As a soldier who served the Indian Army for over three and a half decades, I have always been an ardent follower of the professional doctrine that "a true soldier lives by chance, loves by choice and kills by profession."
However, it was on the evening of my life that I got an opportunity to realize that there is a world of divinity much beyond the Line of Control (LoC) of human intelligence and knowledge. A cruise to the as-yet unchartered regions of spirituality was a distant dream for me. But, the later part of March 1999 changed the course of my destiny. The lotus feet of Shri Guruji Maharaj opened the portals of a divine kingdom for me, not far away from where I live, without making me perform any tormenting
tapasya at the foothills of the remote Himalayas!
I had heard about Guruji much earlier through my close friend Lieutenant General (retd.) R.I.S. Kahlon, a close disciple whose wife was treated of severe knee arthritis by Guruji. Amazingly enough, I got the honour and distinction of seeking the blessings from the primordial power, His Holiness Shri Guruji Maharaj, much later, after a gap of four-five years. An Army officer took me to Guruji's temple towards the last leg of March 1999. Since then, there has been no looking back. My entire life has undergone a metamorphosis in more ways than one as my entire family has flourished under Guruji's vibrant and vivacious divinity, ever since I first had an audience with Him.
I strongly believe that Guruji is a living incarnation of Lord Shiva and is endowed with a treasure trove of super-healing powers that only Providence can bestow on any mortal soul, especially in this
Kal Yuga.
Let us be extremely clear that Guruji has not only got the matchless ability and the indomitable power to cure and completely heal some of the most dreaded and gravest incurable diseases and handicaps on this planet, but like Lord Shiva, He is a gifted
Vaideshwar (God of Healing). You name the disease, and He will cure you in His own inimitable style; the healing begins to work automatically as soon as you completely surrender yourself to His lotus feet. In Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and all across India and abroad, millions of His devotees have been blessed by Him from time to time.
After my retirement, there have been several occasions when I was blessed just by His miraculous touch, even when I literally came face to face with the ultimate truth called death.
My wife Susheela, a diabetic, was blessed by Guruji. Her sugar levels magically came down to 107 after she had had a handful of
laddoos and
mithai which Guruji gave to her in the form of
prasad on the first day she had Guruji's
darshan. Her fasting sugar level used to be above the 200 mark and I just could not believe my eyes when pathological tests registered the change in her adamantly high diabetic readings. It was an eloquent testimonial of the divine blessings of Guruji.
In September 2002, I suffered from acute chest pain and was advised a coronary bypass. I straight away went to Guruji from the Research and Referral (RR) Hospital at New Delhi to seek His blessings. He told me that though I did not require any stenting, nevertheless in the longer run it would be advisable to get myself operated upon for the condition at Escorts Hospital. He asked me to bring a copper tumbler and blessed it with His own hands. He asked me and my wife to drink water from it everyday on an empty stomach the first thing in the morning. And we have been doing so ever since. My heart aliment, which seemed a difficult issue, ceased to worry me.
Saving His devotees from the Tsunami
I am reminded of yet another unforgettable experience. In the winter of 2004, Guruji expressed His desire to bless retired defence personnel before going to Jalandhar. I told Guruji that there are only a few retired defence personnel living in the National Capital Region; would Guruji like to include serving defence personnel - the human assets of the nation - too? Magnanimous as ever, Guruji nodded and told me that He will inform me about the date and venue of the public programme later. After some time, I broached the subject with Him and He told me to visit a place near Chhatarpur mandir along with Mr Prem Singh, our former Ambassador to Singapore. I went to a sprawling farmhouse, which belonged to Mr Kler, yet another close disciple of Guruji, at 11 pm. It was a most befitting venue and both Prem Singh and I came back to Guruji and endorsed the farmhouse as being tailor-made for such a public function.
Guruji told me in no uncertain terms to focus only upon consolidating the strength of serving and retired defence brass and the date was finally fixed for a Sunday morning - 26 December 2004.
Many devotees had, however, already made plans to visit overseas holiday destinations like Thailand, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the exotic beaches of Goa, and seen to their hotel and travelling arrangements. So, a large number of devotees asked Guruji to exempt them from attending this particular public programme. But, Guruji insisted and urged upon them to postpone their trips. He instructed them to participate in that function without any excuse.
Since the words of Guruji are sacrosanct for every disciple, the trips were cancelled or postponed. The programme was successful and was attended by a wide cross-section of people, including retired and serving defence personnel.
Thus, through His
hukm (and through its obedience), Guruji had saved everybody. Because it was on 26 December 2004 that the Tsunami wreaked havoc on all the coastal cities, most of them where the devotees had planned to celebrate New Year. All those disciples who attended the function at the farmhouse were given a new lease of life by Guruji.
Guruji has His own way of blessing and saving His followers from untoward natural calamities. Guruji is Himself the most impenetrable armour for His disciples, safeguarding them against catastrophes. He has the power and compassion to be the ultimate saviour, the
Messiah of spiritual bliss and happiness that none other than a benevolent God can Himself be.
Three Guru Mantras: the epitome of faith
One
satsang day, around two o' clock at night, when I was just about to leave for home after taking permission from Guruji in the presence of a handful of His closest disciples, Guruji asked me what I knew about God and religion. When I failed to measure up to His discerning expectations, Guruji laughed heartily and then said: "
General Saab, don't worry at all if you do not know anything about religion!" Though, Guruji rarely preaches, nevertheless, He then eloquently narrated spiritual verses from the Holy Koran, Bible, Bhagwad Gita and from Guru Granth Sahab with astute chastity and profound authenticity. The verses flowed from His lips like the transparently clear and pure holy river Ganges comes out of her fountainhead, Lord Shiva Himself. We were all awestruck and stood in utter humility and silence. After a brief spell, Guruji asked us what we had understood from all that He had just shared from His rich reservoir of spiritual knowledge. When we could only shrug our shoulders in utter helplessness, He laughed, but slowly and emphatically elucidated three divine golden '
Guru Mantras' that have become the epitome of faith and guideposts in our efforts to lead a blissful spiritual life. The core essence of His preaching was primarily threefold, and is the tallest testament of spirituality. He said:
- All religions are one. All Gods are same. All religions preach only one language of love and compassion and service to mankind.
- Help anyone and everyone, irrespective of caste, colour, creed, faith or religion, anytime and every time. And, if you cannot help anyone due to any reason whatsoever then at least do not cause any harm or damage, in any form, at anytime to anyone.
- Disengage yourselves from outward pleasures, dreams and desires of the cosmetically alluring materialistic world. Take out some time from your hectic schedules to contemplate and meditate by sitting in samadhi everyday in quest of spiritual elevation and perfection in life.
To sum up, He finally advocated: "
Redirect and reinvest some of your attention, energies and time upon cementing your eternal bond with Divinity and Spirituality!"
That night I received the biggest lesson of my life, and it further consolidated my faith that service to mankind is service to God.
"General Kapur... new life... go!"
Last year (2005), while I was taking a morning walk with my wife near my house in DLF City, Gurgaon, I had a close encounter with a raging mad bull. It smashed its horns into my chest. I was unconscious for a couple of hours. When I opened my eyes, I was in the Intensive Care Unit of the RR Hospital with my wife and a few relatives at my bedside. I felt my end was just around the corner. My wife and daughter rushed to Guruji in the evening. After listening to the entire episode, He paused for a few seconds and then gave my wife
prasad, which I ate the next day in the ICU. My wife then gave me a photograph of Guruji and placed it under my pillow. Even though I was delirious, whenever I gained consciousness, I used to think only about Guruji. Sure enough by the grace of Guruji, I was discharged and advised bed rest for a fortnight. But, I went straight to Guruji on the very evening I got discharged. He immediately blessed me and said: "
General Kapur, new life, go!" On the way back home, I told my wife that by the grace of Guruji nothing would happen to me.
Narrating this event reminds me of a conversation that took place between Guruji and me on the first day I had His
darshan, in March 1999. Within just a few minutes, He beckoned me to His side with His finger and asked since when I had known of Him. I said that it was as early as 1995. He gave me a naughty smile and asked me why I had not visited Him then? I was tongue tied. I could not muster enough courage to reply. Guruji looked at me with a scintillating glow in His eyes. I sheepishly replied that I thought it was due to my destiny. Guruji then said that had I come earlier, I would have reaped more benefits, but the time was not just ripe for me at that point in life.
The lesson which I learnt was that one can seek Guruji Maharaj's blessings only when the time has come, which is entirely directed by the
karmas of our previous and present birth. However, a visit to Him opens the door for us to enter the Kingdom of Divinity!
In December 2005, after attending the
sangat one day, I fell seriously ill and was rushed to the RR Hospital with severe pneumonia. I had a shooting headache and my entire body was in acute pain. The fever had climbed up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit and was reluctant to come down despite intense medication. Even though the Deputy Commandant at the RR Hospital was a close friend of mind and I was getting the best of VIP treatment at the ICU, yet pneumonia was proving to be an indomitable enemy.
Yet again, I sought the divine blessings of Guruji, who for me provides the safest escape route from grave misery and pain. I clearly remembered that while I was recovering from the pneumonia at RR Hospital, the retired and serving defence personnel and a few well-known disciples had, acting on Guruji's advice, organized a public programme to felicitate Guruji on a Sunday morning in December 2005 at Gurgaon.
It was just next to impossible for an ailing pneumonia patient on support machines to fly away from the hospital like a free bird. But, since I wanted to have Guruji's
darshan and His healing blessings, I, like a stubborn child; begged my doctors to grant me permission to step out of the hospital for a couple of hours especially for the function. I promised to return after having the divine
darshan of Shri Guruji Maharaj.
To my utter surprise, on that day I had the privilege of garlanding Guruji on behalf of the entire
sangat. On top of it, I was completely submerged in His love when Guruji gave me coconut water to drink from His own glass. I could not control myself and my tears rolled down unabatedly. I touched the glass on my forehead as the ultimate
prasad and gulped down the entire coconut water that Guruji was consuming. I thereby quenched the eternal thirst of my parched soul. Honestly speaking, my taste buds had never ever savoured anything sweeter than that coconut water before; for me, it was a nectar of heavenly blessings. I could only pay my humble tribute to Guruji through offering Him the garland of my overwhelmed emotions. Needless to say, I recovered much faster than anticipated and got back to work as fit as a fiddle.
All the magical episodes in my life have convinced me that Guruji is the ultimate truth. He expects nothing from His disciples except unconditional surrender. Complete surrender means complete healing and partial surrender means partial healing.
Guruji has also blessed both my daughters Puja and Aarti. He had even advised a suitable match for my elder daughter Puja who is now happily married.
He even told my wife to visit the US even though it was just a distant dream for us at that time. We told Guruji that Aarti was in Ghana, but He insisted that we take the trip. Sure enough, a couple of days later, Aarti gave us the wonderful news that she was in the family way and they were thinking of going to New York, as her husband had got a new job there. Without hesitation I told them to pack their bags for the US and told them that my wife will also join them at the time of delivery in New York. True to Guruji's words, we not only travelled to the US on three separate occasions, but also had a whale of a time there.
Incidentally, on the first US visit, my wife was rushed to a New York hospital due to diabetes. I again went to Gurgaon to seek Guruji's blessings for my wife, who was suffering miserably in the hospital. Guruji simply smiled and said that there was no cause for worry and that my wife would return home in just a couple of days. Two days later, my wife came back home from the hospital as healthy as ever - thanks to His blessings.
Blessings at His lotus feet
The holy blessings of Guruji can make the blind see, the lame dance, the barren bear children and the mentally and physically challenged spring back to life with smiles. He has cured His followers of the stubborn AIDS and heart and cancer diseases. Those who are kept alive by state-of-the-art ventilator systems in hospitals get a new lease of life. No power other than the true incarnation of Lord Shiva in this
Kal Yuga can give to His disciples holy
prasad in the form of simple yet blessed tea and
langar. His disciples partake their
prasad religiously as a sacred medicine to cure all diseases and insist on the concept of healing through
sangats (devotional congregations) where
satsangs take place.
For a soldier like me, my
brahmastra (panacea) to help the ailing and disabled, the needy, the deprived and the deserving but handicapped, the talented but traumatized is to simply show them the gateway to the majestic spiritual durbar of Guruji. An unfathomable ocean of spiritual peace, enchanting serenity, chaste happiness and enlightenment flows like a gentle river of blessings from the lotus feet of Shri Guruji Maharaj Himself in the form of positive healing vibrations and divine blessings.
It is our good
karmas and our unseen fate that will make us relish this magnificent ocean of blessings from Guruji.
Either you can immerse yourself in this blissful ocean of love or you can swim across to the ultimate destination of
moksha, by the blessings of Guruji alone based upon the
karmas of your past and present births. All one needs to do is to wholeheartedly surrender and take a holy dip in this vast ocean to see the magic of Guruji's blessings one birth after another. Today, my whole world revolves entirely around Guruji, who is not only God, but the last word when it comes to revealing the unknown realms of my spiritual odyssey en route to salvation or
moksha. For a mortal soul like me the invigorating fragrance and benign presence of my Shri Guruji Maharaj is a blessing in itself in more ways than one. His Holiness Shri Guruji Maharaj is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent for all. He knows in detail the previous, present and future births of all His followers. He helps each of His followers in attaining spiritual elevation and divine bliss, quite akin to God Himself! Believe me, miracles do happen but only to those who believe in them.
One needs to keep the windmill of good
karmas consistently churning out positive vibrations and have an unshakable faith in His Holiness. And above all, like me, one must be a true soldier and fighter in pursuit of spiritual salvation and excellence even under testing climates in alien and forbidden terrains.
My soulful salutations to His Holiness Shri Guruji Maharaj in utter humility and surrender to His lotus feet.
Lt General (retd) C.K. Kapur, PVSM, AVSM
July 2007