Recollections of my experiences with Sri Sri Babathakur

by                                                                                                    Sri Sumit Duttagupta

I was in Class VII in the year 1979, when I returned to Calcutta from Delhi to be with my parents.  I would join my mother in regularly visiting the Fern road location where a handful of people would gather to listen to Sri Sri Babathakur’s sermons in the afternoon.  Still young and a little confused in terms of understanding the essence of what He was speaking,  I would none-the-less  go and listen to Him.   I would primarily go to abide with my mother’s wishes to accompany her in meeting GOD and pray for the fulfillment of my wishes.  Every time I visited Him, I would have different wishes – some even trivial – yet to my surprise, all of my wishes would to come true.   I have to admit though that the one thing I would always look forward to during my visits was His smile (which used to mesmerize me) and the handful of chocolates he always used to dole out after the sermon.

Today after years of running and struggling in my career race, I have come a long way.  Yet I feel that what I’ve been pursuing is merely an illusion of happiness.  The urge to know myself has now become more intense, and it seems that Sri Sri Babathakur’s words, ‘You will have your time (to explore your True Self)’ is coming true.

Let me take you through some of my recollections of those sermons (which I used to pen down back home after listening to Him) as well as some of my experiences.

He always reminded me to concentrate on my present pursuits and excel in them. He used to say, ‘Worship the present and things will fall in place’. He could see through one’s mind.  During one of His discourses, I was thinking about a Hindi film that I had seen the day before.  He pointed to me and said “Do not be under any illusion that what you see now also is a film!  You may not be able to understand so now, but try to assimilate what I say and practice it in your day to day life”.   I was still thinking, ‘If I am to do as He asks (i.e. assimilate His spiritual lessons) would that mean I’ve to do abandon my studies?” , when immediately came his reply (right in the midst of the discourse) – “No one needs to stop what they are doing and or is supposed to do – these are all destined by the Almighty – but in course of your journey of karma, you need to allocate some time to identify yourself and unravel the truth – for you truly are”.  I was taken aback and decided that henceforth, I would concentrate only on His sayings during the discourse.

For one of the discourses, my mother and I had come early and were waiting in the Fern Road verandah for Sri Sri Babathakur. Suddenly He came out and started talking to my mother, asking what she had given for the Sunday bhog.  My mother used to cook and give bhog every Sunday to the numerous Gods at our house.  As she narrated the list of bhog items to Him, instantly came Sri Sri Babathakur’s reply – “That particular saag was great – how did you make it?”  We were taken aback and speechless.  The silence was broken with Him saying,  “I am always with you – whoever calls Me with full devotion – I reveal Myself within his self.”  Since that day, I’ve felt He is no ordinary being but GOD Himself, and my urge to unravel the Supreme Truth has grown more intense with time.

At times, this urge to unravel the Truth impacted my focus towards studies.  On one occasion my mother complained to Sri Sri Babathakur about my lack of attention towards studies.  His response was, “Let him now have the seed (of spiritualism), the plant will grow in time at its own pace – Do not worry.”

During one of His discourses, Sri Sri Babathakur was illustrating the concept of “Oneness” and how to achieve universal harmony though realizing One’s Self.  Suddenly a thought entered my mind to the effect, “If universal harmony is to be achieved, then all should have equal status”.  Instant came the reply during the discourse “Some people oppose the caste and gradations present in society – but they forget to take into account that these distinctions have been created by the Almighty to get the external world moving.  You are born as a human being who has evolved through different births.  You all have the legacy of your previous birth attributes affecting your present thinking and state– but nothing is stopping you now from taking care of your present and from introspecting within yourselves to seek answers that help you pursue your path of self-realization.  My words if listened carefully will definitely show you the path, but it is you who has to decide whether to start this journey to know yourself or whether you would like to remain in this cycle of bondage”.  I always felt that He could read my mind, else how could he address my unspoken thoughts almost instantaneously!

One day after about a couple of years of regular visits to His place, Sri Sri Babathakur asked my mother to send me to Him to learn Yoga.  I was taken aback by the instruction and asked myself, “Why me?”  I was a bit hesitant, as the journey from my house to Fern Road was quite a distance.  Still on my mother’s insistence, I landed up at Sri Sri Babathakur’s place on the scheduled day to commence my lessons.  The first day went off well.  He showed me some yoga postures and I practiced them in front of him.  I also and did some meditation.   That day, I felt something different and was brimming with energy!  I was scheduled to go to Him three times a week.   Next day, to my surprise there was this young lady who also turned out to learn Yoga with me.   We were doing yoga together and my mind that day was definitely not on my yoga.  Perhaps the presence of the young lady was not letting me concentrate.   Sri Sri Babathakur sensed it and said to me – “See I always tell you not to see the external world that creates ripples within you.  Concentrate on your actions, and you will achieve the path you are destined for”.   I went back home and thought about it, but next day I somehow just did not have the urge to go there.   I was too young to understand just what I was missing.  I simply confided in my mother that the yoga schedule would disturb my studies and with the secondary examination drawing near, I needed be excused.  My mother was in consent with me but insisted that I needed to let Sri Sri Babathakur know.   During the next session when my mother conveyed my feelings to Him, Sri Sri Babathakur remained quiet for some time before saying, “Well I wanted any one of your sons to be groomed”.  Mother was taken back and replied, “Well I have no reservations.   Could you please guide them?”  No reply came from his side.  Now when I reflect back, it seems I missed a golden opportunity to prepare myself for spiritual pursuits and that lady may have simply been a “maya-jaal” that I needed to overcome (but could not).  I failed to stand the test and believe me after that, I even ceased to attend His sermons due to my exams drawing near, hearing only as a summarized version of His teachings from my mother.

Years later, after I passed my engineering and started a career in sales and marketing, I just happened to be in Kolkata.  One afternoon after a client visit, I had an urge to meet Sri Sri Babathakur and seek His blessings.  The verandah was packed with devotees listening to his sermons.  I just stood beside the staircase to seek His blessings.  He glanced at me and uttered to the audience “There are some people who do not understand what they are doing, and yet still keep coming to Me to seek blessings”.  I was taken aback.  Perhaps His was alluding to me as He uttered those words.  Sure by then, I had lost touch with His sermons and was in a different world, chasing my dreams to make it big in corporate world. That night, I called up my mother and asked for the notebook where I used to pen down my thoughts after hearing the sermons.   I made a conscious decision that henceforth, I will try to be in touch with His sermons by reading His thoughts.

Years later after getting married and having become a father, I went to meet Sri Sri Babathakur with my family at the Saccidananda Society facility in Eastern Bypass, where He lived then to seek His blessings. My son as a toddler was playing at His feet and rolling over.  Sri Sri Babathakur said, “See this infant child also knows which is the right place to play.”  Then pointing towards me He said, But here, someone does not know what company to keep”.  He told my mother “I do not recognize this person”.   I was totally taken aback by His reaction and went home ashamed.   I was very dejected, feeling Sri Sri  Babathakur had ignored me for no fault of mine.  At that time, I was too young to understand the nuances of life.

I think that reaction from Si Sri Babathakur was intended to propel my feelings towards His teachings and practice the same.  A week later, I happened to attend a course of transcendental meditation arranged by my office. It changed my outlook, and helped start my journey to make up for lost time.  I regularly began practicing meditation and reading Sri Sri Babathakur’s books and magazines to keep my thought processes focused.  I made my priorities clear that the office will be dedicated to my professional work - for that is the duty of this external form which I need to accomplish and to make myself ready internally to realize myself.   I need to practice meditation and His teachings and make my mind focused towards remaining unattached to any form of gain or loss from this materialistic world.  I resolved to one day be able to stand up and present myself to the Master saying, “I am ready now and willing to dedicate myself to You, and Your cause”.

Alas that chance never came, as one day I got a call from my mother telling me that Sri Sri Babathakur was no more.  I just could not stop crying and said to myself, “I am the biggest fool in this world – being so close to Him – I had missed out on everything.”  The whole night, I sat in front of His portrait and wept like a baby, and in the morning, decided to pack my bag to attend His last journey at Delhi.  I resolved to take a small bag with me for my trip and so hauled an old bag from my overhead loft.   After cleaning the same, I opened it up and started packing it with my clothes.   Suddenly, I noticed a small painted photograph of Sri Sri Babathakur on a very old ram shackled paper with Bal Krishna playing on His back.  I next felt Sri Sri Babathakur looking straight of the picture into my eyes.  I went numb and just sat down with a thump, the photograph in my hand.   My wife came running up upon hearing the sound and inquired what had happened.  She was  taken aback with the photograph she saw me clutching in my hand.   “Where did you get this?” she asked me.   I just could not answer and pointed to the bag and started weeping like a child.   I have no recollection of what happened next.  My wife tells me that I stopped crying and proceeded to bed for a nap.   In the evening, I decided not to proceed to Delhi as I realized Sri Sri Babathakur has always been with me and will always remain with me.  From that day on, we at our home always worship him in the form that I got Him from the bag, and make it a point to read and discuss some points from his books.

So friends, I shall continue writing about my close encounters with the Master and my learnings from His sermons.   I will also pen down some of my experiences interacting with Bombay Maa, who also used to provide me with sermons of life in a very simple and lucid form.

On a parting note, the following are some of the essence of Sri Sri Babathakur’s teachings which I’ve inculcated during the course of my journey so far:

• Always keep yourself cheerful at heart. Even when your external form may show anger, your heart should be feeling cheerful.
• The actions of your external form should be controlled by the purity of your internal thoughts and feelings. Try to control your internal vibes, so that all actions emanating out of it are honest in its intention.
• If someone showers praises, curses or ill-treats you – realize that he is doing the same to your external form.  Your true self should not be affected by his actions.  This will enable you to remain unattached.
• Continue doing your external duty honestly and for the betterment of the society as you are destined to do this.   Keep some time to kindle your pursuit to know yourself.
• Think how fortunate you are today, that you are at least able to read the sermons of the path towards Self Realization.   Do not waste time (in your pursuit of Self Realization).   Keep the incremental growths in Self Awareness, going.  Who knows the right time? It will come of its own.   Try to grab the opportunity.
• Stay focused and read Sri Sri Babathakur’s sermons regularly whenever in doubt – All your doubts will clear up on their own.

Well that’s all for now.

Jai Sri Sri Babathakur!!!