Went in Search of Bricks, but Reached the Path of the Guru – Swami Vandanaroopan Jnana Thapaswi

Santhigiri: Swami Vandanrupan Jnana Thapasvi shared his experience in the Meeting held today on the 7th day of the 38th Sannyasa Deeksha Varshikam celebrations of Santhigiri Ashram. Swami’s one-hour speech was a direct testimony of his experience with Guru. The following is the excerpts from his speech:
‘In 1993, when I went to Olasseri to look for bricks, I saw colourful parasols, a big crowd, and preparations on the way. At first, I thought it was a church ceremony, but soon realized that they had assembled there to welcome the arrival of a Mahaguru. I felt something special when I saw the Guru and felt a great closeness with Guru. I happened to see my relative Gopalan Master at this function in Olassery that day. ‘What are you doing here?’, I asked him. ‘What brings you here?’, that was his counter question. Then he explained that this was his Guru. So, this is your Guru, and you say there is no God. We used to surround and attack Gopalan Master when he spoke about the Ashram at home. Due to his previous experience, he was not ready for a dialogue. “If you want to know anything, Guru is here for two days, you can go and ask,” he said and retreated. The moment I met Guru, my ideological struggle was over, and I decided to follow the path of Guru.’
The Swami also shared an experience when he was in-charge of coordinating the monthly prayer of Palakkad: ‘When the prayer group reaches Thiruvananthapuram Ashram, the first thing they say is that they must go back at 8 am, the next day. After the night prayer, from 7 AM, they will come and wait in front of Guru’s hut for permission. Guru will instruct the people standing nearby to tell the group to come after having tea. They will convey that information. When the tea is over, the next instruction of Guru will be to come after the worship at 9’ 0 clock and having kanji (rice porridge) after that. You will be able to meet Guru only after the worship at 12’0 clock, or after the worship at 3′ 0 or 5’0 clock. The satisfaction and joy of waiting and seeing Guru when that small door of Guru’s room opens cannot be described. Guru will tell us not to eat food on the way and to leave only after having kanji after the 9 o’clock worship at night. This continued every time we came for the monthly prayer. Once a person in charge of the Ashram asked Guru why he was doing this to the people of Palakkad. Guru said that when they come here, they should attend at least ten worships before leaving. Guru did that to change our Rashi and to fill our lives with light.
The Swami shared his bitter experience when he came to invite Guru for the first anniversary of Palakkad Ashram and the love he received from Guru that time. Guru suggested that a Medical College and a Research Centre should come up in Palakkad. Guru talked about many things that day. The Swami narrated how he had a great desire to touch Guru and the joy he experienced when his desire was fulfilled. Explaining the moments of Guru’s closeness, the Swami said that Guru’s body had the fragrance of sandalwood, and Guru’s feet were as soft as lotus blossoms.
The memories of Guru flashed through the minds of everyone present in the Conference Hall. Swami explained about the incident that gave pain to Guru due to the disobedience of the people of Palakkad about 19 years ago (October 2). The Guru will not abandon the disciple in any crisis, and anything can be achieved through prayer. Swami concluded by saying that Guru Parampara is our strength, and each member of the Gurudharma Prakasha Sabha including the novices should gain the knowledge to respect the Parampara, and become familiar with the style of governance of the Ashram.