Constant Awareness

To hear the unsaid. To listen to words yet to be spoken. To see the invisible and sometimes to be the invisible are matter of Constant Awareness, capabilities of deep intuition. How did this awareness help him become supernatural? What can be the pitfalls of knowingness? Discover much more in Constant Awareness.

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

Most people are oblivious to where they are, what they are doing, and what is going on around them. The mind is so occupied with sundry thoughts, connecting the dots, and obsession with desire and emotion that it forgets to focus on self-reflection, and the energy play in our vicinity. At physical, spirit and mental levels, we live in a state of absent-mindedness. 

Gurudev was agile, aware, and conscious at various levels. Almost like a cosmic commando. His advantage was his supernature and his spiritual upbringing. 

Constant Awareness

Constant Awareness is something we must all try to achieve. It is one of the tools of bringing the mind back to the road we have designated for its smooth journey and avoiding the roads with potholes and ditches. Unfortunately, all or most of our resolves get defeated because after we have motivated ourselves to do or not to do, the mind relapses into old conditioning and stored thoughts, regressing the newly configured circuits. 

Imagine the case of Gurudev whose life and mission was many times more complicated than ours. Also, his awareness included being able to look at the past, present, and future. To understand people, destiny, and events. It was a double-edged sword as he would foresee all that was to be regardless of how ugly. For his devotees, he had to find solutions and give them the umbrella to lessen the showers of negative luck. Often, Gurudev’s constant awareness came as a life saver.  Since he could see the trends of destiny, he could also find ways of lessening the impact. 

The first story of his constant awareness comes from Bittu ji.

Bittu ji: There was this man who came from Bombay, a Mr. Sud, whose son was not well. He used to live at Guruji’s sthan in Gurgaon. So, one night, I stay in Sector 14, I asked Mrs. Sud to drop me on the way. Guruji said, “No, you wait for a while. Don’t go now.” There was a Mr. Sunny Chodda who had to go to Delhi. So Guruji asked them to take Mr. Sunny Chodda along. As soon as the car left, Guruji gave me his scooter keys and told me to head home. I must have been about 3 or 4 minutes behind the car. So, about 250 meters before Sector 14, there was a truck parked on the road, and the car’s driver Natwar banged the car into it. I don’t know if he fell asleep at the wheel or could not apply the brakes in time. So, their car had gone under the truck completely, and this was at 12 pm or 1 am at night. Guruji knew this was going to happen, so he sent me behind the car. The best thing about him was that he always used to say, “What has to happen will happen. I am a guru, and I can change the probability of an event occurring from 100% to 10%, yet what is written will happen.” Guruji knew this and sent me after them. I called people to come and help. I called my brother and we take the car out.We pulled them out of the car and took them all to a hospital to do their first aid. After which they all were taken to the sthan. 

What Bittu ji did not know, but I was a witness to, was that when the Sud’s asked for permission to go to Delhi for the weekend, Gurudev said ‘No’. So, they asked if they could send their driver back home. Gurudev refused and said that they would then all have to go. He explained later that if the driver had gone alone, he would have died in the crash and so, he let them all go. Fortunately, the worse that happened was that they all had a few bruises but no major injuries. 

I have been privy to many such instances where Guru Kripa has healed and helped and even extended life in certain cases. Though all this is not easy to understand or even justify, experience teaches the right perspective. 

There are hundreds of instances where Gurudev talked about what transpired in the past, including our past lives, as well as what was to happen in the future. Poor Que Sera, Sera! The lyricist would’ve to rethink the words had he known Gurudev. 

Rajpal ji was a very colourful disciple. Walked with suspenders, smart clothes et al, stylish of tongue, handsome of body, generous of heart. Gurudev was very fond of this man. 

Rajpal ji has a story to tell. 

Rajpal ji: We were driving down a mountain and Guruji was at the wheel. He put the car in neutral. I said, “Guruji, we are coming down a mountain. You should put the car in gear” (laughter). He said, “Son, my driver is an office driver.” You know that Guruji was a soil scientist, a government official. So, he would get a driver and staff as well. He told me, “Whenever I drive a car in gear, more petrol is consumed. So, I drive in neutral so that less money is spent on petrol as the drivers get compensated based on mileage. This way the driver can earn an extra buck when he is with me on tour for a few months. So, whenever I drive, it’s on neutral.” I said, “Guruji, if we drive the car on neutral in the mountains, then we can only use the brake to stop the car. This is dangerous, or so I’ve heard.” I didn’t speak much with Guruji—only a little bit. So, he answered very succinctly, “Son, I will obviously know whether an accident will happen or not, right?” 

A story of his mentorship and awareness is presented by Ashok Bhalla. A pretty strange one because whilst Gurudev would give instructions to Malhotra ji, and check on the developments the next day, he would also point out what Malhotra ji had missed out or forgotten to share. 

Q:  His first disciple was Malhotra ji because he used to keep on teaching him whatever he had learned etc. 

Ashok Bhalla: Yes, and when Gurudev had started training Malhotra ji, he would instruct him on what had to be done at night. Pappa ji (Malhotra ji) said that if the experience lasted 2 or 2 ½ hours, he would tell Guruji the whole episode in detail the next day. So, if the whole episode which lasted 2 hours, it would take that much time to explain it to Gurudev. And Malhotra ji would say if he inadvertently missed out on telling him something, he would point out what was missed or omitted to Malhotra ji.

Virender ji was a district-level judge in Gurgaon and an ardent devotee. He is mentioned by name along with his brother and brother’s wife in the Brighu Samhita. Let’s hear him narrate an incident as uncanny as any other.

Virender ji: It was definitely the year 1988 or 89 because my wife was in America during those days. I was all alone at my residence. I had shifted to Rohtak by then. At about 11 pm, I came from my prayers and was in the process of lying down when I saw light on the front wall. It was a small light. The light kept on increasing and I saw Lord Shiva up to here or let me say Bhagwan (Lord) Shankar up to here. The way you see him in pictures; absolutely just like stone. I don’t know what came to my mind and I said, “So it is rightly written in the Bible that Christ never smiles.” From where this sentence came, I don’t know and why I said it, I don’t know. But something happened after that. That statue like figure widely opened its eyes and slowly it disappeared. I kept on sitting for quite few minutes. I said push it to the back of your mind and go back to sleep. I went back to sleep. Believe me, when I got up the next morning, half of that curiosity and that amusement had gone. It had disappeared. Days rolled by. After about a month I visited Guruji’s farm. It was daytime. I was wearing a white suit, white coat, white pants, white shirt and a red tie and a red hanky here and I went there to meet him as I had to discuss some urgent matter with him. He was at the farm all alone. When he saw me, he said, “Fakira” -- he used to call me Fakira -- he said, “Fakira, don’t prostate here else your clothes will get dirty”. But I said Virender Singh you are on trial. I went down on my knees as I used to do and prostrated myself at his feet. He raised me, with his hands he rubbed, cleaned my dress. Then he caught my hand, turned around and he said, “Virender, when he raised his eyes wide, didn’t you get scared?” You remember, he was talking about that vision. I never talked about that vision with anybody till then. My wife was not at home, my son was a little kid and he was with his mother. I wouldn’t talk these things to anybody. I talked to nobody. When he said, “When he opened his eyes wide, didn’t it frighten you?” I asked him “Was it you Guruji?” and he was quiet. He just held my hand and he kept walking.

His uncanny capabilities created a sense of awe amongst his disciples. We knew that he knew all that we would tell him, and all that we would not. That included not only incidents but also thoughts. 

Gurudev committed to reverse the decision of the American embassy to grant a visa to Rajpal ji. How did he do it? Simple - his awareness stretched from the distant past to the unforeseen future. 

Rajpal Sekhri.

Rajpal ji: Once, Guruji had to go to the US, and he asked me whether I had a visa. I said I did not, so he asked me to get one. So, I went to the American Embassy and applied for a visa. I got back a slip of paper, which said my visa was disallowed. I went to Guruji at night, it was late in the evening when he asked me what happened with the visa? I told him they gave me a paper which said that my application was rejected, and they had stamped it. He got angry and said, “No mother has bred a son who can reject my son?” I said, “Guruji, these are Americans; it’s their embassy and it’s their prerogative to decide who can travel to their country and who cannot.” He empthatically said, “No, this entire world is mine. No one can deny my disciple anything. You can go wherever you want.” The matter ended. A week or so later, I was staying at Gurgaon, when Puran woke me up in the morning at around 6 am and said Guruji was calling me. When I went, he was ready to go to office, dressed in a pant and shirt, and told me to not go home, but go directly to the US embassy, as I would get the visa. 

I went to the embassy and submitted my passport and application. An hour and a half later, it was my turn. By chance, it was the same woman in the cabin whom I had met a week before. She asked me, “How have you come again when we have already refused your visa application?” I don’t know what happened to me. I spoke in a weird commanding way, “Yeah, yeah, I know. I want to know the reason. Why have you abused me?” She said she hadn’t. I asked her on what ground had she denied me a visa. She said, “We think you will not come back. You will stay back over there”. I said, “How dare you abuse me?” She said she hadn’t abused me. I said it was a big abuse. I had stated in my application that I will visit US and come back, and that she had doubted my statement, therefore, my integrity. I asked her how could she do this to me, and said, “If you don’t want me to go to your country, then hell with your country, America. But I want to know the reason you abused me for.” In that time, an officer had come outside. He asked what had happened. Before she could answer, I said, “Look officer, this young girl, she has abused me.” He asked her if she had. She said “No, John, I did not”. I said she had, and said, “I applied last week. I wanted to visit your country for a few days. She says I will not come back and stay over there. Why should I? If I want to stay back in your country, I will write so in my application that I want to stay in your country, but I have said I will come back, and she doubts my integrity that’s a big abuse to me. I want to know the reason.” He quietly took her by the arm into a cabin behind. Two minutes later, she came out sheepishly, and asked me how long I wanted to be in the US. I said, “3-4 weeks.” She quietly wrote 4 weeks in the visa and returned my passport with the visa stamped in it. As I came out of the embassy, I met a Sikh lady, who told me, “Brother, you cannot go to America in this lifetime.” I asked her why. She said, “The amount you’ve shouted inside, the entire hall was echoing with your voice.” (laughs) Guruji knew in the morning when he sent me to embassy, saying I will get the visa, he knew I would get the visa…or he…

(Created the circumstance)

He had sanctioned the visa to me in the morning. 

Though Gurudev did not encourage ticketless travel, he did encourage impromptu ones. ‘Chook Chook gaadi’ and Rajpal ji is the story that is coming up next.

Rajpal ji: I was told that Guruji had come to Patel Nagar. Someone had called and told me to come to Patel Nagar if I wanted to meet him. There was always this constant desire to meet Guruji. So, I left my office in Daryaganj and drove to Patel Nagar. I greeted Guruji, and I overheard someone saying Guruji was going to Bombay. I asked him if he was going. He said he was and asked me if I wanted to accompany him. I asked him if he had an extra ticket. He said we would pick that up at the station itself. I told him that he was going by the Rajdhani or deluxe train or Rajdhani or whatever, and tickets for those trains were not available at the station, rather they were available at the booking office was at Connaught Place. He said, “Don’t worry, we’ll get tickets.” I was silent. I thought he was just saying it. But then he asked me to sit in the car. At the station, he went inside through a collapsible gate—I was outside. I thought to myself, what should I do, and then followed him onto the platform, where the train was parked. Soon, the train started moving slowly, after receiving a green signal to move. I was thinking to myself, I don’t have a ticket, how am I supposed to go? Guruji had asked me to go to Bombay with him. Right about then, someone tapped me thrice from behind. I turned around, and it was a man with a dusky complexion. He was wearing ordinary clothes, but as he saw me, he angrily asked, “Do you want to go to Bombay?” I said I did. “Do you want a ticket?” I said yes. “Give me the money.” I gave him Rs 200. He asked me my name. I told him. He took out a ticket from his pocket, wrote my name and the seat number—65—on it, and gave it to me. The train was moving. I ran towards the train clutching the ticket in my hand. 

I was with Gurudev at Bina station to catch a train to Delhi. He asked me to buy two first-class tickets. The man at the ticket counter refused saying that the train did not have any first-class compartment. So, I bought two second class tickets and returned to Gurudev. He looked stern and asked me to get two first-class tickets instead.

The ticket-seller thought that I had lost the plot. He sniggered, looked at me sympathetically, and sold me two first-class tickets to travel in a second-class compartment. Gurudev looked satisfied, and soon the train arrived. I had been warned that there were only second-class compartments but lo and behold, there was a first-class bogey at the end of the train.

Gurudev and I were the only occupants in a 70 to 80 berth bogey. When the ticket conductor came to check our tickets, he mentioned that this was an exclusively second-class train, but the first-class bogey was attached a few stations back only to be ferried to Delhi for usage by another train. 

I remembered Lord Tennyson who wrote these lines-

“Theirs is not to make reply, theirs is not to reason why, theirs is but to do and die: Into the valley of death, rode the six hundred.”

It was sheer foolishness on my part to question his judgement. A man who could see the future was being questioned by another who could hardly see the present. 

Gulab Singh Rana shares an experience that highlights Gurudev’s prophetic powers.

Gulab Singh Rana: Guruji had visited my old house in Krishna Colony. It was a small property and I had installed a small gate at the entrance. It was a very small gate. So, Guruji asked me, “Son, this gate is too small, how can a car pass through this gate?” At that time, we used to have a small scooter. We couldn’t even think of a car let alone affording one. So, when I told Guruji this, he said, “Son, in future you will have many cars. So many that you won’t be able to remember their numbers.” Today, I have around 60 to 70 trucks, the numbers of which I don’t remember till date. I just remember that the last two digits are 18, that’s it, not the ones that come before. 

Let’s hear what Nitin Gadekar has to say about the Mahaguru’s omnipresence.

Nitin Gadekar: My first lesson to Gurgaon and New Delhi, I think it was 1981, 82, 83, was never to lie to guruji. Because Guruji knew what was happening every moment of your life. Even when I spoke harshly to Urvashi in Mumbai, sat in the train that very afternoon, and went to New Delhi, first thing he used to ask me, “Kya tera dimag kharaab ho gaya hai? Meri beti pe chilaata hai. (Have you gone mad? Why are you shouting at my daughter?)” 

Also, another incident where I went to Gurgaon and my uncle was very angry, the previous night. He started shouting at home as I had stopped eating food at my cousin’s house. So, she invited us for food and I had to eat. My father and everyone had to eat that food. The first thing Guruji asked me, “I told you not to eat, why did you eat?” So, I have these things when Guruji was there in flesh and blood, and he had told me that he is there all the time and he is watching me every moment of what I’m doing and he knows. 

Surender Taneja ji was one of the nicest people I have ever known. He spent a lot of time with Gurudev and was one of his favourites. When I saw him for the first time, I didn’t know who he was, but I could sense his upmarket spiritual aura. There was something about the man that was mesmerizing. He motivated me to give up alcohol in just a few sentences. How he developed faith in Gurudev is a story to hear.

His wife, Shobha ji, talks about the subject.

Q:  Do you know how Surender ji developed faith in Gurudev, he had told you about this story?

Shobha Taneja: Yes. Guruji had come to our house. My brother-in-law was a follower. So, Guruji and Mataji had come to our house. He asked my mother-in-law to call her son. But Surender ji refused to meet him. Then, Guruji said, “I am also like you.” He used to wear a pant and shirt like the rest of us. Guruji came to our house and spoke to Surender ji in private about something only Surender ji was aware of. So, this is how he developed faith in Guruji. The subject which Guruji spoke about was not known to me or anybody else. Only Surender ji knew but he had kept it close to his chest. That is what Guruji spoke to him about. After this, he developed instant faith in Guruji. 

What Surender ji confided in me during one of our many conversations was that he had a terrible mission that he wanted to fulfil. Gurudev would come, meet his family often but he would slink away to avoid meeting the Mahaguru. 

One day, Gurudev came, knocked on his door, and when they were both alone, exposed to him his gravest secret and pleaded with him not to fulfil his mission. His mind was shell shocked, and his knees were bent and he fell at Gurudev’s feet and accepted him as his Guru. And of course, avoided doing whatever it was that he wanted to or had planned to. 

Gurudev may have never heard of artificial intelligence, but he was certainly a practitioner of deceptive technology. When a disciple lied to him about his whereabouts, he pulled out a plastic-wrapped, unopened audiotape, and played the conversation that had taken place between the disciple and his friend in another town. An ethereal sound recorder that could superimpose the sound bites onto an unopened cassette? The technology to do this is still an invention of the future, so how did Gurudev manage to do this in the 80s? I have no answer but the man who symbolised Shiv could certainly shove a lot under his belt.

Gurudev’s proficiency as a surveyor seem to have transmigrated from the physical to the ethereal. Baljeet ji is one of Gurudev’s most devoted. He was the man entrusted with the construction of the samadhi at Najafgarh—a samadhi which he has visited at 5.30 a.m.  every morning for the past 30 years. He has certainly been a backbone of the sthan. Baljeet ji shares a fabulous story of how Gurudev set the boundaries and the location for where what would come up at his future samadhi, a location he himself had chosen. Gurudev had overseen the construction to ensure his samadhi was built in the manner that he deemed fit or how he saw it in the future.

A strange facet of this whole story is that Brighu, the Maharishi, who wrote the Brighu Samhita thousands and thousands of years ago, had projected where Gurudev’s samadhi would be built. He called it Hastinapur which Najafgarh of modern day is a part of. 

Baljeet ji: Guruji took me to that place where there was no demarcation and all the plots were empty. There was a pipe-making factory behind this area and all the big pipes were left on these plots. There were 4 to 5 vacant plots there. So, he kept his foot on one of the plots and said, “A sthan must be constructed here.” It’s a matter of amazement because the next day we began demarcating that plot where Guruji had kept his foot and we had kept a stone there as a marking. So, we called the patwari (administrative office responsible for land records in India) the next day and while marking the plot we realized that the markings were exactly aligned to where Guruji had kept his foot and where the sthan is currently. If he would have kept his foot ahead by even one inch then it would be in another plot. Please understand, I don’t know how he calculated it, he placed his foot at the exact place where the sthan is now built and he did so without there being any demarcation between the plots at the time. 

Guruji said, “Fakir ki kuthiya banade chinai karde, hale time thoda hai. (Make the fakir’s little home here, start construction. There is very little time left)” We thought that as it was the month of January and February, Guruji wanted it to be constructed before Shivratri, so that was probably why Guruji was saying that the time was short. So, we started the construction work and in 15 days we created two rooms there. Then he said, “Build 4 walls.” We did as instructed. Then he asked us to lay the foundation which we did. Then, he said there should be greenery around it. So, he had bought few seeds which he asked us to throw around that place. And within a month, those seeds which were chari seeds eaten by cows, grew 6 ft tall.  

Q:  You didn’t know that this is where the Samadhi will be?

Baljeet ji: One day, he put a hand on my shoulders and took me behind that place where we tie the cow and said, “We will make Guru Puja’s platform here.” At that time, I thought maybe he will sit there and start meeting people, may be that is the platform that he is talking about. But then later, after Guruji left his body, and we built the samadhi there, I finally understood which chabootra or platform guruji was speaking about.  

A common experience with many disciples was the presence of invisible powers that interacted with us. It could be the divine presence of spiritual saints meant to protect and help, or it could be our own evolved spirits, or both. 

But there was a flip side to this coin. Often the energies we had to deal with were negative. When my wife and I were at a famous church in Venice that she insisted we visit, I was walking on a platform that was probably 5 feet higher than the one below it. There was no way anybody could have fallen from that higher one to the lower one, but I found myself pushed by an invisible force and came tumbling down. The stereophonic part of the experience was that some force turned me in those few milliseconds and I fell on my left shoulder and got up unscathed. The energy that pushed me may have been a powerful entity that was aligned to the church or it could have been the collective energy of the church itself. 

This was a straight case of being constantly unaware. If I had been in a state of conscious awareness, I would have been able to feel the presence of that energy that attacked me, and I would have had the presence of mind to befriend that energy therein before I went in for what might have seemed like a walk in the park.

I would never have imagined that people like us could create insecurity in the minds of spiritual energies. But this was not the first time that other energies felt threatened by our presence. Wish the energy in the Venetian church could have realised my sincere respect for Jesus who I believe was probably one of the greatest saints that lived in the last several thousand years.

Nitin Gadekar shares another experience.

Nitin Gadekar: There was this woman, who was completely going bonkers. She looked like a case of possession and one day at the sthan, she was really violent. Usually, I was able to calm her down—whenever she was waiting in the line, she used to misbehave, and when I went down, she used to just cow down—but that day she was very belligerent. And Punchoo came into the room, and all the sevadaars stood up and all the seva stopped as soon as she came into the sthan room. This lady got a little--I don’t know what happened to her, and Punchoo said something, I am not very clear what happened. This woman just came in a flash to attack Punchoo and me. She raised her hand as if to hit or attack us, and as if by magic, as if some force or some very strong force caught her hand and pulled it back. I mean it was amazing to see thin air pushing this woman back. So, I certainly believe it wasn’t me (laughter). So, I am sure it was some force that is doing this great work. 

Ashok Bhalla ji, who was known for his temper tantrums, had exactly the opposite experience. Something prevented him from going through with the action of hitting a worker in his factory. In both these cases, the power that prevented the intention from fructifying as action was certainly not a spirit being. It was an energy with its own consciousness and mandate. 

Here is another case of not awareness but complete unawareness on the part of Uddhav Kirtikar. Uddhav was always taunting Gurudev that he was not giving him enough spiritual experiences. Can you imagine a muscular, tough, six pack, cop was actually a spiritual cry-baby? When Gurudev obliged, Uddhav Kirtikar was caught completely unawares. Two triangles entered his room through the window to give him a darshan.  Instead of a show of reverence, he tried to attack them with his Nanchaku. He just about lived to tell the strangest tale of geometry you will ever hear in your life. 

Q: You said that you were lying at home and you were a very naughty disciple and I think except for you everyone else knew that and you had this Naan Chaku etc. behind your bed and you were this martial arts specialist, rogue cop, and all kinds of labels that I think you could put up on your coat. And something amazing happened to you and that was these triangles that you saw. Would you like to explain to us because it would be a great insight for listeners?

Uddhav ji: It was probably about half past 9 in the evening and I was in my room. So, I was there. Maybe 9.30, so it was not very late in the evening at all. So, I was sitting on my bed when I saw these two, how to do I explain, they were like triangles, dark, pitch black, triangular shaped objects with yellowish eyes coming through that window So, I took a swing at them.

Q: What do you mean you tried to took a swing at them?

Uddhav ji: Tried to punch them with my hand. Just punched them.

Q: When you took a swing at them what happened?

Uddhav ji: I just knocked out. I was out. I woke up the next morning.

Q: So, when you took a swing at them you just sort of fainted?

Uddhav ji: I just passed out

Q: So, you passed out. And you didn’t see them and you didn’t see whether your hand touched them or not?

Uddhav ji: No nothing. Absolutely nothing. So, I told Guruji that this is what I saw. He said, “You’ve been asking, hassling me to come and see you and when I come this is what you do!”

Q: (laughs) Hitting disciple

Uddhav ji: And then he says, “The next time we come, you know, ask us to sit down.”

Q: So, this 2nd time was one triangle or two triangles?

Uddhav ji: One, one, one.

Q: So, one triangle came and it looked the same as the 1st triangle?

Uddhav ji: No, the eyes were white

Personally, I have not, but the late Bade Jain Sahab also saw a triangle appear before him to give him a darshan and he recognised it to be a Devi or a Devta. This is the same thing that happened to Uddhav, except that he couldn’t figure out what was happening the first time around. And after he had figured it out, he was not sure how to react to the triangle that paid him a visit on another occasion. The triangle was probably a spiritual power that came to entice and motivate him, and probably encourage him in the subject. But he did goof up big time!

Such incidents help you get exposure to the fact that there are many types of invisible consciousness. They could be spirits that get stuck and share the atmosphere with us. They could be protective powers assigned to us, capable of seeing the dangers that lurk in our future and arrive at those specific times to protect. Or it could be our own energies evolved under the tutelage of a man who was generous enough to share his own supernature!

During my bad boy days, I had a rogue spiritualist teach me many spiritual tricks, including how to magnetize power from others. None of which I am proud of. But in keeping with transparency, I am sharing them with you at the risk of earning ire. Yet, there is a lesson to be learnt, and I for one certainly did. 

The route to spiritual honesty could sometimes have its beginnings in dishonesty. KC Kapoor was a senior IPS officer from Delhi who had been given seva by Gurudev.  When he came to visit Gurudev once, I bent down to magnetize the power from his feet. Before I could get halfway through, an invisible power pushed me back by a few feet. I staggered and almost fell. The message was crystal clear. 

In another incident at Renuka, in the early 80's, I tried to magnetize power from a spiritual temple. This made me the recipient of punishment at the hands of none other than the great, immortal Parshuram ji. I was attacked with invisible rays, and it was only after I pleaded with the magnificent Renuka Devi for help that I got relief. She appeared in all her glory on an invisible TV in my forehead, and as she placed her hand on it, the attack ceased. Gurudev reprimanded me on my return to the camp and recounted what transpired without a single word from me. I guess he was a miser with words and therefore indulged in half conversations. You don’t ask but I answer - that kind of thing.

There are many stories of Gurudev knowing what is not possible to know. Imagine going to a location to meet a Mahatma who was meditating in the form of a snake only because it was time for him to be rewarded with salvation. How could anybody know that and where to go and how to find? 

I don’t think questions were relevant to his behaviour. Only answers were. Here’s one from Pappu Pahadia. 

Pappu ji: There was a Mahatma who had taken the form of a snake and was meditating for several years. 

Q: In a form of snake?

Pappu ji: Yes. He had taken the form of Snake. One evening, Guruji told us to get ready as we were to accompany him to meet ‘Sanglo wale baba’. He said, “He is waiting for me. Let’s do his kalyan (spiritual betterment).” During the journey, we kids were running in front with Guruji walking right behind us. Suddenly, we came across a small bridge in the middle of which lay a huge fat snake. Fearful, we ran behind towards Guruji, my mother, father and Chiranji lal who were walking behind. They asked us, “What happened? Why are you all scared?” We said “There’s a huge fat snake sitting ahead. He’s not moving from that place and is blocking our path.”

When Guruji heard this, he walked up to the snake and said, “Your time is up and that is why I have come to you.” He also told the snake that he could pay his final respects if he wanted to and leave in peace. Hearing this, the snake approached Guruji, inflated its hood and lowered it as if it was paying its respects and after giving one last look to everyone who was gathered there, it slid away on the same path from where it had come. Guruji told us that this Mahatma was meditating in the forest for over 150 years and today, he had finally been set free of this particular incarnation.

I am not claiming that this is the first time in history that I have heard of someone who was worshipped by man, beast and spirit alike. He treated all life forms as an extension of himself, hence I assume there was a quid pro quo.

Bakshi ji who runs a sthan at Simla paid a few visits to Renuka to meet Gurudev. On one of these visits, a strange incident took place. And we thought you would love to hear it. 

Bakshi ji: I have been to Renuka sthan at least 3 to 4 times from Shimla. Once in the morning, when we were asleep, we found that Guruji wanted to meet me and my wife. He had asked me to get my wife along too and meet him at Renuka. When we came home after site seeing around Renuka, we were having our lunch. By that time, we saw that there was a snake right in front of us. My wife said to Guruji “Guruji, aapke gehne pare hue hai. Aap shivji roop hai to inko sambhalo (Guruji you are a form of Shiv and the snake is your accessory, so please tend to it).” Guruji asked me to chase it away. I did as asked. After a while it came back again. Again, I got rid of him. The third time when I tried to get rid of it, he raised his hood. It was a cobra. So Guruji said, “Bakshi, as this snake has inflated its hood in front of you, you kill him.” Ok. 

There was a farm I descended to and I killed him. Our job is not to kill. But since I was instructed to kill it, I hoped it could get mukti (longtime freedom from life and death). So guruji said, “Let’s bury it.” So guruji accompanied me to a corner which had a banana tree. I dug a hole there. There was no cloth to wrap the cobra in so Guruji gave me his handkerchief. I wrapped ira body in it and also put some salt that I had got from the kitchen on it and buried him in that hole. 

That very day, in the morning, a couple came from Nahan to meet Guruji. They were calling for him – Guruji, Guruji, Guruiji - so my wife and I came outside to see who it was. I came and asked them what they wanted. They said they wanted to meet Guruji. I said that Guruji was busy doing his paath. But they insisted on meeting him saying they had come with great expectations. Hearing the sounds, Guruji came outside to meet them. 

He asked them what was bothering them. They said, “We cannot conceive a child.” So, Guruji thought about it. Then, he said, “OK, let us see what can be done.” Guruji asked them to come to meet him on Shivratri in Gurgaon. They came on Shivratri and Guruji assured them they would have a child. The next Shivratri, they came again. It was then that Guruji called me in to his room. He said, “Bakshi, do you recognise them?” I said, “Yes I do.” Guruji said, “See they have bought their infant child along. Look at the child.” Seeing the infant, I picked him up in my arms and said “Kya baat hai. Kya baat hai. (How lovely).” Guruji said “Look carefully”. I turned the baby backwards and when I moved the cloth he was wrapped in, I saw that the snake’s shape, the one that I had killed, had appeared on his body. Guruji said, “Have you recognized who this is?” This means that the snake was given birth and the couple were blessed with a baby at the same time. This is a miracle, a big one.

Forthcoming, a story which I consider one of the most interesting of my life. I was both witness and investigator. The story of a Yogi who took birth with Gurudev’s help and became a businessman. So be bewildered! The narrator is the mother, Shobha ji, wife of the late and great Surender Taneja.

Shobha Taneja: Guruji was in Bathri and we were in Dalhousie. You were also with us when we used to go to sleep at Dalhousie, so you know. Guruji did not let us stay at Bathri. So, when we were going to Bathri in the van, I dozed off and had a dream. I saw a good-looking old man with a cane. He said, "I want to take birth in your home.” I refused. I said my kids were grown up and I did not want more children. He said "Daughter, I have grandchildren too but I want to take birth in your home." I insisted he go elsewhere as I wouldn’t allow it. He said “You are close to guruji, so I want to take birth in your home." He went on to say "I will make your guru proud. As your son, I will make you proud. I will do a lot; I will respect everyone." I was not convinced. So, I went to guruji but I did not tell him about this experience. Guruji made me sleep there the next day and light the jyot at the sthan. I lit it and came home. When I came back home, I never cared for myself. When I missed a period, I got myself tested for a pregnancy and the result was positive. After which we went from Guruji’s office to Gurgaon, where Guruji asked me, "Child, did you meet an old man?" I said, "Yes". He said you must have seen him a lot. I said "Guruji I don't want the child. I have grown children." But Guruji said, "He wants to come to your home, so keep the child." I said, “Guruji I’ll feel embarrassed as I have grown up kids.” He said “No one will come to know you are pregnant.” Sure enough, no one knew I was pregnant. And Abhay was born a day after Shivratri. 

What Shobha ji may not know is that the watchman of the property which was the guesthouse of the Himachal Electricity Board would often see this Yogi in his dream-state. He was scared of the old Yogi and would do his bidding. He said on many occasions when the officers of the electricity board drank too much, they would find themselves throttled at night by an invisible force. Most would pack their bags and go and stay in the village guesthouse. This was common occurrence and the guesthouse that Gurudev and we were staying at had earned a reputation of being haunted. The Yogi, in one of his chats, had told the watchman that he had waited for a hundred years for Gurudev to come and give him rebirth in a spiritual home. When I overheard Surender ji and Shobha ji discussing this matter at 5.30 in the morning, I had many questions. When I met Gurudev hours later, he simply said that he would give the Yogi birth in Shobha ji’s womb. I guess he was aware of my investigations with the watchman the night before.

 Kapil Rudra, affectionately called Nikku ji, was Mataji’s nephew and someone Gurudev almost abducted from Ludhiana with permission of his parents of course. He lived at the sthan and was one of the four musketeers who looked after Gurudev and the visitors who came to meet him.

Nikku ji: I was sitting with Guruji. I think he had returned early from work that day. After completing his his paath, he was sitting and the tea was being prepared. While we were talking, Gurudev saw that a man had passed by through the window. Guruji said to me, “Go and call that man, I will show you something today.” I wondered what it was that Guruji wanted me to see. The man was leaving after bowing his head before the sthaan from outside. I said, “Come, Guruji wants to meet you”. He was very excited at the prospect of meeting Guruji. He came inside and bowed his head in front of him. Guruji asked him, “Ok, call him!” The man removed the rings on his fingers and the wrist chains and kept them besides Guruji’s bed. He shook his fingers in the air, turned his head and suddenly a spirit emerged from his body. Guruji asked him, “What is your name?” He said “Hari Ram.” I was shocked to hear this because that wasn’t the man’s name. I then realized it was the spirit responding. Guruji asked “Where did you possess him?” He said, “I possessed him at Nigambhod Ghat.” Guruji asked, “How did you possess him at Nigambhod Ghat?” He said “He had come there one evening and was urinating under a tree. It was then that I possessed him.” The reason I am mentioning this is because Guruji used to say that nobody should urinate under a tree in the evening. 

Then guruji said, “Leave him now”. He said, “Ok I will leave him.” He was staring at guruji waiting for him to say something. The man then said “I will leave this man and go but on one condition.” Guruji asked him what the condition was. He said “I will leave him only if you give me birth again”. Guruji smiled and said, “We will see.” Within a second the spirit left the man’s body and then that man wore all his rings and watch, took Guruji’s blessings and left. 

Q: How many such possessed cases did you personally notice when you were staying there even though you were not there half the time?

Nikku ji: I’ll narrate one more incident. Guruji used to meet the people on every alternate Sunday after Bada Guruvaar. Once, when he was meeting people, I saw Guruji was talking to someone facing the divan. I was passing by, so I stopped to see whom he was speaking to out of curiosity. There was an elderly couple who had come to meet him from Punjab, probably, and he said, “Why have you come to me?” He replied, “I have come to talk to you.” Guruji said, “Where are the others?” He said the rest could not come. So guruji started laughing. He said, “Where are the others?” He said, “You have made a keel or energy circle near Gurgaon and so they couldn’t cross the border.” Guruji asked him how many they were. In Punjabi he said “There are many.” Then, Guruji asked him, “Ok then what is it that you wanted to tell me?” He said, “Please spare our lives.” Guruji asked him to stop possessing that man. He said “I will leave him but you must give us birth again.” Guruji said “You are so many. How is it possible to give birth to so many?” He said “This is our only condition. This is the reason we have possessed him. So that we could meet you and get reborn with your blessings.’’ 

In the history of mankind, how many people have you heard of to whom spirits go to beg for rebirth, as do saints?

To conclude, I say that here was a being who lived at different levels of consciousness. Who could see past, present and future; manipulate powerful forces and do things that most human beings would consider undoable. 

The life and capabilities of supernatural beings may seem abnormal to people. But to advanced beings, they are mundane. 

It’s a matter of abilities. 

The Mahaguru’s example should be a benchmark to all that the impossible is not impossible. The potency creates the difference between one and the other. 

Instead of doubt, what might work better is belief that if one man could, then may be the others should.  

I end this podcast with a sher that showcases the unique way in which he viewed things. 

Umar bhar uthaaya bhoj us keel ne

Umar bhar uthaaya bhoj us keel ne

Aur log tareef tasveer ki karte rahe.

Aur log tareef tasveer ki karte rahe.