Chapter 9: Miracles of the Master🔗

I had contemplated for a long time whether I should write about miracles around the master. Every moment around Him is a miracle. Whenever events that are beyond the logic happens, Swamiji almost always brushes it off saying it is the "Power of Coincidence" or something like "It is divine grace". He never encourages us to dwell on and be stuck with miracles. Swamiji tells us that they are an impediment to one's spiritual growth. However there are so many incidents that seem to casually happen around the Master, all of whom defy the normal logical process. While we can brush an incident or two off we cannot set aside the preponderance of incidents that makes one take a step back and reflect on these happenings.

I am writing this chapter to share with you what I have experienced with living around the Master for the last five years. It is only intended for you to be inspired as I have, to realize what a blessing it is to be with the enlightened master. A lot of these incidents defy logic. It was not easy for someone like me who was trained in science and who worked in research and business management where logic and process of analysis is the norm. Hope you too will be inspired and experience this fantastic journey.

There have literally been tens of thousands of healing miracles that happened in the last 5 years and hundreds that happen every day. As of today, Nithya Spiritual healers touch over 26,000 people every day in 35 countries and provide free spiritual healing services. I wanted to share a few miracles that happened in our own lives.

I was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 32. There is a very long history of diabetes from both sides of my family. Both of my grandfathers were diabetic. My father was diagnosed as a juvenile diabetic. He was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 14. However, none of us knew about his ailment until he had severe health problems and complications from hypertension and edema (swelling of the legs). At the time of my diagnosis we were living in Voorhees, New Jersey. I was feeling quite tired every day. I would come back from work and just feel like sleeping all the time. I did not know what this was due to and never even considered going for a physical check-up. All I thought was maybe I am putting in long hours at work so let me get some rest. We received a call from an insurance agent working for Met Life Company. He came to our home and convinced us that we needed insurance. Part of the insurance process is to do a complete medical check-up including detailed blood work. A week or so after my blood sample was taken, they found elevated levels f blood sugar and he told me that our premium may need adjustment since they felt I was a diabetic. This was the first time I came to know about my diabetes.

I went through detailed medical examinations and the results came back as positive. I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. The physician asked me to take medication every day. I was on glucophage based medication. Also, since I was a young diabetic, they prescribed me another medication that seemed to help with protecting the kidneys. I do not know the exact name of the medicine but recall they were called alpha inhibitors. I was also told to measure my fasting blood sugar and blood sugar levels after one hour after meals. I purchased the kit to measure my blood sugar levels at home. For most part, with medications my blood sugar levels were in control. My fasting blood sugar levels tended to be around 100. I would also measure the blood protein levels (also called hemoglobin A1c or glycohemoglobin; This test measures average amount of glucose present in the blood over the last 2 to 3 months and helps the doctor to determine how well a treatment plan is working to control the patient's blood glucose levels over time). My long term averaged 5.8 to 6.2 which I believe was border line.

Eight years later, I met Swamiji. I did not tell him about my diabetes until the second meeting when he came back for the USA tour in February 2004. He simply said, "Don't worry. I will take care". Almost 4 ½ years have passed since this statement. Swamiji told me to continue on the medications. He always tells people they should continue with their medications as before and whatever needs to be done from His side He will do. In my case, I did not listen to His advice and stopped medications few months after Swamiji's healing. I am writing this since all readers should not follow me in that they should continue their medications and other regimen prescribed by their physicians. I have continued to check my blood protein tests on a bi-annual basis. The levels of the hemoglobin A1c is now more or less stable and at the level of 5.2. This is considered below normal by physicians. I am not on any particular diet and do not feel any symptoms of the disease. I know I have been cured of diabetes.

I have been drinking coffee since my childhood. Somehow in South India we were used to drinking coffee from as long as I can remember. I remember drinking a glass of coffee every morning from age 8 onwards! When I came to America, my coffee consumption increased substantially. I would consume 4-5 cups of coffee a day. By 10 am, I would have had at least 3 cups of coffee – one in the car on the way to office, two cups as soon as I got to office and another cup around 10 am. Days when I missed coffee, I would have a headache and a feeling of numbness in my head. I think I would classify myself as a coffee addict!

When Swamiji came back to USA for the tour in February 2004, he stayed with us in our home in Oklahoma City. When I mentioned to him about my coffee addiction, he asked for a bottle of honey. He held the bottle for a moment and told me to consume the honey and this addiction would disappear. I consumed the honey over the next several days. Immediately I began to notice that I no longer suffer from these headaches when I do not consume coffee. I still consume 1 or 2 cups of coffee every day, sometimes I do not consume any coffee. So I know my addiction to coffee is not with me anymore.

It was sometime in summer 2004. Ma Sachitananda would go for an annual mammogram examination. This year the doctors found a very geometrically shaped mass. The doctors were quite concerned. They said a geometrically shaped mass is always a concern to them since the probability that it could be malignant is high. They asked her to come back three days later for a biopsy so that they can determine if this tumor was malignant.

This incident happened during Swamiji's second trip to US in the year 2004. Ma Sachitananda called and informed Swamiji about this on the day biopsy was to be scheduled. He immediately told her, "Just think of me during this procedure and I will take care". Ma Sachitananda requested the nurse that she would like to keep her mala blessed by Swamiji and they agreed. She held on to the mala. The doctors tried to locate the tumor so that they can make an incision to obtain a sample for tests. To their surprise there was no evidence of a geometrically shaped mass any more. They were confused and brought up the x-ray of the mass they took only three days ago. Ma Sachitananda this time was in a meditative mood, thinking of Swamiji and holding on to the mala. After several minutes they gave up and said they cannot explain what has happened, but now there was no tumor like mass and that she was good to go.

There is no logical explanation of what happened in this case. We know for sure it was He who took care of this. If this is a stray incident we can brush it aside. But there are thousands of such incidents that are happening all over the world.

Take for example, Swamiji's secretary, Ayya. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2001. He was not able to consume any food and weighed only 70 pounds - frail and very sick. He was taken to leading medical hospitals and doctors in Chennai. All of them said there was not much that could be done and recommended he get his estate in order. They said he had only few months to live. In 2001 Swamiji was living in a hut on the banks of Cauvery River near Erode in Tamil Nadu. This was a year after his enlightenment experience and he found that through touch he was able to cure people. Word of this spread to the villages and towns nearby and people would come to Swamiji for healing. He was all by himself and food was being delivered to him by local villagers and restaurant owners. When Ayya approached Swamiji, he gave him a little rice from his hand and told him to eat it. Within a week of this encounter, ayya started feeling better. He was able to eat and started looking better. In the months that followed Ayya's health steadily improved and today, almost seven years after this incident, he is free from cancer and is a healthy individual. Ayya was from a business family and served as a managing director of the family's spinning mills. As a result of this cure, Ayya and Amma became the first ashramites and helped start Swamiji’s mission. I am sure Ayya’s experiences will be chronicled in his reminiscences in much greater detail.

Healing research and openness to scientific study and scrutiny

If I start talking about these healing incidents, the list will be thousands long. If there is one incident we can say it is a fluke, an accident, a placebo effect of whatever logical explanation we can give. But when we see healing happening all over the world, with people from all economical, social, racial or cultural backgrounds, even the logical mind needs to take a step back and wonder as to what is happening.

Swamiji tells us that healing is also a science. This science is based on subtle energy. Just because modern science has not yet developed instruments and methods to logically measure this subtle energy, it does not mean the healing science does not exist. And one more thing, whatever we cannot measure with logic or with the current understanding of Science, we call it a miracle.

Swamiji is now very keen to develop a methodical system of scientific research to quantify the effects of healing. In the medical research, researchers want to know if the particular effect is real or if it is a placebo effect. Placebo effect often tends to be some kind of a psychologically induced response which allows cures to happen regardless of administering a particular therapy or medication. For example when medical researchers are testing a particular drug they test its efficacy by administering a sugar pill or the drug without any active ingredient to a set of patients to see if psychologically cure happens regardless of medicine. They always like to separate this “baseline” effect from the real effect of medication or a particular therapy. In case of healing research, Swamiji is so pragmatic that he says, “It really does not matter if the effect is placebo effect or a real effect. Even if we find everything is a placebo effect, it is fine. At the end of the day we are helping people and that’s what matters” We have tens of thousands of testimonials of people getting healed from diseases ranging from asthma, pain, cancers, diabetes, infertility, as well as psychological disorders such as depression. However, in order to satisfy the analytical minds, we are hoping we will soon be able to quantify effects of Nithya healing in various ailments.

Thiruvannamalai and Darshan of Arunachala

It was December 2004. There was a core group of devotees in the US who came to Bidadi to spend the time around Jayanthi celebrations with Swamiji. Swamiji took a group of 50 or so ashramites and devotees to Thiruvannamalai. All of us stayed in a Chathram (a place built to provide free accommodation to visitors coming to temples) operated by the family of our close devotee and Chennai organizer, Ramanathan.

It was dusk time, about 6:45 pm to 7:00 pm. Swamiji took us to the location where he had His first satori experience in Thiruvannamalai. This is a beautiful serene hillock facing Arunachala on one side. On the other side is a Devi temple. It is believed that Devi has the experience of enlightenment here. Swamiji showed us the rock where he has the first satori experience. I would like to direct the readers to Swamiji's biography, "Nithyananda Volume 1" for in-depth discussion of Swamiji's first experience. It was here, where Swamiji had the deep satori or Samadhi experience at age 12. This experience revealed the blueprint of enlightenment to him. He had the incredible experience of being one with the cosmos through the experience of 360 degree vision (Brahma with four faces really symbolizes this 360 degree vision). The reader may also go to [www.youtube.com/lifeblissfoundation](http://www.youtube.com/lifeblissfoundation) and search for video clips: 1. Swamiji's first experience -- Newer Insights and 2. Living Enlightenment - 1st Samadhi Experience of Nithyananda for in-depth explanation of this experience.

Swamiji was sitting on the first experience rock and started singing. All of us huddled around him. There were about fifty of us. Suddenly Sri Atma Maneeshananda exclaimed to Swamiji, "Swamiji I am beginning to see Arunachala being lit up!" Swamiji acted as though nothing happened and casually said, "Just look around, maybe the lights from the city area are causing this." And he went about singing. Maneeshananda told us that there was no chance for this since everything else around was dark and only the region near us was beginning to light up. As Swamiji increased his intensity of singing, we started seeing Arunachala being lit up in a light reddish color. We were sitting about 700 metres from Arunachala. Yet, we had a clear view of the mountain to an extent we could clearly see stones, rocks and plants. The rest of the area was all dark. This was not logically possible. Swamiji would increase the intensity of singing and the intensity of the light would increase. All of us were in complete silence. There were no thoughts, no words said, just complete stillness in us. This went on for a full 45 minutes. Swamiji jumped from the first experience rock and suddenly got serious. He told us, "Cherish this moment and keep it inside your heart. Arunachala has blessed you with darshan" He then went on towards the foothills. All of us followed him. I looked back and amazingly, Arunachala was pitch dark. I could only see the outline of Arunachala.

The next morning Swamiji took all of us to climb Arunachala. The first stop was Skanda Ashram. This ashram was built by Bhagawan Ramana Maharishi. It is a beautiful ashram half way up Arunachala. The moment we reached Skanda Ashram, Swamiji explained to us about Ramanamaharishi and what went on in Skanda ashram and his childhood experiences coming here. After we saw the ashram, Swamiji sat down in front of Skanda ashram. All of us sat around him. All of a sudden it was as though something came down on us. There was complete silence and stilling of the mind. It happened to all fifty of us, all at once. While there was complete silence, it was an intense silence. It is not that we closed our eyes in meditation. My eyes were wide open, but the mind was completely still. Time stood still. Swamiji was smiling and gazing upwards. Suddenly he got up and said let us continue with our trekking. We looked at the watch and it was one hour since we sat down with the Master. Every one of us knew that the master gave us a deep glance of His true inner space, a space of intense silence.

There have been so many instances where devotees would come and tell us that their master appeared in their dream and sent them to Swamiji.

Swamiji would always tell us that depending on the spiritual progress and the needs of a sincere devotee, the master will take the responsibility for the disciple. He will make himself available in the physical form if the disciple requires the physical form of the master.

It was April 2005. Swamiji was touring the USA. He was conducting the Nithyananda Spurana Program in St Louis. It was an intense program. People from St Louis and nearby towns came to attend this program. After NSP program, we had the healers' initiation at the Hindu Temple in St Louis. It was Monday morning on April 18, 2005.

One of the attendees at healers' initiation came from nearby town, Bloomington in Illinois. He was a Caucasian man, male about 55 or 60 years of age. He had been on a spiritual path for decades, following Paramahamsa Yogananda. While he was very touched by Swamiji, he had a lot of conflict within him as to whether he should attend the Healers Initiation program. In this program, as explained earlier, Swamiji opens the Ananda Gandha Chakra and gives us a technique to experience perennial bliss by giving us the keys to experience Nirvikalpa Samadhi. That night the devotee had an intense dream and clearly saw Yogananda in his dream tell him, “Fool, do not have any conflict. You go and attend the program being given by Paramahamsa Nithyananda.” As you may imagine, this was a serious jolt and wake up call for this devotee.

He came a little late for the healers initiation. As he was entering the hall, Swamiji smiled at him and asked, “What did he come and tell you last night?” The devotee was quite shocked with this question. Swamiji then allowed the devotee to narrate the incident to all of us.

Our St. Louis organizer, Ma Gnanapriyananda was traveling with us during 2006 Himalayas tour. She is a very shy and quite person by nature. As we were going on mules near Gowrikhund, Swamiji was showing us the area were Mahavatar Babaji appeared before Swmaiji and whispered in his ear, "Paramahamsa Nithyananda". Swamiji's darshan of Mahavatar Babaji took place a shortly before his enlightenment experience.

Ma Gnanapriyananda approached Swamiji and asked him if he could please grant her the darshan of Babaji. She was an ardent follower of Babaji for decades and wanted to see him. Swamiji gave her blessings. As she was going up the mountains on a mule, near Gowrikhund, she had the most beautiful vision of a young man, in golden color. She said this was the most beautiful sight she ever saw. She could not utter a word. He was sitting down in front of a tea stall. She knew instantly it was Babaji. She was unable to utter a word. This experience lasted for 2-3 minutes. During this experience Babaji never looked directly into her eyes, but the vision was intense and beautiful. For 2-3 days after the incident she had a fever and she just seemed to be very quiet and introverted.

After her fever subsided she approached Swamiji and told him about this incident. Swamiji laughed and said, "So you wanted to see him and he appeared". He caught her hand for a few moments and said, "Ma, you really had the darshan of Mahavatar Babaji. He did not look directly into your eyes because you were not ready to handle his energy. He has however showered his blessings on to you. Enjoy and cherish this experience"

He then went on to tell us that when an enlightened master takes the responsibility for a disciple, he will ensure that the disciple is enlightened. He will always be available to them in whatever dimension or form he is required in, so that the disciple continues to grow towards the ultimate experience. He then said that this is why Babaji still appears to his disciples from time to time to help them in their path. He then said, "Poor Babaji, even after 2,000 years he needs to keep appearing and giving darshans. And me, I have so many of my idiot disciples around me. I don't know how many thousands of years I need to be available for you guys!" And in his characteristic manner, burst out laughing!

These days, my daughter Nithyananda Sree has taken well to writing. In fact she organizes compiled books using Swamiji's discourses and question and answer sessions. I am now going to briefly describe her experiences, but will tell you upfront that I may not share specific names of individuals in order to protect her space and privacy. In 2006, Swamiji sent her along with a few other Sanyasis and Sanyasins to Osho Ashram. He told them to go and learn how they take care of guests. Swamiji is always willing to learn from others and improve. Nithyananda Sree, in 2006, was 15 years of age. She has taken up Naishtika Brahmacharya Diksha and wants to pursue the path of Sanyas. Swamiji gave her a probationary period where he wants her to try the brahmacharya diksha. If this is not for her, he will tell her to take the path of Grihastha. The moment she landed at the Osho ashram, she had very intense experiences. I will describe some of them to you.

When they were in the ashram and watched an Osho discourse, she had a strange sense of being intensely present when the discourse was delivered. She saw the person in whose body she was. In fact she felt it was her who was inside this body, but the body was that of a Caucasian female. She then attended dynamic meditations at the center and during one of the meditations, she heard in no uncertain tone, Osho's voice which said, "Idiot! You have come at last. Now do not miss the Master and get the job done" She also had a similar intense darshan of Osho walking with the person who was her with a different body and they smiled. This happened near a bamboo grove in the commune. She also saw a person in his late 50's. The moment she saw him, she had a strange feeling of intense love. Later she realized that she, in her past life was very close to this person.

I am not purposely giving more details to protect my daughter's privacy. But after this trip a new sense of purpose has engulfed her. We were traveling with Swamiji in USA during this experience. Swamiji smiled and said that the divine has granted her this experience so that she can realize why she has come down during this birth and not deviate from this path and get the job done!

In past, Swamiji has spoken of several children in the ashram. He told devotees during 2006 Jayanthi celebrations that these children are yogaprashtas, they have come very close to enlightenment, but somehow missed it. Now they have chosen the parents to come to Him to get this work done. He then told devotees, "You still have a chance not repeat their mistakes; otherwise you will again have to come back like them!"

I had previously talked about my mother-in-law's darshan of Jesus Christ during the first ASP Swamiji conducted in Oklahoma City in August 2003. Swamiji conducted an NSP in Bidadi ashram in January 2008.

There was a person from Mumbai who attended the NSP program along with a large group of people from Mumbai. During the reminiscences at the end of the NSP program he told us his experiences. This person was a Hindu by birth, but has been following Jesus Christ for sometime now. He is the CEO of an IT company in Mumbai. A few months ago, he had an intense darshan of Jesus Christ where he was told by Jesus to go south of the Vindhya Mountains, near Bangalore to Paramahamsa Nithyananda. He was told by Jesus, this is a living Enlightened Master. He was also given an image of a person in saffron clothes with a turban. A few months later, one of our brahmacharinis, Ma Achalananda was at a spiritual conference in Hyderabad in May/June 2007 where she presented a paper on Nithya Spiritual healing. We had a booth at this conference where Swamiji’s books and discourses in CD and DVD formats were being sold. This gentleman then came to the booth and he was quite shocked to see Swamiji’s photograph. This exactly matched the image that was revealed to him by Jesus! He shared this experience with all the attendees during NSP and we video recorded his reminiscence.

There have been even stranger incidences. We have had several visitors from remote parts of the world just come by and tell us that they were directed to Swamiji’s web site for reasons unknown to them. There was a gentleman from Scotland who just showed up in Bidadi in early part of 2005. He was into yoga, meditation and pranic healing. He told us that when he was browsing the internet, out of nowhere www.dhyanapeetam.org web site popped up. He browsed the web site and was quite intrigued and just wanted to come and see Swamiji. He spent a full one month in 2005 and was fortunately able to do NSP by Swamiji and was initiated as a healer. I take it divine is now getting high tech!

But in all seriousness, there have been several such incidences that defy logic. There was someone from Iran and another from Pakistan who suddenly found Swamiji when they had health problems. They came and stayed with us for a few months to take healing from Swamiji.

I now understand when there is a sincere seeker; divine appears to him in whatever, shape or form based on the being’s state in their spiritual journey and helps them with their path. If I heard this 4 or 5 years ago, I would not be able to digest this. But now, having seen these events unfold in front of my very own eyes, I know better. There is a point beyond which logic needs to be kept aside. Surely in our careers and professional dealings, logic is important. It can help us with a good paycheck, a good house, a good career, etc. But I hope you can have an open mind and realize that there is a whole new world out there which is beyond logic. I feel blessed that Swamiji appeared in our lives and gave us the intelligence to recognize and appreciate what we have – the rarest of the rare beings, a living enlightened master, a Paramahamsa who has reached out to us with open arms.

During Swamiji’s spiritual journey, he was greatly helped by various enlightened masters, some of them were in the body and others were not in the body. Among the masters who were not in the body, Ramana Maharishi, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Sharada Devi in particular helped him through darshans and gave him encouragement and confidence to continue on the path.

It was around the time of gurupoornima in the year 2007. Swamiji was back in India from USA. He wanted to go to Dakshineshwar. Swamiji has not been to Dakshineshwar since his days of wandering. We first visited ghats on Ganga where Swamiji spent days together in meditation. It was almost towards the end of the tapas period where Swamiji’s body was crumbling and his drive and burning desire to achieve this ultimate state was intense. As Swamiji told us, it was only when He dropped this intense desire and just relaxed, the final experience happened to him. After visiting these ghats, we proceeded to Dakshineshwar. Swamiji was accompanied by me and another devotee (now ashramite), Mr. Shiva guru who recently retired from a bank in a senior management role.

When Swamiji reached Dakshineshwar, he was so happy to be back. He looked at me and said, “Do you know every atom in this place is vibrating with the energy of Ramakrishna. I wish you guys can feel it” We then went to the temple where Ramakrishna worshipped mother Kali. The pujaris (priests) of the temple are direct descendents of Ramakrishna. We then proceeded to take a dip in Ganga. Just as we came out and were proceeding to see the bedroom where Ramakrishna slept, an old lady along with her daughter came to Swamiji, profusely crying. She fell at Swamiji’s feet. She told in Hindi, “Baba, mujhe moksha de!” (In Hindi, Baba means father. This is how Swami’s are referred to in North India. She essentially asked Swamiji, “Father, please give me liberation”). Swamiji told me to tell her that whatever she wishes will come true. She then went on to tell me that she has worshipped Ramakrishna for over 50 years and the previous night she had an intense darshan of Ramakrishna where he said there is a Baba who will be in Dakshineshwar tomorrow. He told her to go and fall at his feet and seek liberation. Swamiji then told us that similar incidences happened when Ramakrishna walked in flesh and blood at Dakshineshwar.

Swamiji was traveling in Tamil Nadu conducting Satsangs in Chennai, Kanchipuram, Vellore, Tirupatthur, Rasipuram and Namakkal. It was the morning of November 19, 2005. We were on our way to Vellore. We stopped by at one of the granite quarries we leased to procure granite stone for our deities. This particular area was famous for granite used in temple deities. Swamiji is in the process of carving a 21 ft granite Shiva lingam which will be installed to radiate healing energy. The stone for the yoni (the bottom portion of the Shiva lingam) was located in this quarry. It was a single stone, about 25 feet wide and 20 feet tall. We suspected it weighed at least 100 tons. The stone was originally on top of the hill, roughly 500 feet high. It was going to be a very difficult task to bring this rock down. The quarry had 100 or so workers. Our plan was to rent equipment from Mumbai. We envisioned needing to create a road, 1 kilometer long with a gradual slope to move the granite rock slowly down the hill. We estimated this move would cost about Rs 25 lakhs ($60,000). When this data was presented to Swamiji for approval of the expense, he said, let us wait and see.

We reached the quarry and the owner of the quarry was in a shock when he saw Swamiji. He then told us that about two days ago, when they came back to work, they found this large rock at the bottom of the hill. When Swamiji heard this he burst out laughing and said, “Divine Grace!” The interesting thing was if a 100 ton rock were to come tumbling down, it would have created a track. Perhaps there would have been chips on the surface of this rock. But there was no signs of it tumbling down, no track created, nor was there any sign of chipping of the stone. Swamiji did an arthi to the rock and told them to proceed with the work.

The owner of the quarry told Swamiji that he cannot charge any money for the rock. He told Swamiji jokingly, “Swamiji if I charge, maybe the whole quarry will follow you to Bangalore anyway!” Again this is an incident that I personally observed in front of my very own eyes. No logic. No explanations. Swamiji brushed away this incident and called it, divine grace!

It was January 2005. Swamiji decided to speak on Shiva Sutras for one complete month. Swamiji told us that Shiva Sutras will be the mission’s scripture. To be specific, the date was January 5, 2008.

In those days, I would go near Swamiji’s quarters and remind him it was around 6:00 am. Swamiji would have gone to bed around 4 am. He never sleeps for more than 1 or 2 hours a day. When I went near his room and said, “Swamiji it is 6 am!”, he called me back and said, “Shiv, I have something to tell you!” He opened the door and said in a very excited manner, “Shiv! This morning Shiva walked in flesh and blood right here” He then pointed out the spot where Shiva walked and then went on to describe what had happened.

Swamiji told me that right around 5:30 or 6:00 am, he heard a sound in front of his quarters. Swamiji stepped out of his room and shouted in Tamil, “Yaaru?” (Whos is it?). He was thinking that it was some of the workers who worked on the adjacent farm. The person turned and smiled at Swamiji. By now he clearly saw this person’s Ajna chakra and instantly knew it was none other than Shiva himself. Swamiji told me that he immediately wondered if this was real or if it was a darshan. He immediately knew this could not be a darshan since enlightened masters cannot have darshans. He immediately touched Shiva’s feet and looked up at him. When he touched His feet he found they were solidly on the ground, further proving it was not a darshan, but His presence was in flesh and blood! He smiled at Swamiji and there was a deep communion. Shiva then walked away towards the Ananda Nilayam which is right adjacent to Swamiji’s quarters. Ananda Nilayam was the venue for Shiva Sutras that was going to commence that day. Swamiji then told me not to tell anyone about this incident and asked me to drive him to the Banyan tree.

It was the middle of winter. The leaves of the banyan tree would normally be quite dull in winter. However today, it was something quite different. The Banyan Tree was shining. Actually I could feel the glow as we came near the tree. There was no rain for quite some time now, but each leaf felt that it was individually wiped clean. I mentioned this to Swamiji. He said “She is celebrating His presence!”

I could not contain myself and blurted this out to Ayya. After spending a few moments under the banyan tree Swamiji went back to his quarters. We were supposed to start Shiva Sutras in the morning. It was not until 9 pm that night that Swamiji emerged from his quarters. Those of us who knew Swamiji could see he was in a much expanded state and was in Samadhi all day. He walked to the Ananda Nilayam and sat down. There were no words exchanged, just silence, pure vibrant silence. All we did was sit with Him. There were about 40-50 people, mostly ashramites and a few close devotees from Bangalore. We played songs in praise of Arunachala for hours together. Then, after a few hours Swamiji narrated the incident about Shiva appearing in Bidadi.

Immediately when they heard this, Ma Sachitananda, Ma Priyamayi and Ma Maneeshananda, sprang up and said that they had a very interesting experience that morning. The four of them were walking towards the Banyan Tree around 5:45 am for the guru pooja. They heard distinct foot prints of someone walking next to the road. This was clear and lasted for their entire walk. They were afraid and talked among themselves and said, “Don’t look, may be it is a bear!” The footsteps disappeared at the banyan tree. When they mentioned this conversation, one of our early devotees from Salem, Anand, had tears in his eyes and showed a picture he drew in the morning. He said while he was walking to the banyan tree for guru pooja, he saw a person walking towards the banyan tree. He did not know what or who this person was but was courageous to catch a glimpse of him. He quickly came back to the room and made a drawing of what he saw. The drawing clearly showed matted locks and long hair, a face that had uncanny resemblance to Shiva.

That night after the inaugural session of Shiva Sutras, Swamiji took all of us to his quarters and showed the place where Shiva set his foot on the soil in Bidadi. We quickly placed stones around this area to mark this spot. Now, even after 3 ½ years after this incident, the stone marks are still there. The entire areas around this spot there no vegetation, only bare soil. And yet just in the area that where we placed stones, there is lush vegetation. We do not water or do anything different in this area, but yet we can see lush vegetation in that spot. Swamiji said we will build a small temple in this area to memorialize the day when Shiva appeared in Bidadi, to bless all of us and to symbolically recognize this living enlightened master’s delivery of His teachings again to the planet earth. If I look back at this incident, the memory is vivid. Indeed this land, our home in Bidadi is blessed, for it is where my master resides in flesh and blood and it is where Shiva appeared in the physical form.

This incident happened in 2006. I do not remember the exact date, but it was a time between USA trips when we were back in Bidadi. When I went early one morning to Swamiji's quarters, he told me to come in to his room. For some reason, he told me that day, "Shiv, do you know I planted this Banyan Tree? I planted this several hundred years ago" I did not know why Swamiji was saying this to me.

That day Swamiji said we were going to Thiruvannamalai. When we reached Thiruvannamalai, Swamiji took us to the places in the temple complex where he spent his childhood. He showed us the Yogashala where Swamiji was taught Yoga by Gururaj Raghupathi Yogi, Swamiji's first yoga teacher. In fact Swamiji showed the very spot where Raghupathi yogi would levitate. We then moved towards the Banyan tree at the back of the temple. It was near this banyan tree that Swamiji delivered his first discourse on Patanjali Yoga Sutras at the age of 9! This banyan tree also had very mystical connections with Swamiji which are chronicled in the first volume of Swamiji's biography, "Nithyananda Volume 1". This was where he was blessed with the darshan of Arunagiri Yogeeshwara, the enlightened master who built the Thiruvannamalai temple thousands of years ago.

When we reached the Banyan Tree, Swamiji looked at me and said, "Shiv is there a technique to test whether this Banyan Tree and our Bidadi Banyan Tree are from the same mother?" He first said, "Actually let us record this event and have fun!" Parananda, a brahmachari and an ashramite who takes care of video recording of Swamiji when he is in India quickly came and started video recording this event. Swamiji then looked into the video camera and said, "Take a twig from this Banyan Tree and a twig from our Banyan Tree and do a DNA test and you will see that this is a perfect match. Let us have some fun!"

I quickly collected a twig from this banyan tree and wrapped in a wet towel. We quickly took a twig from the Bidadi Banyan Tree. Ma Sachitananda had a cousin in Hyderabad who was the Head of the Department of Genetics in Osmania University. We requested her to help out with the DNA work. She readily agreed and we started the DNA test. The first test, which is some kind of a rough test showed that there was 90% probability that both the twigs came from the same source. She then went on to conduct two detailed tests (repeat of the same test) consisting of complete DNA mapping and concluded that without any doubt both the twigs came from the same parent!

We then asked Swamiji how this could be. The trees were over 600 years old by previous tests by the hortriculture department. Bidadi is about 250 kilometers away from Thiruvannamalai. What is the probability of this happening from a logical perspective? He then went on and told us that there were four saplings of the Banyan Tree that have been brought from the metaphysical to the physical plane. He thought one of them was planted near the first experience place which never sprouted. The other two Banyan Trees are now in Thiruvannamalai and Bidadi. He did not say much about the fourth Banyan Tree. All he said was it is somewhere in Karnataka and at the right time we will find it!

We were returning from the teachers training camp heading towards Duarte Ashram. Bhaktananda was driving Swamiji and I was sitting in the back seat of the car. Swamiji was going to Duarte Ashram since we had a special meditation program on September 11 for peace since it was the day innocent lives were lost in the United States as a result of terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. We were in a mountainous area. Swamiji closed his eyes and was resting in the car. Suddenly he opened his eyes and sat straight in his seat. He told us that he could feel a lot of distress in the mother earth. He felt we have abused her enough all these years. He said he could feel an earthquake was going to happen in the Los Angeles area and that he will take care.

The next morning, right after the peace meditation, we got news about a strong earth quake that happened just of the coast of Los Angeles in the ocean floor! Swamiji also tells all our devotees that they should not stay close to the ocean in Los Angeles. We do not know the reasons for it – Yet.

The above events all have a dimension that is beyond logic. The healings, the darshans of masters, the past life experiences showered on disciples, the day Shiva appeared to many in Bidadi Ashram, the DNA match of the two Banyan trees or the earthquake incident in Los Angeles are beyond the realm of the logical world. If I wanted to write, I am sure I could have written a hundred more such incidents that seem to happen every day around the master. For me, it served as an inspiration in early days. For some of you reading this, you may still not believe. But the only reason I have shared my experiences of these miracles is to tell you that living around an enlightened being is a true blessing. It has cleared up so many cobwebs from my head. It has liberated me from the crutches of my mind. It has given me the ability to live every moment passionately. I hope those of you reading this chapter will also realize how blessed we are to be here and now in the midst of my sadhguru, my god, Paramahamsa Nithyananda.