How a accomplished yogi faces old age, sickness and death Part 4

Back in India 1976

When Baba returned to India the ashram had been enlarged to make space for the many people who would come there to spend time, participate in the Intensives, yagnas, chants and many activities that Baba officiated over.

In March 1977 Baba began to experience heart problems, severe angina pains . He was admitted to Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai.  From there he sent messages to the ashramites in Ganeshpuri and all over the world.  In Ganeshpuri a continuous Guru Gita Chant went on for two weeks.  Through the medicine of chanting the anxiety and concern of the devotees was transformed into one-pointed  focus on him,  and a deeper  recognition that even he was not immune from the inevitable  flow of nature.

Baba recorded a video from his hospital bed. He appeared  smiling, soft and gentle.  “People must be worrying what  has happened to Baba.  I am completely all right.  You needn’t worry about me.  Disease has come to the disease, not to me.”

“Birth and death follow everyone, you and me.  Therefore a sensible person should not worry about birth and death at all.  This is not a disease, it is an experience.  All over the world devotees offer flowers to my photo, and read the Guru Gita for my sake.  When they are doing this for me, what can I do? I have to experience their devotion.  In the same way, I have to experience this.”

“Stop worrying about my body. Instead think about the path I have shown you.  Just as you have a mundane passport, you also have a spiritual passport.  When that passport expires you have to leave.  Krishna said in the Bhagavad Gita, ‘Death is inevitable for a person who has taken birth, and birth is inevitable for a person who has died.” Therefore, why worry?  Now forget about my pain.  I am very happy that you have chanted the Guru Gita so much for my sake.  Perhaps I should get some small pain every now and then just so you will chant the Guru Gita and be so focused.

“I am coming back to the West  soon, but it may take some time. Now that I am in India I have to do some work here also.  I am grateful for all your compassion and love.  There is great love between Guru and disciple, you have shown so much love to me.  You perform so much practice for me, and there is nothing I can do for you.  All I can say is that I love you so much.  You have given so much to me, the hardship of your bodies, your wealth, your work, you have given everything to me.  I don’t have anything to give to you. All that I can give in return is to say, I love you, I love you, I love you.”

Some time later he gave a darshan to people who gathered on the lawns of the hospital.  He sat at his window for about 10 minutes and people were happy to see him looking so well and joyful.  The doctors  tested Baba after the darshan  to determine the effects of the darshan.  They found that his condition improved and encouraged him to schedule another gathering the following week.  Baba called for the ashramites to come from Ganeshpuri.  On the following Sunday afternoon six busloads of devotees came from the ashram. Since it was three weeks since Baba had been away from the Ashram, they were eagerly looking forward to seeing Baba. 

The group arrived at the hospital and sat quietly on the lawn chanting Om Namah Shivaya.  Taxis and busloads of Bombay devotees arrived until the crowd grew to about one thousand. 

When Baba came to the window he raised both hands in greeting to the shouts of “Sat Gurunath Maharaj ki Jaya”.  The devotees were thrilled to see he appeared as joyful as ever.  He waved to people he saw in the crowd, and threw garlands of fragrant mogra into the crowds.  Baba sat for a half an hour.  There was a television news team from Bombay there shooting him and the crowd.  The hospital director came forward and placed a garland around Baba’s neck.  There was no doubt that Baba was in his usual humour.  He called for his dog, Captain to come forward and he dropped balloons for him as he had been doing in the ashram courtyard.  Captain leaped through the crowds to burst the balloons. 

Baba called out that he would return soon, and then called out, “I love you, I love you, I love you.”  The devotees called back, “We love you Baba”. 

Baba left the hospital but the doctors insisted that he spend some time resting before returning to the Ashram.  A large house was made available on Juhu Beach.

The setting was idyllic; a spacious lawn bordered with colorful flowers and bouganvillias stretched down to the beach.  Towering palm trees swayed in the refreshing breeze from the ocean.

During the days Baba would rest, sitting on the beach in the early morning hours and again after sunset.  After a couple of days rest, knowing that the devotees were pining for his darshan, Baba called for a silent public darshan every evening.  The Bombay devotees came by the  hundreds and a special chartered bus carrying ashramites came from Ganeshpuri nearly every evening.  The devotees would take their seats on the grass in a semi-circle facing the ocean.  Baba came at six o’clock and sat comfortably on a lawn chair.  No one was allowed to go up for darshan.  Offerings of fruit and sweets were  cut up and distributed as Prasad and fragrant flowers were distributed amongst the ladies.  Many well-known musicians and singers such as Surendra Rao, Mahendra Kapoor, and Aziz Naza came to serenade Gurudev and his devotees.

Baba enjoyed the music and often hummed to himself or laughed at the lyrics. The devotional music, the golden hues of the setting sun, and the refreshing ocean breeze provided an exquisite setting for Baba as he sat absorbed in his inner being.  Observing his stillness, one’s mind also became still.

He had been telling the devotees since the onset of his illness, “I am in bliss.  The disease may be there, but I am not affected by it.  You should be in bliss also.”  There was no trace of illness in Baba’s countenance.  On the contrary, as he sat quietly his inner state radiated more powerfully than ever.  Many devotees remarked that they had never seen Baba looking more glorious, more radiant.  Observing Baba at Juhu one could clearly understand that he had, in fact, transcended the limitations of the body.  He was obviously dwelling in his inner being, and radiating that for all who came and silently partook of his darshan.

In the early morning hours Baba came out to sit on the beach, enjoying the fresh, cool breeze.  Devotees living in the area came to know of it, as well as some ashramites who had come to stay at the beach during Baba’s stay.  For a few mornings Baba sat silently with the devotees as the sun rose.  After a couple of days Baba suggested that we sing the Guru Gita.  Devotees began to line up on the beach as early as 5 a.m.  meditating and awaiting Baba’s arrival.  Baba sat quietly during the recitation, and occasionally motioned for changes in the pace or speed. 

One morning, reflecting on the beauty of the ocean, he told the devotees, “The scriptures say that the holy waters are the body of God.  Here we are sitting on the body of God, singing about God.  This chanting purifies the heart and all the nadis.”

As the birthday celebrations grew nearer, Baba seemed to grow stronger, and he insisted that he should return to the ashram to officiate over the Maha Rudra Yagna and the sanyassa initiation being held for some of his older students. He promised the doctors that he would continue to rest and would not meet people, but he would not be absent for the celebrations in the Ashram.

During the evening darshan two nights before he was to depart from Bombay he called for the microphone and began to speak to the crowd.  “The doctors have forbidden me to talk, so this talk is illegal, and when you do something illegal, you have to pay the penalty.  The doctors in America warned me that if I didn’t take rest there would be some problems and this illness came because I broke the rules.

“There is a word in the Bhagavad Gita called dana, which means charity, generous giving of gifts.  In the Gita the Lord says, ‘By giving in charity to the deserving, all sorts of diseases disappear. Dana purifies all sorts of sins also. Dana is the staircase to heaven.’

“When I was in Nanavati hospital many heart specialists came to examine me, and prescribed treatment, without charging any fees.  It was all done as charity, with good will.  I welcome them all heartily.  When I was discharged from the hospital the lady who owns this house gave the whole house for my use and shifted to a hotel.  How kind of her.

“Nature herself has given everything to us generously, If Mother Earth did not give us all the food grains, what would we eat?  If the air didn’t blow, how could we survive without oxygen?  If the Lord of fire was not working within us, how could we digest our food?  That is why generous giving is the most honorable deed that a man can perform.” 

“Sheik Nasrudin was a perfect miser.  He was so miserly that his wife got absolutely fed up with his stinginess. One day a great lecturer came to their village.  A sign was posted announcing he would give a discourse on charity.  Nasrudin’s wife was very happy to see that notice.  She insisted that Nasrudin attend the discourse and actually took him there.  The speaker talked about charity, and the importance of generosity. He stated, “Everyone, this Earth, the ocean and the five elements God and those who have realized God are all sustained by charity.  There is no greater deed than dana.”  Nasrudin listened to the lecture patiently.  When it was over he told his wife, “You were so kind to take me to this lecture.  I have learned a very good lesson today.  How important charity is.  From tomorrow I will start begging for alms.”  His wife was aghast.  She said, “Oh my God, this man is really impossible, I brought him here to learn the importance of giving generously, and he is speaking only of taking from people.”

“This is not charity; charity is when a man works hard for himself and after taking care of his own needs, he gives generously to others.  Man should always have a generous heart.  And he must not forget that God has been showing his bountiful grace on him all the time. 

“When I was in the United States I met many scientists who had studied all the sciences and some had even been to the moon, but now they are investigating consciousness.  Similarly you must investigate God.   God is not against your worldly life, He has created this beautiful world for His own convenience, for His own sport.  What I want to impress on you is just as you decorate yourself, your wife and family, you should worship and decorate the Lord who dwells in your heart.  Just love God as much as you do your wife, your children, your car and then material life and spiritual life will go hand in hand. 

“I want to welcome and thank those lakhs of people who recited Guru Gita for my recovery.  Many people also made lots of offerings and sacrifices to God for my recovery.  They must have done it with great sincerity since I have recovered from this illness very quickly.  This should have lasted six months, but by people’s good wishes, it has finished in one month.

“You should always remember that the universal consciousness which God has given is the greatest gift given to you.  Don’t deceive yourself in that respect.  God has given the greatest gift of all.  Don’t forget that.  God has given us everything. We must also do something in return.  People wonder ,’How to love God?’  He is residing in every being, so to  see Him in every individual is the real worship of God, real meditation, real dharma.”

People recited the Guru Gita day and night for my early recovery.  God has made their prayers very fruitful, so I have recovered within a month. I welcome you all.”

Baba returned to the ashram after having first gone to Ganeshpuri for darshan of Bade Baba.  He was greeted by his elephant Viju at the gate who garlanded him with flowers, and girls waving arati trays.  He walked through the courtyard and sat down.  He spoke briefly,” I left the ashram with sickness, but I have come back without it.  I know for certain that my rapid recovery has not been due to the doctor’s treatment, but because of so many people reciting the Guru Gita with best wishes for me. 

“No one is free from the play of destiny, that is why the Lord has said, ‘Mysterious are the ways of karma.’  It is said that Lord Rama was Lord of the world, still he was exiled to the forest.  It is said that Lord Krishna was Lord of this world, still he had to wander from Gokhul to Mathura and from Mathura to Dwarka.  They were powerful beings yet they had to undergo their destiny. This shows how inscrutable are the ways of karma.  Swami Ramakrishna was a great being, still he was afflicted with cancer. Nityananda was a born Siddha, he was even called an incarnation, still he had arthritis in his knees. So I also had this heart trouble. But the doctors have praised me saying that usually such patients don’t go away for six months, and I have returned after one month.

“It is through the power of the Self that I am happy.  The disease may be there, but I remain beyond it.  You should always remember your purpose in coming to the Ashram.  Here you should be absorbed only in sadhana, in Guruseva and devotion for the Guru.  Then you will get something, you won’t go away empty handed. I bless you all.”