Day 140

Shri Satya Narayan- Baba par excellence

I per chance came across Baba on 8.9.2021. Then I took a virtual survey on the internet and what I came to know was truly amazing, out of the world and a miracle.( I regret  very much that I missed this information earlier).

“His Holiness Shree Shree Satyanarayan Baba was born on 12th July, 1984 at Dumarpali village (Devari), Raigarh District (Chhattisgarh) in a farmer Sahu family.

His Holiness Babaji, started His meditation from 16th February 1998 under open sky never moved under any shelter and without consuming food.  Under all weather conditions, it may be scorching Summer or intense Rain or extreme Cold, He sits only in the place where he started His meditation.  And, He does not even sleep!

With the stanch faith in Lord Shiva, He cut himself His tongue and sat in meditation in front of a "Shiv Linga", and continues His meditation with strict silence for the well-being of the entire society.” (Source – internet)

 

We will come back to baba, after taking a quick tour of current spiritual life and pursuits seen and followed around us. Being a seeker since 1978, I have had first hand experience with over a dozen spiritual organizations. To which I can add some two dozen more through the virtual association that became possible in the internet era. Those associations are at an arms distance though. 

 I had opportunities to undergo some 15 different types of meditation methods till date.What did I observe and its relevance to the topic under discussion?

·    Many spiritual organizations’ have cropped up in the last five decades

·       Some of them have grown nationally and internationally into mighty organizations with large corpus and variety of activities, including religious.

·       Many of  them profess Nirvana to their true Bhaktas, who are sort of tied up with such organizations for life.

·       The activities of many such organizations are indeed bewildering if one links with the Vedantic thoughts- which are the base of such activities.

·       Without getting into specific, the followers are taken on a roller coaster of spiritual experiences- now or promised- in five star comforts and retreats.( This can only give Brama-delusion- not Brahman so says the wise).

·       Their numbers and followers are  ever rising , thanks to the population surge  in the world.

·       Many highly educated persons or students also plunge into these streams… often unwittingly….

·       Some of the highly acclaimed Gurus were put under arrest for varied periods. Some others had issues with law. Some others were even convicted in foreign lands also….

·        But all of them when returned continue with full merriment- as if nothing happened at all……

Another interesting phenomenon is that all of them are giving discourses day in and day out on all types of subjects, freely and even for a price. They seem to have answers for every question on earth. Nothing is beyond their understanding….

I attended once a banking conference, where a spiritual guru gave a lecture on how seasoned bankers should handle banking in the country. Some 600 senior bankers were in the audience giving rapt attention!

All the above give only one side of spiritualism, with which most of us will be involved in one way or other and deriving some benefits also from the same.

Vedanta- knowing Brahman – is the easiest subject on earth to handle and talk. Here if one reads couple of basic texts and then talking will take care of itself. Once one talks for a few times, then mastery builds.

·       Topic is esoteric. None knows about its realty hence none can contradict the speaker, it cannot be seen, put in words… as Brahman is Nirakara, Niranjana, Nirvikalapa, Agochara---- all such qualities make it unknowable to our ordinary senses. Talking about that becomes then easy.

·        This is not my surmise though. Swami Tapovan Maharaja stated in one of his books—"nowadays many are resorting to discourses after reading a few spiritual texts as if they have realized the ultimate”… these are Swami’s words.

Mow let us comeback to Baba Satya Narayan.. He is a role model for a true spiritual aspirant. Why?

·       One, he is a true Vairagi. renouncer… Tyagi... he has left the pole of samsara. a true requirement for spiritual evolvement (refer… Viveka Choodamani and other works of Adi Shankara. Without leaving the pole , God realisation will be a  mere myth/dream.

·       He has not allowed even a shelter to be built above his head…. and continues to sit in the open fully exposed to the nature. (Contrast this with the  sprawling Ashrams seen around India and even the world).

·       He has not authored books, given prabhashanas, or claimed any miraculous powers or build a system to propagate him or his ways.

·       He has done tapas and continues to do tapas silently…… with no expectations or any pomp.

·       Is there a need to list more…?

·       Get to know more of him through the videos on the internet….

It is for the seeker to know what is real and what is unreal… it is called. Nitya –anitya viveka vichara… if this is lacking then……….

I remember some youngsters talking to me about Vedanta and spiritualism and their desire to go deeper. My single advice to them used to be…. Follow your present Karma well and look into this area, say after retirement…. or when other responsibilities are  fully over. (looking back, I feel happy for taking that stance with them…)

 I remember reading about a Zen master a few years back. He was head of a Zen monastery.  The villagers noticed total silence in the monastery. No sounds at all. Thus, a long time passed.

 One day they heard the temple gongs banging and making huge sound. Then villagers said to each other, the Zen master is now more.

Many of us have attended Gita classes ,paid meditation programmes/ retreats, Bhagavat Saptanga--- year after year… very religiously… some of us for even decades… some have attended nearly 100  Bhagavat Saptanga or Narayaneeyam discourses and now  waiting for the next…. 

• Why we did not get the enlightenment like Arjuna or Pareekshit.. who got it at the first hearing itself… 
• why indeed.. is a question to be ruminated again and again…

Adi Shankara wrote about Shad  Sampathis, as  part of  Sadhana Chatushtayam. Baba's example while validating this also shows that there is no short cut at all in God realisation. Comforts and God realisation are poles apart.

Baba’s experience did touch a chord in my heart…. Such souls are the real salt of this great motherland …rishi-land of ours….He could be considered as  Shri  Dakshinamoorthy of the Kali Yug.

Like Ramana Maharishi, like Tapovan Maharaja, like Swami Rama Tirtha… who  left behind great teachings for the seekers for generations to come… May their tribe increase …. for enlightening the masses… always…. out of the darkness that envelopes all around ….

Be happy. Be safe.

ॐ 

 7 AM