Multifarious Experiences

Swami Chetanananda Saraswati about HIS diverse activities and experiences...

"By Baba Nityananda’s grace, I have driven every kind of vehicle, right up to fighter aircraft. (During the 1971 war, India had only 3 MiG aircraft, one of which I flew and the other two were flown by the Raja of Sirohi and his son.) I have done every activity: painting, journalism, printing, construction, theatre. Even in movies, I have acted, composed music, and also sung. I have done everything, but I never made any of these occupations a means of living by commercializing them.

"I ensured construction of the Vivekananda Rock memorial at Kanyakumari in 1970, at grave personal risk. In 1972, the heads of 52 Universities from around the world came and took ME in a chartered flight to various Universities. All this while, I maintained silence (mouna). Carnegie Hall in New York was filled to its capacity of 10,000 from 3 AM to 11 PM, and all the while I did not even utter a word, while another professor lectured. Yet, every single person present there had darshan of Baba Nityananda. Two years later, when Baba Muktananda went on His world tour in 1974, many people came and told Him that they had seen His Guru. He told them that the one who had shown them was His own disciple!

"Also in 1972, I travelled to Haridwar, where I delivered several lectures over 15 days. These were later edited and published by a professor of Punjab University as the book Reminiscences. 11 lakh copies of the book were published, each in four languages, which were all sold out within just four months.

"From Haridwar, I went up to Rishikesh and then onward to Gomukh. There, MY body underwent kayakalpa (transformation). The body was totally renewed: skin, nails, etc. The whole process took place naturally over 21 days. In this procedure, if the prana does not leave the body within 21 days, then another long life is obtained.

"After this kayakalpa in 1972, I came down to Shivanand Ashram in Rishikesh, where MY health gradually recovered. Thereafter I flew to Bombay (now Mumbai), and then went to Baba Muktananda’s ashram at Ganeshpuri."

Serving the Nation

Swamiji remembers:

“After spending 15 days at Baba Nityananda’s ashram, which was the longest He had ever kept anyone with Him, He told ME to go and serve the country. In 1962, during the war with China, I was the first to contribute to the Defence Fund. The then President, Dr. Radhakrishnan called ME to meet him. I did relief work as a social worker after the Koyna earthquake and the Andhra cyclone in 1960s and participated in the wars of 1965 and 1971. I built the Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari, overcoming great odds.

"Between 1959 and 1969, I was studying, but not much in school. Later, on MY own, I studied the works of Vivekananda, Ramtirtha and others. I gained general knowledge from plays, etc. At one stage, I got saturated with knowledge. For a stretch of 45 days, I was only reading and listening to lectures. Without food, water, or any action, I was just lying down, but without sleep. Psychologists were engaged, but to no avail. Finally after long walks in mountains, the spell passed. "

At Baba Nityananda’s Ashram

Does renunciation come from knowledge or does knowledge come after renunciation?

Param Poojya Swamiji remembers:
“I experienced everything in this world as a child. After my experience of self-realisation, I understood that there is nothing else in this world to know and there is no one in this world who can teach ME anything else.

“Yet, when I was taken to Baba Nityananda, the experience of meeting Him was extremely powerful. At Baba’s ashram, I was scared of a big snake, and used to implicitly follow Baba in all His activities, right from getting up at 3 AM and bathing in the hot springs there. Had I been older than the 11 year-old I was when I met Baba, He would have sent ME away. He showed ME how I had been following Him over MY last sixteen births. MY experiences staying with Him at His ashram for the next 15 days were numerous. The gist of them all is described in ‘Reminiscences’.

“That is how, from knowledge (gyan), I achieved renunciation (vairagya). People ask ME why I took sanyas at such a young age. I had realized that I could not afford to lose the Guru’s grace in this birth, since there never would be another chance.”

Meeting Baba Nityananda

Param Poojya Swamiji was born into a royal family in southern India. But HE says that HIS childhood was more like that of Lord Krishna, surrounded by enemies and dangers. Brought up in the opulence of palaces, HE used to be served with an array of dishes and sweets every day. Yet, out of utensils made of gold and silver, HE would prefer to eat just boiled gram, the diet of the poorest of people.

Swamiji remembers:

“I never fell in doubt as to what to do, what not to do; what was right and what was not. Parties used to be held at the palace, and wine used to come in crates. I never looked upon them as evil, but just ignored it all. Having experienced self-realisation as a child, I used to just climb up to the third floor of the palace and meditate, even though I did not know what the word ‘meditation’ meant. I started writing and organizing plays with other children. MY parents were increasingly concerned about MY ‘unusual’ activities.

“As a school-going child, I could play all musical instruments, and was the leader of the Musical Band. Once, after returning from a long march heading the Band, wielding a massive baton, I forgot to take off MY heavy boots before stepping into the house. Seeing this, MY grandmother rebuked ME very strongly. In a fit of anger, I took off the boots and threw them at her face (breaking a couple of teeth!). Disturbed by such acts of MINE, MY parents decided to send ME to the family Guru, Baba Nityananda. This was in 1959, and I was eleven.

“Baba Nityananda’s ashram (‘Guruvanam’) at Kanhangad in Kerala was in a dense forest, which had been developed over the years of Baba’s stay there. When I was taken in MY princely clothes to Baba Nityananda, He said, “Send that beggar here”. I guessed that He meant ME, so I jumped up and sat on His lap. I felt great happiness, sitting there in Baba’s lap, before a crowd of 12,000 people, which included MY parents. But the very next moment, Baba threw ME off saying, “Do you think this is your throne?” In just one moment, MY utter joy was transformed to utter shame and sorrow. Such is the Guru’s drama! He then called ME and soothed ME (since I was crying) and gave ME a sweet. Even though I used to be served eight kinds of sweets daily in the palace, I went wild on tasting the one Baba gave ME, and I started running after Him, asking for more. He had hidden the box of sweets behind Him. Finally, He threw the box at ME, saying, “Take it, you beggar!” Though I felt slighted, I couldn’t resist the sweets. I finished off those sweets and went into a trance.

“People say that Baba murmured, “He has begging for it for sixteen births!” In that trance I had a vision of MY past sixteen births. I regained my senses after two hours, and by then the crowds had dispersed. I kept on crying, sad that Baba had to come to this earth so many times to redeem a sinner like ME. Over the next 15 days of MY stay at Baba's ashram, I had experiences that could fill volumes. Guru mila to sab mila, Na to mila na koi : If you find the Guru, you have found everything, else you have nothing.”