My first visit to Ashram !
After going thru the “beautiful straight from the heart” piece from Madhu, I could not resist writing about my own first time visit to Ashram. Very contrary to Madhu’s grand event of an Advanced Course with the Master Himself, the time I went to Ashram, there was no course, it was dead at night and there was no Master !!! But there was something remarkable about that visit that it is etched permanently in my memory. It was Dec 2006. I had visited B’lore for some office seminar and I had this deep almost uncontrollable desire of seeing the Ashram. One of my good friends, Mukul (to whom I had only talked over phone so far !) came to see me in the office guesthouse for some work and I simply told him, I just want to go with you to the Ashram. It was quite late in the evening and he was worried about my safety. So he told me to stay back at the Ashram only for the night, the proposition to which I readily agreed. Looking back, I realize that I was simply in a different state of mind altogether when I left for Ashram, leaving beside all the so called comforts of the office guesthouse. Mind you I had a seminar starting 9 AM next day, but I did not seem to care.
At the Ashram when Mukul led me to the dark Vishalakshmi Mantap, I felt something happening to myself. I cant explain it , but even now, I get goose-bumps recalling that moment. There was Amma’s picture staring at me and the whole Mantap looked dark but there was some inexplicable attraction that I felt. I stood inside the Mantap for quite sometime trying to soak in all that I could. I remember Mukul telling me “Sujala if you are repenting that you could not come earlier in the day for your first visit to the Ashram, don’t, because this is what that has been destined for you !” Mukul showed me some of the other important places in the Ashram also. He arranged everything for me like room, food, water etc though all the offices , desks & depts were closed that time, as it was close to 11 o clock at night. Though Guru Himself was not present still step of mime in the Ashram that night was led by the Divine Himself in the form of my friend. Even early next morning when I lost my way out, he came running from his room to help me. Remember this is the first time we were meeting and we hardly knew anything about each other. But there was such a sense of belongingness and kinship from him, as if he is part of my own family, And indeed he is , as we are all part of the global family created by our loving Gurudev. I have seen this so many times over in Art of Living, that complete strangers share & care for each other as if they have known each other for ages !
That night when I went to bed in the Ashram, I felt as if Master himself is taking me in his lap, covering me with love & grace. It was one of the most refreshing sleeps I have had in my life. I hardly slept for 4 hours that night, and yet through out the next day I did not even feel an iota of tiredness.
I will be forever grateful to Mukul for playing that important role in my life. And my gratitude , love and respect to my Master is beyond words, it simply grows with every passing day.
So that was my first visit to the Ashram, quiet, intimate and very powerful. I was back there on May 2007 to witness and celebrate one of the grandest events – “Main Tera” (May 13) celebrations in the presence of the Guru Himself !
At the Ashram when Mukul led me to the dark Vishalakshmi Mantap, I felt something happening to myself. I cant explain it , but even now, I get goose-bumps recalling that moment. There was Amma’s picture staring at me and the whole Mantap looked dark but there was some inexplicable attraction that I felt. I stood inside the Mantap for quite sometime trying to soak in all that I could. I remember Mukul telling me “Sujala if you are repenting that you could not come earlier in the day for your first visit to the Ashram, don’t, because this is what that has been destined for you !” Mukul showed me some of the other important places in the Ashram also. He arranged everything for me like room, food, water etc though all the offices , desks & depts were closed that time, as it was close to 11 o clock at night. Though Guru Himself was not present still step of mime in the Ashram that night was led by the Divine Himself in the form of my friend. Even early next morning when I lost my way out, he came running from his room to help me. Remember this is the first time we were meeting and we hardly knew anything about each other. But there was such a sense of belongingness and kinship from him, as if he is part of my own family, And indeed he is , as we are all part of the global family created by our loving Gurudev. I have seen this so many times over in Art of Living, that complete strangers share & care for each other as if they have known each other for ages !
That night when I went to bed in the Ashram, I felt as if Master himself is taking me in his lap, covering me with love & grace. It was one of the most refreshing sleeps I have had in my life. I hardly slept for 4 hours that night, and yet through out the next day I did not even feel an iota of tiredness.
I will be forever grateful to Mukul for playing that important role in my life. And my gratitude , love and respect to my Master is beyond words, it simply grows with every passing day.
So that was my first visit to the Ashram, quiet, intimate and very powerful. I was back there on May 2007 to witness and celebrate one of the grandest events – “Main Tera” (May 13) celebrations in the presence of the Guru Himself !
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