Meeting & Connecting With A Living Siddhar

I have been very fortunate in meeting Balu Swami (Karur siddhar) by reading the blog by Uma Shiv Kumar. Actually my wife connected me to her; she found out the details from her friend then called Shanmugam, the devoted assistant to Balu Swami and had the privilege of talking to him. He had asked, does your husband believe in these matters? She said more so than me. He then replied, in that case ask him to call me because I want to talk to him. He is available on Thursday which is even better as it is guru’s day. Radhika had briefed me on the way Balu Swami operates. She said make sure you have a paper and a pencil to write down what he is going to say as he speaks pure Tamil in case you may want to go over anything later with him. After I came home from work around 11pm, New Jersey time, I called Shanmugam to find out if Balu Swami was available to speak. He said I have to drive to where he is and find out so call me back in a hour or so (Shanmugam has a retail business and when Balu Swami's devotees call on him, he leaves the store and rides his motorbike to find Balu Swami) as he does not stay in the same place all the time depending on the state of mind. I called him and connected with the most simple, loving, and caring man. 

He asked me which floor of my house was I sitting in. I wondered how he knew that we had more than one floor. "I am on the second floor." He then asked "why do you have something in your hand?" Again, how is it possible that he knows? "I wanted to write down what you are saying." He replied with a simple "no need. Whatever I say you will only listen and follow. He asked if I had lit a lamp in the puja room. I said yes. He then said "no I only see candles I do not see any oil lamps." This is true because we had very recently switched from oil lamps to candles as my mother-in- law always spills oil so to avoid such catastrophes we had made the switch. He said Indian house oil lamp in puja room. He also did not want me to go to any temple as they are all looking for money. This also happened to be true as very recently I was in fact approached by a temple. Then he gave me a mantra to recite. I began chanting, but he stopped me to ask why my eye lids were open. I was wondering how in the world does he know if my eyes or open or not because he is some 10,000 miles away sitting in a rural village. With that being said I immediately closed my eyes and began chanting yet again. But it wasn't long before again he said "I still can see light going thru your eyes. Close them tightly and chant." With all these instructions I forgot the count. He said chant in your head your lips should not move. He suddenly said "stop. You have chanted 25 times already. Now I am sitting in your heart and there is nothing you can do to take me out. I will be with you all the time just chant the name with all the time you have available. 

The human tendency is to doubt such powers so looked around the room to see him. Finally I knew he was beyond time and space and I will never know how he knew everything. As time went on I would only call him once in a while but my wife kept in touch more frequently as requirements might have been more and needed his help in various matters. The one problem that I did have was I had severe pain in my left leg at the time and had contacted several physicians and hospitals yet they kept saying there was no cure and that i wouldn't be able to walk for a long period of time. Even though I wanted to personally see him and get his blessings, I did not know how I was going to travel for a whole day or more before I see him. He assured me things will be taken care of once I decided to come. We, as family, went together to finally meet up with a living siddhar. We did not know what to expect of him. We, out of respect, took cashews, badam (almonds), raisins, pistachios, and fruits as offering to the saint. 

After six hours of driving from Chennai we arrived in Karur along with Radhika’s cousin, his wife, and another friend Jayaraman. We were told to meet Shanmugam in front of the Shiva temple in Karur. It is said that Karur siddhar has attained maha samadi inside that very temple and there is his shrine next to the Shiva temple. After the siddhar attained samadhi the powers went to Balu Swami who has been living with those yogic powers.  We planned to stay in Karur for one week and enjoy his divine presence every day. We had the privilege of spending Maha Shivarathri with him. He is such a delight to be with, he was serious when needed and as playful as a child with a great sense of humor yet totally unaffected by all. One can see the utmost concentration in the work he performs. Balu Swami wanted me to go and visit Iyermalai, a Shivan temple built on a hill with 1,008 steps reaching to the top. They were extremely steep and could not just walk one step after the other. There was a certain method of climbing the temple steps. We had to walk with one foot in front of the other across each step sideways while chanting the unique mantra given to each of us individually. We were not to disclose what one anothers mantra was. The mantra was used for cleansing and in my case for repairing my left leg. I had no pain or problems whatsoever walking up and down the temple steps. We had a beautiful darshan of The Lord and prasadam as someone had performed Abhishekam. As I approached the sanctorum of the lord u went into a trance immediately. 

After a while I came back to reality where it was beautiful and pristine. 
 Shanmugham, Rajesh, and Panchacharam, our driver, gave us company and made the trip  even more pleasant. I was thoroughly touched in so many ways of the simplicity of such a person with so much love for all. The trip was more than we expected and we were all touched in our own special ways by all of those that we met. Most of them barely have anything yet have the biggest hearts enough to hold a 1,000 people.I salute them. As he had said "you must have some karma to meet someone like me" because even the person who lives next door has no idea who I am. Then there are people who have been sitting here outside my door for the last 5 years hoping they'll get a word with me. Here are some pictures of us with Balu Swami in Karur. He attained mahasamadi on 11-25-2012. I am so thankful to have had the privilege of meeting a saint.

    VISIT  WEB SITE: KARUR  SIDDHAR BALUSWAMY.ORG

Sai Ram.

Balu Swami's caretaker with Radhika and myself

 Radhika & Shanmugam (Balu Swami's Asst.)

 Balu Swami showing love & affection!

Balu Swami's caretaker since childhood

Balu Swami's sense of humor.

Balu Swami in our car.

A glimpse of the 1,008 steps.

Balu Swami glowing.

Balu Swami relaxing.

Love All Serve All.