Many years ago, I came across a photograph of Guruji at a bakery shop in Rajouri Garden. While His
swaroop was big, Guru Nanak Devji's swaroop alongside was small. I wondered why, and asked the lady shopkeeper if she wouldn't mind telling me whose photograph it was. That shopkeeper told me it was Guruji's and that lots of VIPs and ministers went to His Mandir at Chattarpur. Her mistaken belief did not inspire me. As it was, I was an ardent Sai Baba follower and had no wish to follow any other guru. My sister, however, went a few times to Bade Mandir.
I moved to Dubai in 2012, where I had free time on my hands. As a result, not only did I grew bored, but my latent spiritual urge came to the fore. However, I didn't find any Sai Baba devotees. Back at home, my parents too had begun going to His temple. I would ask them about Guruji and they began telling me about their experiences.
An extraordinary event led to a U-turn in my attitude. In January, a worker came over to my house and asked me for recordings of devotional music (
bhajans). I gave him my full collection of such CDs, which he promised to return after downloading. I never got those CDs back, and was put off. I had been collecting those bhajans for years and listened to them every morning.
Deprived of my precious collection, I began scouting YouTube for devotional music. My mind turned to the
shabads my parents told me were played at Guruji's Mandir. I began wondering if Guruji's
satsangs took place in Dubai. I googled and found that one was being held on the occasion of Baisakhi. I emailed the host and was invited. I had a scruple though. I was on my Navratri fast and I told the hostess I would not have anything to eat. She relented and told me to get fruits to eat. (A rare occurrence, because at Guruji's you eat what you get as
langar regardless of diet-based devotions.)
My husband and I went to the satsang on the 13
th; it was nice. I still remember the shabad that was playing that day, "
Lakh khushiyan patshahian je satguru nadar kare". I got a small swaroop of Guruji with His blessings; devotees pronounced that He was Lord Shiva. Even so I didn't have langar; I only had some fruit and juice. Today I feel I made a mistake.
Along with the Navratri fast, I was also reading the
Sai Satcharitra. The entire reading had to finish in seven days, and I'd usually read seven chapters each day. The day after the satsang, I stopped the reading on the sixth chapter to call up a friend who had recently begun going to Guruji and asked her about Him. All my friends who were Sai Baba devotees had become Guruji's devotees. I had a long call with her and then went back to reading the Satcharitra.
Three very pertinent stories came up in that scripture and they answered the doubts I had during the satsang. In the first, Sai Baba asked a devotee why he was questioning others for knowledge about him. He'd needn't go to other sources, Baba was suggesting, he'd get to see for himself. (दूसरे से क्या पूछना? सब कुछ अपनी आँखों से देखना। काहे को दूसरे आदमी से पूछना?)
The second satsang that was shared in the same chapter had a clear announcement, "I am Shiva." (श्री साईंबाबा तो शिवजी के साक्षात् अवतार हैं).
The third doubt I had entertained was that I had no
darshan of Guruji nor seen any manifestation of His presence. The third satsang in the Satcharitra made it clear. Sai proclaimed: I don't need a door to reach you. I have neither form nor ending. I am present in all physical manifestations. Those who have faith in me and remember me, I do their work myself. And I uplift them.
(मुझे प्रवेश करने के लिए किसी द्वार की आवशयकता नहीं है! ना मेरा कोई रूप ही है और ना ही कोई अंत! मैं सदैव सर्वभूतों में व्याप्त हूँ! जो मुझपर विश्वास रखकर सदा मेरा ही चिन्तन करता है, उसके सब कार्य मैं स्वयं ही करता हूँ और अन्त में उसे श्रेय देता हूँ!)
I had got all my answers, and realized that both Guruji and Sai Baba are the same. After that there was no looking back. Later I realized that it was Sai Baba himself who had taken away all my CDs—which I later found. I feel Baba has given my hand to Guruji and that from now on my journey of life will be taken care of by our beloved Guruji. The journey is beautiful and full of His blessings. Jai Guruji!
Neeti Kohli Chopra, a devotee
April 2020