Lord Shiva has come to earth in the form of Guruji; you can meet Him at Empire Estate. I heard these words in my house one day from a devotee of Guruji's, Shri Gupta, who had come to our house. I reacted immediately: God is everywhere, I thought, why only at Empire Estate? I decided not to go there.
When I did, what I saw lent further credence to my skepticism. Guruji was sitting on a wooden cabinet wearing His shoes and two ladies were pressing His arms. I didn't like it. What place had I come to? I sat down quietly and was served tea
prasad but didn't have it: I did not know about the simple customs of Guruji's
sangat: drinking tea
prasad, listening to the
shabad kirtan in silence and having
langar. I kept looking at Guruji and the two ladies, wondering why nobody was protesting and how everybody was being befooled. I thought of going up to Guruji and talking to Him. Just then He got up and went inside His room to change. He came back to sit on His chair. Again I thought of going up to Him with my question: If you really are Lord Shiva, then why do you allow so many crimes to happen on earth? I was sitting with a devotee couple, the Kapils, and told them, "Let's go to Guruji and ask Him." They told me to sit down quietly. I insisted but they were unmoved. I could not understand why everybody was just sitting quietly. Finally, I walked up to Guruji.
I asked Him, "Who are you?" He didn't reply and gestured at me to go away. I had so many things to ask Him, but He kept gesturing angrily at me to go away. I didn't like it at all. By that time,
langar was being served and another devotee, Shri Singla, requested me to leave my questions aside and partake of the
langar. He was cross with me too, but added that Guruji had foreknowledge of my questions. Now, I was angry. What crime had I committed that Guruji and His devotee were both angry at me. I began crying and refused
langar, so did my husband and two children. We all walked outside to where the shoes were kept. I was crying: What had I done or said that had rubbed people the wrong way? On top of it, I heard Shri Singla complain to the lady devotee I knew: what kind of people was she bringing to the mandir and why was she not briefing them beforehand?
I cried all the way back home and kept telling my husband that I didn't deserve the scolding. My husband consoled me, saying we wouldn't be wasting our time going to Guruji's ever again. We reached home and my husband and children went off to sleep. My mind was still preoccupied with the question:
Adharma is rampant in the world, so why wasn't anybody doing anything about it?
I was lost in my thoughts when I smelt a fragrance. I looked around for the source, but could not find anything. I tried to wake my husband up, but he shrugged me off, saying that he needed his sleep, my crying had bothered him.
The next thing I 'saw' was Guruji. He was taking me to a place where there was Lord Shiva and the
Shesh Naag. I could see raindrops falling from Lord Shiva's hair and felt myself calm down. I also saw the
Shivalinga at the Bade Mandir. Guruji then asked me to drink something. I questioned Him about what it was, but He asked me to drink it. I asked Guruji for more, but He told me that what I had was enough and more would make me
deewani (besotted)
My house was full of fragrance for days after this incident, but I could not understand where it was coming from. I went to my neighbour's house to ask them which incense sticks (
agarbatti) they were lighting. I was told they hadn't lit any incense stick. This went on for a few days. One of Guruji's devotees, Shrimati Pushkarna, came to know and reached our house one day. She identified the fragrance as belonging to Guruji's and also told me about Bade Mandir.
I began going to the Mandir. I would often muse about my dream and could not believe what I had seen. One day Guruji told a devotee who stays in Malerkotla and is known as 'Masterji' that He had come to my house, given me
darshan and made me drink
amrit. When I went to Bade Mandir, Masterji told me that Guruji was remembering me and had told him all this. He also told me that the fragrance I was getting was Guruji's fragrance. I was convinced that Guruji was Lord Shiva himself. We started going regularly to Guruji's every Saturday.
Rose petal at a hospital
My mother-in-law had fallen very sick and was admitted to a hospital. My husband, children, brother-in-law and I went to the hospital to visit her. She had been unable to eat or drink. I began narrating Guruji's
satsangs and gave her an apple. She ate it. I gave her a cheeku, and she had the cheeku, too. I was telling my mother-in-law that Guruji is God himself and that He's omnipresent. She was feeling quite sad and I was trying to cheer her up by telling her again and again that Guruji would surely come to us. I had peeled the skin off the apple and the cheeku and was holding the peels in my hand. My mother-in-law told me to throw them in the dustbin. I said that since Guruji was bound to come, I did not want to dirty the place. I would throw the peels when outside the room. My mother-in-law kept insisting and I too persevered in my belief that Guruji would come. Suddenly, I saw a fresh rose petal where we were sitting. I picked it up for all to see and announced that Guruji had come. Everybody was amazed-an instant ago, there was nothing and suddenly a rose petal had materialized!
Madhu Gaba, a devotee
April 2012