My questions are answered
At the time I was 17 years old and I was not very spiritual minded. I remember one night Swami Vishwananda and me couldn’t sleep so we decided to go up to the roof and listen to bhajans on a loudspeaker and dance. We were very excitable and energetic at 2am in the morning and were having lots of fun. I recall that Swami and I were dancing, holding onto each other and spinning out of control and letting off fireworks! Swami’s mother and sister had tried to convince us to all to turn off the music and go to bed which we eventually agreed to around 4am. Everyone had started to make their way down to the house to sleep, apart from Swami Vishwananda, myself and another boy.
We stayed on the roof and started to chat about spirituality. I found that I was engrossed with what Swami was saying and was becoming increasingly inquisitive. I asked Swami Vishwananda some questions about the universe, my life and spirituality. Swami listened to my questions and then presented me with a unique and awesome opportunity where he offered to mediate on my questions and ask a divine soul to personally come and answer my questions.
Swami Vishwananda begun to meditate and around 15 minutes later I heard an astounding deep voice from behind Swami ask me “what do you want?” I turned around to see who was actually talking to me, however I did not know who it was. Present on the roof was Swami, another boy and myself and none us were talking! I felt a powerful energy some sort of apparition or light was behind Swami. I could feel this energy and see a blue and white tinted light. It felt like a surge of electricity around me. The other boy present during this time put his hands together to pray before this divine energy. I did not know what to say, so I kept silent.
The divine being started to talk to me about myself and also explained to me that Swami is his child, a part of himself born on earth in human form to awaken the divinity in us all, to realize the Supreme Lord. He also spoke to me about my special connection with Swami. The divine being then asked me “Do you remember when I danced as Nataraja and split the earth into two lands?” I tried to recall any memory of this event but I could not. However I nodded my head out of respect to say I remembered, but in reality I did not. I was then amazed he then asked me “what do you want At this point I thought to myself its 4 o’clock in the morning, my uncle will not visit us at this time of night. Swami came out of his meditation and opened his eyes, and as I turned my head I saw my uncle and cousin approaching the house. They could not sleep so they wanted to visit us! (by Ravi)
A scent of flowers in my bedroom
Already quite a while before meeting Swami Vishwananda in person I had a strong feeling of a higher presence being with me. One evening, about three months before finally meeting him I was visiting with my aunt. It was a rainy, windy day and so I had the windows of my room closed. At about 10 pm I retired to have some time for silence and meditation before going to bed. Upon entering my room I immediately sensed a different energy, very soft, very gentle, very beautiful, like a golden light though invisible to my eyes. And the whole room was filled with a scent of flowers. There was a presence in my room so palpable that it made me slow down and smile and I greeted whoever was there by saying, “Hi”. I knew that I was being visited by a divine presence and this beautiful scent of flowers was like a greeting to confirm that this was real and that he was there with me and that I was being loved. (by Prajna, Springen)
The Grace of the master
Usually I am more private regarding my experiences with my spiritual Master Sri Swami Vishwananda, but the following experience he has given me shows as clear as crystal who he really is and for that reason I would like to share it with you.
One day the question came up for me what bhakti, surrender to the Divine, truly is. What does it mean to surrender completely? We sing and pray, dance and cry to God, but is this really bhakti or just an emotional expression of feelings and wishes? What is the difference between bhakti and emotionality?
I was carrying this question around for a while until it became so urgent for me to find an answer to it that I turned to Guruji. I asked him to grant me a question. He answered, only if it is a spiritual question. For some reason I did not feel accepted, so I turned around to leave while saying, yes, it is a spiritual question. But I never actually formulated this question.
When I came back to my room to reflect about this exchange with my Guru I was suddenly lifted into a different state to have an immediate experience of surrender to the Divine which was so intense that the separation between me and the Divine was dissolved. Guruji did not only know my question which I had never formulated, he also gave me the answer in form of an experience which would never have been possible without the grace of God.
(By Prajna, Springen )
The western sage
Swami Vishwananda was fourteen years old as Ravi his cousin came from London to visit his family. Ravi told us how he assisted for the first time with Swami Vishwananda to a Bajan session. But a special guest came to visit them:
"During the same trip to
Master-disciple relationship
Jesus hath many lovers of his heavenly kingdom, but few bearers of his cross. He had many desirous of consolation but few of his tribulation. He found many companions of his table but few of his abstinence. All desire to rejoice in him, but few are willing to endure anything for him or with him. Many follow Jesus into the breaking of bread, but few to the drinking of the cup of his passion. Many reverence his miracles, but few followed him to his cross. Many love Jesus, so long as no adversities befall them. These quotes from the book „The Imitation of Christ“ by Thomas A Kempis depict exactly how difficult it is to walk in the master’s footsteps. Jesus Christ, who was the incarnation of love, showering the bliss of divine love impartially to all, suffered crucifixion from the very same people who praised him no longer before. Click here to read the rest of the story Back to the path of Christ I met Swami Vishwananda in
The meaning of vibhuti
I have known Swami Vishwananda (Visham) since he was thirteen years old. He, Amal, Rose and I were good friends and were inseparable. Visham was lively, fun and very honest. We went to college in Rose-Hill and sometimes we would leave school and go to his place or mine, but we never had a problem with our teachers. Soon, he left the college and began vocational training at Vaqua. But we remained good friends, and on Sundays we would get together. The mandir in Vaqua fascinated Swami Vishwananda. At first I wasn’t that interested in going there, as I thought the best form of prayer was service to humanity. Click here to read the rest of the story
Unconditional Love
For the love from our hearts, which is pure and untainted, is ever ready to sprout forth, though covered with the mud of our restless thoughts and egos. Swami Vishwananda penetrates deeply and guides us directly from the soul level and doesn’t mind our egos and minds, for we are not that. These are like old garments that we need to get rid of. He loves us for who we truly are — children of God, pure love and bliss. Swami Vishwananda teaches us to rise above the ego and the mind; to look deep within ourselves and to reawaken the divine memory that we are not mortal beings doomed to roll in the mud of our wrongdoings. He came to sow the seeds of love in the hearts of men and to show us the way back to our true home, in God. He is the true lighthouse, the guiding star of our shipwrecked hearts.
Finding my Swami again
I met Swami Vishwananda in
My Sadguru
There are times in one’s life when an event or a person changes the whole course of the river of one’s life. That may well be said of my first meeting with a great man of God, Swami Vishwananda. With an encounter of this kind, words are inadequate to describe the true greatness or importance of such a meeting. To meet the guide, the one sent to you by God, to lead you to the highest safety, peace eternal, your true home, after incarnations of exile, after roaming in this ocean of delusion, this dream that we call reality, is inexpressible. Click here to read the rest of the story
The mind
Swami Vishwananda always tells us to make proper use of our God-given mind. He does not like it if someone acts too emotionally or irrationally. He says that common sense is incredibly important. The cosmic illusion maya is created by the mind, and this is one of God’s greatest creations. We should not ignore this divine play, but instead adore queen maya because she is so powerful that even God can forget Himself due to her. We have to use the mind to examine and discriminate in order to go beyond this illusion. We must understand that we have a mind, but we are not the mind. Click here to read the rest of the story
Consequences of a past action
There have been so many hours spent sitting after a lunch or dinner, where we tried to find the end of the mind. One night it just so happened that we had been talking until dawn about Enlightenment and giving up the mind. One day I questioned Swami about a certain matter and he replied, “I will not answer this question because the answer will only blow your mind and will not help you in any way”. Click here to read the rest of the story
The apple tree
This story was told by Swami Vishwananda: "A father had two children, they were walking on a path. One child was on the shoulder of the father and the other was holding the hand of the father. They reached a beautiful apple tree." Click here to read the rest of the story
The seeds of love
One evening I stood at the entrance of the chapel where icons of saints are displayed. There were other disciples around as well, all of them preoccupied with their own tasks. I was just enjoying the atmosphere of being in the presence of Swami Vishwananda. Knowing that he never acknowledges that he is aware of what is going on in our heads, I felt free to express my divine cry for my Divine Mother, whom I beheld in the form of my guru. Feeling safe and secure within my own mind, and the thought that he would avoid me completely so as not to build up my ego even in the subtlest way, I was melting into the arms of the Divine Mother. I gently shed my tears of love and longing for Her, with a tinge of sadness that She had not yet come, mixed with the joyous expectations of Her long-awaited coming. Just at that moment Swami Vishwananda approached me, looked into my eyes and asked with the sweetest tone of voice, “Why are you crying?” I was taken aback as I hadn’t expected this sudden turn of events. I tried to hide my feelings, stuttering, hoping to find the right words to cover my Love. Hiding from the guru! Shame on me, I thought later on. Don’t we all do the same thing over and over again every day? Playing hide- and-seek with our own Creator who is just behind our thoughts, behind every heartbeat, in every atom of our being and all around us, who understands us better than our dearest friend, better than our own mother or father — and we wonder why He is hiding from us. We are running away from Him, like prodigal sons, not He from us! And He is always patiently waiting that we may perchance lift our hearts, just for once to receive His Love.
Socrates'wisdom
Swami Vishwananda told one day this story from Socrates,
In ancient Greece (469 - 399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom.
One day the great philosopher came upon an acquaintance that ran up to him excitedly and said, 'Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students called Plato?
Wait a moment,' Socrates replied. 'Before you tell me I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test'. 'Triple filter?'
That's right,' Socrates continued. 'Before you talk to me about my student let's take a moment to filter what you're going to say.
The first Filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?'
'No,' the man said, 'actually I just heard about it and...'
'All right,' said Socrates. 'So you don't really know if it's true or not.
Now let's try the second filter, the Filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?'
'No, on the contrary...'
'So,' Socrates continued, 'you want to tell me something bad about him, even though you're not certain it's true?'
The man shrugged, a little embarrassed.
Socrates continued. 'You may still pass the test though, because there is a third filter - the Filter of usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be useful to me?'
'No, not really...'
'Well,' concluded Socrates, 'if what you want to tell me is neither True, nor Good, nor even Useful, why tell it to me at all?' The man was defeated and ashamed.
This is the reason Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.