Paramhansa Yogananda Ashram..a divine call!!
Om Sai!!
With bottom of my heart, I dedicate this blog to my guru " Shri Sai Baba", let his love grace all of us and gives us strength to ride through this adventure called " life"
So as I was reaching towards my defined destination, the route was becoming more denser and narrower, but on other side it was a treasure drive for me, the beautiful view while driving made me speechless,the green meadows and those watery green fields..those small water streams coming from mountains and that refreshing breeze ..everything seems to be so blissful and happening, nature has everything stored in it, but only for certain amount of time, trees shed their leaves in autumn, water flows continuously in the form of rivers and waterfalls, wind keeps on moving, clouds too from one place to another..only we humans store unwanted things within us, which complicates the life process further... try to release everything you have within and see the beauty of life which unfolds...
MAHAVATAR BABAJI
It was breakfast time then, post that I decided to buy some books, one of those was on diet recommended by Paramahansa Yogananda..excellent read, the fanaticism related to eating and diet has been answered in the best possible way! Never ever read such good book before on diet. Simple tips on combination of foods, thoughts on vegeterian/non vegeterian foods..simply logical and a food of thought!
So, finally after driving through those hills and narrow roads, a sharp turn arrived which had the board showing direction towards the reception...At the entrance there was a statue of Paramhansa Yogananda...those big eyes and that mystic smile of him will always create curiosity within you..
Let me tell you something more about Paramhansa a bit, he is an author of many spiritual books and one of his book " Autobiography of Yogi" has changed lives on many across the globe! The lineage Mahavatar babaji ,Lahiri Mahayshay, Lord Jesus, Swami Yukteswar giri, Swami Yogananda is well known among the spiritual aspirants..
LAHIRI MAHASHAYA
SWAMI SHRI YUKTESHWAR GIRI
A must read book for all the spiritual aspirants..
Paramhansa yogananada was disciple of Swami Yukteshwar giri and the book is on the life story of Mukunda from Calcutta (yogananda) and his spiritual journey that manifested into reality, worth read!!It might sound vague for many, but the truth remains eternal...
So here I was at the reception of the ashram, there was complete display of spiritual and general well being books written by Swami Kriyananda and Paramhansa Yogananda..Swami Kriyananda was disciple of Yogananda who took forward Paramahansa life and spiritual values to greater extend and was the pillar in formation of Ananda ashram..
Reception at the ashram was one of the simplest place I have ever seen, no fancy stuff and the room was full of wisdom and knowledge. I happen to meet one elderly person who was a seeker like me, he guided me towards the eatery, where I met Acharya Dharnaji...
With the little knowledge I gained about him during my trip, Acharya Dharnaji, was an American by origin but had dedicated his entire life towards ananda ashram and was incharge of well being of the ashram..One of the particular thing about him was his simplicity and his way of communication.. you will fall in love with his words and his unique ways of expressing his own thoughts and feelings..
I grabbed my lunch from the kitchen and saw the pic displayed below..
We can see lord jesus at the centre with Mahavatar babaji ,Lahiri Mahayshaya, Shri Yukteswar giri, Swami Yogananda..many of us would come to certain conclusions based on the religion! But "religion" has nothing to do with spirtuality, thats my perspective, religions were formed only for self realization, all the rituals in different religions takes you towards one defined eternal truth.. Super souls only knows love and happiness for all! It will take time for mankind to understand them to the fullest, religions are nothing but the way towards divine..every religion has its own ways but the goal remains same! divine consciouness!
Christianity came through Lord Jesus, Islam was founder by Great Paigambar, Mahaveera created jainism, Sikhism was formed by Guru Nanakji, Lord Buddha Buddhism, only Sanatan dharm ( Hinduism) was not formed at all, instead it created spiritual seekers and self realized beings like mahaveera,buddha, Jesus and Paigambar and Guru nanak!! They all defined different paths towards self realization!!
Jesus, mohammad, krishna, nanak, sai,swami!! All are nothing but one!! We all are identified with different rituals we follow, but the souls who promoted these religions believed in single supreme consciouness!!
The quote below the frame made my day on arrival! Do we really see the light of divine through the food we eat? Big question to ask and introspect!! Why we are feeding our body, is to supersede someone,to manipulate, to achieve our unwanted desires or is to feel divine and blissfulness within!!
Think...!!
I was not knowing what was planned ahead for me, Acharya asked me to join in for a meditation session in the evening which came as surprise becaue it came without asking for the same, obviously I took it with open hands..
I checked in my retreat room post lunch..the room was simple, huge and clean!! Well maintained! It was like those old british or parsi bungalows which use to have bigger heights and too much of space..Anyways what excited me more was the sound coming out from outside of my room! There was beautiful whistling around, on first instance I felt it was some villager who was whistling, but then realized it was a bird Malabar whistling thrush..
Really, we have to move out of our comfort zones to learn different aspects of life..
I will elaborate on this point a bit, check out the life cycle of all the super souls from Lord Jesus to Lord buddha to Adi shakarayacharya to Shri saibaba , most of them have explored themselves, travelled to far off lands and finally reaching to their destination within..unless and until we dont explore, we will not realize what we are from within.. we have engrossed ourselves so much in our self defined boundaries that we have forgotten the truth which is lying ahead of us..
So post healthy lunch ,I decided to take a walk around the ashram, rains were pouring down with high intensity..muddy walks..and you alone! what else you can ask for?? you cant miss those misty mountains in the mid of the afternoon with fog around and hard hitting silence all over! It was 4 pm and it was time for meditation session!
Along with Acharya I started walking towards swami kriyananda house, it was very well made bungalow in which swami Kriyananda resided for last three years of his life! He was the direct disciple to Paramhansa Yogananda and started his spiritual journey from the year 1948..
The living room was spacious enough with small library inside and kriyanandji memories were kept in the one corner of the room..The room had certain energy which was calm, serene and relaxing.. Luckily, I happen to be part of this meditation session on that day. Acharyaji begun with the simple but yet powerful thought of how to meditate and how to sit for the meditation, it made sense; the wisdom I received during those two hours was way beyond, it was amalgamation of pure science and spirituality.. channelizing your energy to the highest peak should be the final goal of every meditation and to achieve it your body has to be like a receptive antenna, in proper shape and form... most of these meditation techniques are given by Swami Yogananda in most of his books which are profound and worth noting..
In those silence moments of life ( the time you meditate), we always realize that all the external chaos has nothing to do with our inner journey..life is like a dream which we all are living on daily basis, few of us are stuck up, few are working towards it in the form of goals, few of us are misdirected, few of us are already on the path..there are many probabilities to it, but the destination remains same.. majority of us spend most of their time in sleeping,eating,copulating, chasing goals, ambitions; finally the time arrives when we are at the death bed thinking about the life we lived...( only if we are lucky enough to grow old and die) we realize that the money we loved is no more with us, the family we loved is not there..friends, possessions ..nothing...so what is that we have realized ? big question to ask..only divine grace and guru's guidance can guide us in this quest, meditation is the only key!!
Post evening meditation, Acharya asked me to join in for a walk in the hills, the view which I saw after walking through those murky hilly roads was simply magnificient, mountains all over with drizzling rains..everything was making me so blissful and happy! We also had one aged couple joined in for walk..looking at their enthusiam and their efforts to climb, it gave me a thought that the body is going to decay somehow whatever we do to preserve it, only our will can take us through till our last breath, that breath too is not under our control..body is the only divine engine that can take us towards super consciousness and make you realize the truth within..
I reached back to room post this divine intervention, I would say divine intervention because every thought that arises when you are synced with the cosmic energy is through divine only!!
We sang " Hare, Hare krishna" with devotion followed by devotional poems written by Paramhansa Yogananda, the one which i remember , few lines are as follows , I have made thee polestar of my life, though my sea is dark and my stars are gone, still I see the path through Thy mercy....it pierced through my heart like anything.. post meditation had a gripping conversation with acharya on certain subjects , by the time we reach to certain conclusion..it was time for dinner....that evening was full of wisdom for me in the form of words and guidance..
The next day early morning, I joined another session of meditation with acharyaji in swami Kriyananda house, this time though I experienced the true release of emotions in the form of tears and was in ectasy, my guru "Shri sai baba' was with me then, i was blissful and tears were flowing unintentionally and without any preconditions..we can define this nothing but as true love.. I would like to tell you something, the energies which surrounds us do have strong impact on our over all well being..places like temples, mosques,churches and all the worship places where the divine consciouness is always called for on daily basis, helps you to connect to the higher realms provided our intentions are pure..
Just check out yourself one day, whenever you visit such powerful places you go in the zone of no thoughts gradually where you forget your existence, if you are conscious enough, you will go inward in blissful state ,happy vibes will be generated within you which comes out in the form of laughter, care and positive energy unconsciously! Its all divine play..energies do guide suport and manifest into reality..
Also bought few other books like essence of Gita by Swami Yogananda! Bhagvad Gita has been interepreted by different souls in different ways, Saint Dnyaneshwar wrotes Dnyaneshwari , Prabhudaspada wrote with his interpretations on krishna consciousness, many others are there, but the gist remains same only the way of explanation changes..this is one of the books,I am really looking forward too..
Not to forget , the breakfast was simply fulfilling and nutritious!!
So post breakfast , I had my photo sessions with Acharyaji as my objective was to reach out to masses through my blogs and make them aware of teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda.. Kriya mandir is one of the fascinating structure which is open for everyone day and night for meditation! I offered few flowers at the feet of swami!! I was feeling like submerging my soul into his consciouness..relax and blissful... Mahavtar babaji is the source of Kriya yoga which has been passed through the lineage and then to the world..Ananda ashram offers these techniques..its deeper!! Words are not sufficient to define the kriya process..I have not expereinced it, so cant guide! Divine grace can only take us through and give access to such beautiful techniques of self realization..
Post lunch, I had decided to drive back as it was getting darker and there was heavy drizzling was around, it was better for me to leave the ashram to avoide late night drives..But one thing was making me think again and again, I really wanted to visit "kriya babaji caves" at the top of mountainsm, I discussed this quick idea with acharyaji and acharyaji simply said "go" , it will take you around 15 minutes to climb and then 15 minutes to come down..He handed over keys of the caves and his umbrella..it was so quick!! If our will and divine grave is there, anything we can manifest in this world..keep the intentions for well being of everyone and trust me nothing will fall short in this stipulated time frame of life..
So here I was ready to go! I started walking in that dense forest.. it was pouring..muddy road..single way..no one with me! solo walks are the times where you have solutions within..I kept walking and climbing for few minutes, finally saw one zigzag road, was not sure but then went ahead with my gut feeling..finally saw a board showing direction of kriya babaji cave..it gave me a big sigh of relief..i just started moving towards it..reached..and saw close door and small waterfal coming down over the cave..
I opened the doors..the cave had a specific odour and had piercing silence which I can still feel while writting this blog, normally such places where higher souls meditate always have higher vibrations to access..the only clause is we have to be receptive towards it.. our agitated and restless minds always miss this golden opportunity, thats why meditation is the key! In the cave, saw mahavatar babaji frame placed at the other end, it was much bigger cave than I had anticipated..after seeking blessings of these divine souls, I walked back with strong emotions,something was changed, not sure what it was...finally in those thoughts reached at the reception!
I had spent almost two days in ananda ashram, it gave me much more than what i had ask for! Divine play will be always like this..we receive much more of our capacity but then the question arises ,do we have that capacity to receive it? If the antenna is proper and channelized, only then the signals are received..its the same case with human body..I have seen many of us not ready to raise their bars, to uplift themselves spiritually, to seek beyond the routine..they keep on struggling , thinking and carving for basic desires..trust me everything is possible with divine grace..let us bow down to him with our heart and soul!!
Reached at the reception, handed over the keys and moved towards my car..the flower which I picked up from the garden of the ashram near Kriya mandir while coming back offered it to my guru " Shri Sai baba" and started my return journey back home with heart full of love and happiness...
I am thankful to Ananda Ashram supporting staff, Acharya Dharnaji and DilKhushji without whom this experience wont have been possible..thank you from bottom of my heart!! Lots of love...
Readers, the links to Ananda retreat are as follows:-
Website - https://anandameditationretreat.in/
Google map - https://bit.ly/RgMap
Om sai! Om namah shivay!
Love only!!
Mangesh Pawar
VDOO Travel
www.vdoo-travel.in
+91-8007976815
Note:- Please do excuse me with the writting and grammatical errors if any, the perspective on spirituality is from my mindset which has been developed through my experiences, we all are open books and have our own thoughts to express and perceive, happy to discuss and connect!!
so beautifully written.
ReplyDeleteSai nathayanamaha 🙏🙏🙏