Devi Mandir

Temple of Divine Mother

Shree Maa- Trip to India- Swamiji and Shoes

~~OM~~

We asked Sushil dada to share with us more stories of his time with our beloved Swamiji. “You will not believe this”, Sushil dada said. “I don’t believe it myself. But I was there.”
“Yes, yes, what? What?” We ask breathlessly.
“Is Kolkata hot? The roads?” Sushil dada asked us.
“Yes, of course, most of the time.” We answered quickly.
“Swamiji used to walk there barefoot. All the time. How did He do this? I saw it. But I still can’t believe it.” Sushil dada said.
We asked: “What about you?”
Sushil dada said, “Oh, I had shoes. How could I walk in that heat without them? But not Swamiji. He was walking and walking. So many places, He always went walking. Without shoes.” He looked at Swamiji and said, “Is that not so?”
Swamiji was smiling and we asked Him, “Why did you do that, Swamiji?”
Swamiji answered; “Oh! It was a bother! Either the shoes got stolen or they broke. It was better without them. I didn’t have to worry about them.”
“Unbelievable!” Sushil dada voiced all our thoughts!

Shree Maa- Trip to India- Swamiji and the Farmers

~~OM~~

We were sitting with Swamiji and Sushil dada. Sushil dada (Sushil Chowdhury) is the author of Sahib Sadhu and he spent most of his teenage years with Swamiji, in his own village Bakreswar where Swamiji did intense tapasya and travelling with Swamiji.

Sushil dada is an expert in Sanskrit and speaks English with the cutest Bengali accent and was joyfully telling us stories about Swamiji. He said that Swamiji would be locked in a little temple in Bakreswar and be chanting and doing puja continuously from dawn to dusk. Nobody could enter the temple as the door was locked from outside and Swamiji had the key inside. When Swamiji finished His practices he used to throw the key outside and they would open the door. Swamiji would have his only meal for the day – a humble fare of daal and rotis. In the evenings, Swamiji would share His knowledge with all those present.
Rolling his eyes in a sweet manner, Sushil dada asked us, “Do you know who was present then?”
“No Dada, please tell us.” Eagerly we asked.
“Farmers, Pachu and me.”
Swamiji laughed, “That was the satsang, a young Brahmin boy, Sushil, Pachu who worked in cremation grounds and some farmers and me.”
“Swamiji was a farmer with the farmers.” Sushil dada exclaimed. “They wore dhothis till their knees and Swamiji too. He spoke to them in a village dialect so they would understand. With them He was like them. They love Him.”

Today, we see Swamiji working with routers and computers and His classes are webcast to over 70 countries. Viewers across the United States watch His classes on community TV. He is as much at home with us in the western world as He is with the farmers in rural Bengal. He is able to talk to us in a way we understand. We love Him for all He is doing for our universe.

Shree Maa’s Message from India: Be Simple, God is your own

~~OM~~

One couple told Shree Maa that even though they loved each other very dearly, they sometimes had arguments and fights. Shree Maa looked at the husband and said, “You are so simple. Why do you let duality enter and cause trouble? Don’t give room for duality. Always think, “I belong to God, God belongs to me.” When any other thought comes, remember this.”

Shree Maa- Trip to India- "Don’t Get angry: Talk to me"

~~OM~~

A young devotee was sitting at Shree Maa’s feet and confessed to Mother, “Mother, I get angry with my wife. What to do? When I am coming home from work, I think, “Oh, how sweet and patient is my wife. I should not get angry with her.” But somehow, when I get home I just lose it.” What to do Maa?” Maa smiled and said, “Don’t get angry. Talk to me. Think of me. I am ever with you. Just talk to me and don’t let anger manifest.” The young man smiled and we all felt blessed that our Mother is ever with us!

Shree Maa- Trip to India- A devotee's story

~~OM~~

Many of Maa’s devotees came to have Her darshan even if for just a few hours from different places in India. One such devotee is Mr. Mitra, an extremely successful lawyer in the Kolkata High court. Mr. Mitra recounted how he met Maa many decades ago when he was a young man. He said he was not at all interested in meeting any saint and even today he said, “I don’t know about God. I know Maa. She is my everything.”

As a young man in college, he went to escort a family member who wanted to have Shree Maa’s darshan but when he saw Maa he was spell bound. In his own words, he said “I became crazy. Wherever Maa went, I tried to go there – by hook or crook. I waited outside the house, in a park, anywhere and anyhow I tried to have Maa’s darshan.”

At that time, he was studying for his M Com (Master of Commerce) exams. He went to see Shree Maa and took with him a packet of incense sticks and other offerings as is customary in India. In the house where Maa was staying, were many devotees waiting for Maa to open Her eyes from deep meditation to do arati. There was a big pile of incense boxes before Maa which had been brought by the many devotees. Maa opened Her eyes and got up to do arati. From the big pile, She picked the “Vaishak” brand that Mr. Mitra had offered and took out one incense stick. She used that for arati. She handed the rest of the packet to Mr. Mitra.
There was a month left for his M Com exam and each day Mr. Mitra took out one incense stick and broke it into a little piece and lit it to guide his studies. Needless to say, Mr. Mitra did very well in his exams and later following Shree Maa’s advice he went to law school and has since been practicing law with “truth”. As Mr. Mitra recounted this story, he smiled and handed a packet of the Vaishak incense and said, “Please light one tonight at arati time.”

Shree Maa- Trip to India- God is a Mystery

~~OM~~

One of Shree Maa’s young cousins was reminiscing about her childhood days with Shree Maa. She said that she loved Shree Maa very much as a child but she was very young when Maa left their family house. “She was a mystery to all of us!” Maa’s cousin exclaimed.
In response, I heard myself saying, “We stay with Her everyday now and see Her night and day and yet She is a mystery to us also.”

Next day, all of Maa’s relatives had left and the house we were staying in was quiet. As usual, Shree Maa awoke before dawn and conducted Her Nitya Karma (everyday worship). After worship, She blessed us with tilaks. Everybody was remembering the beautiful days we had spent with Shree Maa’s family and other guests. We recounted this conversation with the young cousin. Shree Maa smiled endearingly and said, “God is a mystery.”

Shree Maa- Trip to India- Trilochan's Music

~~OM~~ Trilochan was six years old when I was leaving India. I was carrying a small Casio keyboard around with me, in order to accompany Shree Maa in small events and sat sangh. I turned to him before I left and said, “You take this and learn how to play.” His Dad, Sheojee Tiwari, asked, […]

Shree Maa- Trip to India- Annapurna Temple in Banaras

~~OM~~ Shree Maa and Swamiji at Annapurna Temple We awoke at close to 2 am, all of us excited to get ready to go to Annapurna Temple. Flowers and puja articles were assembled and everybody trooped into different cars. The cars are parked a distance away from the temple and we walked through the narrow […]

Bara Maa: Questions and Answers

~~OM~~

(a) Baro Maa, we heard that Shree Maa never cried much as a baby. How did you manage to take care of Her? You were so young then – did you have other people to help you? How was Shree Maa as a little infant?

I did everything from time to time according to a schedule. I knew when to rub her with oil, when to give her bath, when to feed her, when to change her. It was easy to do it all by myself because she was so silent.

(b) Can you tell us the story of Shree Maa’s birth and tell us about your Gurudev? What advice did He give you? What sadhana did you do?

My Gurudeva’s name was Bhuvananda Saraswati. My husband and I were walking up towards the Kamakhya Temple. He called to us to come into his ashram. I was pregnant at the time. He said that our child would be very special and would be a spiritual light in this world. My husband asked him how he knew. He replied, “Look at the light that is coming from your wife. This indicates the birth of a great spiritual being.”

He initiated me in the mantra Drim. It is the bija mantra for Patience. He also taught me the hamsah mantra. I used to sit on a little bench in the kitchen and make japa. Sometimes I would rise up off the bench, and find myself lying on the floor unconscious. I used to picture the energy flowing from the muladhara to the sahasrhara, and concentrate on my third eye. The energy became so intense that my third eye began to bulge. People would ask me what was wrong because I had a little ball bulging from my third eye.

(c) How was Shree Maa different from your other children?

When I was pregnant with her I radiated light. It was not so with the other children. They were more normal. They cried and were very active. Shree Maa sat in any place I put her. Everyone would be attracted to Shree Maa. No matter where I took her, people would come around to see her.

What foods did Shree Maa like?

Shree Maa grew up eating dalh, rice and vegetables.

What were Her favorite activities?

She loved to do puja. It was her favorite game. That is about all she would do, either preparing or performing some kind of worship.

(d) We have heard a little about Didima (Grandmother) from Shree Maa. Can you tell us more about her? What kind of a mother was she to you?

Didi Maa was a very strong lady. She had a strict discipline. She kept accounts to the penny, made sure the children studied, made sure the kitchen was always clean and the house was always organized.

Can you tell us more about your family – your brothers and your home in Digboi. We want to know more about the place where Shree Maa spent Her childhood.

The house had 8 rooms and two kitchens. One was for vegetarian food and the other for non-vegetarian. I would help cook in both kitchens.

(e) Maa told us that you always took Her to visit sadhus and saints. Can you tell us more about who these sadhus were?

Narayan Swami often came to visit us. And we often went to see Trailinga Sadhu. He was from South India and he worshipped the 18 armed Durga.

Where were they – how did you take Maa there?

Trailinga Sadhu lived close enough to walk to his ashram. I would take Shree Maa with me even at night we went to see him after all my house work was complete. One night he said it is getting late. You should not be walking home alone with your young daughter. You better leave now. I went outside with Shree Maa and started to walk home, and I noticed that he had sent two guardians to accompany us to make sure we did not have any problems. When we got home I saw the guardians vanish. We were always protected.

My brothers always got mad at me. Why are you taking the little one to visit sadhus? She will become afflicted. Later they blamed me because she did want to study: You see, this is the result of your visiting sadhus all those years and now she isn’t paying attention to her studies!

(f) Baro Maa, we heard you were a very gifted singer. Can you tell us how you learnt music?

I learned music only from hearing. I had no formal training. I never had a teacher. But I was a good singer, and Shree Maa was even better. She would sing along with me, and that was the only training she ever had. One time our family had a victrola record player, and we had some of the big records playing Rabindra Sangeet. She used to listen to those records a lot, and she would sing along with them.

Can you tell us about how you taught Shree Maa music? We heard a little about Maa winning music contests – can you share more about it with us?

In this way she entered in to the competition and won.

(g) Baro Maa, was Shree Maa always in meditation and doing puja even as a little child? Did She ever play with other children of Her age? Did you see Her playing?

She was always playing puja. She had her family, cousins and friends: Paltu, Taku, Seema, Kali, Khukhu. They all joined in puja. I never saw them playing other kids games.

(h) Baro Maa, we are so grateful to you for coming to America and sharing your love and wisdom. Do you have any advice for us, on how to make our life pure and come close to God?

Everyone of us has our own karma. But even still we must want to meditate and make japa of the divine names. Saying the names alone is not enough. We also want to live a spiritual life. Fill your lives with joy and love, and divinity will always surround you.