Dinesh and Bawa

Dinesh and Bawa

Search

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

The First Time

A start of something new today...

So far i have been studiously avoiding talking about my (our) experiences with Guruji... i think its time to start:

On Day 1 of my Art of Living part I (it was called Basic then, we later convinced Guruji that there was nothing Basic about it :) and so then it was renamed the Part I) course, even before i did the Pranayamas, there was a feeling of having come home... and i remember i went to my teacher, Rajshree, and very seriously asked her how does one become a teacher of this...

She laughingly told me, well, one completes this course first... Before i knew it, i was on my first overnight train journey (super exciting) to Bangalore for the Advance Course!! I was the only 20 something, everyone else was uncle and aunty, and everyone took turns in mothering and fathering me ...

We reached the Ashram at 1 am. Rajshree had filled up all the registration forms for us, and we were all quickly dispatched to our respective Kutirs after hot cups of tea (?) or ragi ... dont remember...

I dont think until then, i had ever slept that well... a Presence enveloped me as i fell into a deep, restful sleep and then woke up to melodious flute music being softly played outside our door (by Phillip)...

The day went by quite fast, and then it was time for Satsang... i had no idea what that meant... but we all had dinner and gathered together in the Meditation Hall (then just newly built) and some people started singing some bhajans... which as a devout Parsi, i totally rejected :)... I remember thinking, we dont do Bhajans!!!

I was sitting next to an old lady... she turned to me and asked is this your first time? and i said yes it is... and she said have you ever met Guruji before? and i said no... she smiled serenely and said Dont see Him with your eyes, see Him with your heart...

And then, something changed in the room, a figure clad in white floated in... You cannot say He walked or ran or jogged or anything other than floated in, He was walking on air... He playfully jumped onto the stage and sat in a small chair which had His yellow asan on it... and all sorts of things happened to me that i still cant explain... I guess it will be enough to say that, I knew i was home, that i was loved, that i had found what i was unconsciously looking for and that i simply felt incredibly good for no reason at all...

Then the satsang started in earnest and some truly melodious bhajans were being sung and the musician in me was swaying... and effortlessly and unthinkingly i was singing... and even at that very blissful time making mental notes of who i have to bring here to experience this...

Later, after a fairly painful and yet remarkably wonderful 5 days of the Adv course, Guruji met the group from Mumbai in His Kutir, and all i remember from that meeting is Him looking at all of us and then saying, one of you is going to become a really great teacher who will teach thousands of people... As He was saying this, His gaze roamed on the entire group and stopped at me for a few seconds as He completed the sentence... I like to think that He meant it was me :)


Jai Gurudeva!
love
bawa  

Stumble Upon Toolbar

26 comments:

vinitaa said...

hi bau ,

i was always keen to hear ur initiation into this wonderful world and it seems we all go similar experiences with the 'floating wizard'almost as if He walks on air...

the only diff is tht when our group met Him in the kutir he asked many to go for ttc and didnt even look at me..i was upset 4 a sec but i then interpreted it as He felt that I will anyways be there for ttc so no need to tell me... ha ha
please continue with ur lil anecdotes with our Guru..keeps me charged all day.love u bau

jai guru deva !!
vinita

Nathan SP (நாதன்) said...

Hi Baws,

Good to hear ur story :-). And when did this happen exactly - which year? And, please share your experiences of Bringing Dinesh Bhayya in to AOL too :)

Thanks

Unknown said...

JGD Bawa... lakshmi here.. s!! d same girl who wrote 2 u bout RASHMIN.. He gave mi a cal jus nw n v cleared up things.. he xplained 2 mi y he actually used such harsh words n he also told mi bout his idea of 'kannada satsangs'..'m convinced now.. :)its jus not d question of mi bt a lot of others too.. if @ al i'd got a chance 2 talk 2 him,den i wud've neva written a mail 2 u.. dis was neva a complaint.. twas jus a reaction,a strong one!! i'd always heard tat u responded 2 mails n queries quickly.. bt dint kno it'll happen so soon.. :) thanks a lot.. :) i hpe dis hasn brought any misunderstandin btwn my teacher(RASHMIN) n mi cos i luv my AOL teachers.. sumtime i wud really wan him 2 kno tat my respect fr him really increased wen he cald n spoke 2 mi... n al dis was possible cos of u...:) luv u..:) JGD!!:):):)

Anonymous said...

Jaigurudev! Bau,
Its g8 listening to your guru stories :) .. please keep posting em..

Anonymous said...

Jai Gurudev!

Look at you!! full of surprises.. :)
:):):):):):)

A good treat for me esp during "study" hols :)

Well i truely hope its a series..:) i am sure you will have looooooooooooooooooot of experiences rather miracles!!!

Looking forward.. to all those...!!

EE but there is a funny part of things..! i mean imagning you in a young age as i read through the lines.. wow.. i saw a sweet undiminished smile like krishna.. i mean.. the "naughty" touch to it..!
when you meant that Guruji said.. A great great teacher!!

YOu are just marvelous!!! :)

Guruji RoCKs!!! :) :) Loveeeeeeeeeeeeeee Himmmmmmmm!! :)


Thanks a lottttttttttttttt bawa... i dont have words.. :)

Love you dear bawa.. love u so much!

Anir said...

Oh man, I got goosebumps at that last paragraph... fantastic story!

Unknown said...

sir
ur not only a great teacher but also the best teacher that's y i say I WANT TO BE A TEACHER LIKE U

Vinod Patil said...

Bau your blog is just superb, I am reading it almost daily. Your first experience with Guruji was just awesome, fabulous, enchanting. Bau your blog is a big khajana for all of us.

With lots of love,
Jai Gurudev.

Anupam Gupta said...

WOW!!!...i mean...WOW!!!!
i am actually speechless bau...and i swear i have tears rolling down my cheeks right now....

man that was something else...thanx so much for sharing this with us....

and yes...even i think Guruji meant u...hehe....am so glad u came here bau....life wud have been so different without u in it...

jai gurudev...plz keep these coming...i love to cry in gratitude and love..:)

Anonymous said...

Dearest Bau :)
This is so cute!!I was waiting for just this :)!
Lots of Love.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
aravindkk81 said...

Thanks for sharing this amazing Guru story Bau!!!!!!!!!

Love n Gratitude,

Aravind

Unknown said...

:):) This experience made me re-experience all of my experiences till now...:):):)
Certainly, experience sharing is an experience in itself hahahahaha...;);):D
Looking forward for more of your and Dinesh Bhaiya's experiences.
Love
Minnie

Unknown said...

thanx alot bau for sharing your experience.......i was waiting for this 1 to come. it felt good to read it out coz it made me feel that we all have more or less the same experience wid His Holiness.
u know bau wen i met wid dat terrible accident wid anjana di....
i really didnt looked at it as an accident but as an humbling experience for me. coz i know dat his grace has only saved all of us frm dat hair raisin incident. I mean if it wudnt hav been his grace atleast few of us wud atleast be bleeding.
well nice to read ur xperience hope u have more of those to share
Jaigurudev Bau
Love u

Pratiksha said...

finally the most awaited part arrived!!!

thnx 4 sharing bau.....

nw i'm missing guruji n ashram even more...

Hanoz n Rimpy said...

Hmmm..who else can it be...It's you Bawu "the teacher" for many....

Mr. Batliwala, Keep telling your stories... Rest I will continue in my e-mail....

Jai gurudeva!
love,
Hanoz :)

sweetteju said...

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Sir,

it's reallyyy love to read ur first experience wid guruji.... nw i m also excited to see him; talk wid him........

it was reallyyyyyyyy beautiful & memorable moment for you naaaah??????????

sooooooooooooooo sweet.

Luv u n Guruji N Dinesh sir toooooooooooooooooooooooooo lottttttttttttttt!

Jai Gurudev!

Anonymous said...

wow I mean "WOW" . Its not often that one gets such intimate sharing from a senior teacher - this is usually reserved for advanced courses/DSNs or intimate volunteer meetings . Felt beautiful after reading it.
When was this Bawa ?

Yogis and Sri Sri Yoga said...

Bawa,
Lovely!
Straight from the heart!

Rgds,
Ganges

Anonymous said...

hey bhiya....look at d no of comments u got fr dis post...guess u got d msg
YE DIL MANGEEE MOREEEEEEEEE
JAI GURU DEVVVVVV :)

Gitanjali Persaud said...

yes bau

he definitely meant u. remember i was the only one who did not know who this revered bawa was in your TTC1 class. I had to be from Guyana.

lol
gitanjali

Anand Jage said...

Ofcourse it was meant to be you! :)

Anand Jage said...

JGD BAU,
i went through this again.. and completely remember guruji walking on the stage during pds mumbai 2006..
he really glides kind of skates on the stage.. so smoothh and effortless.. even michael jackson would find himself embarrassed while moon walking!
Guruji is superman!

Unknown said...

oh what a lovely article. and so touchin'. the first meetin b/w the Guru and the disciple, amazing Bawa. simply amazing. and it has reallly made me emotional.
waaah!!
We all love Guruji so much...and He does so much for us. I wonder whatever I was doin' before AOL. now we all live in such a protected environment filled with such love and warmth. i feel it. and i love it. and the Ashram indeed is dear to me as my home.
{so lucky you got to stay at kutirs!!}
wow Bawa, this was my favourtie article by far :)
Jai Gurudeva.
Jai Gurudeva.

Nikhil Saraf said...

Awesome!! Just reading this article brings out so many emotions in me!! :D
Of course guruji was referring to you,bau!

Jai gurudev!

Anonymous said...

that's beautiful ... :)
really beautiful indeed..

"Magical Template" designed by Blogger Buster