? 'People thought, may be he has gone a little bit crazy, " he said with a laugh
His eyes widened as he told the story. He seemed amazed at his decision, "its difficult to manage two children and bring them up, "he said. "Here i am taking over a school with 175 children, with the responsibility to house them , feed them, and teach them -- every - thing free of cost, like an orphanage, without any aid or any help from anywhere."
For six months, the children stayed at parents' home, "cooking, bathing, sleeping -- they were everywhere in the house." Then one day, while the boys were performing one of the traditional vedic rituals, a gentleman approached Guruji. "I am so touched by this ceremony," I am going to New York for a trip and will be gone for a while. Here are the keys to my house. Use it as you like." So the school moved to the man's huge house, which was called Gurukrupa, and was able to stay there for the rest of that year.
Today young pundit boys continue to attend Ved Vigyan Mahavidyapeeth, which is an accredited institution, and they live at the ashram campus near Bangalore.
The school wasn't Guruji's only challenge, While he was in TM movement, he met with opposition from the other devotees. Despite his sweetness and calm presence, these devotees were jealous of his closeness with Maharshi. At that time, Guruji was blossoming into enlightenment, and many of India's chief ministers and government officials, as well as other swamis in Delhi, were becoming very fond of him. People would request his company and seek his blessings. So his rivals had him deliberately put in charge of vedic school in Noida, so that he would be kept away from public.
At another time, Guruji was running a center in Delhi, and while traveling to train Vedic pundits in meditation, his adversaries cut his phone line, put a stop on his bank account, and even had the tires slashed on his car. And one day, when he was expecting many dignitaries for a huge banquet, the cook was diminished, and he was left with no food or any way to entertain his guest, But somehow, miraculously he managed to pull it off and everything worked out.
When Guruji was talking about these times with us, he said, "All these obstacles brought many siddhis(abilities), somehow, i was able to manage. I never complained to Maharshi, never grumbled. I would never tell Maharshi all the things they used to do. However, he found and asked why i didn't tell him. I said, 'I can't be useful to your work then. You have so much to attend to. I want to lessen your burden and not to add it"
Listening to his stories, i felt inspired. I wanted to serve Guruji in same way he had served Maharshi. But part of me wondered if it was always going to be as easy as it had been so far.
-An excerpts from book "Stumbling into Infinity" by Michael Fischman
.jpg)
.jpg)
