I recall the time when Guruji asked His disciples to write down their
satsangs. He urged me frequently to "write more". I thought if I wrote more, a book would not be enough! Now I remember, like shining precious jewels, Guruji's words to us:
- "You can never see God," He said, "Love him, don't ever be scared of him."
- "Your children are your actual earnings when they turn out well."
- "Health is a person's real wealth."
- "If you are affected by what another's opinion of you is, you would be in that person's control. So be in your own control."
- "Never gossip about another person sarcastically for they would receive your share of blessings and you would get their negativity."
- "Never listen to another's woes but direct them to me."
Guruji also told us He had the power to control the sun. He normally never intervened in a person's destiny, but if He wanted to He could rewrite a better destiny.
Speaking of fate, He was not particularly in favour of pundits. "One should not depend too much on pundits," He remarked one day, "what if a particular one is not well versed?" I wondered why He said that to us since we did not go to pundits. He pointed out that birth stones were worn for prosperity and good health, but they could themselves be having a negative effect and, therefore, should not be worn. I mentioned that none of us wore stones. He clarified that He was "speaking generally". Asked whether black magic existed, He said yes but pointed out that it boomeranged on the initiator.
He advocated the recitation of Om Namah Shivay Shivji Sada Sahay.
Once my father-in-law asked Him about His successor. His remark was emphatic and is vitally important today: "
Pehle vi mein, hun vi mein, te baad vich vi mein, aithe koi gaddi nahin chaldi" (I was in the past, I am in the present, I will be in the future: there is no seat of succession.) He alone would be on the divine seat till eternity. And the Bada Mandir would have the power of twelve holy places-that is what Guruji said. "Whoever comes here," He promised, "would receive my blessings."
He often remarked that the
sangat would increase, and no matter how big the Mandir was made, it would overflow with devotees. He made this remark at a time when He chose to meet people at His discretion. It is coming true with every passing day.
He characterized a real Guru as one who would not proclaim himself to the world but keep a low profile. And no one was allowed to talk about Him to the media.
He advocated the efficacy of
satsang, often asking devotees to narrate the blessings they had received. Satsangs conferred two levels of blessings: one for the narrator and one for the listener. There is no way to thank Guruji for all His blessings. But doing satsang is the thanksgiving a devotee must do. Guruji often used to say: "Narrate all the
kalyans I have done for you."
He enjoined upon us to develop an individual connection or relationship with Him. Faith was pivotal. "If one has faith in me, one has everything," He promised. "If there is no faith then there is nothing."
He blessed those who directed people to Him, and took a hundred steps towards the devotee who took a step toward Him. And He always said: "I am a 'practical' Guru who does not believe in giving sermons but who does things for others."
In keeping with that, He did not ask devotees to spend their lives reading scripture. Doing one's daily duties was also prayer. "Life is not easy," I was told, but prayer can sort out anything. "Those who pray are blessed."
The prayer of the highest order, according to Him, happened when a husband and wife looked after each other; they together looked after their children and kept their house happy and worry-free.
He was not in favour of pundits doing religious prayers on devotees' behalf. He once scolded a prayer reader in front of us, saying that the reader had skipped prayer pages at night, thinking no one was looking. He also castigated the modern tendency to abuse sacred idols as material artefacts. "Lord Ganesha's rightful place," He pointed out, "is in a temple, not in people's houses as a paper weight nor as a decoration piece on the floor."
He once reprimanded us, saying that God was not obtained through discussion: "
Discussion karan naal rab nahin milda." That caution extends to Guruji's
satsangs: they are not open for discussion. Whatever transpired is between the Guru and His disciple. Nobody can know what a disciple's relationship is like with his Guru, I humbly believe.
The home too is a spiritual centre. Guruji was against buying expensive paintings and hanging them at home without knowing the history of the artist. That could mean unwittingly taking on the artist's negative vibrations. When I told Guruji that I did not have the capacity to buy paintings worth crores, he pointed out that he was speaking in general terms.
He went on to say that one should not have statues of humans, birds and animals in one's house. He told me to immerse these in water or, if I couldn't, to throw them out. Houses should be decorated with flowers or photos of flowers, He advised.
He even gave us a colour guide. The best colours which generate positivity and prosperity are red, cream and black, then come shades of orange, pink, yellow, green, purple and white. Goorh neela, a particular shade of royal blue, is not the Guru's colour and emits negativity to the wearer. Turquoise blue, sky blue and navy blue are all right.
"
Guruan di gal pathar di lakeer," He said. A Guru's words are the Truth and have to come to pass-as many devotees will only too happily agree.
"Animals come in handy upon their death too," He'd frequently say. "Shoes, leather belts and purses are made of them, but a human being is of no use once dead. Therefore, offering prayer to the Almighty is the only thing of great importance that a man can do."
He ruled that "too much money is not good" but all the luxuries in the world could be had if the means of livelihood were righteous. And He advocated self-effort, saying "only dead fish swim with the tide."
Guruji was insistent that we visit America, urging me to apply for a visa, but somehow the trip kept getting postponed. Soon after, He took
samadhi.
The blessings behind His words were evident after the visa came through and we reached America. I had recently started having agonizing pain on the sides of my legs (not the pain that Guruji had healed earlier). As soon as I landed in America, the pain in one of the legs disappeared as did the aches in my finger joints. After I had visited another disciple in the states and had
langar at her place, the pain in the other leg vanished, never to return since.
The
langar-as this incident attests-had plentiful blessings. As Guruji had once told me, "Eat this [
langar], it is your medicine."
I have enjoyed many of His blessings. Long ago, He blessed me with a senior secondary school that He named Guruji Maharaj Public School. He also blessed a preparatory section that I run, christening it Little People's Academy. I was told to tutor children in the evening and not to take up any teaching job in any school.
He gave me His blessings as recently as April of 2012. I had ventured out in our car for a dinner on a Sunday, when suddenly I was gasping for breath. There were pinpricks on my forehead and my palms were bereft of sensation. I could not answer my husband's queries of concern and he wanted to rush me to a doctor. I prayed to Guruji and requested to be taken to Guruji's temple. As we approached the Mandir road, I felt slightly better. Inside the mandir I felt my weakness and discomfort ebbing away. He had saved me again.
It was His order that one must never write letters to a Guru.
He also mentioned that no one should sleep in the mandir while the prayer service (that is, the
shabads) was on: "
Kalyan adhura reh janda hai" (His blessings would remain incomplete.) At the Mandir, He would often ask us to dance in front of Him. When one danced, He told me, He'd x-ray the whole body and cure it.
Once when we were new to the fold, He told me to go to Ludhiana, spend the night at my sister's place and return the next morning. On my arrival He narrated exactly what I had been up to and what I ate in the past hour. Nothing is hidden from Guruji.
Guruji's blessings are countless. I am a mere human being who has been fortunate enough to have His blessings.
Sabina Kochhar, a devotee
May 2012