My First Meeting with Guruji Mahan

More than sixteen years ago, on a Sunday morning in February 1992, my wife Pushpa Rani and I drove from our home in Tapah to Kuala Lumpur, a distance of about 160 kilometres, to meet a young spiritual master, Guruji Dr. Paranjothi Mahan, who was then visiting Malaysia after completing his first ever 21-day penance in India.

We were overjoyed when Guruji welcomed us with a beaming smile. He was dressed in white robes. He spoke to us at length about the problems confronting the world, often using simple aphorisms to convey profound spiritual truths. There was always a smile on his face, and this made us feel very comfortable in his presence. I found him to be very open-minded and well-informed.

He listened intently before answering my questions to my satisfaction. As we listened to him, we began to realize that we were in the presence of a highly evolved spiritual master whose vibrations of love were constantly filling us with a kind of joy we had not experienced before. He talked about ways and means of quenching our spiritual thirst, and pointed out that God has given every one of us the potential to receive spiritual gifts that would divinely empower us to accomplish great things in life for the benefit of mankind. Guruji then explained to us the benefits of meditation, before initiating both of us into the First Stage of Kundalini Yoga Meditation. We received the Second and Third Stages of Initiation in the following weeks.

While taking leave of Guruji at about 11 a.m., I had this peculiar feeling that I had just been in the company of Jesus Christ. And while driving back home, the thought of Ramalinga Adigal (a.k.a. Vadalur Vallalar) also came to my mind a few times. “Is there a link” I wondered, "between Jesus, Vadalur Vallalar and Guruji?” Quite frankly, there is no straightforward answer to this type of question, but I do think their vibrations are at the same frequency. The key word that connects these three spiritual masters is: LOVE.

This photo of Guruji was taken by me in our home in Tapah (Malaysia) in February 1992. It adorns the cover of the first book I wrote about Guruji in 1994. (This article has appeared in a slightly different form in one of my Newsletters on the Web about five years ago.)

William Bhoopala Joseph
E-mail: wbjoseph40@gmail.com
Dated: Thursday, 12th June 2008

Swami Vivekananda (1863 - 1902)

Swami Vivekananda was one of the greatest spiritual leaders of the 19th century. In 1893, he sailed from India to the United States of America to attend the meetings of the Parliament of Religions in Chicago. As Christopher Isherwood puts it, "This was probably the first time in the history of the world that representatives of all the major religions had been brought together in one place, with freedom to express their beliefs."

Born in Kolkata on 12th January 1863, Swami Vivekananda (Narendranath Datta) was only 30 years old when he addressed the august gathering at the Parliament of Religions. Endowed with a sharp intellect and highly-acclaimed oratorical skill, he successfully planted the seeds of the non-dualistic philosophy of Vedanta in the West.

Some faithful and energetic disciples of Swami Vivekananda followed him to India, including Margaret Noble, the Irish woman, who became Sister Nivedita. Nivedita was revered in India for devoting "the rest of her life to the education of Indian women and the cause of India's independence."

Though he passed away at a young age of 39 years on 4th July 1902, his writings continue to rekindle the search for Truth among millions of eager, spiritual-minded persons throughout the world. His writings still continue to stimulate me, both spiritually and intellectually, as they first did more than forty five years ago, when I first read his book on Jnana Yoga. Some samples of his writings are given below.

(a) "Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal."

(b) "Condemn none. If you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you cannot, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their own way."

(c) "A man may have never entered a church or a mosque, nor performed any ceremony, but if he feels God within himself and is thereby lifted above the vanities of the world, that man is a holy man, a saint."

For more information on Swami Vivekananda, please visit the website:

http://www.sriramakrishnamath.org/