Dear all, we visited Sri Lanka between 8th and 14th March 2016 in a large group comprising of 15 people from India, UK and USA. The troupe was between age group of 25 to 60 plus and had people of all ages, places and backgrounds. Yet the Workshop proved to be very purposeful as well as life altering. It took all of us a few weeks to revive and come to terms with our normal way of living; such was the deep impact of the holy space and the spiritual vibrations that we received as blessings and benediction!
I dedicate this post as my small offering or pranami to the most revered and most sought after in the whole world, to Omnipresent sweet Lord in whose refuge we all thrive and sustain. We regenerate and redeem ourselves and our Souls with His holy touch and benediction. The One and only One-God.
It is His special and extra ordinary grant and kindness because of which we all could go and return safely to our homes with spectacular yet benign experiences for which we are forever grateful. Without God’s benevolence such mighty endeavors never materialize. It is because of God’s kindness in the manner of special foresight and insights given to me in the last years that I could decipher the past of none other than Shri Mahavatar Babaji and his spiritual endeavours carried out in the past in that place in today’s Sri Lanka.
However, that is not enough. I was also able to find the trail of his predecessors and lineage of his Gurus, out of them one was Swami Kartikeyan, son of Lord Shiva who arrived astrally to initiate him, along with two others-Agastya Maharishi and Bogarnathar, into deep breathing exercises and spiritual methods of enhancing the intake of Cosmic Light and Divine Wisdom. It was God’s own initiative and will that He wished Shri Mahavatar Babaji to go thousands of kilometers into the tiny island and meditate where another spiritual giant had executed intense holy endeavours until he left his immortal body by making it of Cosmic Light alone…..Shanmuga, Murugan or Swami Kartikeyan as I call him.
During such ancient times, when human civilization had not culminated and bloomed, everything was simple and very basic yet serious and weighty ! I am pointing out to human spiritual pursuits at this juncture. Today the method of teaching of Spiritinlife is revivalist and alike in nature and are on those very ancient lines -pursue your path of Self Realization silently and quietly at home by keeping your efforts very simplistic and serious. Maintain silence and peace always. As devised by the ancient sages this revival and regeneration in modern times through Spiritinlife worldwide, under the guidance of Shri Mahavatar Babaji and other ancient sages- one should go to those spiritual dynamos which are still vibrating very powerful divine vibrations in order to invoke our own latent divine light thus triggering our own speed of evolution.
Keeping these principles in mind, my Workshop there was conducted in open spaces, under trees, while walking with others or in our own hotel rooms at night. The focus was on inner space and transformation and all the baggage of humdrum and frivolousness had no room. On FB, you will see photos which will tell you about the itinerary and schedule while on WordPress, I have dealt with only useful past references in part I and in part II, you shall see images related to Workshop and other related actions. In the third post, for the first time you shall also get to hear the audios of my explanations and lectures during our stay there.
I have also pasted a summary by one pilgrim in the end which should suffice for the information of this memorable event.
And yes, one thing very important which should be told to you. Kindly refer to this post of 30th March 2013- https://spiritinlife.blog/2013/03/30/how-to-manifest-our-soul-part-1/
Quoting one relevant paragraph from this one-
The office bearer whom I met this morning, told me disappointingly that they have been trying to plant a Banyan Tree again at the same spot where there is a modest temple of Babaji today, but all their efforts have failed. The new Banyan Tree that they plant, die and do not survive. This piece of information intrigued me and I was very curious to know the reason behind the dying of the Banyan Trees at the holy spot where Babaji once did intense penance and meditation……
With God’s miraculous wish, finally one Banyan Tree has survived which I had asked the trustee to grow on my behalf in 2013 so that I can document the history of Shri Mahavatar Babaji for posterity sake on the very spot where he had meditated relentlessly and that tree was cut by that faltering woodcutter. However, some miscreants there even today try to dislodge such efforts and wish to propagate their own theories and ideas. This sapling is not just a sapling of a Banyan Tree for me. It is a great symbol of revival and regeneration-regeneration of Dharma and truthfulness. It is my very earnest request that you please pray very intently in your prayer time for longevity and life of this symbolic Banyan Tree so that it survives and grows till it becomes a huge tree.
For the first timers, please be informed that Shri Mahavatar Babaji had gone and penetrated in thick forest of Sri Lanka’s southern most part to do intense penance in solitude. It was after completion of this arduous penance or tapasya, that he was guided by the Omnipresent God to move towards the Himalayas in Badrinath regions. Since then, he has been living an immortal life of a great living avatar or incarnation since little less than two millennium or so.
Another important para from-https://spiritinlife.blog/2011/01/10/the-state-of-super-consciousness-ii/
One night, I decided to leave the place quietly as giving sermons to people was never my goal.
I took a boat from the shores of Kanya Kumari and reached Sri Lanka. The forests were very thick and the number of people much less then. I wanted to maintain uninterrupted silence for a few years so I hid myself in the thick forests of Katargama in Sri Lanka away from the noise and found an old Banyan Tree. I sat under it to meditate and did not move for days. Rishi Boganathar saw me in tapasya and gave me initiation in Sudarshan Kriya. The Sudarshan Kriya practiced now a days is a very simplified form of the original. Earlier Kriya was not practiced by the homemakers as its sanctity cannot be maintained by them. By practicing Kriya uninterruptedly, the need for food for the body became unnecessary. I mastered the art of living without food, sunshine, air and water for incessant days. The glory of divinity and victory over nature shone in the glow that was emanating out of me. The radiance and glow was many kilometers wide and could be seen by the rishis and munis in that area and those sitting in meditation in caves and hills. Maharishi Agastya was sent to me on the behest of God to give me more powers and siddhis as my workload in future would require me to use them as my tools in my endeavours to do the service of God…..
Credits-
I have tried to take the best photos from Nishith, Midhun, Paripurna, Kanchana and Nazma. Although the resolution is weak, I am showcasing all since this project/ Workshop was executed with help from all quarters. In the following post part-II, you can go through the picture gallery of all our activities.
Deep gratitude to all my great Masters and holy sages, angels and all the unknown and known divine and celestial beings who were silently standing by me and all other pilgrims to teach us, make us understand the hidden meanings, keeping our minds calm and quiet and helping us cut through all our old deposits of redundant age old debris.
Special thanks to my husband, Atul who was with me from day one in planning and executing this whole pilgrimage comprising of 15 people. Thanks for your unconditional co-operation and being there for all of us too.
Thank you dear Nishith, for recording the whole event so beautifully and sincerely. You were always behind the stage and making sure with me that the whole programme was carried out without any snags. God bless you. Your concerns for me and attuning with my thoughts is worth mentioning here. Without you and Atul uncle this, project would never have been so successful. I could not do it alone.
And thank you Ragu, Kiran, Bharat, Kanchana, Paripurna… and all of you who were always available if I called you anytime. And gratitude to all those pilgrims also who were behind the scenes and carried out the given duties with such sincerity and interest….You all made this trip and pilgrimage worth remembering all our lives!
Summary of Nishith Patel-
Om Shri Ganeshaya Namaha
Pranaam dearest Gurus and Maa,
Thank you Gurus and Maa for organising this wonderful journey for us and doing so much for us all.
A short summary of a wonderful pilgrimage, to a wonderful place, with wonderful people.
Our journey of the wonderful piligrimage to Katargama, Sri Lanka began in Mumbai from where ten of the 15 pilgrims were flying first to Colombo. Five other pilgrims joined us from Banglore and Chennai. We landed in Colombo at 5:30 on 9th March morning, and had our pre-organised taxi (minibus) take us to our first overnight stay in Colombo at a hotel very close to the sea shore.
Our first blessings from God came in surprises that there is a Ramakrishna Paramhansa temple right across the road from the hotel, as well as a vegetarian restaurant couple of lanes down the road called “Shanmugas” (six faced one, another name for Swami Kartikeyanji”), where we later had our lunch. Later, in the evening we visited a few places of sight-seeing in Colombo.
On 10th March, we had more blessings from Gurus and God, as the temple was celebrating the 180th birth anniversary of Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa. We began our 7-hour road trip to Katargama with these wonderful blessings.
We took the expressway to save time and avoid traffic, everyone marvelled at the scenic beauty of Sri Lanka’s countryside, clean waters, the discipline of the people to follow rules and the road infrastructure to have facilites while protecting and sustaining the environment. We had an hour’s stop at Gaulle to view and capture images of and around the fort city. The good old coconut water came to the rescue from the heat. We visited a turtle hatchery on the way.
The next phase of our journey got interesting, as we approached closer towards Katargama, we read a few pages from Swami Shivanandaji’s book on Lord Shanmukha (Swami Kartikeyanji) and Maa explained a few things, and we learned the all-important meaning of Swamiji’s Spear. Then, few of the the pilgrims started singing devotional songs starting with a wonderful Ganesha stuti by Raguram and everyone repeated after the lead singers (Raguramji, Niravji, Chayaji, Kanchanji, Paripurnaji and Maa).
We arrived at the hotel in Katargama at around 6:00 in the evening, had an early dinner and good sleep before we embarked on a short drive to the Katargama Temple early in the morning.
On the very peaceful morning, we first went to the main temple and offered prayers at Swami Kartikeyan’s temple, we stood under the large peepal tree with great Ichcha Shakti (will power) and Sankalp Shakti (thought power), where Maa gave us some deep wisdom and knowledge. The unique thing I observed about the tree was that none of the leaves had turned yellow during autumn, unlike other tree near-by. Next, we visited the temple of Deviyani Amman (wife of Shri Swami Kartikeyanji) and other temple of Shri Karikeyan Swamiji. Then, we visited the small temple of Shri Mahavatar Babaji and offered our prayers, where some of the pilgrims were drawn to meditate. The most pleasant news for Maa and us all was that after years of unsuccessful attempts to plant a Banayan tree near Babaji’s temple, one tree planted 2 years ago has survived. Seeing the tree growing I asked Maa, whether she was happy. She joyously replied her blood increased by 10 ounces after seeing the young tree.
After going back to the hotel and having lunch, we had a short session with Maa in one of our rooms where we all gathered. We made a few more visits to the temple and had few more morning and evening sessions of lessons and learning with Maa. On the penultimate day in Katargama, we visited the Yala Wildlife Sanctuary. A group of elephants teaching young ones was the highlight of the trip.
The blog came alive on a few occasions during our trips and activities. It was one of the most memorable journeys for me, and one of the most important pilgrimages I have been to so far. It would have been incomplete without any one of my fellow pilgrims, so thank you all for sharing the journey. Also, would like to thank the driver and his assistant who were very good to us throughout the journey.
A few important lessons learnt from this pilgrimage:
– Self-introspection and control over thinking is very important. A habit of good, pious and powerful thoughts should be present in every good seeker/yogi.
– Calm and slow breathing will calm the mind, but a short-cut is to keep the mind calm, the breath will automatically remain calm.
– Breath should be conserved, use each breath only for good actions and good thoughts.
– Maya is extremley powerful and dangerous; until the Spirit does not assure us of our safety one should not stop or be tempted by any of the forms of Maya on this path of Self-realization.
– Always keep saying to God, “I am nothing”, slowly the ego will melt away.
– The main reason of this pilgrimage for the pilgrims was the removal of deep rooted ignorance. What a good Sadhak can do in decades, the Gurus can do in seconds from such a powerful place.
– What we gain on this path is mostly due to Gurus grace and powers, our contribution is only a tiny fraction in comparison.
– The baby Banayan tree near Shri Mahavatar Babaji’s temple is the sign of regeneration; regeneration of spiritual values in the world, regenaration of divine consciousness in humanity, regeneration of Mother Earth and its environment.
Date:
8th March to 14th March 2016
Places:
Colombo, Katargama, Sri Lanka
Pilgrims:
Maa, Atulji, Arunji, Bharatji, Midhun, Nazma, Paripurnaji, Raguram, Rashmiji, Kanchanaji, Chayaji, Kiranji, Parulji, Nirav bhai, Nishith.
(To be continued in next post)