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The Siddha Marg—the Siddha Path
Visit to Ganeshpuri: January-February 2009
By Lilavati
The sages rightly say that Shakti exists everywhere but it is also true that in the yogic heartland of Ganeshpuri, spiritual energy seems to operate at a far more intense frequency. Swamiji has often talked of our relationship with Ganeshpuri as being a kind of ‘play’. It is good to be here in Satsang in Mt Eliza but to visit the most holy town of Bhagawan Nityananda and Swami Muktananda is a divine blessing. To leave it can be terribly sad. The ‘play’ of being with, and being apart from, this remarkable little Indian town is like the time-honoured story of Gopi and Krishna - full of devotion and yearning, oneness and separation.
I was one of the lucky ones who recently spent five weeks in Ganeshpuri with Devi Ma and party and, later, Swamiji and a group of sixty Shiva Yoga devotees. Before the visit I had wondered if I had made the right decision to go for so long. Having been on our previous trip I worried that I wouldn’t have enough to do. And, as last time had been so wonderful, would this trip tarnish those memories? I need not have been concerned! In fact, like many others, I found that being in Ganeshpuri was even better a second time as relationships were renewed and deepened and the town itself revealed new layers.
During the whole rich experience of our visit stood the towering presence of Bhagawan Nityananda, the remarkable saint whose powerful Shakti makes Ganeshpuri a location like no other. In this holy place the inner experience of bliss meets the outer experience of life in a way that is seamless. To spend time in this energy is to align oneself with the lineage of the Siddha marg, the Siddha path, and to feel its transformative love.
There were, of course, many highlights on such a long trip. Rather than give a day by day account my report will focus on some of the many remarkable events we enjoyed and some of the people we met. However, throughout the text we have interspersed the personal impressions of Sumitra, a first-time visitor to Ganeshpuri who captures the excitement of visiting this holy town. Sumitra’s sections are in italics.
Arrival of main group in Ganeshpuri: February 2nd
(Sumitra) Following the long flight from Melbourne to Mumbai, we were garlanded by those welcoming us & whisked to a waiting coach for the drive to our destination. The sweet smell of our garlands filling the smoggy Mumbai air, our excitement and joy at finally arriving was apparent in everyone.
The city of Mumbai soon gave way to dry countryside. Passing cars, crowded buses, auto-rickshaws, overloaded motor-bikes, bicycles and people on foot gave way to brickworks, homes, open land and small, unexpected shrines.
Arriving in the valley where Ganeshpuri is nestled we waited patiently whilst our coach driver attempted to manoeuvre our large coach around a bend in the very narrow main street to the temple (like fitting a square peg in a round hole). This was accomplished with much shouted assistance from the welcoming party and villagers alike, in a combination of English, Hindi and Marathi adding to the confusion that is so much a part of the entertainment of India.
Without time to clean up or visit a bathroom, we were rushed into Bhagawan Nityananda's huge, marble Samadhi Shrine for Darshan. Immediately I was struck by surging waves of energy entering my body. I was prepared for the energy, but not the waves of love enveloping me, coming from this being who left his body so many years ago. Bhagawan is definitely still very much alive. Darshan passed in a blur and then we stepped out into the bright sunlight of the temple square to be welcomed by Swamiji and Devi Ma. Devi Ma wrapped me in her arms and then she burst into tears. Somehow it all seemed appropriate.
Bhagawan Nityananda Mahasamadhi Shrine
 
The murti (enlivened statue) of Bhagawan Nityananda is the spiritual core of Ganeshpuri. Underneath this great golden statue located in the temple lies Bhagawan’s physical remains, but it is clear from the energy and love present that he is far from dead. Indeed the temple priest Prasad told me that he dislikes the word ‘statue’ as it implies something not alive and that is not his (or many others’) experience of this holy place.
Every day, Prasad and the other priests of the temple, tend to Bhagawan’s needs, waking him at 3:15am in the morning with an abhishek or ritual bath and oil massage and then dressing and adorning him in preparation for his day’s ‘work’. Lights are waved, bells and drums loudly rung, and a chant sung in the morning arati to alert the sage to our presence and invoke his good wishes. At lunch Bhagawan takes a ‘rest’ with the curtains drawn, and then there is a full afternoon of devotees visiting until the night time arati. At 9:00pm he is changed into his night time outfit, the curtains are drawn and the temple closed.
(Sumitra) Most incredible is Arati at the temple. The clanging of the bell and deep throbbing of the drum enters right into the physical body, causing noticeable shifts in awareness. Totally absorbed in the beauty of the magnificent shrine and the fact that Bhagawan is still very, very much alive and filling our beings with his grace. Tears flow at the beauty of it all as we receive his darshan and our garlands are accepted by the temple priests to be placed around his neck. All the while he sits looking down on all there to honour him and to receive his gifts of grace and love as we pranam to his padukas (sandals).
The whole day’s rituals are attended by many hundreds of locals and pilgrims and it is a delight to see each of them bow to Bhagawan’s silver padukas (sandals). It feels as if he sees each person and knows their needs and wants. Indeed, after several weeks of attending the temple I was convinced that Bhagawan looked different each day! He certainly gave me messages in my meditations and many people similarly reported receiving inner insights in his presence.
We enthusiastically swelled the ranks of those attending the temple and some even participated in the morning abhishek. As one of those lucky enough to be included in the abhishek ritual I can attest to the amazing Shakti that the murti emanates. During the ritual I mysteriously established an alive, loving connection to Bhagawan. He became so real to me that I had to take him home in the form of a small murti, which I now do arati to every day. The same messages I received from him during my stay now come to me while I do the arati to him. I felt accepted and protected by the essence of our tradition.
On the last day we chanted the Guru Gita in the temple. The acoustics were perfect and the Shakti was incredibly high as we sang this chant of praise to the Guru. It was an intensely moving experience and the perfect way to end our stay.
(Sumitra) On the last day we were granted permission to have the Guru Gita in the Samadhi Shrine. As is our custom, our musicians played live music, we sang with true devotion, our voices raised and amplified by this magnificent place. The temple priests looked on with joyous faces and as I looked up at Bhagawan's Murti he appeared to be smiling down at us, whilst he was surrounded in a glowing golden aura. His grace was everywhere and many of us felt tears of joy on our cheeks. This is living spirituality!
Kailas Nivas and Bangalorewalla
 
There are three key places to visit in Ganeshpuri to gain the full Bhagawan Nityananda experience. The temple is invariably the first port of call, but equally important is the ashram in which Bhagawan lived and gave darshan (Kailas Nivas) and where he died (Bangalorewalla). Both places are wonderful to meditate in but Kailas has the added advantage of featuring many of the photographs that show Bhagawan’s life in Ganeshpuri. We meditated in both places in the mornings and for me it was a wonderful start to the day. However, I was aware that Ganeshpuri has so much Shakti that meditation is almost not necessary!
Baba Muktananda
Several great devotees of Bhagawan have mahasamadhi shrines in the village but the most significant for us is Baba Muktananda’s. It is because of Baba that we know of and honour Bhagawan in the West and it is through Baba’s extraordinary Shakti that many thousands have awakened to the inner Self. Baba’s ashram Gurudev Siddha Peeth is open on the weekends and it is possible to attend the Guru Gita and to visit his powerful and peaceful mahasamadhi shrine. Everyone took the opportunity to pay their respects to Swamiji’s Guru and to spend some time in the magical courtyard where Baba had his ‘perch’ and gave darshan to the many visitors who passed through the ashram.
Key events
Yagna
   
A yagna is a traditional Vedic fire ceremony that removes karmas and accords great blessings for those who participate. Those who attended the yagna last time in Ganeshpuri found it a potent experience and so we decided to repeat the day-long ceremony. The yagna was undertaken by eight priests led by our friend Santosh (from the Vajreshwari Temple) who took great care to explain what was happening to the assembled Shiva Yogis. The couple chosen to act on our behalf were Shivadas and Purnima, who both participated fully in the day-long ceremony. Tables of various foodstuffs were offered to the fire to placate the influences of the nine planets while mantras were repeated in a ceremony that is full of cleansing inner power.
Sannyasa ceremony
   
Swamiji held an ancient Vedic ceremony to initiate six of our yogis as sannyasis. The group were Swami Bhairavi Ananda (Ma Devi); Swami Atmananda (Utpal); Swami Durgananda (Kali); Swami Nirmalananda (Rama Birch); Swami Shantananda (Jani Baker) and Swami Bhaktananda.
In a mandap constructed beside the banyan tree under which Bhagawan Nityananda once sat, and within earshot of the temple bells of the Nityananda Samadhi shrine, the location for the ceremony was perfect. A team of priests led the candidates through the complex and beautiful rituals of blessing and renunciation. One of the most powerful moments came on the first day when the group had their heads shaved and then went to the Tansa River to throw their old clothes away. The spirit of renunciation was powerful as the group then sat before the priests to recite mantras farewelling personal connections with their ancestors.
After a night of reflection, very early the next morning the candidates went with Swami Shankarananda, Swami Ramananda and others to the baths where they removed their white clothes and, in the traditional manner, began to walk towards the Himalayas. They were called back to serve humanity and then received an orange wearing cloth to wrap themselves in. After having been given new names by Swamiji, the group walked along the dirt track to the temple where they were met by many of the Shiva Yoga group. They looked radiant and transformed by the experience.
School visits
   
It seems appropriate given Bhagawan’s love of children that we should support the local schools with donations offered through the generosity of the visiting Shiva Yogis. Several visits were arranged while we were in Ganeshpuri and all were highly rewarding occasions. Shiva Yogis distributed cricket bats (a very popular gift!); geometry sets; clothes and – in our largest donation – we gave seven computers to a local high school, which was originally built by Baba Muktananda in the early 70s. The New English School has a large secondary student population but possesses no computers. Consequently our donation was very much appreciated and the handover was full of ceremony, speeches and songs. Swamiji asked that the students make sure they send him their first email and we look forward to establishing regular contact with them.
Vaikari
   
One night we heard that there were a group of vaikaris (bhaktas from the Vaishnava sect) who had come to Ganeshpuri and had settled in to Kailas Nivas to perform their abhangas or verse forms in praise of a saint. The vaikaris are more usually found in Pandharpur, Maharashtra where they walk with their palkis (or palanquins with sacred objects) singing and dancing to Lord Vitthala. But, apparently, they come to Ganeshpuri too and it was a rare and wonderful occasion. On the first night, we sat in Kailas Nivas watching in awe as the lead singer (complete with orange turban) seemed to channel some divine force as his ‘back up’ band walked in time, as Swamiji later said, with steady slow steps reminiscent of the Temptations!
The next night – which coincidentally was when the main group of 60 arrived – saw an even larger group of vaikaris who enthusiastically encouraged us to join their lively procession of singing and dancing as they made their way up the main road towards the Kali temple and then, slowly back to the temple. Unlike other sects, the vaikaries welcome everyone (irrespective of caste or sex), to join in praise of the divine and it seemed in their encouragement of us that this spirit was still alive and well. Shiva Yogis were seen dancing, singing, carrying flags, clanging temple bells and generally participating with gusto. The evening ended in dramatic fashion as a human pyramid (made up largely of our boys) lifted our Zach to a ‘piņata’ type container that was strung high above temple grounds. As Zach struck the object, hundreds of yoghurt sweets exploded out, much to the enormous joy of the hundreds of children. We later learned that the event was in celebration of Ganesha’s birthday – the adorable Hindu god with a love of all things sweet.
(Sumitra) We all entered into the spirit of things, dancing and chanting as the parade slowly moved through the streets. By the time we reached the Bhadrakali Temple I was feeling very strange, very intoxicated and totally out of body. As I moved beyond the crowd to a quieter spot I observed a huge white bull on the other side of the road. He stood quietly watching me with gentle eyes, then slowly and deliberately walked across the road coming to a halt in front of me. We gazed at each other intently for several moments then he gently nudged me, turned and ambled off into the crowd. I felt something wonderful had happened. As I turned around, I noticed a huge poster of Nityananda looking down at me. I never saw the bull again during my stay and learned later that Nityananda had a white bull called Nandi. Was this the creature who visited me? I really think it was! It certainly did not feel like any normal encounter.
Satsangs
   
We held nightly Satsangs when Swamiji arrived on the lawns of Kothavala. In the warm Indian evening, with the sacred ibis flying overhead back to the temple grounds, it was a most memorable setting. As news spread that Shankar Baba (the villagers’ name for Swamiji) was holding Satsang more and more people appeared and each evening was a feast of spontaneous happenings. As the MC for the Satsang I joked to people that it was like ‘MC boot camp’ as any hope of a schedule was invariably thrown out in favour of impromptu singing; presentations; and speeches. I even got used to the crackling microphones which switched on and off and sporadic electrical dysfunction. Swamiji rose to the occasion wonderfully – although he did have to wear a head lamp one night to read his notes! Somehow it all worked perfectly and Satsang always finished just in time to make it to the nightly arati.
World film premiere: ‘Sadguru Nityananda’
 
One of the most evocative ways that we can gain an impression of Bhagawan Nityananda is through photographs taken of him in Ganeshpuri. The late Shri M.D. Suvarna created a unique visual record of this most mysterious of saints through his still photography and film footage. Many of these photographs hang in Kailas Nivas through the good graces of his son, Niranjan Suvarna, who continues to operate a photographic company (Foto Corner) in Mumbai. Niranjan has produced a three hour documentary titled ‘Sadguru Nityananda’ which was being released on January 31st and we were lucky enough to see the edited English version of it in its ‘world premiere’. The film contained amazing footage and photographs in which the power of Bhagawan was clearly palpable.
Cricket
   
Indians are cricket mad and, in their love of the sport, share a natural affinity with the equally sports-mad Australians. Through the good graces of Cricket Australia, we were able to distribute 100 cricket bats to local children. News of the bounty went around the village in a flash and many hundreds of children arrived at our Satsang in hope of receiving a bat. In fact, wandering around the village it was common to be accompanied by children shouting, “one bat?”
Swamiji managed to bring some order to the potential mayhem by asking each captain to step up in Satsang to receive their bat and to let us know the name of their team. We also handed out many bats to the school for more organised use. Close to the end of our trip there was a fierce match between India and Australia on the oval near to the bus station. Our new batsman (aka Swami Shankarananda) made 2 runs in his batting debut before being run out by the competition. The clearly superior Indian team were generous combatants and it has to be said that what they lacked in runs, the Australians made up for in enthusiasm. It was a great match even if Australia ultimately lost.
People
‘The Supremes’
   
Bhagawan Nityananda moved to Ganeshpuri in 1936 to be near its ancient Shiva temple (located at the side of the present day temple). The local family who looked after the temple built Bhagawan a hut and, as word of his God-realised presence grew, more and more people came to visit. Bhagawan always had a special relationship with children and he took great care that they were looked after ensuring they had food to eat and eventually building a school. In turn, the children loved to spend time with the avadhoot. Some of the little girls who sang bhajans (chants) for the saint are still alive and we were greatly honoured that they chose to visit us and sing at our Satsang’s. Swamiji nicknamed this venerable group of Ammas, ‘The Supremes’. One of their number, Indu, gave us a memorable and moving talk one day in which she spoke about how it was to spend time with Bhagawan. She described herself and her little friends as ‘Bhagawan’s first ashram managers’, confessing in the process that they often spent the money given to them for food on sweets!
The Villagers
     
One of the best aspects of our evolving relationship with Ganeshpuri are the friendships we have made with the men and women who serve Bhagawan with such devotion. Swamiji had asked several of us to engage in research projects, interviewing people who had known Bhagawan personally. We met several of them and – on occasion – we invited them to come and talk to the whole group. Notable talks were given by Indu and Swami Govindananda (Gopal Desai) who was the ashram manger for Gurudev Siddha Peeth during Swamiji’s sadhana. .Swami Govindananda became a regular at Satsang and we grew to love his company.
We also reacquainted ourselves with many of the priests from the temple, including Prasad; Swamiji’s drum Guru Potia; our hosts at Rosy’s (Rosy, Vinayak and Rituja) and Yogini (our other accommodation host); shopkeepers including the Dilips; Vijay at ‘Devi Ma’s’; Bhaskar who runs the famous local chai shop; Sunil; Suvarna Niranjan and our old friends Swami Ramananda (who is Swamiji’s roommate from Ganeshpuri days) and Swami Nirupamayi. New friends included Girija-mataji whose ashram we visited; the Trustees at the Govind Swami Samadhi Shrine; and the managers at Mark Griffin’s ashram at Nimboli (where the ashramites stayed).
(Sumitra) We familiarised ourselves with the village and the continual smiles and namastes of every villager we pass. Everything appears magical; laughing children, friendly people, cows, dogs, auto-rickshaws passing in an explosion of dust and noise, crowded buses with bone shaking rattles and even more dust, young women in beautiful sarees mounted on motorbikes, behind proud handsome young men, families going to the Tansa River to bathe or wash clothes. Everywhere there is devotion to Bhagawan Nityananda from the villagers.
Kothavala Hot Mineral Springs and Resort
   
Percy, Anu and their son Vishtas Kothavala were our hosts at ‘Kothavala’s Hot Mineral Springs and Resort’. This old 1930s building is in one of the best sites in town, located at the back of the Bhagawan Temple and beside the holy Tansa River. This was ‘headquarters’ as we had all our meals there; gathered for talks; and held the yagna and nightly Satsangs in the garden. Percy kept us royally entertained with his stories and musical selections and Anu was a charming hostess bringing us regular ‘treats’ to eat. Vishtas too was drawn into our activities and gave demonstrations of his karate expertise (with our Ram) and his skill on the nunchakus. The staff was also very hospitable and it was sad to leave them.
Iqbal, Moti and Ayaz
 
Our travels to Ganeshpuri would not be possible without the wonderful care and support of many people notably Iqbal and his family. Iqbal and his team organised cars and drivers; set up mandaps; oversaw food preparation by a team of talented Kashmiri chefs; arranged garlands; organised accommodation and a thousand other small and large necessities of life. In short, they set up a functioning ashram at our Ganeshpuri headquarters of Kothavala There seemed to be no aspect that they didn’t think of and all of it was done with great love and in the spirit of seva (or selfless work).
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