He is in our Hearts

Sai Ram,

I had my first 'Subtle Experience' in Oct 2014. I was so enamored by swami's "subtleness" that I made a trip to MDH  in Nov and then again in Dec. During our interaction on 5th Dec, Swami made it very clear that there is no point going  to PSN or MDH again and again if we have not made efforts to experience him in our own hearts. Our visits to holy places is to recharge our batteries so that we experience him wherever we are and in whatever we do. When I asked him how do we experience him in far away Delhi, He said "Go to delhi, have good company.Involve yourself in selfless seva, bhajans and spread the fragrance of love to everyone around". I was charged up to experience him in my heart and promised that I wouldn go back to Parthi/MDH until I feel his presence in my heart . I was back in Delhi and made conscious efforts to attend bhajans whenever  possible and also participated in blanket distribution for the poor. There was absolute joy in sharing our love with the homeless who had nothing but the sky as their roof. I was thrilled and wanted to get involved in more seva activities. Somehow I got busy with work and had very little time to devote for Seva.I was feeling bad that I was not getting enough time for Seva. Exactly about an year back I had met a spiritual master in Vrindavan who told us that Swami would be very happy if we can convert our everyday work into worship. The words "When work becomes worship, then duty becomes god" somehow stuck a deep chord in me. Around the same time , I also heard a discourse where swami says we should never differentiate between 'ourwork' and 'god'swork'. He said everything is God's work and it is the attitude towards work that is more important. Now that I was not getting an opportunity to do 'seva', I thought I should try and convert my work to worship. Coincidentally I was moved out of the head office and was placed in our cafes(I work for a chocolate company and we have our own cafes where we sell chocolates/beverages and food). My work predominantly involved market analysis, understanding our customers and finding ways to delight our customers. I thought this was a great opportunity to share my love and very soon I got involved in the operations part though it was not my main responsilbility. I started making coffee,attending to the guests on table, greeting them, understanding their needs, etc. I imagined that Swami is coming in different forms as customers and it is important to attend to each customer just the way we would have attended to Swami. Now the work became easier and also joyful. I smiled at them wholehertedly, served the food to customers as swami's prasadam and  I had no qualms in cleaning the tables, lifting the used plates, etc. I did this for one whole month and everyday I used to be very satisfied and content. Before going to sleep I would think of how customers would smile back at us when we smiled at them wholeheartedly. Those happy smiles were my everyday reward and my heart danced everytime I recapitulated those smiles. I realized that I could attend to our customers easily as I viewed them to be forms of Swami and obviously there were no judgments/opinions about their looks, dress, accent, etc. I just loved and all I got was love in return. I tried to apply the same logic to my personal life as well. Very soon I made new friends who were very different from me but I could connect with them so easily. My relationship with everyone got better as I was being less judgmental and more accepting. Love was in the air all the time. Everytime my friend/customer/colleagues would compliment me, I would say "Thank you swami, I hope I have made you proud".

I made a presentation of the findings to the management and they all appreciated the efforts and the work done. By swami's grace I also got a new job responsibility and also a pay hike. I just didnt know how to thank swami.The love that I was receiving from everyone- my colleagues/roommate/friends/family was so immense that I used to tear up just thinking of it. I was now sure that these tears of joy were proof that I was experiencing him in my own heart. I was going to bangalore to spend time with family and I thought I should visit MDH and thank him for all the beautiful lessons he made me learn in the past 4 months(most important lesson- I could experience him anywhere, anytime in my heart) I also felt that I am entitled to go to MDH as I had experienced him in my own heart. When I was studying in Parthi, I used to write a lot of letters to swami. In fact every darshan I used to hold a letter. The same thing continued in MDH as well. All the 4 times I have been, I have given letters to swami. Looking back, these letters had only mundane personal pleas. This time I thought I shouldn't ask swami for anything personal. After all he had given me so much without asking. As Bhajans started I was transported to a different world and I was sobbing like a child. I experienced Bliss sitting in Anandam and my heart had only one prayer-"Swami let the love that you have placed in our hearts grow even more and touch more and more lives".I thought of all the wonderful moments in the past 4 months where I could feel HIS presence.  Swami gave his discourse and his message was as old as the hills behind Anandam-"Practice selfless love to experience god". He want on to say "I came down as an avatar to instill hope and faith in people that god exists. Now I am making you realize that god exists in your own hearts. Prema Sai will make you realize that you are god". Just imagine the thrill when you experience him in your own heart and he reiterates that he is in our hearts. Discourse ended and swami walked towards the devotees.As he was walking I told myself that I wont ask anything personal with swami. He came, looked and said "You have come, Very happy". I was very sure that 'Very happy' was an acknowledgment from Swami for the efforts put in.  I asked him about the Summer Course and sought his blessings to get Delhi Youth. He didnt speak much. Somehow I felt that he should have given more instructions. On the way back I was expecting him to talk on Summer Course but he said "Hey, you come to Kodaikanal this time". My heart skipped a beat and I just couldnt control my tears of joy. I quickly went out to a lonely place and thanked him. Just a few months back, sitting in my gurgaon home I had prayed earnestly to swami to make me part of the Kodai trip in May. But I was in a fix as we  have Summer Course on Indian Culture and Spirituality for Indian Youth in the same month and due to office work I could be part of only one trip  and i decided to to be part of Summer Course(Kodai only I would benefit, through summer course i could help so many other youth to experience Swami). But our lord is so compassionate and sweet. When I was thinking of receiving instructions on getting delhi youth, here he was fulfilling the small desire that I had . It was a clear example of how he is going to take care of all our needs when we are selfless and when we genuinely want to share love with others.

Amidst all the mud slinging that is going on I thought it is important to bring out the messages of love and transformation to the fore.Friends, swami has not gone anywhere. He is very much there in our hearts and he waiting for us to talk to him within our hearts. Prasanthi Nilayam, Muddenahalli or anyother place is just to remind us that we can make our own hearts -Prasanthi Nilayam- an abode of supreme peace.

Wish you all a happy and a joyful inward journey.

PS- One might argue that Swami right from the beginning has been telling us that we are god too. The difference now is that he is actually making us realize that god is in our own hearts and that we are god too. You see there is a difference between telling us and making us realize it.

Regards,

Bharani Prasad,

MBA, 2010-12 batch, SSSIHL

Email-bharani2game@gmail.com