It is not within my capacity or competence to put into words the supremacy of my Guru, for how can I do justice in cold words to His colossal divinity. However, in a sincere tribute of love and reverence for my Guru, I share my experience of supreme blessings with the wishes and approval of Guruji.
The path we seek is not different from the summit of salvation, the purpose of our being. The journey from seeking to reaching this summit is a cinch for those who entrust their reins in the hands of their Guru. For we are not pathfinders but followers.
I was born into a Jatt Sikh family. My family had to its credit happiness, tasteful living, good education and discipline. Throughout my childhood, I have always been influenced by my grandfather, a devout follower of his faith and of his master. Slowly, the import of finding a Guru dawned on me.
I was married into a Jatt Sikh family. My husband, being the only son after three daughters, was brought up with a lot of love and affection, which he seemed to have taken for granted. He learnt to have his way. His negligence towards the family and lack of responsibility towards himself perhaps attributed to his fondness for drinks - his major problem.
It is a dream of every girl to be happily married, and I was no exception. But when a family is haunted with alcoholism, nothing is any longer in anyone's control and worldly fetters and problems become insurmountable. The burden of responsibility and my unhappiness soon disillusioned me.
During that time my grandfather visited me. My inner turmoil and agony reached out to him without words, and he assumed I needed some help. My eyes filled up with tears and I told him that I wanted him to pray for me to find a '
Puran Guru' (a complete and perfect master). However hard a mortal being may try, she cannot find an enlightened master. The master finds her when she is ready to tread his path.
Shortly, my mother took me to visit Guruji in Chandigarh. From the moment I stepped in the place where Guruji was I could smell the scent of roses. And the sight of Him flooded my eyes with tears. For the next few hours that I sat there, tears kept streaming down my eyes. Many times after first meeting Guruji I could not control the outburst of emotions, and I simply could not understand why. Every time I visited Him, I experienced a peace that passeth understanding. It was as if the flood of tears was singularly transforming me by some alchemical cleansing.
In the meantime, my husband began to drink more. He lost all sense of responsibility and started squandering money. I tried telling him about Guruji and also persuaded him to meet Guruji. He laughed at me, saying such Gurus were a penny a dozen and teased me about my conservative attitude. He also did not approve of my visiting Guruji.
Around November 1999, my husband was posted to Lebanon on a UN mission. There his drinking problem worsened, and he was diagnosed as having liver cirrhosis. Our world fell apart. I took the first flight to be with him. The doctor clearly stated that his liver had packed up and that he would require a transplant within two years.
To find a donor in such a short period was a near impossibility. Even if a donor is found, a transplant is extremely expensive and in many cases unsuccessful. Doctors cautioned my husband that even a single drop of alcohol taken henceforth would prove fatal. Meanwhile, my parents kept going to Guruji and praying for my husband's life.
After being in the hospital for a few weeks, we came back to Delhi. I requested him to meet Guruji. He did come, but all the while that he was there he sat in a corner and complained of how tired he was and how I had forced him to come. The same night, I approached Guruji and was so full of emotion that I could hardly speak. I and my mother prayed in front of Him to save my husband and Guruji replied: "
How can I help him? He's a non-believer."
In the days that followed I would visit Guruji alone because my husband would never accompany me.
One night after returning from Guruji's place, while I was fast asleep, all of a sudden a great force like a swooshing wind entered my room. I was so scared that I sat upright in my bed and started saying my prayers with my eyes closed. I experienced white light piercing the darkness and flooding the centre of my forehead. Guruji was within that white light.
He said He would cure my husband now. In the 15-20 minutes that followed I smelt nauseating odours similar to those that emanate from operating rooms. After a while everything cleared up and I went back to sleep. Guruji told me He had blessed my husband.
Six years have passed since that day, and my husband continues to drink relentlessly showing no respite for any of us. Keeping in mind what the doctors had said, my family and I are amazed at how Guruji is looking after him day and night. My husband in his own way believes and recognizes the gift of life given to him by Guruji.
The time-tested scriptures of the world all agree that before man is born, the day of his death is ascertained and that no one can grant him even a breath more. However, the power to burn man's
karma lies with the supreme creator. Guruji is that cosmic director, the manifestation of that supreme power, who rewrote the play of my life.
My family and I have experienced numerous incidents where in despair or in excitement, we have called out to Guruji and have suddenly seen things fall into place - as if touched by a magic wand.
I once had the privilege of escorting more than half a dozen friends to whom I had been singing the praises of my Guru to meet Guruji. With my limited vision I prevailed upon them to, unlike me, not ask for anything. When I touched the lotus feet of my Guru, He looked at me and to my astonishment said that everyone came to Him to ask for something. Like a divine mirror, my Guru apparently had caught the reflection of my mind.
And each of my friends was blessed and their desires fulfilled.
No one who comes near Him ever goes back empty-handed. Upon touching His lotus feet, a businessman might be blessed with prosperity, a sick man with health and a student with knowledge. Some are aware of the gift they receive; others ignorant of the hidden blessings. His love knows no bounds and immaterial of whether you are a believer or a non-believer, His grace touches everyone. He makes no demands, asks you to keep no promises, but slowly His divine presence weaves magic and transforms you from within.
Every day people ridden with sorrow come in His presence. And His grace illumines their faces like the sudden rising of the sun over a sodden landscape.
A devotee
July 2007