Grace of Amman (Beloved Mother Child-Goddess)

I had the grace of Amman visiting of our house today. Early this morning, a little girl about 2 years old, wearing pants and a yellow tee shirt was crying. I asked what was the matter. There are a lot of people in our house and I was running around to serve them. Again, she was in front of me so I picked her up. I could see the tears rolling down her cheeks and the wetness on my fingers.

I asked the child again "what is the problem?" She replied "I have to go to different homes every day but I only want to stay with you!"

I was pleased and said "there is no problem. From now on you will stay here."

I then see the bags with the words "HUNGER" written on them.

 

Divine Child Goddess

This morning I saw a little girl playing in the puja room.i asked my daughter who is she? Someone dropped 

Her off here I did not see them. I walk inside the house and the little girl said I want to play with you wait a minute 

Let me take my shoes off and I will play with you meanwhile play with Neha, no I want to play only with you

I ask her who are your parents? Would they not be worried about your whereabouts?

The little girl was 2years old and was wearing sweat pant and t shirt 

Baby asks me where did you get all beads that you where wearing yesterday.i had gone for a rudra mahanysam

Abishekam in krishnajis house. There was no child there who noticed what I was wearing .

I receive a phone call my cell phone is very old and does not have the latest technology

The person asks who live there?

Koushik Radhika and Neha and my in laws Subramanian and that hang up (no phone number) just a message

E-Newyork.i have no idea who called or there whereabouts and how to return this chid

I came back to the pooja room and the child vanished.

What a divine child this is the second time she has come to our house

Stroudsburg PA - Srividya Mahakumba Abhishekam

My Experiences with The Divine Energy: Koushik Venugopal

 

I wanted to relate an extraordinary paranormal event that happened to me in the summer of 2008. It happened on the 12^th of July, 2008 when I participating in the Mahakumbabhishekam festivities organized by the Sringeri Vidya Bharati Foundation Inc., US at Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. I had joined some of my inner circle of Baba devotees to visit the temple during these festivities. The program for the day was the opening of the Kumbhabhishekam event here with Jagadguru H.H. Sri Sri Bharati Teertha Mahaswamigal’s speech in Hindi, followed by a procession with Sri Sharadamba’s Padukas. Adi Shankaracharya’s padukas and Acharya’s padukas. The Athirudra Mahayagnam was to be performed seeking world peace and harmony. Vedic scripture recitations were to be performed by the Vedic priests, totaling 170, drawn from all parts of India and who had been flown in for this special occasion. Throughout the day, there would be pujas and homams performed and I was expecting to be in the midst of all this action, in the sea of devotees who had come in from all parts of the U.S.

My companions to the temple on the 12^th July were Mr. Kutumba Rao and Mr. MK Anantha Raman. Kutumba had offered his services in videotaping the events of the day and MK had offered to help out with odds and ends. The trip from South Brunswick to Stroudsburg is a 1.5 hour car ride and Kutumba was running late by an hour. We reached just when the Kumbabhishekam procession was starting out from the temple. To add to the confusion, the parking lot was full and we had parked in an unofficial lot and here I was dropping Kutumba off and ferrying people from the parking lot to the temple. I had come well prepared for the event. I changed into my Veshti and angavastram and sat down to watch the Ganesha Homam. The Vedic scholars (Ritwiks) were chanting mantras and I could feel the amazing spiritual energy emanating from the mantras. The area with the chanting Ritwiks was cordoned off from the general public. I had initially sat at the back of the public gallery and had to move away from the noise to the front of the line as people were talking. I felt the need to concentrate on the wonderful positive vibes in the air brought about by the utterance of the mantras.

Eventually I moved to the other side where only the Ritwiks were present, with no members of the general public, thankfully. Kutumba was taking video and watching the flames of the yagna dance in front of my eyes, I saw the shape of Lord Ganesh take form. Struck by this observation and wondering if Kutumba had also observed this, I went over to talk to Kutumba. At this point, a volunteer for this event approached him and politely reminded me that I could not sit in this area reserved for the Ritwiks. He wanted to know whose permission I had taken to come here and all I could say was that Satya Sai had granted me permission. The volunteer did not rebuff my claim and he left.

The Ganesha Homam was followed by the Kalasa pooja. The water from the kalasas (metal containers) was used to perform the abhishekam for the deities. The statues of Sharadamba, Siva- Chandramouleeswara, Adi Sankara, Devi Bhavani, Mahaganapati, Subramanya, Krishna, Hanuman, Veda Vyasa, and Navagrahas looked resplendent. The procedure to perform abhishekam was to wash the deities and cover them with a thin cloth. The deity was covered from the eyes of the public and only a priest was privy to the deity.

Upon offering mantras, the deity was revealed. The statues of the gods and goddesses were placed in the order in which the puja was done and the volunteers led a procession of the deities to their final destination within the temple. To be a volunteer at the event, one had to have had the distinction of recited the Gayatri Mantram 30,000 times. While I watched the volunteer utter shlokas, I stood nearby soaking in the japas.

At that moment, a gentleman (I presumed later, from the manly voice) tapped me on my shoulder. He said that I should remove my angostram, tie it around my head, and help carry the deities. I did not turn around to reply to him and missed my chanced of getting a glimpse of this person. I did however mention that I was not a volunteer and stood back. The volunteers moved in frenzy to carry the deities and picked those which they could handle on their own. This struck me as strange as no one was forthcoming to pick the large deities. The ones that had not moved were the idols of Ganesha, Shankaracharya, Garuda, and Lingam – these were the heavy ones. As people were whispering amongst themselves that the fortune of carrying the deities was indeed a lifetime opportunity, I pushed ahead and chose the statue of Ganesha. One of the Ritwiks watching me commended that I was an extremely heavy statue but his words did not make a difference to my resolve of transporting the statue. And heavy it was – I had never held anything this heavy in my life. With the help of another volunteer we moved the statue only a couple of feet that I felt the statue slipping. The washed idol had been oiled and was extremely slippery. Not wanting to let go on my end, there were several changes of hands on the other end of the statue. I wanted to take the short cut instead of doing the pradakshina like the others before me had done, but was dissuaded from doing so by my inner voice. So with sweat pouring profusely out of my pores and lips chanting Sai Ram, I was pleased that I completed my task of taking Lord Ganesha to the spot allocated for him within the temple premises.

I was vibrating with divine energy and my hands were shaking uncontrollably. I could feel the presence of the Lord and it was as if some megawatts of energy had passed through my body. Unable to hold myself upright, I collapse. Padmashri Gowri Shankar from the Sringeri Mutt, who had been observing the volunteers place the statues, approached me and asked if I was alright. I looked up to answer him and was unable to. Again, this was a specially cordoned off area out of bounds to the public with only the volunteers and Ritwiks allowed to perform further pujas to the status in the outer perimeter of the temple prior to the statues being transported physically to their shrines within the temple. Although I was in the grip of this divine energy, vibrating and quivering under its’ influence, I was conscious enough to notice people milling around me and forklifts being brought around to move the other statues. I had collapsed into a sitting position facing the idols and that moment all conscious activity ceased. I do not recall where I was although I was aware of people sprinkling the kalasam water on me and trying to revive me with the ashes from the homam. Someone placed kumkuma on my forehead and another placed fruits in my hand. I was so overcome with exhaustion that my head hit the ground with the same force a coconut would as it falls off of a tree. Kutumba who witnessed this asked people to clear and give me some air assuring them that I would come around. I was fortunate to have experienced this divine paranormal happening with no broken bones. Later people have asked me how it felt to be in the presence of such divine energy and my answer is that I cannot relate such feelings. One has to experience it. There has to be no expectations or ego in this process. It is everything and yet is nothing. I felt richer from this deeply moving spiritual experience and I do have my fair share of skeptics who question the events of that day. All I can say to those who question such paranormal activity is that what I had experienced on that hot summer afternoon on July 12^th was as real as real feels in this living universe. I am extremely thankful and grateful to my gurus and baba for having provided me with the opportunity to feel the divine energy and vibrations that few can in their lifetime.

Sabrimalai Trip - My Inner Journey - October 2010

Meeting Up with the Lord

In August 2010, I had these visions. Dreams we don’t remember so much, but visions are driven by a higher consciousness.

I’m in a very crowded place and I see these three priests giving thirtham. One of them tells me,“Koushik, make your way up to the front.” (I didn’t recognize him then, but later I knew him as Sri Bhairavan.) I get to the front and get two drops of water on my palm. I take a sip and give the rest to my wife, Radhika. There is an older gentleman nearby and he says could I have the grace of touching your palm. He cups my hand in his two. It is only when I come down and see a tap to wash my hands and feet that I realize I am in India.

In the vision I also see Satya Sai Baba. I go and fall at his feet. He bends down and he holds my shoulders and tells someone, “Take him and put him on one side, but hold him, he will go into a trance.” One of his devotees says, of all the thousands of people here, why did you choose Koushik? He says, “He is sugar and I am water.”

I had a plan to go to India. I go to the Rajaganapati Temple in New Jersey every Friday and the gurukal there, Shivaguru Dikshitar, said that as soon as Ganesa chaturti was over we could go to India. But I could not go with him. We made the plan to come to India in October for family reasons and it happened that on the days we had planned to be in Kerala, the Sabarimala temple was going to be open.

My father-in-law suggested that I needed to go with someone. I was told about the austerities (the food restrictions, sleeping on the bare floor, bathing in cold water), about the pujas and the singing of bhajans. Radhika had reservations about how I was going to do all that, but later it was she who kept me on track. Shivaguru Dikshitar said that before he went to India he wouldperform an Ayyappa puja at the Rajaganapati Temple so that Radhika, who would not be able to come to Sabarimala, could witness the puja. The energy in the temple was high.

A girl named Sruti came up to me afterwards. She said that when she was eight she had travelled with her grandfather and they stood in line for hours before darshan. I replied that I would get darshan and would not stand in line at all. I don’t know why I said that. Dikshitar had given me several veshtis of kaavi colour to wear for the trip. In my mind I thought, everyone else is wearing black, and it would be nice to wear black too, but I didn’t tell anyone this. The following week we went to a friend’s place as we regularly do for Sai bhajan. A man came up to me and said, “My father had been going to Sabarimala for 28 years and he is now passed away. We still have his veshti and other things he wore for his pilgrimage and we want to pass them on to you.”He asked his mother’s permission and at the next week’s bhajan she brought the package to me. She said it would be an honour for them to have me take these things on my pilgrimage.

My wife’s cousin in India looked for a guru swami  for me. He found someone through the Ayyappa Seva Sangam, which is run by volunteers. The guru swami was named Sri Bhairavan. I knew that Swami had chosen this person for me and that there was some connection. Sri Bhairavan was an elderly man and had other constraints, and he had never flown in an airplane before, but he agreed to fly with me from Chennai to Cochin and take me to Sabarimala from there.

As soon as we landed in Chennai I phoned him and he advised that we should do a puja in the house, I should wear the mala and we should sing bhajans. As soon as I met him I could feel the vibration and my body was trembling. I saw that this guru had come out of his way to help me. We did the puja and he put the tulasi mala on me. As he put vibhuti on me, I fell to the ground. I felt the energy on me. Sri Bhairavan told me I had to get my energies together for this journey, that it would be a hard one.

We reached Cochin and started for Sabarimala. I had heard about the crowds and the lack of cleanliness. I had made up my mind not to eat or drink anything on the way, and though Radhika packed food for our drive we never ate. When we got to Erumeli (the starting point of the pilgrimage) it was raining heavily. Normally that is the place where pilgrims stop at a temple and get the irumudi, the offering to Ayyappa, entrusted to them. We couldn’t get the irumudiassembled there, so we went on to Pamba, the town along the river at the base of Sabarimala.

When I saw the rain and the way, I said to myself, “What did I get myself into and is this something I can do?”

Guru Swami doing Puja

Guru Swami singing for the lord 

Trance after getting tulasi mala from Guru Swami

Ernakulam Airport, Kerala

Guru Swami's First Flight

Getting Off The Flight

My guruswamy told me to take a bath in the Pamba. We were to do sraddam for our respective fathers. I took a dip in the water and sat on a rock as he instructed. Sri Bhairavan did the rites for his father and then he guided me through the rites for my father. He said we would climb to the top that same evening.

There were four or five priests from the Devasthanam. They usually assemble the irumudi in two to three minutes for each devotee. With us they took their time. We got our irumudi put on our heads. We had poured two cups of ghee in each coconut to be offered. We carried all that on our heads, hung a bag on our shoulders, with my passport and other things, and we started climbing the wet, slippery path. To keep the irumudi dry, we draped plastic sheets over it.

We climbed. Sri Bhairavan was 70 and handicapped and he was climbing. I had doubts then. “How am I going to finish this?” I thought. The path is steep and rocky, a tough climb. I saw the natural beauty around me and learned to let go and leave it to the lord. A few times I stopped for breath. It was getting dark and it still rained. At midpoint I sat and put my bag down next to me. I may have dozed for a second, and when I opened my eyes the bag was gone. But an elderly man near me said, “Your bag has fallen on the other side of the wall.” Luckily nothing had fallen out.

As we resumed climbing I kept asking, like a kid, “Are we there yet?” Finally I could see the lights from the temple. We had made it to the top. But the line of devotees seemed to stretch for miles. I said to guruswamy that it would take hours for us to get darshan. He said no. Sri Bhairavan walked, with me following behind, to the front of the line. Each time he reached a checkpoint the policeman on duty told us to go to the back and join the line, but each time he went forward.

When we reached the 18 golden steps, which were roped off, five policemen with lathis stood in front. Sri Bhairavan put his hands out and said, “Swami Ayyappa.” All five men moved aside and opened the rope for us. We broke the coconut on the first step and we climbed with no one in front and no one behind us. We climbed up without hindrance.

At the top, of course, there was again a huge crowd, but we got pulled to the side, towards the sannidhi, and within five feet of the deity I got a full, fulfilling darshan of his glory.

After darshan we asked the melsanthi or head priest to let us witness the nei abhishekam with the ghee we had brought with us. He said that was not possible, that devotees were no longer allowed to do that singly. Sri Bhairavan came out dejected but he didn’t take no for an answer. We looked for a place to sleep. It was raining, and all the shelters were full. We went to the kitchen and found some space on the floor to lie down, near where the dishes are washed and on the route to the bathrooms. I lay awake on the floor, listening to the jungle calls and the sound of the rain on the thatch.

At 4 a.m., I bathed and then I woke up Sri Bhairavan. We went to break our coconuts and transfer the ghee to a vessel. The ghee came out almost as a solid cylinder. Sri Bhairavan told me, “When I broke your coconut I knew what you had put into it. You have done the austerities correctly. You have the grace of the Lord.” The second and third coconuts came out the same. The ghee from another pilgrim’s coconut came out liquid. Sri Bhairavan said that when the vows are not correctly fulfilled, the ghee will not solidify. If that man had been part of a group, he said, he would have compromised everyone’s pilgrimage.

We tried again to offer our ghee for the abhishekam. This time, next to the melsanthi there was another priest who recognized Sri Bhairavan. He happened to be a former student of Sri Bhairavan. The melsanthi considered our case again and agreed to perform the abhishekam with our ghee offering in front of us. He said he would give some of the ghee as prasadam to us by the time we returned from our pradakshinam.

Going down the hill was as difficult as the climb up. We had a very short time to struggle down the path, find our car, and drive back to Cochin so that my guruswamy could catch his flight. He told me that the pilgrimage was not considered completed until I returned to the starting point, in this case the house in which we had performed the puja and I had first worn the tulasi mala. Until then, the austerities continue.

Sri Bhairavan’s return to the airport was more stressful than the entire pilgrimage, but throughout we felt the rare energy that came from him. We escorted him past the check-in counter and up to the security check before boarding. Each time we asked someone to assist him, people went out of their way to help. Once he went through the security gate, the rest of us were told to get behind the barriers again. We realized then that his presence was the number in front of the zeroes. I know the pilgrimage would not have been possible without him.

Divine Energy in Action - my experience

I am sure that many of you have seen me in various religious functions and have wondered why I fall? I am not the “doer”. When the energy in the room is very high the vibrations affect my soul and opens up the Kundalini Shakti and it begins to rise upwards until it reaches the very top which in turn causes me to fall. At that very moment, I am connected to the divine. Until the energy subsides I cannot open my eyes. Please do not touch me, throw water to wake me up, tickle me to see if I have any sensation, or check to see if I am alive. For more than ten-plus years I have experienced this hundreds of times and never have been hurt because, again, I am not the “doer”. I have fallen in the most difficult places that one may not be able to fathom and consider it utterly unimaginable. I have fallen directly in between 2 rocks, in India next to a well and another rock as well as on a flight of stairs. I have fallen on concrete floors, granite, marble, hardwood, and carpet. Nevertheless I have never sprained, broken a single bone, or suffered any injury to the head. Many times people are in complete shock and wish to capture the moment by taking a picture; however, it happens so fast that you will not be able to snap a photo until I am on the floor. One may think that my head is hitting the floor like a coconut once you hear the noise but one shouldn’t forget that the divine is holding the body. So rest assured I am in the divine hands.

Sai Prema - Sathya Sai 88th Birthday

Om Sri Sairam.

 

November 22nd, 2013.

 

A story of Sai Prema !

 

This is an extraordinary story about the descent of Bhagawan, Sri Sathya SaiBaba’s grace   through the medium of a portrait.  The events I’m going to narrate merely reiterates what most Sai devotees might have already experienced, namely,the Omniscience and Omnipotent powers of beloved Bhagawan , His “prema” or unconditional love as well as His remarkable leelas and happy outcome of events  that seem to be planned right down to the minutest detail many months if not years ago!

It never ceases to amaze me how Divine machinations bring strangers together for a common cause or for a special purpose.

I completed a portrait of Swami today ( Thursday, November 21st, 2013), and straight away received a message from Swami that the fortunate recipient of both the portrait and Swami’s special blessings would be Sri. Koushik ( New Jersey).

It is at Koushik’s request,  I’m writing this story.

 

I’m not an artist. Yet, over the past decade, as a result of Divine visions and commands I have executed over 300 paintings, all of a religious genre, depicting various Gods, Goddesses, yantras, saints, etc. Thus began my spiritual journey and it still continues with the guidance and blessings of my “internal” Guru.

 

I must confess that until the year 2011, I never considered myself to be a devotee or follower of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. It was only after Bhagawan’s Mahasamadhithat I was made to realize His greatness as a “ Poorna Avatar”.

I subsequently   painted two portraits of Bhagawan .  Each one has a story to tell and each drawing   found a resting place with the intended family.

 

Earlier this year, after a series of intense Kundalini awakenings, I painted over 20 portraits of various Hindu Gods, mostly aspects of Shakthi. During Navarathri, 2013, an auspicious period for the worship of Durga, more paintings of Devispoured forth.

One day, during this nine-day festival, I received a message from Swami to paint His portrait. I was supposed to finish this before his 88th, birthday ( November 23rd, 2013).

As soon as I received this direct command, I asked Swami to enlighten me whichparticular pose or image I was meant to depict . Since, I didn’t receive a clear answer I postponed the drawing.

A few weeks later, I found myself watching a video interview on Souljourns given by a person called Karthik Ramesh. I am not sure what propelled me to this particular website or video,  but I soon found the reason why. Although the video interview was inspiring what really riveted my attention was the photograph of Swami, placed on a table directly behind Karthik. In this photo, Swami’s face fills up the entire frame, His head is  tilted to one side and a most enchanting smile lights up his eyes, spilling out all His love!

I got an unmistakable message from Swami that “this” was the image I had to draw.

Immediately, I searched the internet and although the same image was widely available, somehow, I could neither download or print the picture despite several attempts. Finally, out of frustration, I gave up and surrendered to Swami.

I knew this painting was meant to be special and would come about in Swami’s own inimitable style!

 

I returned to New York from my home in London in the first week of November. Perhaps it was coincidental, but Skanda Sashti brought on a painting for LordShanmuga in His aspect of “ Runa Hara Subrahmaniam” or “ remover of all debts”.

A week sped by quickly and I realized I hadn’t even started the painting of Swami.

With His 88th birthday just ten days away, it seemed to me this particular painting might never happen.

Needless to say, I was  totally wrong!!

 

The seed for the story of “ Sai Prema Painting” , was sowed almost 5 years ago, because that was the very first time I met Sri. Koushik and his family. The meeting happened at a very unusual location.

I must point out here,    in the year 2002, my spiritual journey  brought me to a  mystical powerhouse called Sri Bala Peetam, in Nemili, Tamil Nadu.

Since I have always been steeped in the worship of Universal Mother, it became impossible not to be captivated by the enchanting form of her daughter, as SriBala!

Many, are the Divine leelas I have experienced with this  mischievous and loving child Goddess and they still continue. For a long time, I used to write about these incredible events on my blog but discontinued after 2011.

So, coming back to my story,  one significant day in the year 2008  I travelled toNemili to receive SRI BALA’s blessings. Just as I stepped over the threshold, one of the family members came up to me and said with a smile “ Amma, your entry has been so perfectly timed by Bala”.

At first, I couldn’t understand what he meant. As I approached the Mandapamwhere little Bala is seated regally, I noticed a family of four members receiving thePeetathipadhi’s blessings.

I was informed that this family had come all the way from New Jersey because one of the members had chanced across my blog, read about my experiences with Balaand had come to see the Divine child. Just as Koushik and his wife Radhika were enquiring about me, I walked inside Sri Bala’s Peetam!

 

That was the first time I met Sri Koushik and his wife’s family. We had a pleasant chat and they carried on back to Chennai.

Years passed and although I’ve always included this family in my prayers, there was no opportunity to meet this family until November 14th, 2013.

 

It was on this day last week, I paid a long overdue visit to New Jersey to meet my friend Mrs. J.V. As it turned out, this lady knew Koushik very well since she too,attends bhajans at the local Sai centre in N.J.

Koushik had kindly offered to pick me up from the train station. Before I left my apartment, I received two messages from Swami. One, was to take a special gift for my friend, Mrs. J.V. The second message was I would receive something fromKoushik.

 

I spent a pleasant couple of hours at my friend’s house and just as I was leaving,Koushik suggested I stop by at his house briefly, before he dropped me off at the train station.

As soon as I entered Koushik’s house, I first went inside the puja room and what Isaw took my breath away.

There it was!! Propped up at the very bottom of the Puja shelf was a very beautiful, framed photo of Swami, the exact same image He had wanted me to draw, several months ago!

I couldn’t contain my surprise and happiness and  related the story to Koushik. Even before I could ask for this photo, Koushik removed it  immediately from the frame and gave it to me!

I felt a bit unsure about taking a sacred photo from the puja room, but Koushikbrushed away my concerns.

I left N.J. that day terribly elated but not too sure whether I could paint this portrait before Swami’s birthday. After all, I’m not an artist and capturing the beauty of the Lord is never an easy task.

 

The weekend of November 16th and 17th sped fast with personal commitments. It was only on Monday, November 18th that I started the portrait in real earnest.

I sent a silent appeal to Swami and surrendered at His Holy feet. I was absolutely convinced that only His Grace would enable me to finish the painting.

First of all, I was unsure if I should use charcoal pencils or paint. Finally, I was led to blend both.

I listened to Sathya Sai Saasranamam  and Sai Bhajans non stop for three consecutive days. There were moments of elation when I thought the drawing was proceeding well. There were also moments of abject sorrow when I thought I’d messed up the art work.

Tears would well up in my eyes from time to time without any reason. At every step, every stroke of my pencil, Swami was holding my hand, guiding me lovinglyas Sai Ma!!

Finally, on Wednesday evening, ( Nov 20th), what I though was impossible was made possible ONLY through Swami’s Grace.

The picture was completed. In an almost humorous twist, Swami’s  message to mewas- “ Leave my hair alone, you’ll ruin it if you add one more stroke”.

 

I heaved a sigh of relief and started to clear the art materials. Without warning ,one more message came from Bhagawan. “ Give this painting to Koushik”.

I was taken aback. How on earth  could I part with this precious labor of Love? How can I give away a piece of work which has ALL the energies of the Master? How can I even contemplate such a thought?

Yet, the instruction was clear. Like an automated robot I followed His commands. Swami told me to get a frame from the nearby store . I was told to allow the picture to dry out on Thursday and then go up to N.J. on Friday, Nov 22nd and hand it over to Koushik.

I went to bed on Wednesday night still unsure about parting with the picture. Mydaughter  dropped by on her way from work and I showed her the painting. Hercomment was “ Mum, you must keep this one for yourself. Promise, you’ll never give it away”.

On Thursday morning, I appealed to Swami once again to send me a sure sign if I was meant to give away the painting.

I was a bit concerned that the recipient should not think I was forcing this on him!

I had no particular “ attachment” to the painting, because it was His Grace that gave me the ability to carry out the task.

I heard Swami in my heart center, telling me  I would receive a call from Koushikthat morning and this would be His confirmation.

I had a bath and went about my prayers as usual. I listened to Sathya SaiSahasranamam followed by bhajans as I put finishing touches to the painting.

Almost with relief, I told Swami at the end, “ See, there was no phone call. So, I’m not giving this away to anyone”.

Swami told me “ Check your phone message”.

To my amazement, I’d missed a call from Koushik that morning. He must have called while I was in the shower!

 

So, with Swami’s unique way of double confirmation, this special painting, a flow of Sai Prema from start to finish, shall find a permanent resting place in Koushik’shome.

There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind  Swami’s Prema and blessings gush forth from this painting. Every stroke has been directed by the Lord  and His  overpowering presence has to be experienced, as I have no words left  to describe this intense, emotional encounter with the Lord!

May this painting bestow  happiness, everlasting good health and prosperity to one and all!

 

OM SRI SAI RAM.

 

Iraivan Temple, Kauai, Hawaii - 2005

I have have had many visions of both The Lord and various places that I have never seen before in my life yet can describe everything in such detail. One such day I saw a huge Nandi but was unable to see The Lord in front. At that time I did not know where this place was exactly but it surely did exist.

 

As my family and I were planning our annual vacation, Hawaii was one of the options to choose from and being that we have already seen Maui and Oahu on our previous trip we chose to go to Kauai this time around.

They have a remarkable attraction suitable for seniors; a beautiful and serene Indian temple located right in Kauai. After settling down, we made our way to an Iraivan temple and a Hindu monastery. Upon arriving we saw a huge Nandi and everyone knew this was the place I was talking about. We washed our hands and feet and proceeded toward the altar. On the altar was a crystal lingam in the center, Lord Ganesha to the left, and Lord Subramanian to the right.

Sadhguru Subramanian Swami got his vision for the Iraivan temple sitting here as Siva came and sat right next to him.

 

The Vel (spear) you see at the top of the lush green hill is in the very same location where Subramanian Swami got his vision to build the temple

 

 

We all sat wherever we could find space as the morning pooja was taking place. I sat across from Lord Subramanian but after a while I began to feel this itching sensation. So much that I could no longer control it and just had to simply excuse myself and walk out.

A monk was passing by and asked what the problem was. I replied, explaining to him how I felt as though I was on fire and unable to sit still. "You are in the right place. This is a place of fire i.e shiva. Well this Lord is about that energy! So go, cool yourself down, and then come and sit." This temple is a shaivite temple and without shakthi or Devi.  I did exactly what he had told me to do.
I then entered the shrine and sat in the same place. Within a few minutes, the energy started pulsating through my hands and I began to shake uncontrollably while tears started flowing down my face. I could not contain the pure joy and bliss of being one with The Lord.

After the energy intensified I instantly fell to the ground. I was a little child and began playing with Lord Ganesha and Lord Subramanian pleading them not to leave. They said "Amma is calling so we have to go!" It is now that I can see The Lord merge with the statue inside the temple!!! Lord Subramanian then says to me "Koushik, be very careful in asking for what you want" and throws the arrow at me and it hits me on the left side of my chest. I know the arrow has pierced my chest and I am asking my wife to pull it out, but she cannot see the arrow and replies "there is nothing there." At last, I am out of the trance and have officially come back to reality.

Lord Ganesha - Carved out of ONE granite stone

The monks, still in awe, said "we have never seen anything like this before and you are truly blessed to have the darshan of the lords. I do not know any slokas or mantras or what rituals to do. I cannot retain any stories of our Lords or have read any books pertaining to this type of phenomenon. This is simply the divine grace of the supreme compassionate Lord.

The energy boost coming out of the trance after feeling Subramanian Swami throw his speal (Vel)
 

Vaisaki Vishakham : http://youtu.be/vFKTNHKNt2Q

Starting in the divine path

AUM SRI SAI RAM

I offer all my writings to my beloved Swami, Sathya Sai Baba. All of us, from the time we are born, are always wondering what is our purpose in life? We go through the initial educational stages, the same as everyone, elementary school, high school, college, masters, and PhD. Then after several years in the workforce we get married, have children, and go through a mundane life of work and home acquiring wealth and materialistic objects thinking that it will give pleasure. Instead we find ourselves in a circle of a rat race with no ending.

 I also fell in to a similar situation but with some life changing events. It's told when the student is ready the guru comes and shows the way.  One day, when I was out with my family to a restaurant, we met a couple with two children sitting at the table next to us conversing with one another in Tamil which I was surprised to hear. That started our conversation and we exchanged phone numbers and began the journey. As they say, nothing which happens in our life is an accident because everything happens for a reason. 

Over time Hari, the gentleman I met at the restaurant, and I became good friends and one day my wife asked “what is your secret? You look so good. I would like my husband to try the same.” He mentioned he had joined a group called Isha Yoga which has made the inner transformation. “I will bring the video for him to watch.” He brought the tape after nine months. I do not have much patience for anything let alone watching a tape for one hour after a long day of thirteen to fourteen hours. Nonetheless, with slight hesitation, I played the tape and I was very much interested and watched it repeatedly until it got into me.

That started the inner most transformation I followed his teachings for four years till another guru by chance came into my life without any hesitation the shift happened and was shown the ultimate guru Sri Sathya Sai and Shirdi Sai whom I have totally surrender to. He is my mother,father,teacher and a loving guru guiding me every step of the way so beautifully.'

Sai Ram.

Love.All.Serve.All.