The Buddhe Baba Mystery Tour

If you think Sherlock Holmes is the most mysterious character you have heard of, you have another guess coming-- Buddhe Baba, Gurudev's invisible mentor. The author behind Gurudev's book of miracles.

The Buddhe Baba Mystery Tour will be a lesson in bewilderment, in reexamining normal human perceptions, in peeping into a different reality.

Invisibly yours,
One of the greatest gurus of all time,
Buddhe Baba

Gurudevonline.com presents the pods of enlightenment, an audio biography of one of history's greatest saints.  'The Guru of Gurus' podcast series is comprised of 24 podcasts that present aspects of the mahaguru's life, philosophy, supernature, and mentorship.

Make some aspects of his biography into aspects of your biography.

If you have a question related to this podcast or need spiritual guidance, write to us at answers@gurudevonline.com. You can also read about Gurudev's life and philosophy on his website - www.gurudevonline.com

Transcript

A man who could mentor Gurudev and play the role of his guru, right through this current life, must have been superman2. The podcast next, describes how so many people could not crack the mystery of the man. Reminds me of an old cliché about a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat which isn’t there.Come join

The Buddhe Baba Mystery Tour

I am sure even Sherlock Holmes would have put his hands up in despair if we had engaged his services to help identify the man called Buddhe Baba. 

Gurudev referred to Buddhe Baba as his guru. Many disciples claim Buddhe Baba was none other than Shiva. Contrary to popular belief, Shiv is not an entity but a set of qualities, attainments, realizations, and levels of consciousness. And this form has been attained by many in history. 

Most brahmrishis and spiritual greats like Guru Vashisht, Vishwamitra, Ashthavakra, Gorakshnath, Jesus, Buddhe Baba and so many others, including the Saptrishis, began their incarnation on earth at square one but due to their inherent spiritual attainments over multiple lives, achieved this form of existence and became manifestations of Shiv.

Gurudev, who had attained a lot of spiritual powersover several lifetimes before this one, started this incarnation as a disciple of Shiv, and eventually became a realized form of that which he worshipped. 

This shift is not a one-off in the spiritual history of the world. According to my understanding, Jesus, Nanak Dev, Hanuman ji, Gorakshnath, Ashtavakra, Buddhe Baba, Sitaram ji of Banaras, are all a part of this club, amongst many others. I have no documentary evidence but a very strong conviction to back this claim. 

Since, Gurudev kept Buddhe Baba’s identity a deeply guarded secret, the majority claim that Buddhe Baba was Shiv, while some others claim that he was the realized Sitaram ji of Banaras. 

Sitaram ji of Banaras was a mentor to Sitaram ji of Dasua, who was Gurudev’s mentor before the latter donned the hat of the Mahaguru. Gurudev attained many siddhis under Sitaram ji of Dasua’s supervision, which he eventually gave up at the insistence of Buddhe Baba.  

The siddhis that Gurudev had attained were lower-level siddhis like the Yakhini, Mohini, Maha mohini, Maha Yakhini, Bagla siddhi, Khwaja ki siddhi etc etc. These were siddhis of lower deities who would help in doing small acts or specific things like healing, curing snake bites, protecting people against negative energies, against harmful spirits etc. These were not to be jewels in the crown of a man who symbolized Shiv. 

It was a much higher level that Buddhe Baba wanted to make Gurudev achieve, and, so, Gurudev had to give up the lower-level diplomas in lieu of the several Ph.D.’s. 

So, who was Buddhe Baba? 

That is a trillion-dollar question! The more we investigate, the foggier the magnifying glass gets, and the answers continue to elude.

Buddhe Baba’s role in Gurudev’s life was critical. The mahaguru attributed all his actions and assigned everything to Buddhe Baba. The first comment on Gurudev’s mysterious mentor comes from Suresh Kohli, a resident of a village named Sunet, near Kathog in Himachal Pradesh. He had some amazing experiences with Gurudev who taught him many practices, including how to stop the rain.

Suresh ji: When we asked Gurudev on 7th April, “How did you get these powers? What was their origin?” He replied, “I used to do a jaap. At the time, I was in Madhya Pradesh. While doing the survey there, I went for a walk and found a temple. There was a sage seated at that temple. I was chewing tobacco so the sage asked me to share some with him. So, I gave him a little tobacco.” 

Suresh Kohli ji is referring to an incident in which Gurudev met a Mahatma who corrected the mantra he was chanting and converted his Gayatri mantra into the Maha Gayatri mantra by adding those missing, mysterious, secret words. As far as Gurudev’s mantra vidya was concerned, this was a game changer. And soon after he had started doing this mantra, instant miracles happened in his personal life. 

Suresh ji narrates what transpired after the change in the mantra as per Gurudev.

Suresh ji: “I started reciting the new jaap and was a little confused about what was going on. When I did the new jaap at night, the sage appeared in a vision and said, ‘What are you still searching for? You have found me even though you couldn’t recognize me. Look at your hand, there is an Om that has formed on the palm.’ Then the Om appeared on the chest. When I saw my palm, there was an Om shining on it. Also, on my chest. I quickly wrapped my hands in a cloth and wore my vest. Early next morning, I went to the temple but there was no sage to be found. It was deserted. So, I asked the elders nearby, and they said, “What are you talking about? This temple is deserted and no one comes here.” But I said, “I met him here.” To which they responded, “Yes, some people say they have seen a sage here but no one lives here. We don’t know who this sage is.” So, I returned and sat in paath that night. The sage came in a vision and said, “You needn’t look for me anymore. I will come and meet you in paath but you have to do seva.” I said, “How do I do seva?” He replied, “Selflessly. Whoever you place your hand on will be healed and you would also get constant guidance from me from time to time.”

It was a remote village and the next day, Guruji came across a few people who were transporting a man who had severe stomach ache on a charpoy to the hospital nearby. Guruji asked them, “What has happened to him?” They replied, “He has severe stomach ache and is in pain.” That’s when Guruji heard an inner voice telling him to stop those people and heal the person by placing his hand on the man’s stomach while doing the jaap. When Guruji did that, the man was completely healed and the people who were transporting him were shocked at what they had witnessed. This is how he started doing seva. From that moment on, his journey truly began, and he started to get various jaaps from the voice from time to time and kept progressing spiritually. This was the start.

Gurudev had worked his way up the spiritual ladder to become the saint he did at the age of 35. Initially, his passion to understand the subject attracted him towards whoever came along. And who came along was Sitaram ji of Dasua who moved into the Shitla devi temple in Gurudev’s neighbourhood. 

After meeting the young Gurudev, he started mentoring him and made him attain a few siddhis at which he himself was adept. 

His own guru was Sitaram ji of Banaras who also shifted to the temple quarters for a long stay. He later left leaving junior to mentor Gurudev. 

Sitaram ji of Banaras is supposed to have gone seh sharir or with body dematerialized. Dematerializing the body is an uncommon feat achieved by very few spiritual aspirants in the history of the world. It is believed that Sitaram ji of Banaras trained Sitaram ji of Dasua in spirit form after his demise.

When Gurudev shifted to Delhi to study and work, this connection with Sitharam ji of Dasua ended. 

The second phase of Gurudev’s spiritual journey saw the entry of Buddhe Baba. After giving Gurudev the Om in his hands and chest, Buddhe Baba made him relinquish his siddhis in the Ganges at Har ki Pauri at Haridwar.

It was after doing this that Gurudev evolved from the spiritual aspirant to the accomplished master. This may sound stranger than fiction but it’s technically true. Buddhe Baba helped Gurudev re-attain that which he had already attained in previous incarnations. In my estimation, he crossed previous boundaries, and went even further in this incarnation. Under Gurudev’s mentorship, over 100 disciple equivalents, hundreds of devotees, and lakhs of followers, also scaled greater spiritual heights. 

His was an action-packed life with a tremendous set of results, spiced and laced with providing help and relief to over a million.

Shifting focus from mentee to mentor.

Getting caught red-handed is something you would never expect to happen to Buddhe Baba. But it did. Puran ji recounts a humorous anecdote.

Puran ji: When he used to do seva, prasad would be offered at the sthan by the people who visited it. Gurudev would offer prasad at the sthan too and he also wore a kada. When people would offer prasad at Shivpuri sthan, the prasad would go missing, it would vanish from there. So, on the Thursday that followed, Gurudev stood watching to see what was happening. It was then that he saw a hand picking up the sweets. He got hold of that hand and said, “Come out and identify yourself.” That is when Buddhe Baba emerged and said, “I am Buddhe Baba and I take the prasad.” This is what guruji told me.

Q: So that hand was of Buddhe Baba who used to come from inside the mandir and take the prasad. 

Puran ji: Yes, at the sthan, a hand would come from inside to take the sweets.

Q: So, what is Buddhe Baba according to you? Because there are lot of people who have different versions of Buddhe Baba?

Puran ji: I have seen him as very tall, very healthy, white dress, white hair. I have seen him in that form. Maybe, others might have seen him another form.

Q: How did you see him in that form and when and where? 

Puran ji: I had seen him in Gurgaon when I lived there. I have seen him in my dream at night. 

Q: You had seen him in your dreams? 

Puran ji: Yes

Q: You saw him?

Puran ji: I saw him. He was distributing grains like rice, wheat etc. to people. He is giving it away.

Q: How old was he when you saw him? I know this is a silly question as the spirit can decide whatever age it wants but still… 

Puran ji: He was around 45 or 50 years. 

Q: So Buddhe Baba was only around 45 to 50 years? 

Puran ji: Yes, and he had grey hair up to his shoulders like Jesus Christ.

Though, people perceived that Buddhe Baba appeared as a hand without a body to steal the offerings made by the devotees at the sthan, the reality is that he could have manifested whatever he wanted, wherever he wanted, and whenever he wanted. 

This was probably Buddhe Baba’s uncanny way of acknowledging the token of devotion offered to him. And through this act of acceptance, he would incur an obligation, and repay it by providing relief.

Is it right to call it a backhanded method?

Let’s ask Rajpal ji, a disciple of Gurudev, for his thoughts on who Buddhe Baba was. 

Q: I have some questions that many people have raised over the years and I think not many people have the answers. What was the institution of Buddhe Baba, because Guruji used to keep calling somebody Buddhe Baba and he said he has to talk to him? So, what was that relationship with him, and who was that Buddhe Baba?

Rajpal ji: Buddhe Baba, Guruji called his isht, his guru, by that name. Today, I will be completely candid. There is an aura around that sthan; the source of that aura is Buddhe Baba. Guruji had told me this because on Shivratri Guruji was allowing some people to garland him and not others. I was standing behind him and watching this for 2-3 hours. I thought to myself, Guruji loves everyone, but the people whose garlands he doesn’t put around his neck must be getting upset. So, I just asked him about it right there, saying “Guruji, you are not putting some of the garlands around your neck. Those people must be getting upset.” I said this quickly. (laughs) He continued blessing people, and then, suddenly, he looked towards me and said, “I have to see my guru as well. I don’t want more garlands around my neck than my Guru.” Answer finished. And the question also vanished. Then, I thought where is this guru? There was only a sthan there, with statues of Lord Shiva, and pictures of him in many forms. Later, I found out Buddhe Baba was Shiv and Buddhe Baba was his guru.

Unfortunately, Rajpal ji’s is one of the viewpoints, but the debate goes on. Nothing is conclusive. But if I may share a personal interpretation, Lord Shiva as a manifestation applies to the great Shankara, Buddhe Baba, Sitaram ji of Banaras, and Gurudev too. 

Santlal ji shares an insight given to him by Gurudev himself who told him that in his initial phase of seva, Lord Shiva would come and sit next to him and guide him. 

Santlal ji. 

Santlal ji: Guruji once mentioned that Lord Shiva would come and sit next to him and guide him. At the start, he was clueless about how to do seva. Now, if one thinks about this, he had more knowledge about seva than we do. When he started doing seva, he was far more aware of how to do it than we were when we began, so you can imagine that if he says he did not know how to do seva then how is it possible for us to know how to do it. Alas, today we have learned everything about seva from him.

Two things emerge from this statement:

1)    He used Lord Shiva as a synonym for Buddhe Baba

2)    The presence was visible only to Gurudev and no one else

The fact that Buddhe Baba, alias Lord Shiva, came sat with him proves that this was an eventful journey which went beyond Gurudev and all of us. The future may hold surprises we have not been able to predict. 

One of Gurudev’s senior-most disciples was FC Sharma ji. He was one of the first-line of shishyas initiated by Gurudev over 45 years ago. The answer eluded him too.

FC Sharma ji: It never felt like Gurudev had his own Guru, but Gurudev used to tell us that his Guru has stopped him from doing certain work and he would follow his guru’s instructions. It’s not clear who he was speaking of. I have not seen Buddhe Baba nor have I met him. Buddhe Baba was created by Guruji so that whenever someone came to him, he used to tell them that since they were in a great deal of difficulty, they should go to Buddhe Baba at the Sector 7 sthan, light a dhoop there and their work would be done.

If you bought a wedding invite for him, he would say, “Write Buddhe Baba on the first card and go and keep this at the sthan.” 

Only he knows who Buddhe Baba was; whether he is Shiv or Maha Shiv because there are no pictures of him at the sthan. There are photos of the Shiv family, and other God’s and Goddesses. He invoked this character, Buddhe Baba, every time. So, if we had to offer anything to Gurudev then we all used to first offer it at Sector 7 sthan and write Buddhe Baba on it. As far as I know and understand, Buddhe Baba is Maha-Shiv or a manifestation of Shiv.

Conjecture sometimes supersedes comprehension. Not a single person from our flock, not a single one of us, has the winning answer for ‘Who is Buddhe Baba?’ contest. 

To add to this confusion, I once had a vision where Gurudev took me to a river-bank where we climbed into a raft where a divine being was waiting for us. The divine one had a squarish face, and was dressed in a green toga which also covered his head. I sensed that Gurudev considered him a senior. 

Gurudev offered him the single seat on the raft while both of us stood as the raft floated. There was no conversation, just a silent introduction. Was this divine being Buddhe Baba? Was he Sitaram ji of Benaras or was he one of the great Rishis of the ancient times? The circle of secrecy was flawless. Not a hole. Not even a loophole! 

Even Mataji, his wife, can at best offer a few hints and not the whole story.

Mataji: He never spoke of Buddhe Baba in front of me. Maybe, sometimes, while sitting at night…like this one time, when he had started seva, there was no milk left in the house. I had kept a little milk for the morning for his tea. Someone came, and I jokingly told him to get milk and I would make him tea. Guruji got angry and asked me why had I told him to get milk. 

(Okay…)

I told him whatever milk I had kept was for his morning tea. He told me to use that milk. He insisted that I should not have asked the guest to get milk even in jest. He was a bit angry at night so I went up to him. He was lying like earlier—he wasn’t breathing. I got worried as I was alone in the room. I started praying in front of the temple and was apologetic about the incident. After a while he became fine. When I lay down on my cot, he didn’t know that I was awake, but he was saying something when I woke up suddenly. He was murmuring “Baba” or something like that. I don’t know what he was saying. He said something more, I don’t remember, and then he kept quiet. But I asked him later about it; he asked me whether I was awake at the time. I said my sleep broke at the time. He said yes, he was talking to his Lord. Then he told me to keep quiet, your wife is listening.

Q: Who did he call his maalik?

Mataji: He didn’t tell me that. He used to talk to everyone and say, “I am Shiva. I am Brahma. I am the guru. I am everything.”

Q: I have heard a phrase of Buddhe Baba myself, and many others have heard it…

Mataji: Buddhe baba, he used to take Shiva’s name. 

Q: So, he called Shiv ji as Buddhe Baba?

Mataji: Buddhe baba like Lord Shiva’s photo. He had white hair and a long white flowing beard. Guruji used to point towards him and say, “This is Buddhe Baba.”

The mystery of Buddhe Baba can only be decoded if and when Gurudev discloses his identity. The only people who claim to have physically seen him are Renu, Gurudev’s eldest daughter in this incarnation, and his sisters.

Meshi, one of Gurudev’s sisters, had a great sense of humour and we got along like friends. In fact, both the sisters were full of beans. I am not sure I could certify them for authenticity, but they sounded bubblier than any brook. Their descriptions of Buddhe Baba are whacky enough to make poor Buddhe Baba turn in his grave. Correction - twist in the clouds.

Someone had told the sisters that Gurudev would soon go away. They misunderstood that as go away forever. So, tears. So, explanations. And enter Buddhe Baba.

Welcome to the victims of the sisters’ club!

Gurudev’s Sister: Now, I was not aware that once my elder brother goes then we will not be able to see him. Thinking about this, I started crying. I was sitting and crying in the sthan room. Guruji didn’t have a bed in the room at the time, the room was newly constructed, so I slept on the floor itself and refused to eat anything as I didn’t know where Papaji had gone. I get astonished seeing Guruji’s miracles. Suddenly, there was a white light, which came and I saw a man in bright white clothes who was very old. 

Q: Where did the light come from?

Gurudev’s Sister: It came into Guruji’s room

Q: What do you mean by light came in?

Gurudev’s Sister: It means…

Q: Means the light came in like a torch?

Gurudev’s Sister: Yes. Not like a torch. More like an ember of fire came into the room and there was a man in it wearing white clothes.

Q: How tall?

Gurudev’s Sister: He was an old man.

Q: But how tall was he?

Gurudev’s Sister: He might have been as tall as this door handle…more than this door handle.

Q: Means around 3 feet?

Gurudev’s Sister: No, around 5 feet.

Q: Means you are saying that inside that light that man was standing? 

Gurudev’s Sister: Yes, a man in his physical body. I cried and slept in that room itself.  

Q: When that man came what did he tell you? 

Gurudev’s Sister: He asked me to eat food. I refused. He asked me the reason. I said, “When my brother goes away from me, then who can I have food with? He asked “Where is your brother going? He will go on tour and where else would he go” I asked, “He is going on tour?” He said, “And where else would he go?” Later I got that food and a glass of milk and came inside the kitchen. 

Q: So, who was this man? 

Gurudev’s Sister: Gurudev used to call a man ‘Buddhe Baba’ so he was that Baba, his guru. 

Q: Did he have any name?

Gurudev’s Sister: No, we don’t know his name. Everyone used to call him as Buddhe Baba. He used to call Lord Shiv as Buddhe Baba.

Q: But you have seen this man in white clothes?

Gurudev’s Sister: Yes, and I told Guruji about him.

Q: How was his face like?

Gurudev’s Sister: He was an old man. He had a red face like Hanuman and white beard and white clothes. Guruji came in the evening and I said, “Pappaji, I know where you will be going?” He asked, “Where am I going?” I said “Someone has already told me.” He asked “Who?” I said “A man in white clothes had come and told me.” He asked “What did he tell you?” I said “He said that your brother will be going on tour.”

Gurudev’s eldest daughter Renu shares her sightings which according to her were of Buddhe Baba himself. 

Q: So Renu ji, people say that even Guruji too had a Guru who he would call Buddhe Baba. Have you ever heard about it? Did you get to see him?

Renu ji: Yes, I have heard and seen him on two occasions. Once, in my childhood, when we lived in Shivpuri and I was very young, he had gone on a tour and I fell seriously ill. That time we didn’t know what he looked like. At the sthan, everyone used to call him as Buddhe Baba as Guruji would only call him by that name. We had just heard of him. Guruji would often tell us that if we wanted anything, we must ask Buddhe Baba ji, ask him and he will fulfil it. He never said that you all should come to me in case of any issues. I had fever so mummy would go to school and I would be alone at home. We had a store room and from there, a man emerged wearing white.

Q: White means? Clothes were in white?

Renu ji: Yes, with white hair and a white beard, with a straight posture, not very tall, he was about 5.10 or 5.11 but not too tall.  I never saw his face but would feel afraid thinking of this man was and why I was not able to see him. When mother returned home, I told her, “Please sit with me, I’m feeling scared.” She said, “Why are you feeling scared? This is your house. We have a sthan here. Do your paath.” I told her, “Even when I’m doing my paath, I’m feeling afraid and I can still feel that person here.” She asked, “Who is that person?” I said “He comes from this door of the store room and exits from the other door and sometimes moves in reverse. And this happened 2 to 3 times.” She told me that it was Buddhe Baba and he was the protector of this sthan.

Q: Oh! I see

It was a generally accepted belief that Buddhe Baba protected and looked after the sthan making sure that negative forces could not harm either its inmates or the visitors. 

One thing that may emerge from all these stories is that Buddhe Baba did project himself as an oldish person, dressed in white, slim and tall and was able to do whatever he felt like including passing through walls, putting his hands through the back wall of the sthan, making his pupil attain Shivahood, curing people through Gurudev and his downlines, doing miracles as if he had a distributorship of the same. 

So, why would Buddhe Baba like to remain a secret is a question to which I do not have an answer.

Maybe when someone crosses the barriers of maya and lives with the realisation of ultimate reality, getting to be known in the world of petty mortals may seem like a waste of time.

Bakshi ji from Simla feels he’s got it right. I do find him a bit convincing.

Q: One more question on similar lines and that is Buddhe Baba. No one has been able to tell us specifically who Buddhe Baba is or who would Gurudev call as Buddhe Baba. What is your opinion on this?

Bakshi ji: Guruji’s paternal grandfather – Guruji’s guru’s guru

Q: You’re talking about Sitaram ji of Benaras?

Bakshi ji: He will know that. All I know is what he said – that the offerings at the sthan are offered to Buddhe Baba. He is a manifestation of Shiv. He has a long white beard and is a manifestation of Shiv.

Pehelwan ji was not into dream farming. But he was into farm dreaming! 

Here is a story that starts at the farm in a physical state but continues in the dream state.

Pehelwan ji: Once, he said, I’d asked him who his guru was, so he suddenly sat up. We were on the Khandsa farm, seated near the tank and we were alone. He suddenly sat up and said, ‘No one’. Then one day we were on the Mohammedpur farm. I had pressed his feet for quarter of an hour. After that he said--during that time neither he nor I spoke--then after that he said, “Son, you must have had a vision of Buddhe Baba by now?” Dada-guru is what he had called him. I said, “I don’t know who dada-guru is,” or who he calls dada-guru. Once something similar happened in my dream. 

Q: What?

Pehelwan ji: I saw him in my dream.  

Q: What did you see?

Pehelwan ji: The one he called Buddhe Baba.

Q: Who are you talking about?

Pehelwan ji: Shiv ji Maharaj.

Q: You saw Him?

Pehelwan ji: Yes, I saw him but I couldn’t talk to him. Guruji said no worries, you will get to talk to him.

Buddhe Baba’s identity remained a closely guarded secret for 18 years of Gurudev’s life as a Mahaguru, and the mystery has not unfolded till date. There seem to have been rare sightings of him in the last couple of decades since Gurudev’s demise. 

Another dream merchant is Mrs Bhalla, Ashok ji’s wife. All interviews with both husband and wife normally end up like this one.Later, Ashok ji also shares a yog dand story which is uncanny and unbelievable. 

Q: Please tell me

Mrs. Bhalla: Very tall, his face is not visible but it comes as a vision. What do you call it? I can see a shape. Very tall, wearing a tehmet.

Q: What is a tehmet?

Mrs Bhalla: A type of lungi (sarong). Above the knees

Q: That was Guruji’s Guru’s Guru?

Mrs Bhalla: He would call him Baba Guru.

Q: Who would call him?

Mrs Bhalla: Whenever Guruji would give his blessings, that man would be there along with him. 

Q: Did Malhotra ji describe this Sitaram ji who was supposed to be Gurudev’s Guru or Gurudev’s Guru’s Guru?

Ashok Bhalla: Yes, he had…

Mrs Bhalla: Yes, he had confirmed that he is Dada-guru.

Q: So, what did he look like? 

Mrs Bhalla: Tall. He had not worn anything above. I can see his face or can’t see his face. You cannot make out his face.

Ashok Bhalla: A diffused face.

Mrs Bhalla: Tall and he had worn only a tehmet on his body and till the knees.

Q: A bare body?

Mrs Bhalla: Yes.

Q: He had grey hair or no hair?

Mrs Bhalla: No hair. Means I’m telling you that you can see his face and also cannot see it too.

Q: Do you see any hair or any Jhata?

Mrs Bhalla: No, nothing like that.

Q: He is taller than Gurudev much taller?

Mrs Bhalla: Yes, and with lean body. Strong body and I have seen him at the dham, he walks very fast. That is what is my opinion

Q: Ok. So that is Malhotra ji’s explanation of Dada-Guru? Anything else that Malhotra ji might have explained about these two gentlemen?

Ashok Bhalla: I can tell you one incident. Baba Guru, Dada- Guru, Guruji and Pappa ji (Malhotra ji) were in spiritual form. There was some discussion going on. Malhotra ji must have given his point of view. He didn’t tell me the topic of discussion. But he got angry.

Q: Who?

Ashok Bhalla: Baba Guru. He had a yog dand in his hand. He hit Malhotra ji on his back with it. He was in a lot of pain. He said when he opened his eyes, he was in pain. So, he had someone check his back as he was not able to see. The person said there was an imprint on the back.

Q: Oh God! Like a yog dand type?

Ashok Bhalla: Yes. I asked him that he hit you in a spiritual form then how did it pain you and leave an impression in the physical form? 

Q: This happens. That’s true

Ashok Bhalla: Yes, even he said the same thing. 

How easy is it to believe?

You get whacked in the dream state, and there’s a mark on your back in the waking state and pain along with it. I don’t think many people would fall for that in terms of belief. But it has happened to me, personally. 

I remember an out-of-the-body experience where I travelled upwards through the fan to the floor above mine. This was in my Sushma-sharir or astral body. When I returned via the same route, my ankles were suspended at the level of the fan blades for a few seconds. I heard a cracking noise and felt pain in my ankle. Of course, when I woke up the next morning, my ankle ached at the same spot! I walked with a limp for 15 days thereafter. So, for me, believing this story is a by-product of my personal experience. For you, you just have to have faith in the fact that these things do happen. 

Casting Gurudev in the mould of a Mahaguru and overseeing his attainments seems to have been one of Buddhe Baba’s primary missions within a limited time frame. 

Today, Gurudev plays the role that Buddhe Baba played in his lifetime. He is often seen in both the vision and physical form. Many people have felt his presence at Najafgarh. Brighu corroborates this in the Samhita he wrote tens of thousands of years ago. I suspect that most of Gurudev’s disciples, who’ve passed on assist him in their ethereal form and play proxy. I look forward to joining this ethereal gang. I assume my application won’t be rejected.

Now, let’s return to the Buddhe Baba Excavation Club. 

Roopal is a sevadaar who has never met Gurudev in the physical form, but the dream state has been her playing field. Coming up a dream sequence.

Roopal ji: Actually, I don’t exactly remember the year but it was Mahashivratri. I drank my tea and went back to sleep. I had a dream and saw that I was walking on the road in a hill station. It was a market area. I saw a sthan there. On the left side of the road, I saw a small sthan. When I went to that sthan, I saw there were many photos and one of them was Gurudev’s photo also. On the extreme right, on the wall, there was a photo of one sage. He was thin, dark skinned with long hair and a medium sized beard. He was wearing a white dhoti and was looking very old. And he had kept his right leg on his left leg, the same way that I have seen Gurudev sitting in photos. And in my dream, someone told me that this is Buddhe Baba’s photo. 

Let us shift from the claim of “I have seen Buddhe Baba” to “I’ve only heard of him”. What I present next is the muddle in the middle!

Shri Ravi Trehan.

Ravi ji: I have never met Buddhe baba but I have heard Gurudev talking about Buddhe baba. When the sthan was established in Sector 7, Gurudev would always say that Buddhe Baba was present there. And whenever a person would go to meet Guruji and tell him about his problems, Guruji would say, “Go bow your head at the sthan in front of Buddhe Baba and share your problems with him and your work will be done.” None of the disciples have met Gurudev’s Guruji. But as far as we know, there was Sitaram ji from Dasua who used to come to Hariana, and would stay in Shitla mata temple which was close to where Gurudev used to stay. It is believed that Sitaram ji was Gurudev’s guru who taught Gurudev a few things and groomed him.

Ravi Trehan ji believes that Sitaram ji of Dasua was Gurudev’s guru. He also believes that Shiv was Gurudev’s guru.

I analyse this as follows: When a person is going from one stage of learning to another, he has mentors for different subjects at different stages of his education. Secondly, a truly successful teacher of today would ensure that his student supersedes him. That is probably Gurudev’s story. 

As a kid learning from his parents and religious people, as a teenager learning from Sitaram ji, and as an adult, from Buddhe Baba. 

Teachers all. But Guru only one. 

The debate continues with Ashok ji, who though uncertain, picks a side. Listen.

Q: Buddhe Baba and Bade Sitharam ji are they the same person or are they not? In Ashok Bhalla’s opinion, I have got hundred opinions, God knows what all.

Ashok Bhalla: There is a little confusion about it but I believe I can tell you that... 

Q: I asked you for your opinion.

Ashok Bhalla: He is Bhole Nath, He is Lord Shiva. I’ll tell you the reason too. I was sitting in Guruji’s room and we were talking. I remember one thing Guruji said, “My maalik controls both death and life”. Also, if you must have noticed that there is Shiv ji’s picture above Guruji’s bed because he looked at the photo when he said that.

Alka, the youngest daughter of Gurudev’s physical incarnation, gives us an either or.

Alka ji: Buddhe Baba…Actually, I don’t know but what I feel is…We used to discuss who Buddhe Baba was amongst ourselves and whether he was Guruji’s Guru or Shiv ji’s form. There was a picture at sthan to whom Guruji would point and say that he is Buddhe Baba. It was Shiv ji’s form who had white beard. 

Gurudev’s sister-in-law, fondly called Chachi ji, who lives in their family home in Hariana, near Hoshiarpur, paraphrases what many others have.

Chachi ji: I will tell you this secret or this truth that he spoke about Bhole-baba or let me ask Buddhe Baba or whoever it is, this secret was never revealed. He didn’t have a Guru, he used to treat Buddhe Baba, Bhole Nath as his guide, his isht. And in Shitla temple, he used to spend a lot of time in Shitla temple. So, the people over there like the temple priest used to think there is some attachment. There was Sitaram baba over there. He used to wear white clothes, even I have seen him. I have seen him after my marriage as well. I married into this family much later. This was in the year 1975. So, people used to think that there is a guru that why he used to come here, there was nothing like that. When we call Guruji, Guruji, he never shared this secret with anybody. He was Shiv himself and he used to call him Buddhe Baba, and used to treat him as his isht.

Another disciple, Raji Sharma, who came to the fold in the early 70s, makes a claim. He seems to believe that he knows the answer. 

Raji ji: I have not met Buddhe Baba. I also don’t think that anyone would have ever met Buddha Baba or Buddhe Baba. The reference Buddhe Baba, our biggest Guruji, which is our Par dada Guru, and Gurudev’s dada Guru, he and Shiv is one. How they are one is what I will explain to you in detail. What is Shiv? Guruji used to always say that is Shiv is the one who is sitting on the mountain peak with a trishul in his hand? Does he shave every morning, apply rouge, add a tint of red to his face? Does he look beautiful, have long hair? How terrifying would the lord of death, who controls death, be? Shiv is Bhram consciousness or cosmic consciousness. That is what Shiv is. He is not the one who sits on a throne with a lot of beings serving him, no. So that consciousness and Buddhe Baba, the form that we have given of Shiv, which we project him as, well there is no difference between him and our Par Dada guruji. It refers to Shiv roop of our Par Dada guru.

So, we conclude inconclusively. 

The Buddhe Baba mystery tour is officially over, and all we can do is pray and beseech the great Rishi to not keep us guessing any longer. 

In my personal opinion, I would wager that the reason why Buddhe Baba did not want to be known was he wanted to avoid being identified. When people become manifestations of Shiv, then they probably do not wish to regress into being ‘x’ or ‘y’. They find personalisation to be an obstacle to their spiritual status. Glory, fame, recognition run the risk of resurgence of the ego and the reverse movement back to the level of the Jivaatma. 

Possibly, there was no need for Buddhe Baba to draw attention to himself except for the purpose at hand. Thus, he must have insisted that Gurudev keep him a closely guarded secret. 

One thing Buddhe Baba was not was a shaayar. 

But in case he had been, could this be something he might have said? 

Na dhoond mujhe zameen aur aasmaan ki gardisho mein

Na dhoond mujhe zameen aur aasmaan ki gardisho mein

Main agar tere dil mein nahi toh kahi bhi nahi

Main agar tere dil mein nahi toh kahi bhi nahi