Blossoming

“You must be a Lotus, unfolding its petals when the Sun rises in the sky, unaffected by the slush where it is born or even the water which sustains it!”
-My Master, Sri Sathya Sai Baba

(The symbol of the Sai Movement, depicting a blossoming lotus with all the 5 core human values written on each petal)

“Brother, why does Swami use the lotus in various places. His buildings has some lotus drawn or carved out, his school has lotuses and even the statues of the deities too in Puttaparthi has lotuses below the feet. Almost everywhere I see in the ashram and His schools have lotuses. Why so?” I asked Mr. Ravi Kasturi, one of the dedicated teachers in my Master’s school in Muddenahalli.

And he replied, one of the most beautiful answer ever, “Swami wants us to blossom. To blossom like a lotus. Transcend all that dirt in the water and blossom into a beautiful lotus. His teachings to us is all about blossoming. Becoming better people.”

The trip to India opened my eyes to many things. One of them were the emphasis on the teachings of My Master which was imparted with love. It’s amazing to see the stuff that He had done and many of those stuff were not reported in the newspapers or the media.

My Master, lovingly emphasized on 3 most important aspects to make a man, a better man:

1) Attention to Health

2) Proper Education

3) Willingness in Spiritual growth

These three are the pillars or pathway for men to better themselves. Without one of the above, the other two would crumble. If one has no education, health and spirituality is jeopardized. Each of these three aspect is extremely important and I discovered this after visiting the schools for the poor that my Master built. The various clinics and Super Specialty Hospital that he built. The Chennai Water Project, the Orissa disaster relief project. Just amazing amazing stuff!

We visited my Master’s Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Educational Institution for children in Muddenahalli just on the outskirts of Chikballapur District of the Karnataka State. The school emphasized on Human Values, importance of education and discipline and also spirituality and health in the form of sports.

The children wake up in the mornings around 4 to do their morning prayers and then it’s exercise/yoga. By 8 their class for the day starts and ends in the evening. In the evening they play sports such as volleyball, cricket and football. They have their dinner and evening prayers and everyone’s back to bed.

Food is given to every child in the school 5 times a day. It’s amazing how much of emphasis my Master placed and every child is happy.

Two of my Master’s students of the Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Educational Institution of Muddennahali

Two students of the Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Educational Institution of Muddennahali take a breather during recess, observing a cricket match

The school has around 70 professional dedicated bunch of teachers who’ve sacrificed their lives to serve the 1000 students of the school and make them better people. Most of them are unmarried and has sworn celibacy. The school has it’s own website http://alikeonline.org/ and you can click on the link to learn more about the school. Below are some portrait shots of just some of the dedicated teachers of the school.

Extremely loving and wise, he made sure that our visit was a happy one. Unfortunately, as I didn’t had my notebook at that time, I could not take down his name. My apologies.

Mr. Ravi Kasturi, a witty and very loving soul who works in the school as a teacher and he was also our guide. He also lovingly made sure we not only had our lunch, but our evening tea with juicy watermelons as well. Such dedication and love he has for his job.

Don’t let his face deceive you, this man’s a genius but due to his love for our Master and the love for a simple life, he opted to work as a warden instead for the Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Educational Institution of Muddennahali.

Mr. Ravi Kasturi took us around the school and showed us around the various aspects of the school. He showed us the school canteen, the book stall, the playground for the kids and even Swami’s residence!

The prayer hall in Swami’s Residence. Unfortunately, by the time this residence was built, Swami had left His physical body. But there has been stories of people hearing and seeing His presence in this residence. The energy pervading inside of His residence is amazing!

Students enjoy their favorite sports pastime while the school’s administration block serves as a backdrop of the playground

One of the students enthusiastically posed for a shot during a game of cricket.

A beautiful statue of Lord Ganesh just below Swami’s residence nearby the school. It appears as though Lord Ganesh is going on an afternoon stroll.

This is how the entrance of the school looks like. Now tell me, who wouldn’t want to study in such a beautiful school? Symbolically, observe the colors used to paint the pillars and walls. These are my Master’s favorite colors and according to Him, colors play an important role in our lives as colors around us determine the types of thoughts we will have. The colors used for the walls here are the very same colors of the Ashram in Puttaparthi and these three colors; light blue, light pink and light yellow, helps the mind to focus on spiritual growth and also helps to ward off negative thoughts.

A statue of Lord Ganesh on top of a blossoming lotus in the compounds of the school. “The end of education, is character” as my Master lovingly puts it.

I walked around the school, with my camera in hand, snapping away everything and anything I found inspiring. I walked past a bunch of students who were walking past us to go to their class and each one of them looked, smiled and greeted us, “Sai Ram” enthusiastically.

The future generation of India AND this world

I asked Mr. Ravi, “Do you get paid for your services here as a teacher?”

And he replied, “No we don’t get paid in terms of money. But we do get paid in terms of love that the students give us. That satisfaction when you see them excel and become someone. That is the whole point of being a teacher. Not to earn. But to teach and learn. When you see them excel, what’s the use of money?” he smiles.

“Then how do you run this school? How do you get money to support the food and facilities of the school?”

He replied, “Brother, when you do good and with love, a lot of others who intend to do good with love will be attracted to you. We get lots of sponsors from old students of this school, sponsors from various people who are so taken up with our work. Help comes. We place no importance on that and we don’t worry about that. Swami takes care of it. Our job is to teach lovingly and that’s all.”

I was deeply moved and humbled by the whole trip. It’s amazing that everywhere else in the world, education institutions around the world focuses more on income and money than on the importance of education to the students. And that too without PROPER education.

I feel, and I’ve realised, that the only way to make this world a better place is by imparting a proper education system whereby dedicated teachers teach with love. Teachers should teach not to punish but to guide the children. Dedicated bunch of teachers. Teachers who are willing to sacrifice everything they have, their comforts, money, time, health and everything else just to make sure that their students become better people in the future.

Teachers and parents play an important role in society as without proper attention to the children, a positive society in the future will be lost forever.

That is what I learnt from my trip to the school and the hospital that day. Eventhough my Master had never said this, but with the way He did things, it made me realise that Spirituality, Health and Proper Education will make us all better human beings.

Many would say that my Master’s a fraud. Well, personally, I prefer following the teachings of a fraud who has done so much of good and service filled with love than follow the teachings of someone who just sits, complains and calls another person a fraud.

I deeply owe my gratitude and my life to my Master, who after every single incident in my life, even during the times when I let His hands go, He never left me, and infact, made sure He brought me even closer every single time we parted.

It’s thanks to His teachings, that I know, someday, I too will blossom into a beautiful lotus. And I know, slowly, the petals of my heart are opening, bit by bit

Lastly, I guess, my Master’s teachings can be summed up in a phrase that He has always used and emphasised:

Thank you for reading this post. I love every single one of you with every single breath I take. Love, love, and LOVE!

With a Heart filled with Love to the brim,

Sukhbir.

Lepakshi

“Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached!” –Swami Vivekananda

It was already 4 days without cigarettes and my urge for it was getting stronger. I was starting to feel restless and during meditation at times, I would have thoughts of myself holding a stick and puffing on it. But I would change the thoughts.

I also observed two other people in the Darshan Hall who sat without moving their bodies, at the same spot every single day. One was a Japanese guy and the other was an Indian local. They both were my inspiration.

However, like all of us, we all need a little push to further move. My push came in the form of our visit to Lepakshi. It’s a historical site for a few reasons:

a) The location where Jatayu from the Ramayana epic died (the spot is above in the photo on the ground). Thus the name Lepakshi as it means, “Rise O’ Bird.” Prince Rama and Lakshmana who were on the lookout for Sita as she was kidnapped by Ravana, found Jatayu bleeding with his wings cut (Ravana sliced Jatayu’s wings off as Jatayu was preventing Ravana from kidnapping Sita). Prince Rama approached Jatayu, held it’s head and said in Sanskrit, “Lepakshi.” Which meant, “Rise O’ Bird.” Jatayu died in Rama’s arms and he was cremated there.

b) The Kalyana Mandapam (the Wedding Hall) of Lord Shiva and Mother Parvathi is also built here. Above in the photo is where the wedding is supposed to take place. And all the pillars depict the Gods and Goddesses coming to pay their respects during the wedding.

c) The Veerabhadra temple (another manifestation of Lord Shiva) is located in a cave around the premises of Lepakshi.

d) And in the inner sanctum of the temple, there’s a cave where Saint Agasthiar meditated. Unfortunately no cameras were allowed in so I couldn’t take the photos.

e) The foot prints of Mother Sita. People during the time of Lord Rama were huge. And Mother Sita was supposed to be a short woman for her time. Amazing..

Our extremely knowledgeable and loving tour guide

The massive Shiva Linga outside the temple compound.

We were taking photos around the Shiva Linga outside, just a few turns away from the Veerabhadra temple when I started feeling weird. Like I was being pulled or attracted to some unknown force. So I held my camera, left the rest of the group who were taking photos, I took a few turns and those turns brought me ever closer to the Veerabhadra temple.

The 500 year old carvings on the pillars of the temple

A weird sense of nostalgia engulfed me as I looked at the intricate designs of the temple and the insides of the inner sanctum.

Many pathways may seem dark and bleak, but they all lead to the same light in the end.

The inner sanctum of the Veerabhadra Temple (if you go inside and turn right, the cave where Saint Agasthiar meditated is in there and if you turn left, is where a Shiva Lingam was installed by Lord Rama Himself 5000 years ago)

It was asthough… I had been here before. But I guess it was just a feeling everyone gets when they come to a place such as this.

The temple was old. And in the temple, a Shiva Lingam had been installed by Lord Rama Himself about 5000 to 7000 years ago. The energy pervading this temple is so immense.

I was walking in a daze. Like as though I was dreaming.

I walked into the temple and looked around. Everything was old.. Or rather, ancient. From the smell to the sound, to the sights. Everything.

The temple priest approaches me and says, “You want to pray?”

I nodded my head. I was so taken aback by everything that I couldn’t say a word. I just wanted to hold the energy in me.

He did a prayer for me, turned around and asked me, “Father’s name?”

“Kaka Singh. But he’s dead.” I replied.

“Oh sorry. Amma name?”

“Gagjit Kaur.”

He said a prayer for mum and then asked me, “Brother name?”

“Manbir Singh.” Again a short prayer and then he asked for my name.

“Sukhbir Singh.”

He smiled and said a prayer. He then applied Kum Kum to my forehead and gave me Coconut and a banana as a Prasad (offering gift). He asked for a few Rupees as money for the prayer (every temple has it. You give a ringgit or so for a Coconut Archanai). I told him my wallet is in my bag outside. I’ll go get it. He obliged.

I held the coconut, deeply in gratitude to the presiding deity/energy that was engulfing the temple.

I felt like sitting down somewhere and just meditating my life out. I just wanted to be one with the energy. It was so calming, so pervading and so powerful that it made my mind go blank.

I took the coconut and walked out to get my bag.

I told the rest about the temple and after some sightseeing around the temple’s compound, we came back to the temple.

While everyone as were looking around, I got attracted to the idol of Mother Durga. The same priest was there and he said, “This Mother is strong. Pray.”

I looked at her loving face and prayed. Prayed that I be healed physically, mentally and spiritually.

Our tour guide showed us around the insides of the temple. As he was showing us, he then said, “Follow me”

We followed him, turning left after the presiding deity of the temple (Veerabhadra). He opens a small chamber like door, and led us through a dimly lit narrow path and into a cave. A small cave like room to be exact (I believe, previously this temple was a cave).

The moment I set foot into the cave, I felt as though I had been lifted up by something.

He then turned around to us and said, “Agasthiar Muni meditated here once. The energy of this place is so strong. That was how strong his meditation and devotion was.”

We looked around the room. It was dark except for light coming from a lightbulb in the room. There was a bat perched high up the wall.

Our tour guide then touched the cave’s wall and then said, “This is actually not the ACTUAL area he meditated. He meditated behind this wall. But the they sealed the room. You can touch the wall for blessings.”

I stared at the wall for a moment and then I touched it.

I immediately felt like fainting. I stopped myself from flopping onto the floor. I gathered myself up and looked at the walls of the cave. Mesmerised. The cave felt so beautiful and I caressed the walls like how one caresses' a baby. I even placed my head on the walls of the cave and like a lunatic just let it rest there. My mind went thoughtless. That feeling was so.. blissful, beautiful, powerful and I was afraid of it in some degree.

As we all walked out of the temple, I couldn’t hold myself any longer. While the rest were praying, I decided to go to a corner to just immerse and take in this beautiful energy. To contemplate. To be one with this.. energy.

I sat and closed my eyes for a few minutes and then I opened them and looked at the idol of Veerabhadra. I spoke to Him and asked, “The feeling I got was so beautiful. I want to feel it everyday Swami. Every single moment. Why can’t I feel it?”

As I said that, I heard my Inner voice saying, “You’re not ready yet. You’re still afraid. Time will come.”

I agree. I still do get afraid when I meditate. I know, there’s this one layer of meditation where one has to go in even deeper. And I was just afraid of letting go of myself to go in deeper.

I closed my eyes and took in the whole experience.

After that trip, for the whole 2 to 3 hours, I felt as though I was walking, but not really walking. Moving, but not really moving. I felt as though I was someone else, observing this body moving and walking from a far off place, in bliss and in full content.

I started to thirst for this feeling. I substituted my smoking addiction for the addiction of this feeling. It was so.. immense. So beautiful. I’ve never felt anything like it. Never. And I promised myself that one day I would visit this place again to meditate.

I had killed the urge to smoke that day. In return for it, I resurrected my real true self that day. Awakened it. My thirst grew even more

Alright, I have to stop here. Got to go for my rehearsals. Thank you so so much for reading! I will post more, I promise

I love You very much (always did, always have, and always will)

Sukhbir

Visual-I-Sing

“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery; none but ourselves can free our minds.”
-Bob Marley

There are various methods in meditating to be honest. Some prefer sitting quietly in a corner trying to think of nothing (which never helps really). Some prefer chanting a mantra repeatedly in their head. Some focus on sound. Some on their breath (I do this often, it’s called Pranayama).

But on that fateful day, which was the second or third day of my trip in India, was when I realised and discovered something new and amazing.

As I sat, concentrating on my breath, inhaling and exhaling, I grew tired of the process. I got frustrated. Thoughts and memories kept creeping in despite my efforts of trying to concentrate. Visuals of my father’s dead body on the kitchen table. Visuals of Swami’s physical passing.. Voices and faces of people I loved and lost.. everything. They haunted me in the Darshan Hall.

I opened my eyes and observed Swami’s Samadhi. It was a weird sight to see the Samadhi as that was the spot where Swami used to sit once. I know it’s foolish of me to think that my Master’s gone and I do know, that in truth, Swami’s never gone. He’s in us. We just got to realise it.

That was the problem. Realising. We all know, but not many realise it.

I closed my eyes and Bhajans began. I kept trying to focus on my breath but it didn’t work. Then I used some methods taught to me by Doctor Sola (someone I met in Parthi) and Sherwin.

As silly as it sounded, I closed my eyes and in my head, I called upon Archangel Uriel, Mother Isis, Mother Kuan Yin and Father Swami. I pictured, or rather imagined/visualised them surrounding me with Swami at the front.

And then I asked of them four, “Please heal me. Physically, mentally and spiritually. Just heal me.”

This went on for a few minutes. And then I imagined Swami rising from the Samadhi, walking towards me, standing before me, smiling and since my palms were open (during meditation I usually open my palms), I visualised him releasing two energy orbs, each from his palms. One was in the color of healing, green and the other was in the color of cleansing, blue.

I visualised the orbs slowly being released from his hands to both my open palms. I imagined the warmth, the weight of the orbs and true enough, I could feel the weight and warmth. With that, I “smeared” myself, made sure the orbs were evenly rubbed on my face, head, body, hands and legs.

I even visualised Swami sitting infront of me, seated in the lotus position, healing light’s being released from his crown chakra to my crown chakra. Healing light also released from his mouth chakra to mine. And healing light and energy being released from his heart chakra to mine (I owe thanks to Doctor Sola for this visualising technique).

I also did some hand gestures. Scooping, smearing, raising of hands at random moments when I felt like it (by the way, all these hand gestures have deeper significance and symbolism. Look up for Mudras). I was completely psycho. But I had to be psycho. I really wanted to be healed and free.

To a normal person, one might think I’ve gone loco.

But the visualising technique and hand gestures really helped me so much!

I started visualising many things. I once even visualised myself shedding my old skin, like a snake does, leaving the old torn skin, walking naked with my new skin on, going under a waterfall and taking a refreshing bath. And I visualised myself coming out of the waterfall completely rejuvenated, beaming with love and joy, sleeping on green grass, feeling completely free.

To protect myself further during my meditation periods in the Darshan Hall (the Darshan Hall is where all the prayers and Bhajans takes place), I also used to imagined myself in a cylinder, just big enough to fit me in, made out of bullet proof glass, with a sign on the glass that says, “Negativity Not Allowed! Only Positive Energy Allowed In.” This method has helped me a lot as well in terms of dealing with weird folks in the Darshan Hall (many locals usually enjoy chatting with foreigners and this can serve as a hindrance).

I meditated for nearly 3 hours everyday during my stint in Parthi. It started with visuals as described above and imagining positive things. Then prayers to be healed and cleansed, followed by prayers for forgiveness. All these I run through slowly in my head. Sometimes when I’m tired of visualising, I do the Pranayama and other times I listen to the Rudram Chants (they chant Rudram before the Bhajans) and when I grow tired of that, I start visualising again. Then Bhajans begin. My eyes are still closed and I hear the Bhajans. This is when I let myself loose and relax. I switch positions as my legs get painful during this time. There were also times when I think I dozed off but I’m still aware that I dozed off. It’s a weird state. There were times when I listened to the Bhajans, my legs moving to the beat of the songs. I sway. I let loose. I enjoy. I become happy. I become one with the Bhajans.

Then Bhajans end and Arathi is shown to Swami’s Samadhi. I raise my hands, imagining that I’m scooping the warmth loving, healing light/orb from the Arathi fire, and I proceed to “smear” myself with the Arathi fire. I visual my body made out of sponge, just absorbing every ounce of positive energy from Swami’s Samadhi, I imagine myself getting bloated with all the positive energy. At times, I imagined green light emanating from the Swami directly at me, healing me. Then this is when I go into deep meditation. There are times when I felt like I’m hovering somewhere but everything’s dark, but I feel really weightless. Free. Happy. Filled with love and joy.

Then comes the time for the Samadhi Darshan. This is when everyone in the hall lines up to pay homage to Swami’s Samadhi. I say my prayer again, “Please heal me physically, mentally and spiritually.” And I rest my hands and head on the Samadhi, feel the coolness and comfort of the Samadhi, still pretending I’m a sponge, I absorb the energy as much as I can from Him.

The first three days were a killer.

Remember I said I was down to one stick a day? Well that one stick was still an addiction. I had to kill it off.

For three days, I sat at the exact same spot in the Darshan Hall, visualising, contemplating, meditating. I had to fight the urge to smoke, endure the body pains for sitting in a position for a long time, and battle the sad, painful memories.

The fourth day was when I could actually shift or forget the body pains. It works at times and sometimes it doesn’t. But I realised it comes with practice.

I end my day by visiting the temple of the Goddess Gayathri and Lakshmi. If you hear the recordings from the previous posts clearly, the bells that you hear is from the Goddess Gayathri’s temple.

I have to admit. I went a little overboard with the visualising part as there were times when I used to just place my hands on the walls of the temple and do my circumambulation. I used the hand gestures again.

But I really wanted to free myself. I wanted to be free. I wanted to be healed and I did anything that made me think that I could do it.

The fourth or fifth day was when I grew tired of asking to be healed. I guess, this is when I realised that instead of asking, I should start believing. This was when I just did Pranayama and sometimes meditated on the Vedic chants. I could easily slip into the “meta-state” as Sister Roshini puts it.

And this was when I realised I could actually control my thoughts and emotions (still needs lots and lots of practice though). I could go into this state of “emptiness”. That weird feeling where your mind’s empty. This is when you start hearing your true self. Your inner voice. Random voices/thoughts suffused with love and buttered with Truth arise. You know it’s no trick of the mind as you believe that it IS your innerself talking to you. It makes one ponder after meditation, on how such a thought comes. Who brought this thought? Who IS the thinker? And who IS thinking actually?

The second last day of my trip was when I gave up my life. I’ll write about this soon. I think I’ve written more than enough for today.

However, based on what I’ve written, we can safely say that the Mind is a powerful tool. It should be trained to have positive thoughts. My Master, Swami, summarised the power of thoughts beautifully, “God, if you think, God you are. Dust if you think, dust you are. As you think, so you become. Think God, be God.”

With that, I end today’s post.

Love you all always. Always have, always did and always will,

Sukhbir

There and Back Again

“I searched for God and found only myself. I searched for myself and found only God.”

-A Sufi Proverb

A friend asked me, “Why did you go to India?”

I replied, “I went soul searching.”

She then proceeded to ask further, “So... did you managed to find your soul?”

I replied, “I didn’t find it. I realised it.”

We’ve all got this one spark. This one droplet of water from a massive ocean ready to be regurgitated when we’re ready to let it out and overwhelm us. And this droplet can only be found when we close our eyes.

The world ceases to exist as you contemplate in the darkness, observing your own breath. And slowly, answers come and you understand. And when you understand, you know. And when you know, you realise.

I realised, there’s actually no such thing as “soul searching” or “finding for myself or yourself”. The soul or your self is already there, waiting for you to realise it’s presence. Once you open the window of clarity and unveil the curtains of doubt, you start to realise what you’ve been really seeking and realising. Your own true self.

I had an amazing trip and I learnt so much. So so much. I met many interesting loving souls, had many funny and yet enlightening experiences but most importantly, I’ve now realised my self.

I can’t say for myself that I’m happy and that I’ve improved so much in terms of physical, mental and spiritual aspect of my life. Only you can be the judge. I don’t want to judge myself any longer I want to live. I’m happy. Very happy I’ve never felt so much at peace, so free.. so much in love with myself. And I’m at bliss

This here is a recording of how my Divine Master, my Guide and Guru, Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s ashram sounds like in the evenings (recorded very discreetly):

http://www.reverbnation.com/c./poni/90109022

And here’s another recording taken very discretely as well (because no recording devices are allowed in the premises of the ashram) of the atmosphere of Prashanti Nilayam, the Holy Abode of Peace at Puttaparthi.

http://www.reverbnation.com/c./poni/90114482

I will write more on my trip, the experiences, the souls I met and yes! Lots of photos, real soon.

Like I’ve always emphasized and I’ll emphasize it again, I love, love, LOVE each one of you very, very, VERY much

Lots of warm, warm, warm Love coupled with a hug,

Sukhbir

P/S: I’m back