Guruji - Light of Divinity

Afterword












O Divine Father! Sole Giver
May you fill our hearts
With bliss, may our eyes shine
With the lustre of your ceaseless darshans
May our ears constantly hear your word
May our feet always walk upon your path
May you, the Sole Giver, grant us
Faith, Light, Love, Devotion
May from beginning to end
We be at your Lotus Feet



May we not do that which will taint your memory
May we always abide by your instruction
May your family of united hearts always aspire to you
And cling to the only true harbour, your Lotus Feet



SANGAT is a gathering of hearts united in devotion. It is a
A oming together of disparate individuals into a community that
c
has a single object of devotion, a single ideal. It is one living plant
with so many leaves and branches. As a single plant, it survives; as a
multiplicity of leaves and branches it is prey to every passing storm.
As a single heart of singular devotion it finds divinity—Shri Guruji
himself—within. And as one it must abjure every mischief to come
to this devotion.




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Light of Divinity


The sangat is the cup into which Guruji pours his blessings; let
that cup not fragment. The sangat is a source of love, a family bound
by everlasting love; it is Shri Guruji’s family—if it is something else,
it is not a sangat. Its foremost responsibility is to keep itself together.
Everything else will follow of its own accord.
How would he feel if his family went its separate ways?
This family that he fed, that he even cooked for, that ate in front
of him, that cried, laughed, and loved together, that he continues to
bless endlessly in God’s endless ways. In a father’s eyes, one daughter,
one son is no different from the other. How much more so in the
eyes of our Divine Father! He loves us always.
Shri Guruji was not just a form that we beheld; he was beyond
matter. He was—as so many satsangs show—beyond the limitations
of time, space and mass, of physical laws, of the eddies of karmas, of
the whirlpools of desires. He was and is beyond maya; he is Shiva.
Though countless worlds may rise and perish, he remains.
A Guru is not something to belittle. It cannot be said who or what
a Guru is, but he is beyond man and the many Gods and Goddesses.
He is supreme. One should not be fooled by the fact that he has a
human body. That is just his mode of being. Yesterday, he inhabited
a human body; today the universe is his body. Yesterday, he was
wearing a red robe; today, he wears the colours of the sky. Yesterday,
he was calling you by name; today, he is whispering silently in the
sanctuary of your devotion. Who says he is not?
Remember the times of his sangat. He would come forth, majestic
and compassionate, and by the time you would have leapt to your
feet to pay your respects, he was seated on his throne. He would
cross his feet, and the robe would slightly lift so that you could
glimpse his lotus feet. And fix your mind on them.
Meanwhile, his shabads played on, drawing you to Guruji’s
lotus feet. Taking you out of your troubled life, lifting you up and
embracing you. Unconditional love: that’s exactly what it was. And
then the tea would come filled with his energy. And it could be that
in the middle of the shabads, or perhaps later, a satsang would be
recounted. It would be eerily familiar to you, since it would seem
to be speaking to you, about your troubles, about your professional,
personal and health problems. And through the mere agency of clear
listening you would have been healed, made whole.




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Light of Divinity


It was an every-minute miracle. The plant of faith that had to grow
in each of our hearts took his entire energy. That is why there were
so many cups of tea, so many langars. He was feeding our souls with
his love and energy. He was feeding us so that we could grow into
strong people of love and faith. He was giving us medicine to cure
us of the worst malady known to the world—the world itself. In
the upheavals of our lives, then and now, he was and is the steady
oarsman. Perhaps none of us knew him for what he was. But it is
enough to know that he was love and to remember that he expects
us to be loving.
. . .














































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Shri Guru Vandana





Oh the lotus feet of Guruji, ocean of mercy,
Shri Hari himself in human form

Oh the pollen-like dust of his lotus feet––
Refulgent, fragrant, and honeyed with love
Distillate of the life-giving herb that allays the ills of worldly life––
As the holy ash that adorns Lord Shiva
It consecrates the fortunate and bestows sweet blessings and joy
It rubs the dirt off the limpid mirror of the devotee’s heart
Put on the forehead, it draws in a host of virtues

Oh the nails of the feet of beloved Guruji,
Gems whose mere remembrance unfolds the divine’s vision,
At their striking luminescence, infatuation flees
Highly blessed is he in whose heart they shine
At their appearance the mind’s bright eyes open
The evils and sufferings of its night disappear

Shri Guruji’s stories are gems and rubies
In whichever mine they are manifest or hidden, they spread light

– Translated from the Ramayana of Sant Tulsidas


















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