Har Ek Volunteer Zaruri Hota Hai...

Chai k liye jaise Toast hota hai,

Waise har ek volunteer zaruri hota hai.

Koi Sunday morning ko late Follow-Up mein aaye,

Koi Satsang ki bich bhaag jaye!

Ek tere Gyan ko lecture kahe,

Aur ek har chhoti cheez ke liye JGD kare!

Koi nature se ‘Kaffa’,

Koi ‘Pitta’ hota hai,

Par har ek volunteer zaruri hota hai!

Ek ghadi ghadi Seva mail kare, par kabhi kabhi Seva kare,

Ek kabhi kabhi mail kare, aur har ghadi Seva kare!

Koi Gyan ka ghoomta phirta satellite,

Koi din raat rahe Maun mien light.

Koi Butterfly, koi Seva Warrior hota hai,

Par har ek volunteer zaruri hota hai!

Koi junior volunteer,

koi senior volunteer,

Koi DSN volunteer, koi YES+ volunteer,

Koi koi poora seva sambhalne wala irreplaceble Guru Star hota hai!

Koi time se pehle Seva finish kare,

Koi TTC ke just pehle Seva kare!

Koi teacher baane ke liye bheja khaye,

Koi teacher banke bhi khushi nahi paaye!

Koi always Happy, koi Sad hota hai,

Par har ek volunteer zaroori hota hai!

Koi Satsangi aur koi Blue Star hota hai,
Par har ek volunteer Zaruri Hota Hai, JDG BOSS!!!

Love,

S. :-)

Tera May - 2011

We started for Bangalore from Pune at 4:30 PM on Thursday 12th May...

At Devi Puja...morning 10:30...

After a long journey of 17 hours, we seventeen of us reached The Art of Living Bangalore Ashram in the morning. The first thing we did after alighting the bus was -- headed straight for the Devi Puja. Devi Puja had already started; Guruji was already there immersed in Puja. The Yagnyashala was totally packed not even a space for an ant to move. We had to attend the Devi Puja and Satsang sitting on the wall of Yagnyashala :)

[After the Devi Puja, Guruji promised to meet everyone in the evening after the Satsang. Looking at the large crowd, thousands of people and more thousands expected in the evening, it was doubtful if He would really walk the talk]

Devi Puja took away all the tiredness of the long overnight journey of more than 17 hours (840 km)! Yes, charged-up, now we were ready to run after Guruji for His darshan. We stood in the line outside the Yagnyashala waited for Him to come out. Finally, the moment came, Guruji came out sat in the car and the car started moving inch by inch ahead. Well that was not so easy! Hundreds of devotees were jumping/pushing/pulling each other to wish Guruji, one could hear lots of 'Happy Birthday Guruji!!!' greetings as the car moved ahead. Devotees made all the efforts by hook or by crook to wish their beloved One and deliver the birthday gifts that they had got for Him (some had got flowers, some had got sweets, some had got Angavastra and some had got toys!). Suddenly there was not even a space for the air to move through where Guruji's car was supposed to pass.

I am sure the security team had a wonderful time managing all the devotees :D

[A Maha Tyagi or Maha Bhogi will not refuse to accept some mangoes or a cup of milk when they come by themselves. But he will not crave for them.]

The best part to see was, Guruji Himself, like a child He was reaching out from the window of His car and receiving the greeting and gifts from devotees. Just like a child would reach for his birthday gifts. The twinkle in His eye, the mischief in the smile, the joy showed how much He cared for the feelings of His children (devotees).

A perfect example of Maha Tyagi and Maha Bhogi as mentioned in Yoga Vaisistha.

For a moment everyone must have felt as though it was their Birthday :)

[When we stood in the darshan line we were in utter confusion on where to stand, to the right side or to the left of the lane, we had no idea on which side Guruji would sit in the car! We did not want to miss this opportunity to see Him. But as the car came we saw He gave ample time to the people standing on both the sides. The Master always takes care; small mind is always busy worrying :)]

At the Satsang...evening 6:00...

Now it was time to wait for the evening Satsang! Dressed up and all ready once again reached the Yagnyashala. Though we were on time, we were very late in the sense, Yagnyashala was already full. Finally after lots of thought and trying out different places at the back of Yagnyashala we settled for a place where we could see Guruji's chair comfortably. Stage was set, Satsang started waited for Guruji to come...

Finally the wait was over Guruji came and the whole environment charged up! More than ten thousands of people sangs and swayed together, once again there was no place for even an ant to move! Looking at Guruji, it seemed that He was one year younger instead of getting one year older. After few bhajans Satsang gave way for some new album release at the hand of Guruji and some other announcements.

After the announcements Guruji said, "Remember that you are a match stick. The purpose of a match stick is to light the lamps. You know, you strike the match stick and it burns and it lights several candles. Like that so many match sticks in a box can light so many lives. So think you are a super-sized match box. You are here to bring light, wisdom and happiness into the lives of people.

So don't worry about anything, all your little needs and desires will be taken care of, it will all happen. You have to turn and see what you are doing for the world, how you are contributing to this world and how you are enhancing spirituality in the world. This is essential and is very much needed."

Finally the moment came everyone had waited for, Guruji stood up and said He would come down and meet everyone!!!

[Many years back...
Q. "Who is your favorite devotee?"
Sri Sri: "The one who is sitting at back of the Hall!"]

As we were sitting almost at the back of the hall, I thought it would be hours while Guruji would reach the back of the Yagnyashala. Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! Guruji walked straight down to almost at the back of the Hall. He then started moving through the devotees in zig and zag manner. Voila, Guruji seemed to be close to us as never before, hours of wait turned to few minutes!

It was so amazing to watch Guruji, to see Him talking to devotees, receiving their greetings, gifts, flowers, toys, love and affection. As promised He met everyone, stretched to take the gifts from everyone waiting for Him. It was the same energy, enthusiasm, child like mischief and smile that was seen in the morning after Devi Puja. It was no wonder everyone who met Guruji behaved just like a child :)

Q. "Who is your favorite devotee?"
Sri Sri: "The one who is sitting at back of the Hall!"

Heard that before, seen and experienced this today :)

[Master is an embodiment of Patience, Compassion and Love]

As He was moving through the crowd, bhajans were going on. It seemed that Guruji did not want the Satsang team to sing the bhajans in high note, high tempo, which would make the devotees to stand up and dance. This would only make His job more challenging, or may I say challenging for the security volunteers and other devotees! So as the tempo of bhajan went up, He used to cut it down and Himself sing a line in slow tempo just to indicate to keep the tempo low.

Alas! Not so easy, again the tempo would go up in zest of His birthday celebration and again Guruji would cut it down sing in slow tempo just to indicate to keep the tempo low amidst all the pushing/pulling by the devotees. This happened almost five to six times, in fact till the end of bhajan. But every time Guruji would lovingly pitched in and bring the tempo down. And how many times He must have requested devotees to keep seated at their place.

Patience! Compassion! Love! Heard about in the Part I course, demonstrated again and again by Guruji!

[If you cannot see the divine in the form, you will never be able to see the formless divine - Sri Sri]

Well we finished off with our darshan and headed straight to Annapurna for dinner. We had some delicious Birthday food, strolled around the Ashram, and went to see Vishalakshi Mantap. Ashram was looking as beautiful as ever from the top of Vishalakshi Mantap. Ooops! More than one and half hour had passed; we realized that there were still bhajans and noise coming from Yagnyashala! With curiosity we headed towards Yagnyashala, just to see Guruji still meeting people...almost two hours had passed!

Now, who would let go the opportunity to see Guruji once again. So once again stood in the darshan line, in fact the last line He was heading to, which was the line near the stage. We watched Guruji meeting devotee's receiving gifts. Something beautiful happened. Someone gave Guruji a small statue of Ganesha enclosed in a glass container; Guruji took it and carefully handed over it to the volunteer to keep it safely. I could see His eyes stuck watching the Ganesha statue moving from one volunteer to the other then to the other till it vanished from His sight. It was a look of total concern, it looked as though He was totally concerned if that statue was been handled properly or not. As though the real Ganesh was been carried away!

If you cannot see the divine in the form, you will never be able to see the formless divine - Sri Sri

[His Promise]

Finally! Guruji came where we were standing, it was simply amazing to see the same zest and zeal even after more than two hours moving through the crowd, talking to people, handling so many gifts, taking care of so many minds! The same mischief, twinkle in the eyes, love unlimited. By the time He finished He had met more than five thousand people (some said 10,000). Even when He met the last person it was felt as though He was meeting the first person in the day and He could go on like this the whole night.

He had kept His promise -- He met everyone!

"Khethe hain jaab bhagwan apne bhaghato pe kush hote hain, to bhagwan swayam, guru ka roop leke apne bhaghato ko darshan dete hain!"

Haan, Tera Main unnis soo chappan ko bhagwan ne avatar liya!

This was all my peanut sized brain could see in the ocean of events in the magnanimous play of the Divine!

Feel blessed...Nothing more can be said!

Tera Main...