Guruji, the soul purifier

Cancer curse turns into a blessing

It was year 2014 and I was in class 12^th. We planned a trip to Shirdi and Mumbai during the summer vacations. It was a mesmerizing experience; my parents, younger brother, and my paternal uncle (chacha) had a great time. But after coming back to our residence in Delhi my father started keeping unwell. He thought it was due to the exertion and didn't pay it much attention. When he began vomiting though, he had to be taken to a nearby clinic. The doctor said he was serious and asked my mother to take him to a big hospital.

My father was diagnosed with cancer. We were shocked; I felt like God had cursed us.

I was soon to realize how wrong I was. My mother operates a crèche and when Mrs. Nileema Singade, the head nurse at the cancer department in AIIMS then, came in with her children, she immediately helped us. She got us an earlier date for the operation at the hospital. Moreover, she was a devotee of Guruji and the Singades took my parents to Bade Mandir. My mother prayed to Guruji to cure my father and my parents had langar. Mr. Singade pointed out that they had never sat in the hall of the Bade Mandir as they always arrived late, but that day, they could along with my parents.

My father was admitted to AIIMS and we were told the chances of a good outcome were remote. My father was an alcoholic, which had severely compromised his health, and would have to be kept in the ICU for 48 hours after the operation. Due to Guruji's grace, the operation was successful and my father was kept in the ICU only for two hours. He didn't require chemotherapy as well, which, I believe, he could not have endured because he was very fragile—I believe Guruji knew that and spared him.

My father was discharged within a week. His recovery was effortless. It seemed as if he had had a viral fever, not cancer.

From a partial believer to total surrender

After my father's operation, my mother and I began going to Bade Mandir once a week. At first, we used to say the Mandir is far from our house and takes up a lot of time and energy. I was not that keen on going as the Mandir has strict rules: no gossiping and no phones, and at that time I was addicted to my phone. I used to switch on my phone in the Mandir (sorry, Guruji) check my messages and then switch it off again. Being a Bengali I found it very difficult to understand the shabads and bhajans played in the Mandir.

Although I knew Guruji gave my father a new lease of life, I could not connect with Him. I was 15, stubborn, upset and rebellious. I always tried to find my happiness in materialistic things. But Guruji held my hand and showed me the path towards positivity and the light of divinity.

Slowly I found peace within myself, my attitude towards everything changed in a good way. I began enjoying the shabads and now eagerly wait for Saturdays to visit the Mandir. Gradually I began feeling energetic, changed the way I handled problems and became a God-loving rather than God-fearing person. That's how Guruji spreads positivity for every sangat member.

Blessed with a house

My father is a government official and was allotted a living quarter in South Delhi. My parents' dream was to build a house. It was fulfilled in a miraculous fashion when my mother got a chance to go to Dugri. This was her second trip and it came about on the mahasamadhi divas in year 2016. She learnt that if someone took the blessed soil of Dugri, he or she gained a house. My mother took the sacred soil from Dugri and within a year our lifelong dream was fulfilled. We didn't have to even take a loan.

Guruji held our hands throughout. Once my parents went to the bank via the Metro and my mom lost her train card. That attracted a penalty worth Rs. 120. My mom was upset at the extra spend. But everything happens for the good, she realized as she recalled a story I had told her a day before. Then she prayed to Guruji and felt better.

At the bank, an agent asked for Rs 20,000, leaving my mom and dad helpless. Then the agent called our dealer and the matter was fixed. We had lost Rs. 120—and saved Rs. 20,000. That's how Guruji blesses us. I remember how the day we started off on the mission to build the house, I fell sick. Till the day we got our keys I was in bed, with fever or food poisoning or dehydration or something else. But once we moved in, I was fine. Guruji had cleared all the hurdles: By giving small problems, He eliminated the biggest of the issues.

"Yeh meri sangat hai"

The house did put us in a cash crunch. Once when we were coming back from Mandir, we did not find any vehicles run by the volunteers (shuttle sewa) to Chhatarpur and had to share an auto with a few more sangat members. Throughout the journey, my mom was calculating the fare and upset that she would have to pay Rs 80. My mom gave a Rs. 500 currency note to the auto driver as that was what she had, but he asked for change. One of our co-passengers (an old gentleman) silently took out Rs. 100 and told the driver "yeh meri sangat hai". My mom said thank you, but he did not reply. As we walked out, we looked for him but did not find him anywhere. We reached home and then realized that the person was no one but Guruji Himself. I still get goosebumps when I think of that day.

Langar takes away facial paralysis

Last November turned out to be critical for me. I was returning from my office, tired and hungry, and had a bite of chicken momos. I immediately felt my left ear sting for half a minute. The next day I was not able to gulp water, which would trickle out of my mouth, but I ignored the symptom. The third day my brother noticed that the left side of my face was paralyzed.

My father took me to Safdarjung Hospital and subsequently to a neurologist. The neurologist scolded me for being negligent and warned me not to expect a fast recovery. He prescribed a few medicines, with the rider that they would be of no use because I had required that these be given within 24 hours. I broke down. The neurologist then told me to consult a physiotherapist, who advised monthly therapy. Each session would cost Rs. 600, and a 30-day course would be more than my monthly salary. I went for the first session sobbing, shedding tears and remembering Guruji. The doctors were murmuring that my condition was very bad and there was little chance of recovery.

The next Sunday I went to Bade Mandir and cried my heart out before Guruji, because one should cry only before those who can feel their pain. Only Guruji knew what I was going through: the left side of my face was paralyzed. I was not able to chew, gulp, or swallow, yet I had langar in Bade Mandir with three other members of our guru parivar. Since that day I began to heal.

My best friend Dipankar took the responsibility of taking me for the physiotherapy sessions and dropping me to my office on his bike, which was very helpful. We had a major quarrel earlier, but that was soon a thing of the past as Dipankar often took me to Bade Mandir.

Guruji is with His Sangat all the time

One Saturday I was unwell and Ma was going alone to Bade Mandir. My maternal uncle (Mama) called me and said he would accompany my mom. So my mom took an auto from Pushp Vihar to Chhatarpur Metro station, but as usual, forgot to take her phone along with her. Mama could not inform her that he would be late. She reached the station at 5 pm, waited an hour for her brother and then decided to go to the Mandir. She is an arthritis patient and by then she was exhausted and standing on aching legs. She prayed to Guruji that she find a car to take her to the Mandir. The moment she prayed, a car stopped in front of her, with a husband and wife inside. They were going to the Mandir and the husband opened the door for Mom to get inside. After a minute or so, she began crying and had to tell the devotee couple how Guruji had come to her rescue. The couple, in turn, said this would have been the first time they were coming without any sangat in their car because they either have relatives or friends who they ask to join them for darshan. No one had come that day, but they had found mom.

After a few minutes, the husband asked: "Aunty, won't you ask us about our kids?" My mom learnt that the couple were childless for the last six years. Ma assured them that Guruji would fulfill their desire very soon. The couple were happy and told my mom that they would drop her back home as well. My mom and they kept their jodas (shoes) together and had a wonderful darshan of Guruji. That day my mom prayed for them to Guruji.

The devotee couple were going to Rohini, which takes around two hours by car, so my mom asked them to drop her at the Chhatarpur Metro. "My wife and I have no parents," the husband said, "and from now on you are our Mother." He pointed out that he was not doing her a favour, only following Guruji's adesh. My mom was dropped home with lots of love and respect and the couple even touched Mom's feet as they departed.

Dariya won—hurray!

My brother and his friends have a band, called Dariya, and they were to have their debut performance in a college competition in the Tuglakabad Industrial Area. My brother, the lead singer of the band, and his four friends practiced hard but did not expect to land a rank. One day before the competition my brother had a throat infection and was not able to sing in his normal scale. Everyone was upset.

On the day of the performance, I was in office and praying to Guruji continuously to be with the young chaps. Since the battle of the bands would start in the evening and the venue was near my office, I went to cheer them up. They were in a big mess: they had no electrical or acoustic guitar. I pleaded with fellow participants to loan them their instruments. Many refused, but one team agreed to our profuse thanks. The acoustic guitar we got had a strap that fell short and I had to secure it with the "roli dhaga"(sacred thread) from my hand.

Throughout their performance I kept chanting "Om Namah Shivay Shivji Sada Sahay/Om Namah Shivay Guruji Sada Sahay". The band did well, but their performance had been preceded by a professional team with their own compositions and songs. When the results came out, Dariya was first! The judges remarked that they gave Dariya an extra mark because they saw me praying hard to the Almighty. I thank Guruji every day for making us who we are today.

I love reading Guruji's granth, Light of Divinity. Whenever I read it I start crying; I feel sad and unlucky that I didn't meet Guruji in His physical form. One remarkable day this feeling vanished to be replaced with the insight that He is everywhere.

On a Wednesday in August, I took half a day's leave from my office to participate in my friend's birthday. As I do not have a computer at my place, I read Light of Divinity in my office during lunch hours. I came to office a bit early to make up for lost time so that I could ready at least one chapter fully. It turned out to be a busy day and I could not finish.

I was feeling bad, but I decided to read the granth on my problematic phone with its small screen, mercurial touch screen and the tiny font of the granth itself. I was determined to read and finish the chapter that very day and I did it. The following day, when I resumed reading in my office, I saw my left hand had a circle and inside it an Aum had formed. I was ecstatic and clicked a picture. I sent it to my brother to check if I was day dreaming or if Guruji was actually giving me darshan. My brother confirmed that he could also see the Aum. I prayed to Guruji to be with me for some time and let me feel Him. I read Light of Divinity for twenty to twenty-five minutes that day and felt as if Guruji was inside me. I also got my answer. I must not feel jealous or unlucky because He is everywhere, He is in the air, water and sky. He is Nirankar.

Yellow and blue colours to unite us

Even as I write about this experience, I have a big smile on my face. It was the first of September, a Sunday, and Ma and I were planning our outfits for the coming Durga puja. I wanted to make a kurti out of a blue silk cloth, although I was not sure which churidar would match with it. I was not able to choose whether I should pair the blue with a yellow or a white colour.

I went to Bade Mandir with my brother and we reached early. Even as we waited outside for about 50 minutes, I kept thinking about my outfit.

The durbar opened and as I bowed in front of Guruji's gaddi, I was overcome with happy bewilderment. The entire durbar, from Guruji's gaddi to Shivji's attire, was in yellow and blue. I couldn't believe that Guruji had chosen my colours for me, and started crying in joy. Why did Guruji love me so much? Did I even deserve this much love? I told Guruji He gave me answers to questions I didn't even ask of Him. That day was blissful and will stay in my heart forever.

Extended blessing to the people around us

Guruji not only blesses His devotees, but also people around them. Once my mom was going to Bade Mandir and saw my brother's friend in a state of extreme drunkenness. He was earlier a bright student, very focused and ambitious, but after his Class XII, he dropped a year, fell in with wrong company and indulged in a number of bad habits. Everyone gave up on him.

That day the only thing my mom prayed to Guruji about was the well-being of that chap. After a few months, he left every bad habit and became a good boy again. This is a miracle which only Guruji can perform. That boy is now my brother's best friend, more like a brother. Whenever he's at our place my mom gives him Guruji's jal prasad.

My brothers from our maternal side were also blessed by Guruji Maharaj. They got good jobs only after they attended Guruji's satsang held at our place.

Guruji's innumerable blessings are vital to inner transformation, but they also heal our external self. After I entered into teenage, I had a lot of skin issues and my face was full of pimples. I tried everything from antibiotics to Ayurveda and more than 200 home remedies, but to no avail. Everyone asked me about my face, and I was tired of answering the same question. I avoided all family gatherings and gave up meeting with friends. I used to cry at nights; I was depressed. The facial problem took away my confidence. It became a mental trauma.

I used to pray to Guruji to cure my pimples and slowly the healing came about. First, I started eating the right food. I used to eat junk food every day and now I can't even look at it. For my mom, this is a miracle. I maintain a healthy lifestyle. Whenever I see myself in the mirror now, I say: "Thank you, Guruji."

I feel Guruji starts working on our internal development as soon as we step inside Guruji's durbar. Earlier I'd cry when I was sad, now I cry because I'm happy, overjoyed, and blessed. All I can say is shukrana, Guruji.

Guruji listens to us every time, Guruji is an incarnation of Lord Shiva, just surrender yourself to Guruji, trust me He will make it happen for you, but only if it is good for you. Have patience, Guruji is there, He is watching us every second. We are under His protective umbrella always. Be positive, everything happens for your own good, you won't realize it now, but at some point, you will. Try to be happy with what you have, Guruji will give you everything at the right time, because only He knows the right time. I can go on writing about Guruji all day long. As for night time, Main bin Gur dekhei neend na aavai. (Without seeing my Guru, sleep does not come.)

Keep us at your lotus feet, dear Lord.

[Following section added November 2020]

Non-veg diet goes away

One day Ma thought of doing satsang at home every day, offering tea and kadha prasad to Guruji. We are Bengalis, however, and eating non-vegetarian food daily is a part of our normal diet, though we can make it in separate utensils. Ma was in a dilemma for a month about offering bhog, wondering if it meant we could not do so, and decided to ask Guruji.

That day we had guests at our place and Ma made mutton curry for lunch. We ate lunch in the room in which we have our puja ghar. In the evening, Ma prepared tea and kadha prasad and we all did satsang and played shabad vani. After the Shiva aarti, Ma bowed her head in front of Guruji and some of her sindoor (vermillion) fell on the floor. We soon observed that the sindoor marks had formed an Aum. Tears came to our eyes, and we thanked Guruji for coming to our place for blessing us.

I have always been a picky child when it comes to food. I didn't like half the vegetables, dals (lentils) with onion tadka (tempering), dry fruits, milk products, and chapattis. I loved rice, and consumed it during breakfast, lunch and dinner. I only had chapattis when I ate langar prasad at Bade Mandir once a week. Outside that meal, my food choices remained poor: packaged food, instant noodles, chips, chocolates, biscuits, pizzas, and pasta. That made me unhealthy and unfit. I was destroying my god-gifted body.

After coming to Guruji, my food choices slowly became better. I began practicing mindful eating and lost twenty kilos of weight after changing my diet. I came to know that though Guruji never restricted anybody from eating non-veg food, He used to say that vegetarian food was healthier. So I began thinking of quitting non-veg food even though I was not a fan of vegetarian dishes. I searched the Internet for pointers and found a YouTube channel, Satvic Movement, which elaborated upon how vegetarian food was much healthier than meat-eating. I acknowledged the facts, but quitting the desire seemed impossible. My mother had quit non-veg a few years ago and my father was against it too, but I loved eating fish curry, chicken, and mutton.

After a few months, on my birthday, I called mom from my office and asked her to make dal makhni for me. However, she ended up making chicken curry because guests had come and she thought I would enjoy non-veg more. As I ate the curry that day over a birthday meal, I began feeling bad. I don't know what happened to me; with each bite I took, I felt that I would never want to eat food like this ever again. How had I been eating such food for the last 21 years of my life?

After finishing, I went on to Guruji Maharaj's website. I read a satsang that talked about how a devotee was unwilling to quit non-veg food. A shabad brought about a change of mind and habit and he finally quit non-veg. The message was clear: I had to quit non-veg. My mother and father were not supportive, but I didn't change my decision.

How lucky I was! After a couple of months, I had to go to a doctor because there was a lump on my neck. He gave me medication for 15 days, but didn't say why there was a growth. During my next visit, he asked me a single question, "Do you eat non-veg?" When I replied in the negative, he reassured me that there was nothing to worry about. If I had been eating meat, he added, that lump could have become TB. I was shocked. It took me some time to understand how Guruji had saved me. All I could say was thank you, Lord, and my heart said love, love, love.

Note: Guruji has never advocated non-vegetarianism.

Monalisha Goutam, a devotee

November 2020