Well Known Neurologist on Health and Spirituality

Santhigiri And Modern Medicine
Dr. Shyam Prasad MD, DM*

People from all walks of life visit Santhigiri Ashram to know about the doctrine of Navajyothi Sree Karunakara Guru the founder of Santhigiri Ashram. They also want to get relief from the difficulties of their life. Guru tries to correct the misunderstandings among people that miracles are not the fulfilment of Divine attainment. Guru re-established Sanathana Dharma according to Yugadharma and initiated the creation of a new world order.

All science and doctrines which would not try to change according to Yugadharma’s will not exist for long. This new ideology explains not only the importance and drawbacks of modern medicine but also ruined prosperity & stability of human life. The authenticity of this new method which is patented by Santhigiri is dedicated to the world through Guru. Years back Guru started to establish Medical practice and it is being conducted carefully. Santhigiri got permission to start the first Siddha College in Kerala. Ayurveda Medical College of Santhigiri is also formulating new methods in Medical practice.

I remember the occasion when I first reached the abode of Guru. Guru asked me “Is human body a machine with jeevan’ (soul) or does it have ‘jeevan’ in it” as he knew about me as a doctor. This question made me to think a lot. I never had thought about such a matter. But I could not convince Guru that human body is only a biological machine and there is no such thing as this kind of ‘Jeevan’ in it. I felt that my thoughts are directed to a particular area. The ‘I’ in myself predominated in my thoughts.

I remember the interpretation of ‘life’ in the book ‘paralokavum punarjanmavum’ (eternal world & rebirth) written by Acharya Narendra Bhooshan. In that book he explains the meaning & importance of ‘I’. Daily more or less hundred times we use this word. What is this ‘I’ which we always use. Is it our body or any part of it? Who is this socalled ‘I’. All of us, ourselves see it through mirror. We appreciate our beauty. The attractive image which we see through mirror is not ‘I’. Such kind of thinking is wrong. If body is the ‘I’ then what is life? Why fear of death? Why we wish to live? What is the purpose of life and death. All men rich & poor, literate & illiterate, scientists & philosophers have to accepte the truth. Do innocent, dishonest, wicked all men face the same end?

Does ‘I’ mean a visible body with mind? If ‘I’ means not body, then what am I? Anything which is in the body? What is the relation between it and the body? Did it exist before body? Then what is its figure like? What is the ultimate aim of the body? Does ‘I’ end with the body?. If not in which form will ‘life’ exist? Is ‘I’ the life or soul (Jeevatma)?

Now I recollect the story of Nachikethas in ‘Kadopanishath’. Nachikethas asked Yamadeva while he was in search of the secret of Jeeva. “Somebody says after death man remains. I need a solution for this problem. Clarify what is eternal? Advise me about Divine knowledge. “A Guru who got spiritual attainment only can give advise on such matters.” That was Yama deva’s reply.

My thoughts reached a dead end. I told Guru “I believe in the existence of life in human body though I did not learn it from Medical books”. With smile Guru said “If you think so what will you do for that Jeevan”. I have never heard such a question in my life. The man who is working for 24 hours is only for his physical & material aim. Learning, wealth and loving each other, praying God are all for material gains. What will man do to “life” when he doesnot know about Jeevan? We do not know that the aim of human life is for purification of ‘Jeevan’ (soul). Those who knew it never tried to do it. I kept silent without answering Guru’s question. Guru continues his question. “You know that all parts of human body can be attacked by any disease. Can you then clarify the disease which affects ‘Jeevan’? How can you diagnose it? Who can cure it?” I remember the occasions when I could not diagnose some diseases precisely. I became aware of the limitations of modern medicine.

I had to face so many situations where I failed to suggest a proper treatment. So we treat only for the sake of treatment. Different names of disease went through my mind. How can Medical Science diagnose the disease which affects Jeevan? In the Medical world we can diagnose only diseases at the body with the help of scaning machine. I wish of we got a machine which can scan the disease affecing Jeevan.

I stood before Guru helplessly. Guru said “Jeevan has somany merits which are good & bad. Good is known as ‘virtue’ (punya) and bad ‘vice’ (papa). Human life is a balanced total of these good and bad parts. This is called as fate.

I felt that I am learning the earlier part of Medical Science. “I tried to analyse the meaning of Guru’s valuable words. Virtue oriented life has luck, healthy body, prosperity and a life with papa has bad luck weak body with somany diseases and their lives become tragic. If so, different kinds of diseases will arise. I failed to think about how to diagnose and treat certain diseases.

The divine words of Guru again come to my mind. “Different types of diseases may arise in human body. The reasons are these.

1. Common disease
2. The disease which results because of misworship
3. The disease relating to ‘Jeevan’.

I felt that, I was sitting in a post graduate class in Medical Science. The classification of diseases based on spiritual factors was something new to me. I was totally perplexed to hear ....... and tried to learn about diseases, related to Jeevan which is due to distorated Aradhana (worship). What is the ‘Aradhana Dosham’ (defect of worship). Is praying God a good deed? How is it wrong? Worshipping anything believing it God is not good. I learned from Guru that worshipping any spirit beleiving it as God is foolishness. That is not the proper way to God.

I remember the advice of Sreekrishna to Arjuna that if we worship devil we attain Devi-Devas if we worship Devi-Devas reaches the same we attain them, the worship of evil spirit Guru ‘pithru’ leads to ‘pithur’ & worship of leads us Guru. I remember many patients of which especially five patients - three women & two men. All of them were following the path of worship evil spirits through which they performed certain miracles to the public. They had achieved wealth and fame and finally became miserable. Three of them got paralysis, one man became in sane & other got giddiness. They achieved fame through worshipping false Gods and thus gained for them faith of the public. At certain stages in the prosperous life the grace of their life vanished and they became sick. The false God (Upasana Moorthy) aspired the virtues of their devotees. The evil spirits encourages their devotees and acquire their virtue of Jeevan and then made them sick. I felt pity for the ignorant devotees of evil spirit.

On another occasion when I was in Guru’s presence a family came to see Guru with their 16 year old girl. She was very weak. She always makes a strange sound like bolech. Because of the strange disease she could eat or drink anything properly for the last three months. Her family treated her in different hospitals like Medical College, Trivandrum & Mental Hospital. As she did not get any relief from the treatments they reached here as directed by somebody. Guru asked me about her disease. I replied that it may be because of some mental problem. But they had already treated her for mental disorders but had no good result. I know nothing more to say.

Again Guru asked me to know about their way of worship. They were people from below poverty line and belonged to S/C. They were worshipping an evil spirit in an Amman Koil near their house. This disease is because of the influence of their deity. I understood that if they followed and believed in Guru’s words the evil spirit will be destroyed & thus the girl might get relief. If they do not follow this way the disease will repeat.Human body is formed according to Jeevakarma for thousands of years. The lack of virtue in Jeeva exists as different types of disease. Sages who are Njani’s say about the reason for diseases as “poorva Janmakritham papam, Vyadhiroopena Jayathe”. Disease which is the result of ‘Janmanthar karma’ is called ‘karma vyadhi’.

The knowledge which we learnt from science is not enough to diagnose or treat all diseases. In most cases diagnosis is not apt. Only a temporary relief is got from the medicines. In some cases medicines have no effect. Asthma, Diabetes, B.P., Cancer are such heriditary diseases. If modern science cannot cure diseases properly what then will be a solution. Each and every person has a halo according to their own ‘Jeevan’s merit & demerit. There was a time when sages of India treated diseases according to the colour of this halo. They had asked the plants themselves about their medicinal value. They got a strange light like knowledge of medicine which is bestowed with God’s Grace. The sage imparted this knowledge to people through disciples. This sage culture has been lost since hundreds of years back. If the disease due to the defect of Jeevan or karmadosha we have to do punyakarma. What is the way for that? A Guru to whom Brahmam has given the power to protect all life can only do this correction appropriately.

Achieve ‘punya’ (virtue) according to ‘kaladharma. That is Gurumargam’. Through that punyam (fortune) one may get at Santhigiri’s theory of Health (Arogyadharma Sidhantham) which is dedicated to the world for this purpose. It is a kind of theory which keeps all science with Guru’s Vision. This is rather a life style than Medical practice.If we accept the way to avoid ‘karmadosham’ we can follow the scientific way of treatment for this karmavyadhi. But in most cases one kind of treatment is not enough. Different types of treatment should be practised at different times.

Let me point out an experience of one of my relatives. It was in 1990. She got breast cancer. Papilaridikt carcinoma which can spread through blood. She went to Guru after diagnosing the disease through Biopsy. Guru said it was due to lack of ‘punya’ in ‘Jeevan’ (years back when asked about the delay of her marriage then also Guru said this. Besides this Guru intimated them that some problems may arise later. But at that time they did not take it seriously.) Guru directed them to pray for God’s Grace and start Allopathy treatment. Operation was conducted. Doctor of R.C.C. concluded that the germs did not spread in other parts of the body. So no more treatment was needed. Knowing this Guru said ‘the disease has spread to other parts and it will come soon. Siddha medicine should be taken in order to prevent this.

As directed by Guru they started taking Siddha medicine with prayer staying at Santhigiri Hospital. Then for sometime Homeo Medicine & finally Ayurveda for a long time. On some occasions Guru gave her Bhasmam & theertham only with special Sankalpam. Guru advised her to pray continually with the sankalpam’ of ‘Appa Guruve’ always. About ten years later she was suffering from back pain & leg pain. They went to R.C.C. and did all tests including bone scan. The report was that she has no disease. Guru said she had disease but it will not apper now. Again started taking Siddha medicine.

Two months later when they repeated the bone scan it was clear that bone cancer had affected her. Guru told them to start treatment in R.C.C. Still they are taking medicine from R.C.C. Besides that ‘Bhasmam’ & ‘theertham’ from Guru and some Ayurveda Medicine. With the Grace of Guru she still lives in good health. She goes for office work and does household work properly. She is coming to Ashram & doing some ‘karma’ there when ever she gets time. I am eagerly wishing that modern Medical Science should be changed according to Guru’s ideology for the well being of the world. Praying always for it.

*The author is a well known Neurologist and Secretary, Santhigiri Ashram Advisory Board)

(Courtesy: Santhigiri International Conference on Health, Peace and Spirituality Souvenir)

For the Liberation and Enlightenment of the Fallen Classes

Gurucharanam Saranam

Amrithavani
(Malayalam, First edition - April 1990)

This book is based on a few birthday messages of Guru which were published in Santhigiri monthly. It is the confirmation of the experiential truth of Guru which he earned through the struggles and sacrifices spanning several births. The book ponders over the age-old Dharmic fissures in the lives of Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Sudra classes and the path of action suitable to liberate them from this disaster. Along with this the book also throws light on the concept of Yuga Dharma, the changing Dharmic codes relevant to this particular age, a large extent to which the societal cohesion is based.

Guru said:
‘The self-comforting conclusions on an analysis and evaluation of the human problems do not, on its own, provide fulfillment to our life. The dilapidation of the dharmic backbone of the eighty percent of people in the world and of the twenty percent who were responsible for the ruin of the majority was due to the disregard for Yuga Dharma, owing to which the dharmic path relevant to the age was lost’.
(P No. 1)
The concept and views of Guru are distinctly different from the hue of existing ideologies. In the primordiality of bygone ages, exemplified through the concept of Manvantara- the cosmic chronometer, there occurred conceptual as well as applicational error in the Trimurthi tradition. The book narrates the consequent decadence in the dharmic structure of India. Read the following observation of Guru.

‘It was due to our diminished virtue we have lost our heritage. Through the lack of virtue, we became slaves to other infiltrators. They had both knowledge and capabilities. There was a language here similar to Hindi or Pali. Sanskrit came probably as a combination of these or as a subsequent refinement. The scriptures - puranas, epics, Upanishads and Vedas were written in Sanskrit and through this the Brahmin was made a god, an immortal deva. Because of this, the majority of people became ‘Asuras’. Through some of them the `Sakteya’ tradition was developed and through some others, the Saiva and Vaishnava traditions. None of them was inferior in comparison. All were excellent in their own way. But how would you discover which one of these is correct and incorrect?'
(P No. 131)

This book contains those great liberating thoughts of Guru which could revive us from the age-old frigidities and traditions that destroyed the significance of leading life according to the true dharma of the age. India has a rich and vast storehouse of knowledge gained through the observance of Yuga Dharma - the evolutionary concepts of the four-dimensional ages - Krita, Treta, Dwapara and Kali. But the people of India have been unable to get benefitted from this for earning virtue or self-fulfillment for the soul. Read how Guru explains the decadence of Sanatana Dharma in the following lines.

‘In the fragmentation that took place in spiritual practices (dharma) having diversified into Saiva, Saktheya and Vaishnava traditions, the glorious edifice of Sanatana Dharma propounded by the sages and rishis in the lineage of Manu was lost to mankind’.
(P No.7-8)

Similarly, observe how Guru asserts the urgent need to look at the present afresh, not through the opaque and fragmented mirror of the past.

‘The things happened in the past are only for our cognition and not for today’s observance. What we require today knowing thus is the righteousness to work in unison for the present time’.
(P No.13)

Guru informs that the seers who fathom the three-fold time should work living in the midst of people and thus inspired, the scientists, scholars, as well as ordinary people and workers can exemplify goodness in their respective fields.

This book also expounds the concept of Guru for the liberation and enlightenment of the fallen classes of people through his own life of sacrifice and unique ideology that delink religion and caste structures from the spiritual pursuit of man. Guru’s words emit the fragrance of the purity of Rishis and reverberate with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the mercy of Prophet Mohamed, the essence of the teachings of saints and sages like Sri Buddha, Sri Sankara, Sri Narayana Guru, Chattambi Swamikal, Sri Rama Teertha, Sri Aravinda Ghosh, Sri Ramakrishna Parama Hamsa and Swami Vivekananda.

The book opens the doors to the path of enlightenment and the divine intercession willed by God through Navajyoti Sree Karunakara Guru, the epitome of highest Guru-hood and spiritual elevation. Amrithavani intercedes with the concept of Dharma through the light of knowledge by which one can ensure liberation.
Mukundan PR

Guru Never Disappoints a Devotee

Gurucharanam Saranam

Bangalore, Year 1995. Mrs. Anand Ram, mother of Janani Rishi Retna Jnana Tapaswini called me in the office informing that those who have ‘experiences’ should reach Kanyakumari. I was surprised because she had rarely any reason to call me. Guru would be arriving there for the performance of a special sankalpam. Sitting in the boredom of office, the news was exhilarating. I reached Vivekananda Kendra at Kanyakumari, the venue, early in the morning. Guru was expected to reach in the afternoon. Sri Iyer and other organizers were present.

Arrangements for Guru’s accommodation were done at two places, one at Travancore Maharaja’s House on the seashore and the other at Vivekananda Kendram. Sri Kottayam Babu and Sri Surendran (Now brahmachari) were cleaning and preparing the rooms for Guru at Vivekananda Kendram. The rooms and bathroom were thoroughly brushed and cleaned with water and surf powder, then detoxified with fumes and then scented. I also contributed my might in cleaning and preparing the accommodation of Guru. I felt an inner satisfaction while rubbing the floor that I could get such an opportunity. I earnestly prayed that Guru should feel comfortable and pleasant in the room that I cleaned. The rooms at Travancore House too were getting ready simultaneously. No one knew to which place Guru would go. As I had sincerely prayed and exerted much cleaning the room at Vivekananda Kendram, I expected Guru to come to Vivekananda Kendram. But soon information came that the cavalcade of Guru has approached Kanyakumari and that Guru would be going straight to Travancore House.

Soon the cavalcade arrived and I knew that Guru went to Travancore House. Some of us went to Travancore house and met Guru. After sometime or the next day morning (regret my failing memory) all people were asked to immediately assemble at Vivekanada Kendram for the sankalpam. Thousands of white clad devotees sat down wherever possible in the vast lawns of Vivekananda Kendram and did the sankalpam. I do not remember the lines of sankalpam Guru gave us that day, but it was a major sankalpam Guru did for the spiritual uplift of India. A procession was also taken the same day through Kanyakumari town to the sea beach, where Guru spoke to the assembly of devotees from a dais built for the purpose on the beach. Guru spent the night at Travancore House. The room arranged for Guru at Vivekananda Kendram was occupied by few ladies in the night as all other rooms in the centre were occupied. I felt irritated by this fact. I had cleaned the room with extreme devotion and prayers for Guru. But now it was all futile.

The following day Guru came to Vivekananda Kendram. A welcome was arranged by the staff and devotees at Vivekananda Kendram for Guru. Guru spoke to the assembly and gave prasadam to all people at Vivekananda Kendram. Devotees also received prasadam from Guru. After the function, Guru stepped down the dais, the usual disciples holding his hands in accompaniment. Guru walked through the pandal to the vehicle parked nearby on the road. Devotees thronged both sides to have a glance at Guru. I still remember the gentle and tender figure of Guru walking, exuding more light than the brilliant daylight around. His was truly a divine form. Though I was enjoying all this, I still felt a vacuum in my heart thinking about the vain job I have done for the sake of Guru in preparing his room. It was all over now.

Guru was seated in the car and it began to move round the curve, the devotees still following him. I lazily stayed behind watching the disappearing vehicle of Guru. I turned back trying to figure out about my return journey. After a few minutes, I found people still thronging in the pathway Guru’s car went. The people were crowded near the room which I had cleaned the previous day for Guru’s stay. I immediately went up there to find out what was happening. Then the devotees said that Guru was resting in the room. After sometime, the cavalcade of Guru moved on again its way back to the ashram. The room Guru got into and rested was the one I cleaned and prepared for him the previous day. Guru never disappoints a devotee in the matter of sincere love and devotion.

The Mission of Santhigiri Ashram

Gurucharanam Saranam

The Mission of Santhigiri Ashram

Mukundan P.R.

In the process of a fundamental evaluation of spirituality, in a life dedicated to godly love and realization of truth, it was revealed to Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru that a catastrophic error in regard to god realization had happened several ages ago, which has affected the moral and spiritual edifice of mankind adversely. This error is not only in reference to India but encompasses the whole world in its consequence.

Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru explained about the division of cosmic time zones into Yuga, Chaturyuga, Manvantara and Kalpa and the variations in dharma – the values, way of life and god realization applicable to each yuga or era which happens according to the will of Brahman. It is called the Sanatana Dharma or Manu Dharma. Sanatana Dharma means the eternal and universal dharma of mankind. Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru interprets this concept in a new light and angle.

In the present Manvantara, i.e. in the 3rd chaturyuga of the seventh Manvantara, contrary to divine ordination, human logic was weaved into the practice of dharma and god realization. This error or ‘original sin’, if it may be called so, had happened 25 chaturyugas back, i.e. several millions of years ago, in the long history of the rise and fall of civilizations that may even go beyond our present solar system. What followed was a spiritual barrenness in the subsequent ages, eclipsing the awareness about the divine ordination for human evolution.

The cosmic plan of human evolution as exemplified by Sanatana dharma, the eternal religion of mankind, through the transcendental vision of rishis and sages was subsequently altered to suit the trimurthi system which followed after the great spiritual cataclysm. Trimurthi system or Hinduism, as it is popularly known today, is but a distortion and misinterpretation of Sanatana Dharma through interpolations, mystic tales, superstitious beliefs and discriminatory practices and rituals which have weaned people away from a righteous life.

Guru critically evaluates the absurdities of caste system and the negative mental and physical consequences resulting from degraded worship and social customs such as worship of evil spirits, pagan rites and rituals including sorcery, magical spells, tantric practices, untouchability, casteism, social embargo of various nature etc, all of which caused the downfall and disintegration of society.

Several sages and prophets have come in the world to lead humanity, but the religions founded in their names have, as may be seen, lost their internal cohesion and have been fragmented into many conflicting sects stifling the process of human transformation against the will of God. Instead of germinating peace, harmony and good will people have been alienated in the name of religion and castes and are being tormented. A situation prevails here that thwarts the unity of people because of the age old religious and social structures and prejudices.

The mission of Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru is to warp a new generation of people with mental and physical prowess to live up to the ideals as ordained by God exterminating social barriers and discriminations of all sorts. It calls for unshakable faith in truth, a sense of sacrifice and limitless love and faith in the oneness of humanity holding on to the guidance of Guru, the medium.

Faith is the firm determination of the mind to fix it on the merciful experiential Light of the Divine. It also means the faith in Guru, the personified Godhead, through whom the experience of the divine is imparted. One identifies and submits himself or herself in word and deed with the benevolent mission of Guru. This is the essence of Guru Margam – the Path of Guru.

Non-believers mean those who have not yet reached the above said state of mind and who follow the blind observance of tradition as well as those who are atheists. No goodness can be derived from the practice of and allegiance to degrading principles and lifestyle as it causes the destruction of virtue in the soul and the consequent fall of the individual and society.

The progress and fulfillment of a person depends on the quotient of goodness, virtue or blessedness in the soul. The merciful Guru is ever concerned about the uplift of such souls and advises the path for earning of virtue in this short span of human life. Guru exhorts us to work together for the obliteration of filth in our soul and society, accumulated by the past deeds of our ancestors and ourselves so that our progeny will be freed from the pollutions of culture and tradition.

Pollution of culture has its root in the thoughts and actions of several generations of our forefathers molded through tradition and way of god worship. Unless those cultural and soul imprints in the psyche of the society are cleansed, the transformation of the society in the desired direction becomes difficult. This goal of cultural cleansing cannot be achieved through socio-political means, as it requires the spiritual guidance of an epochal preceptor, who comes as the authority of the age by divine decree. Such a preceptor perceives the riddles of time and space, light and energy, life and death in perfect tune with the cosmic reality.

The Gurupooja of Santhigiri Ashram is this karmic, genetic, spiritual and cultural cleansing, through the spiritual intercession of Guru. Guru pooja holds out the promise and hope for a global cultural and spiritual renaissance through the birth of a new generation of children unaffected by physical, mental, cultural, spiritual and hereditary negativities. Today thousands of families from a society divided by the walls of caste, religion and class have migrated to a new spiritual movement of equality, spiritual experience and guidance. Guru created for them an enviable model of self-sufficient community living that has become the succor and hope of thousands of people, engaged in various professions, trade and enterprises in Santhigiri Ashram.
The fundamental aim of Santhigiri Ashram is thus a cultural and spiritual regeneration of humanity as expected of this ascending age of Kali Yuga in the process correcting the fundamental error occurred in the practice of Sanatana Dharma that led to societal degeneration and fragmentation worldwide, threatening the peaceful existence and growth of human society.

Gurucharanam Saranam

SANTHIYATHRA- WATER ENVIRONMENT & PEACE
[a movement for global peace]

BRAINSTROMING WORKSHOP
SUNDAY 28th JUNE 2009, 10 AM to 5PM

Venue: Kanakakunnu Palace Auditorium, Thiruvananthapuram

Key Address: Sri. K.Jayakumar IAS, Additional Chief Secretary & Home Secretary

Valedictory Address: Sri Mullakkara Rathnakaran, Hon’ble Minister for Agriculture

In connection with the dedication of Parnasala (the shrine of global peace) to humanity, Santhigiri Research Foundation proposes to organize a SANTHIYATHRA from Kashmir to Kanyakurai from September 2009 to January 2010 upholding the major cause of global peace.

The yathra arranges platforms for serious discussions and public awareness programmes in all states of the country on peace related subjects like land, water, environment, health, lifestyle, communal harmony, national integration, anti-terrorism etc.

The brainstorming workshop intends to discuss mainly the strategies for;

· Event Organization
· Fund Mobilization
· Public Attention
· Partnership & Collaboration

Athmabandus & Well-wishers who wish to participate in the brainstorming exercise may contact State Nodal Centre, Thiruvananthapuram most immediately.

Sugestions on the points for discussions are also welcome

SANTHIGIRI RESEARCH FOUNDATION
DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES OF SANTHIGIRI ASHRAM (DISA)

STATE NODAL CENTRE, SANTHIGIRI ASHRAM, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
[Phone: 0471-6459390, Mob 9249422026, E-mail santhigirisnc@gmail.com ]

The Sadhu from the Himalayas

Gurucharanam Saranam

The Sadhu from the Himalayas

Babu was a young boy when he left his home in a village in Kerala. Unlike other children, he disliked to be at his home. He visited unknown households and offered his service to the family. As he was only a small boy, the householders would accede to his strange request and allow him to stay. Eventually his whereabouts would be found out and his parents would arrive to take him back home. Once, his outings became serious when he reached Crawford market in far away Mumbai. From there fate whisked him away to a group of spiritually thinking men. And it was serious again.

One fine morning, Sri Babu became a no-nonsense Sadhu in orange cloths with a heavy burden of matted hair and an equally long beard, wandering in the Himalayas in the manner of ascetics. He was in the race for the spiritual trophy like many other ascetics atop the Himalayas. But the trophy never came in his hand leaving him languid and mirthless. Then he took up a seven year long vow of annual visits to Ajmer Darga in Rajasthan. Now his desperation became uncontrollable, for his years long vow has ended, but the doors to spiritual attainment weren’t still opened. He was furious and caught the neck of the Fakir guarding the tomb in Ajmer Darga. ‘Give me the clue’, Babu Swami thundered. ‘I am on this vow for the last seven years’.

The Fakir quietly took him to an inner recess. After offering some drinks, he mentioned that the clue will be available only at another Darga connected with Ajmer Sahib Family nearby. Collecting the information, he set out immediately and reached the Darga a few KMs away. There too a fakir was guarding the tomb. He took permission from the fakir to tell his prayers. He asked the question of his life to the tomb. ‘You will get it at Kanyakumari’. The tomb said. When I asked him how the tomb gave him the clue, he said it was in the manner of soul communication. Unbelievable, but true! I would not have said so, if I had not got such experiences myself. I have had such experiences with Guru.

Babu Swami then headed towards South and took abode at Kanyakumari, but even after three years, the promised spiritual breakthrough still eluded him.
Babu Swami’s brother had a marble show room near Vyttila in Ernakulam town so he decided to visit him once. He reached Vytiila at the predawn hours. After walking a little he decided to wait at the veranda of a shop. While sitting there thus, he saw a vision of Christ. He thought to himself that the vision was significant. He got up and asked somebody the way to Shanthi Marbles, the brother’s marble show room and went in the direction shown and reached at the gate of Santhigiri Ashram, Ernakulam branch near Palarivattam. The person had directed him to Santhigiri Ashram instead of Shanti Marbles. Babu Swami saw a water pipe near the road that went to the Ashram. He bathed sitting under the pipe and felt fresh. The morning was still in its meditative mood and the bustle and hustle of life was yet to begin in the area. Babu Swami entered the Ashram stepping his right foot first. He had felt some genuine spiritual vibration in the place and a tender hope flickered in some roughened corner of his heart.

The Swami in charge welcomed him and offered breakfast. After breakfast the Swami instructed the mother of Sri Balakrishnan (now Swami Vishwabodha Jnana Tapaswi) to talk to the Sanyasi about the ways of the Ashram. They were speaking in Malayalam. But he feigned ignorance as they had already took him as a North Indian Sadhu, who did not know the local language. As instructed, Swami’s mother explained about the Ashram. She told him that the Ashram followed a system different from that of temple worship and that they followed the Guru in all matters concerning life and death. The Ashram even differed radically with the traditional sanyasa concept in some important aspects.

Babu Swami then asked her where their Guru was available. She gave the detail of Santhigiri Ashram, Pothencode. Babu Swami took her leave and fixed up a meeting with his brother in Shanti Marbles. The family members had forgotten him, but his brother recognized him. He called his brother out from the shop. ‘I require some money urgently’, the Swami said to his brother. ‘I shall be hanging around. You may come with the money to Marine Drive. I shall be there in the park. I require the money to go to a place in Thiruvananthapuram ’. As agreed, the brother came and handed over the money to him.

At the serene gateway of Santhigiri Ashram, Pothencode stood a dark looking Sanyasi with heavy matted locks perched on his head and equally long beard flowing down to the chest. His eyes had a fierce expression. His rugged appearance and manners bespoke of the rigor the life of a sanyasi is subjected to living in the wilderness, wandering from places to places. The person at the reception was startled at the sight of the Sadhu. He guided him immediately to the Ashram office.

The Sanyasi was not very communicable. One person by the name Vinayakan came there and asked him, ‘Swamiji, what is your name? Where are you from? What are you doing?’ The Swami ignored his questions and asked him to tell the Guru that one of his devotees had come to see him. The sanyasi waited and waited, but the Guru did not see him. Suddenly the Swami disappeared from the Ashram. Everybody looked for him in the Ashram but all at once he was missing.

The Swami went straight to the nearby town and entered a barber shop. He asked the barber to shave off his matted hair and beard. The barber was taken aback. He was afraid to cut his locks and therefore asked the Swami few times for confirmation. Then he proceeded with his solemn job and transformed the Swami beyond recognition. The Swami now was clean shaven with short thick disobedient hair. He bought a white dhoti and shirt too and wore it discarding the sanyasi dress. Now he looked like any other youth on the road. He was now Sri Babu from Kottayam, not any Babu Swami from the Himalayas.

At Santhigiri Ashram, the youth was welcomed as any one of the people visiting the Ashram daily. After little waiting, the meeting with Guru also took place. He prostrated before Guru in full length. Guru asked him to tell him in brief about his life. He told his story in brief. Guru then advised him to join his family at Kottayam. Understandably it was a difficult option for Babu and a totally unexpected advice. He was reluctant to go back home. Guru called him in his room. With folded hands, Guru requested him to go back to his house. It was a begging. Sri Babu could not bear this sight. A great soul begging a wretched soul like him! He immediately fell on the feet of Guru and said, ‘Guro, I will go to my house immediately’.

Thus Sri Babu went home at Kottayam and lived with his family for a few years during which period he lost all his spiritual charisma. Petty quarrels and fights at home dragged him cruelly to a world highly detested by the Himalayan sadhus. The sadhus had only one bond, the bond with the Supreme. Babu endured all troubles of family living and mellowed down to become a normal worldly person.

Year 1995. Spirited preparations to receive Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru at Kanyakumari were going on at Vivekananada Kendram and at the Travancore palace adjacent to the seashore in Kanyakumari. The rooms earmarked for Guru both at the Palace and Vivekananda Kendram were being thoroughly cleaned, wiped, fumed and perfumed with all other paraphernalia in place. Three persons were also instructed to offer ‘thattam’ (a platter with offerings) to Guru on his arrival.

Guru and his entourage came in thousands at the destined hour. The ‘thattam’ was offered to Guru by the three persons in an atmosphere charged with devotion and the chanting of Guru Mantra. Guru, after accepting the thattam, offered ‘prasadam’ to them. One among those three persons was Sri Kottayam Babu, the erstwhile Babu Swami.

While he offered the thattam to Guru and prostrated, the oracle he heard from the Darga near Ajmer came running to his mind in a flash. ‘You will receive it at Kanyakumari’. The experience was so striking. Guru benignly smiled and gave him the prasadam, which he received with both hands. Somewhere in the depth of his heart, a turbulent ocean became calm, very calm like a divine milky ocean.

The Dark Trials of Disciples

Gurucharanam Saranam

The Dark Trials of Disciples

Mukundan P.R.

You are stripped of your clothes at a busy junction in your town or village. You are shocked beyond words. But you are allowed the freedom to feel mad, mad to any point. You are stripped of your inner clothes in the thick of life in the society. Your inner clothes are your ‘self’, your self esteem, your pride, your freedom, your mind, intelligence and whatever other things you possess. You are shocked and stricken beyond words. You get terribly mad and angry, but you are not to become mad and angry. You are pulverized and made to feel that you are unwanted and ignored. Yet you are unable to protest. How is the deal? Yes, you like it or not, this is the deal, the test what a Guru sometime offers to a disciple. If you succeed to swim across this risky swiveling current, well, you may reach the bund of spiritual flood light. This exactly was what had happened to two of the disciples once.

A young man with tremendous enthusiasm gets inspired by Guru and becomes a follower. Once he went to see Guru in the ashram. When he was about to enter the ashram gate, he saw Guru coming out with a group of disciples. He immediately took position outside the gate to have a glimpse of Guru. Hundreds of people lined both sides of the pathway with folded hands. Guru, radiating divine love greets people with folded hands on his chest in the manner of greeting, walked ahead. This disciple also stood there. Guru moved smiling at every single face raising their soul to unexplainable joy. Guru approached the next man beside this disciple and smiled at him with compassion and overwhelming joy. But when the turn of this disciple came, Guru’s expression changed. Guru looked at him with extreme hatred and anger. The disciple became pale with utter shock. He looked around to see if others saw this. Guru went ahead and smiled at the next person with extreme joy as ever before. This disciple, who was ignored by Guru with such viciousness was heart broken. He became dumb with shock. But somehow he decided to wait again for Guru’s return as if to make sure that what had happened just now was real.

Guru had gone to the Ashram hospital complex nearby and was expected back within a short while. So he waited, this time just in front of the ashram gate where Guru’s car would stop. He took such a position that when Guru got down from the vehicle, he would be face to face with Guru. There was no way Guru could avoid seeing him. He stood there impatiently as he had lost all his senses. He tried to compose himself and waited there with a flicker of hope. The vehicle of Guru arrived. The door of the vehicle opened and Guru alighted. This disciple stood just in front. Then the unimaginable happened. Guru turned his back to the door and swung around blessing devotees lining the pathway. What a benign smile Guru had! Then he turned his gaze at this disciple. Suddenly, again, the same indescribable face of hatred, anger and disownment stared at him. The disciple was frightened out of his wits. He melted like wasp and burnt like a peace of meat. He could not imagine what mistake he might have committed, however hard he tried to think.

He walked away slowly, lifeless and terribly lost. The path of life was closed and there was darkness all around. He was unwanted in the portal of light. In a fog of utter dismay and disillusionment this disciple reached the Thampanoor railway station. The night had already fallen. He found out a platform bench and sat there fully fazed. The world around him disappeared dimly as a dream leaving the night to tick away in burning silence. When he opened his eyes, he saw Swami Jyotirmaya Jnana Tapaswi (now expired) standing in front of him. The disciple jumped to his feet in surprise and folded his hands seeing the revered Swami. The Swami asked him where he was going. He had no time to think about his nameless destination, so he said abruptly that he was going to Kanyakumari. In the same abrupt manner, the Kanyakumari Express was then screeching to a halt in the platform. The train appeared from nowhere as if to make his impromptu statement to a holy person not become untrue. So they departed; the Swami to his own destination and the disciple to Kanyakumari, the destination providence chose for him then.

The disciple touched the long shore of Kanyakumari. He had waited in the station to ensure that all people went out and the ticket collector was not in prowling distance; for he had not purchased a ticket. He walked out of the station and soon reached in front of a small chapel. He went inside and knocked the door. A priest opened the door. This disciple then mentioned to the priest that he was there as he had some doubts to clarify. The priest looked at the disciple with sharp eyes for a moment. It was early morning. The priest asked him to get in. As he stepped inside and waited, the priest came back with a towel and toothpaste and asked him to get fresh showing the direction of a bathroom inside. This disciple meekly went and took bath. When he came back freshened up, he saw the arrangement of breakfast on the table. There were four plates and three men sitting on the table. The priest invited him to occupy the vacant chair. It was a heavy and sumptuous breakfast for him with eggs and chapattis.

After the breakfast, the priest asked him what doubt he wanted to get clarified. The disciple informed the priest that he had a question to ask him when he came in, but now the question slipped by him. He forgot what he wanted to ask. The priest got up and went inside and came back quickly. Handing over a few rupee notes to the disciple he ordered, ‘you should go back immediately from wherever you came’. The disciple came out from the chapel and began to walk. After some distance he enquired with some passerby whether there was any ashram nearby. He was then directed to an ashram about six or eight kilometers away from the town.

The ashram looked like a small house. A person with a bright face and in ochre clothes was sitting in the verandah. He self confessed that he was not a guru and his house was not an ashram in actual sense. He was serving in Vivekananda Kendra as an engineer and now quietly spending his days after retirement. The Swami asked the disciple from where he came. He hesitated a moment and then told him that he had come from Santhigiri Ashram. The Swami became enthused and told the disciple that it was a place of ‘experience’. The disciple thought to himself. Yes, I have experienced it. He reflected on the experience of the previous day with Guru.

He now tried to reflect on the words of the priest at Kanyakumari and of this Swami. The priest had asked him to go back from where he came. And from where did he come to Kanyakumari? From Santhigiri. Now this Swami also confirms that Santhigiri is a place of ‘experience’. The disciple’s heart began to loosen a little. He felt that he should sleep right down there in the ashram of the Swami. The Swami agreed to his request for taking a nap in his premises. The disciple found matted coconut leaves to sleep on in the open ground. He slept. When he got up the Swami asked him to have lunch, but he politely refused. He got back to the railway station. The Kanyakumari Express was parked ready to proceed on its whistling journey. He boarded the train and reached Thiruvananthapuram and from there went straight to Santhigiri Ashram.

In the Ashram, it was time for Guru darshan. People were queuing to have a vision of Guru. When his turn came, Guru looked at him. He began to laugh with unbound compassion and love. Guru asked him, ‘So, you have come back’. The disciple, his eyes filled with tears, fell on the feet of Guru. The sluices of his heart were blown away in that flood of joy, for he was back to Guru, in the bosom of that eternal love. May be the trial was for obtaining this boundless joy thousand times magnified and embedding it in the soul permanently. May be it was to demolish some demon in the soul. May be it was the expiation for a dirty sin. May be it was a phase in the spiritual growth of the disciple.

Listening this unusual experience of Sreekumar Kottarakara, who shared it with us the other day, I felt that all disciples including me undergo such experiences in varying degrees, contexts and circumstances. Another story is of Sri Babu, Kottayam, which is more pathetic. At the same time it shows how a disciple should possess firm will power and determination to earn the grace of Guru.