Living with Baba

Author: Acarya Tapeshvarananda Avadhuta

Kalpataru

"Ekoham Bahusvami! I was alone in the universe, but I created Myself into many!" The dharma samiksa program lasted for a certain period only. The day it was over, Baba came over to the office and informed us, "Today I feel that there is no urgent work." We noticed that He was in a completely different mood. Realizing this, Baba's Personal Assistant said, "No, Baba, today there is no urgent work." "All right, then let us rest for five minutes or so and then I will return home, " Baba responded. It was a very hot day. He rested in His room. All of the Central Workers were in His room as well. Some parts of His clothes were wet. He asked one of the dadas, "Look at My dhoti on My lower leg. It is wet. Can you see what happened?" Dada replied, "Baba, You were walking just now. Perhaps, it is due to perspiration." Baba asked, "Is it so? Can you smell it?" Dada sniffed a little, and then exclaimed, "It is just...

He Takes Care of Everything

Dharma samiksa was, indeed, a very special program to relieve the sufferings of the devotees at all levels. During that occasion, there was the case of another family from the Andaman Islands, who came for dharma samiksa. The husband worked as a teacher, while the wife was a lawyer. Both were very good devotees of Baba. Baba gave dharma samiksa to both of them, first to the husband, then the wife. After that, they did sastaunga pranama and left. When He finished the dharma samiksa of the sister, Baba requested me to call her back. As I was about to go, Baba told me the name of a particular medicine and instructed me to explain to the sister that she should use this particular medicine. I immediately went out to look for her and explained to her Baba's instruction regarding the medicine. As I was explaining Baba's instructions, the sister started to cry. I later discovered that she suffered from a type of female disease, which she kept secret from others, even her husband....

Moving Together

Baba started the dharma samiksa program in 1981. It was a very special occasion when Baba, as Taraka Brahma, undertook a complete spiritual review of His devotees, while taking upon Himself the samskaras that obstructed their spiritual progress. In dharma samiksa, He scanned the devotees' physical, psychic and spiritual bodies, located the samskaras that blocked their progress at every level, and removed them to enable the sadhaka to progress unimpeded. I was given the duty of preparing the list of suitable Margiis for dharma samiksa and had to ensure that they were eligible candidates. Baba used to give dharma samiksa to sadhakas in accordance with the list I prepared. Once, in 1981, at the Jodhpur Park Office in Calcutta, a Margii from southern India entered Baba's room for dharma samiksa. He and his family members were very good devotees of Baba. Baba asked him, "Did you come with all your family members?" He politely replied, "No, Baba, I came alone."...

Paincajanya

Baba introduced paincajanya as an integral part of our spiritual practices to accelerate the speed of our progress. He instructed all Margiis to perform paincajanya at 5.00 a.m. sharp, based on local time. Once in 1979, when I was traveling with Baba to different countries of Europe, several Margiis from the Ananda Marga units there requested me to ask Baba if paincajanya could be done later than 5:00 a.m. It was very difficult to awaken that early in the morning in Europe, especially during winter. The European Margiis wanted to know if they could do paincajanya at whatever time they awoke. I did not respond to their queries at that time. I wanted to get Baba's opinion first. After Baba's tour in Europe ended, we returned to India. We reached Mumbai in the morning. Every day after lunch I would submit the latest organizational reports to Baba. I followed this routine on the day we arrived in Mumbai. I went to His room to present the report, but I felt that He was not in a...

He Came and He Left, Silently

I have personally experienced many extraordinary facets of Baba's personality that prove beyond doubt His divine nature. He came silently and also left us silently. He came with a great mission, the seeds of which He carefully sowed on this earth in the heart of every sadhaka. He came in disguise as a very ordinary man. How effective was His disguise that few could fathom His true nature. The seed of devotion He planted would soon become a mighty tree, spreading spirituality the world over, transforming the world into a paradise.

Hong Kong Airport

We had planned to go to the USA after touring Taiwan. This was, however, not possible as our plan was suddenly aborted by the authorities in the USA. Arrangements were immediately made to fly to Jamaica. As the next connecting flight was only after eight hours, we waited at the Hong Kong airport. We wanted to arrange a separate room for Baba to rest, while the rest of us would wait in the general lounge area. Baba, however, did not agree to this. He insisted that He would wait with us in the lounge area. Regardless of the practicality of the idea, we felt that exposing Baba to the general public was not a good idea. We still clung to the idea of getting a separate room for Him. But we could not change His mind. He was adamant that He would stay together with us. Realizing that we could do nothing to change His mind, we located a place in the general lounge with two long benches pushed back to back. We occupied both benches. Baba sat on one side but turned His face towards us. He sat...

His Visit to Athens

Our Europe tour took us to Athens, Greece. We reached the airport very early in the morning. The local dada and several Margiis were waiting to receive Baba at the airport. We actually had no official program in Athens, and were in transit to Frankfurt. We had to wait in the airport for nearly twelve hours before catching our connecting flight. Accordingly, the airlines arranged for us to rest in a nearby airport hotel. Upon reaching the hotel, Baba informed me of His intention to go for field walk after two hours. Accordingly, I informed the local Bhukti Pradhan (BP) and other Margiis, and together we arranged for His field walk. Meanwhile, we completed our morning duties, meditation and breakfast. Just before His field walk Baba informed me that He wished to give darshan. I consulted the BP and he offered his house for this purpose. I was very busy organizing His whole program. Didi Ananda Karuna was preparing Baba's food with the help of the BP's wife. After Baba had...

Think in a Positive Way

During His lifetime, Baba strongly emphasized the need for us to think and act positively, constructively and with good intention for the welfare of all created beings and things. His powerful, omniscient personality never gave us the chance to think and act negatively, even when we were far away from Him. The real world is, however, full of diversity, of duality, where good and bad, positive and negative exist side by side. Human beings, especially sadhakas, should reject the negative and move towards the positive only

More Drama at Copenhagen

Baba's 1979 European tour was highly successful and full of fascination, and was even dramatic at times. Denmark was one of the countries in His itinerary. When Baba and His entourage arrived at the airport in Copenhagen, they had to wait in line for immigration clearance, like all the other passengers. When our turn came, the immigration officer took our passports and left the counter. Within a few minutes, another officer came and requested us to stand in a separate line. After some time, the officer emerged from behind the counter and talked to a police officer. The police officer and the immigration officer both came over to us and asked us who P.R. Sarkar was. We pointed to Baba. They went over to Baba and told Him that He would have to leave the country immediately. After the Emergency in India was over, Baba had instructed us to apply for His and several workers' passports. When we got our passports, we found that the passports of the workers were ordinary ones, while...

Treatment of Baba

One day during our stay in Taiwan, Baba did not go for His usual evening walk. In response to the queries of the Margiis, the PA Dada errorneously informed the Margiis that Baba was not well. This news prompted an old Margii to get his acupuncture kit to treat Baba's reported illness. The PA Dada and all of us tried to explain to this nice man that Baba did not need any acupuncture treatment, as He was really not sick. But the man did not listen to us, and simply sat on the stairs for the whole night, waiting to treat Baba. The next day, when Baba was ready to go out for the field walk, dada Ramananda, the PA Dada, informed Baba that one Margii had been sitting the whole night on the stairs to treat Him through acupuncture. Then, Baba said, "All right, now just go and tell this man that Baba is all right now and is coming out for His walk." PA Dada went and informed the Margii accordingly. The kind man, hearing that Baba was now all right and was coming out for His...