anando

Asato ma sadgamay, Tamaso ma jyotirgamay,
Mrutyormaamrutam gamay, AUM Shanti: Shanti: Shanti: ||

I learnt this mantra in my SSY class. While I had heard the shloka before, I understood the meaning of it in the class. But the real meaning of the shloka I know now.
Those who stand for truth, are called enlighten beings who live eternally.
Immortal are those who Live Life King Size on Empty Wallets.

Death means different for different people. And what people leave behind also is different based on the life they live.

My Guru, Poojya Guruji Rishi Prabhakarji in his lifetime research threw light on human life, potential of consciousness and development of civilizations based on consciousness of societies. He discovered that human beings are grossly grouped based by their consciousness level. Based on this level of consciousness they live their life as joy & freedom or stress & burden. Their place in society, the respect and love they receive also depends on how they live. Everything they do, the way they think, the people they connect with, the work they enjoy doing, the food they enjoy eating………… all is controlled by their consciousness. This is true for everyone.

The way we live also decides how we will leave this world. How we depart, what we leave behind and what impact we create on the society depends on the way we have lived our life.

People who depend mainly on their physical abilities for survival are very hard working and will always be busy. Their enjoyment comes from physical comfort and sensual pleasure. Hence all their life is focused on getting more and more comfortable with material comforts. Everything they acquire which will give the sensual pleasure will be perceived as their progress and possessions. The more material comfort and pleasure they attain the more successful they feel. All their efforts will be to gain more and more comfort and enjoying sensual pleasures and protect the material property. Main purpose of their life is holding as much as possible. Every minute of their life and all their energy is utilized in gaining more and more material and protecting it. More will be merrier and any threat of losing it will bring insecurity, stress, and pain to them. The connections they will make are only with those people who will protect their interest and those who may wish to take advantage of their wealth will be their enemies.

Such people live life and leave life as physical beings. Their physical death brings completion to their presence on this planet earth. If they have passed on the same consciousness to their children then only their own children will remember them. If they have left some property for their children then the children will remember them fondly. And may still regret that the parents did not leave enough. And if they haven’t left any property, their own kids will curse them and forget them. These people are born, eat, enjoy, procreate and die. They die when their physical body dies. These are the mere mortals.

People who live by their intellect are more creative in creating wealth. They use their intelligence in creating useful things for society. They are enterprising in living their life. They not just enjoy material comforts but they have the ability of creating material comforts. They create a lot of wealth for themselves and for those connected with them.
When they die they leave their wealth for their kith and kin and their investors or shareholders. People remember them by their creations. They are immortal for those who have a share in their wealth. As long as their creations live they live. But as many are interested in grabbing large portion of their wealth soon after their death, their creations are in danger of being divided, destroyed, captured etc. They leave greed behind themselves.

People like community leaders, social activists and politicians etc. live for the people they represent. They protect people’s rights, fight for them and give their life for the cause. They are remembered by their work and by their followers. While they enjoy great love from many but are hated by those who oppose their point of view. They are remembered by their work and any bad publicity on their personal life can wash away their lifetime work in just a day.

Some people live for discovering the higher truth about life. They are seeking the ultimate truth about universe. They happily throw away the material comforts & pleasures and give up their wealth even their biological family and spend their lifetime in aligning themselves to the truth and truth alone. They are seeking GOD and for them seeking GOD replaces every other purpose in life. They are not very concerned about leaving anything behind or creating any particular impact on anyone. Life is a journey of growing higher and higher in their understanding of GOD. They live and die in this journey and may not even be known to anyone. They may be completely disconnected with the world.

But when I look at my Guruji’s life I realize that there are some human beings like him who discover that life is not about just seeking truth but it is about living with the conviction that truth exists within. They are not particularly in search of anything. They are free from all quests. For them, life is about living these truths on a day-to-day basis.
This is why; they are just discovering every moment as it comes in a pure enthusiasm of a child. They find every moment a wonderful gift from GOD and are in complete gratitude. They touch every soul who comes in their contact. They are pure and playful like a child. They are brilliant like Sun and soothing like moonlight. They are vast like space and deep like ocean. When they are with you, you forget your own presence but when they go away you still feel their fragrant presence in and around you. Being in presence of these people anyone can experience GOD.

My Guruji is one such person. In his teaching and just by being with him I felt complete. In seeing him being with others I became one with many. He connected me with the world in such a loving bond that even after his physical presence is gone I am not feeling alone. Rather I feel his presence in many around me. He literally distributed himself in many of us.

Guruji enjoyed every aspect of life but he was never attached to them. Right after sitting on a comfortable chair and expressing his childlike joy on finding something so wonderful, he would get down on the floor and start looking how the chair is made and how more efficiently and cost effectively he can make it so many more can enjoy the same comfort. While eating a tastiest dish he would start enquiring about its recipe and examine how it can be modified to suit not just the satisfaction to the taste buds but bring wholesome contentment to the eater. Every best thing in the world he enjoyed was his exploration on how to make it available to the whole world. His own existence was in seeing himself in others. He lived “Aham Brahmasmi” and “Tatwamasi” simultaneously as one experience. And hence he was experiencing the “Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma” at every moment of his life.
Guruji was so connected with the universal principle of oneness that for him the world was manifestation of GOD at every level. And this quality of his makes him immortal for the whole humanity. Just like Jesus Christ or Buddha, he too is living in his spirit of joy, love and absolute freedom for next many thousands of years. All the Rishis are living even today for the life they upheld in their physical lifetime. Saint Dnyaneshwar is a living spirit for every warkari. Today every Dnyaneshwar Bhakta lives the spirit of Dnyaneshwar in his/her own life and keeps this spirit alive.

Similarly in my life and lives of many of my Guru-bandhus & Guru-bhaginis, Guruji is established as a living spirit. By living by that spirit, we will transmit it on to our next generation and they to their next generation. This is Guru-Parampara. Just like Veda-Vyasa or any other Rishi whom we remember, Guruji too will be remembered by every living being who aspires to live happy life for no reason.

My Guruji is immortal because what he leaves behind is not just his biological heirs or not just his ashrams or not even the techniques he developed.
He is immortal because many living beings are infused with his spirit. He is a Brahma Rishi who created many more like him.
He will remain in this world for next 6000 years and many more.
My Guruji is an immortal being