Devotees from India and around the world reminisce about Yatras, Kathas and magical milestone moments in their life journey with Pujya Bhaishri. Would you like to share how an experience has impacted you? Email contactus@sandipani.org
‘Devotee Diaries’ Series
Rajesh Purohit from Leicester, UK, shares— Journeying From the ‘Frame of Fame’ to the ‘Frame of Prem’
-Seeking visibility? Be prepared to culminate in Surrender!
Who doesn’t begin by wanting to feel ‘seen’ by Pujya Bhaishri? What happens when His glance of grace (Kṛpa-driṣṭi) actually falls upon you, for no deserving reason whatsoever?
Well, it is my greatest good fortune that the answer to this is now my ongoing journey and daily discovery. All I have to do is ‘Trust the process’! Learning to ‘Trust the Process’ is a daily lesson unto itself which helps me surrender myself a little more each day.
Offering myself in Sevā has been key in shifting my perspective and opening myself up to be sculpted by the Sadguru’s hand. Trust stands as the very bedrock to all the building blocks that follow. Observe and emulate the Ācaraṇa of the Guru; serve the Āgñā of the Guru and, over time, watch your Trust in the Prema of the Guru grow!
ḍṛdha ina charaṇana kero bharoso
One is truly nothing without the grace of Guru and it is by this grace that we transverse this ocean of endless ‘wants’, and shift from craving the ‘frame of fame’ to the ever-giving ‘frame of prem’.
It then slowly begins to dawn upon the ego of a dāsa that real happiness is not in visibility but in surrender. The security of being but a grain in His lotus feet gives the ‘little i’ the strength to seek to disappear into His ‘capital I’.
It is not that the Lord can not, or does not, fulfil a devotee’s heartfelt desires. Rather, His causeless grace reveals itself in transforming the nature of those desires altogether over time!
The only prayer that comes to the heart is then—
bhave bhave yathā bhaktiḥ
pādayos tava jāyate
tathā kuruṣva deveśa
nāthas tvaṃ no yataḥ prabho
O Lord of lords, O master, please grant us pure devotional service at Your lotus feet, life after life.
For no good reason other than keeping company with devotees, I have been blessed with the understanding that Sandipani Vidyaniketan is my true spiritual Home. This has given me the inner security to now explore all that comes my way, without ever feeling lost!
Over the years, the chance to help others connect with Sandipani through Sādhanā, Satsaṃga and Sevā, fills me with purpose.
When the opportunity to attend the 10-day Sandipani Sādhanā Retreat first presented itself in 2018, I jumped at the chance to immerse myself there. During the course and the Guru Pūrnimā utsava thereafter, I was left with no words—only tears of gratitude.
The peace and divinity of the atmosphere was made palpable to us newcomers in the company of Gurudev Pujya Bhaishri, Acharyas’ Shyambhai Thakar, Bharatbhai Shilu and Krunalbhai Makwana, fellow Sādhakas and indeed the 300 or so Rishikumars and Gai Mata in residence there—who sanctify that sacred land daily with their presence and Saṃdhyā Vandan/Gāyatrī Japa.
That constancy in action becomes a guiding inspiration—where every action becomes an act of love (for Vedas, for Guru, for all of existence) and where every word is a mantra, spoken effortlessly and gracefully!
mūka hoi bācāla paṃgu caṛhai giribara gahana |
jāsu kṛpā so dayāla dravau sakala kali mala dahana ||
May that merciful Lord, whose grace enables the dumb to wax eloquent and a cripple to ascend an inaccessible mountain, and who burns all the impurities of the Kali age, be moved to compassion (upon me)!
Guru is truly the very personification of Compassion! Guru Kripa Hi Kevalam —
Devotee Diary by Rajesh Purohit (née Patel), by the grace of Acharyas and ShriHari. June 2021
For those devotees who wish to be notified of any upcoming opportunities for Sadhana at Sandipani, email sadhana@sandipani.org.
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