Everyday Yogi by H.S. Shivaprakash

Author:H.S. Shivaprakash
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: SPIRITUALITY/MEMOIR
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers India
Published: 2014-06-15T04:00:00+00:00

When I visited the cave a few weeks later, Baba, as the pir was called, was more forthcoming. He even prepared tea for us. I shared with him the insurmountable difficulties in my personal life and begged him to show me the spiritual path. He gave a solution that sounded rather simplistic to me at the time. He said, ‘There is just one remedy for all this—develop your mohabbat for the guru. Understand the story of Laila and Majnu. Who are they? Laila is the guru and Majnu is the disciple.’

Once again, he told me that my time had not yet come for I had not cleared my debt to the world of the senses. I was unable to swallow this. I had learnt many spiritual techniques at the Bihar School of Yoga and was convinced that with my efforts, I could control the events of my life.

My third visit to Baba would just not take place, no matter how hard I tried. Whenever I tried to go to the cave, all kinds of obstacles would come up. One night, I dreamt that I had climbed the hill and gone to the cave. Baba had come out, taken me by the hand and led me down the hill.

Finally, things changed for me. Prahlad and I had gone for a literary conference to Challakere. It was 8 p.m. when we came back to Bangalore, and it happened to be the night of Shivaratri. Baba had invited Prahlad to spend the night with him in the cave. I offered to go along. The moment Baba saw me, he said, ‘Why did you bring this principal? Didn’t I tell you his time hasn’t come?’ (He was illiterate and used to think that all lecturers were principals.) We sat down quietly in front of him, and I hoped he would change his mind and let me stay. The old woman, whom we called Ammaji, and Baba’s disciples, Sattar Sahib and Dayanand Appa, also sat with us.

After some time, he said, ‘It’s okay. If the principal has come on Shivaratri, it is the Guru who has brought him here. He will not go empty-handed. The principal has got the Guru’s hukum today.’ I was ecstatic. Though my intellect was rebelling against all this, my heart started beating for him.

Thus Baba took me on as his disciple and my sadhana began. As soon as my classes at the college would get over, usually by midday, I would rush to Hebbal to see him. This became my routine. He got used to my daily visits as well. If I didn’t go on a particular day, he would wait for hours, asking the old woman repeatedly, ‘What happened to the principal? Why hasn’t he come today?’ I had lived without a proper home for many years after my mother’s death; now, Baba’s cave became my home. Baba and Ammaji treated me like a son.

Baba imparted the guru’s secrets more through stories, examples and karamats, miracles, rather than through words and ideas.

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