Shri Rama Dootham - 2

Shri Rama Dootham - Episode 2

Read  Episode -1:

With no more patience, I accepted my defeat to my mind and decided to open my eyes to see from where the chanting is coming from. As I opened my eyes I saw a saintly old man sitting in the corner of the Dhyana Mandir with half closed eyes chanting Rama, Rama Rama, Rama..

I thought to myself that he must have come to visit the Ashram to do his Sadhana. I could not resist but to admire his charismatic face. Soon after some time, He slowly opened his eyes and I took this as an opportunity to go near to him and enquire his whereabouts.

I bowed before him and touched his feet.  With his Hand gesture he asked me to sit near him. I resisted and said I am comfortable standing. He took his hands and touched my shoulder and pulled me to sit near him.  When he touched me, I could feel the coolness from his hands even though I was wearing a thick t-shirt. I thought to myself that I had felt this same cool touch from our Guruji too…

He asked me 'who am I' with his hand gesture movement. I tried to explain about myself a bit and told him that I have come here to Sadhana Dhama Ashram to spend few days.  I was not sure if he listened to all what I said. With  few minutes of silence, to break the ice, I asked him, "Sir, who are you? I haven't seen you before here... "

He just smiled and looked towards me and said “I am a Messenger too”…

I did not know how to react but just gave a smile as an acknowledgement to what he had said. But surely I liked his voice. He then asked me what I was holding in my hand. I just showed him and told it is ‘Hanuman Chalisa’. (Hindu devotional hymn (stotra) addressed to Lord Hanuman)

He laughed and asked, "Why do you read it?"

I replied, "Sir, to get the inner strength and also to remove all the obstacles from…"

He interrupted and said, "Your Rama says 'Mere belief in God alone does not satisfy the students of life who are searching for Ultimate Truth. Suppose a student believes in the existence of God but is not emotionally mature and does not have a peaceful mind, such a student does not have tranquility and equanimity, which are the main prerequisites for enlightenment.' So along with chanting of these, also go inside and see if you have got these qualities".

While I was very happy to know that he uttered the name of my Guru's Guru "Swami Rama", I got little confused with what he said. Is he saying, I don’t have these qualities or is he just remarked casually? Whatever it is, I decided to get his blessings to attain that peace & emotional maturity that he was talking about.

"Sir, can you please bless me and show the path on how to attain the Inner peace & strengthen emotional maturiy"? I asked with all humility that I presumed I have in me.

He again closed his eyes and after few minutes of silence, he remarked softly "Open the book you have and read out the first doha please"...

I hurriedly opened the book and loudly chanted the first doha in the Hanuman Chalisa:

Shree guru charan saroj raj nij manu mukuru sudhari |

Barnau raghuvar bimal jasu jo dayak phal chari ||

Through his hand gesture he asked me to stop & asked me what it meant.

Since my book had the literal English translation, I didn't had to give work to my ever sleeping brain too much. I started reading as it was mentioned in the book that I had with me:

"With the dust of Guru’s Lotus feet, I clean the mirror of my mind and then narrate the sacred glory of Sri Ram Chandra, The Supreme among the Raghu dynasty, The giver of the four attainments of life".

Having read the exact translation, I looked upon him to see if he is satisfied with my rendition. He closed his eyes and started speaking:

"Even though Tulsidasa himself is a great poet & Saint but still He sets a great example by starting the Hymn seeking the blessing from his Guru Naraharidāsa. He did not start directly by praying to the Lord Hanuman or Rama or Sita, he first seeks the blessings from his Guru.  When the mind is a mirror and is placed in front of divinity, that divinity must be reflected in the mind. Therefore, the dust from the lotus feet of the Shriguru (Shri Guru Charan Saroj Raj), will clean the mirrors of our minds so that we are able to see our own divinity much more clearly.

"Blessed are those who have Guru’s and who are guided in the path of Sadhana. You are already blessed as you are in this path. You need not go in search of blessings from different Masters. Just remember what your Rama has said once, 'The guru tests the disciples, puts them in the most difficult situations, and creates obstacles for them. All the tests, difficulties, and obstacles are meant to train and expand the consciousness of the disciple.  And also, the guru does not allow dependence. If the disciple becomes too dependent on the guru, the guru pushes the disciple away, insisting on independence. It is a remarkable expression of the deepest love.'

Having said this, he again closed his eyes. This gave me an opportunity to quickly recollect how I met my Guruji and I still could not believe what an amount of transformation He has made in thousands of family including mine. Sometimes we do not often cherish life’s simple events without realizing what a great impact it might create in the future. I was feeling little guilty inside for not able to recognize the greatness of our Guruji in my first meeting several years ago.

My thoughts were quickly dismissed when the messenger (how else can I name him) near me started speaking again:

"Do not worry if you could not recognize your Guru’s greatness when you first met Him. When the disciple is prepared, the master appears. So feel thankful that you are in the loving arms of your Guru. Do not ever think about leaving this path, as it is rare to be born as humans, and it is even rare in the human birth to tread the path of spirituality and it is even rarer to have a true Guru to guide you. When the wick and oil are properly prepared, the master lights the lamp. That is his role. The resulting light is divine".

His flow of words were intoxicating and I wanted few minutes of silence myself. For the first time, I closed my eyes to put my thoughts together. Many emotions arise uninvited without our notice & curiosity is one among them. Now suddenly I felt like asking too many questions to him. But the first thing that hit my mind was 'did Hanuman recognized the greatness of Lord Rama at their first meeting' ?..

"Sir I have a question, did…" As I opened my eyes to ask my next question, Oops! Suddenly I saw myself alone in the Dhyana Mandir and the messenger was no longer to be found.

Where has he gone... ? 

(to be contd...)