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Gurudev- My Charioteer

Premarpit Gautambhai Shah, offering seva as a Steering Committee member of the Mission and a blessed sevak of the Jinmandir Committee of Sadguru Prerna inks how Pujya Gurudevshri’s incessant love and subtle guidance steered him on his spiritual odyssey

I always wondered why people ran madly after someone who looked ordinary, just like anyone of us. It seemed crazy! He was my brother Premarpit Hirenbhai’s Gurudev who later became my wife Premarpit Priti’s Gurudev too. Initially, I respected Him as an individual but had no other feelings for Him. I never stopped Priti from going to Him and was always curious and keen to know what happened whenever she met Gurudev.

Steering my Life – From Indifference to Interest

In May 1997, Gurudev was going to Mt. Abu by road and was going to see some place at Valsad. He agreed to halt at our factory in Pardi for lunch. I had grown a beard then. While having lunch He asked Hirenbhai whether I had taken any ‘abhigraha’ to be fulfilled before I could shave. Hirenbhai mentioned about some problem I was facing. When I went into the room, Gurudev said that if all problems got solved by growing a beard, He would also start keeping one. On hearing this, without letting anyone know about it, I had my beard shaved off before He left the factory. I did not know what was happening to me. I started to like Him, His gestures and felt like doing whatever He liked.

During Diwali in 1997, the whole group was going to Palitana. I was literally forced by Priti to join them and finally agreed to go on two conditions – I would fly and not travel with the group and if I didn’t like it I would come back. Once I reached there, I saw the crazy rush again and decided to do the sacred tirthyatra the very next day and come back to Mumbai. A few mumukshus sensed my irritation and did their best to make me comfortable, convincing me to attend just one pravachan before leaving. When Gurudev came to know about this, as usual, He just smiled. I attended the pravachan and was bowled over. I found the pravachan so profound and yet simple, logical and practical. I liked it so much that I decided to stay back. On the last day, I met Gurudev and told Him that I really enjoyed and was moved by the pravachans.

To me and my family’s surprise, the first thing I did on returning home was emptying my most priced minibar. The pravachans touched me so much that I made sure not a sight of it existed in my house and in my heart. Gurudev never asks you to stop anything. He fills you with so much love and happiness, that all these things just drop automatically. Gurudev can only be experienced; He cannot be put in words.

Steering my Life – From Curiosity to Transformation

In February 1998, I had to recover money from someone who wasn’t intending to pay back. I was very angry. Gurudev guided me through the pravachan stating that whatever happens is right, whoever bears the consequences is at fault and one should avoid all sorts of discord. It was like everything He said was just for me. His words pierced my conscience and I experienced a revolution within me. I decided that I should let any amount of money go as it was because of my past karmas and should not do anything untoward. It was just His grace.

He came to our house to stay for 3 days – from March 16th to 18th, 1998. We had a celebration of a lifetime. Being with Him for so many hours, He worked on me regarding things that I was attached to. I was a lover of home decor and artefacts and my house was filled with them. One morning before breakfast, He asked me to close my eyes and identify the artefacts and paintings in the whole house, in the order that they were placed, just as I entered the house. By making me do this, He made me understand that in whatever I had put importance, I could remember well and the rest I forgot. Soon after He left, I removed all the paintings and artefacts from the living room. He came to know about this. The next time He came home, He looked around for the paintings and said that He had not asked me to remove paintings from the wall, but from my heart. Gurudev can only be experienced; He cannot be put in words.

Steering my Life – From Confession to Commitment

In May 1999, Gurudev was going to do pratishthas in Borivali and Kandivali. He had blessed us by staying in our flat in Kandivali for 3 days from May 1 to 3, 1999. There He told me, “I have informed Bhavin what you are going to confess to me. I am not in a hurry. You can do it at your pace.” Wow! God Himself wanted me to come closer to Him. And that was it, that night itself I fearlessly wrote all my confessions in detail. The next morning was different. I felt light and tremendously close to Him. As I was driving Him from our house to Borivali for a pravachan, I showed Him the confession letter and told Him I would make a fair copy and give it to Him. He immediately grabbed the paper from my hand and told me, “If I give it to you for corrections then a lot of it would be edited and omitted.” How He makes you do it so easily!

To ensure that I don’t waste my life in just worldly gains, He decided to bless me with the most precious boon of seva. In 2002, He showered upon me the seva of being a Premarpit leader. During my leadership year, He worked on me inside out. He taught me how to communicate, be more aware, organised, committed and think quickly and wisely. With His grace I learnt how to stay connected and serve to the fullest without expectations. Seva became my sadhana.

Whenever He was not happy with me for any reason, I could experience His training in multiple forms. I learnt from the mistakes and made them stepping stones taking me closer to Him and towards my goal. He then gave me a bigger surprise. On March 9, 2014, He blessed me by appointing me as one of the Trustees of Shrimad Rajchandra Adhyatmik Satsang Sadhana Kendra (SRASSK) and also included me in the Steering Committee (SC). I can’t forget that phone call from the Mission’s secretary, Sarvarpit Maulik, to give me this news. I was driving and I pulled the car over on a side and cried like a baby, unable to take the extent of His grace. And then the icing on the cake was He blessed me to be part of the Jinmandir Committee in Sadguru Prerna. Oh! I just could not believe it! What did I do to deserve so much? But I realise that nothing is my doing, it is just His unconditional love towards my spiritual growth. We don’t value it since He gives it so easily and is available for us so easily. He doesn’t need to do all this, yet He is doing all this just for us.

As a SC member I get to work closely with Gurudev. In any seva, we have learnt from Him that Param Krupalu Dev is the first priority and without this priority anything we do is useless. During one of our Jinmandir meetings I thought of making a presentation in a certain way. He changed the entire format instantly by taking my last question first and I realised there was nothing left to be asked, it was all answered. Oh! His vision, His farsightedness!

I love and thank Him for everything, for all that He is, for all that He teaches, for all that He has done, has been doing and will be doing for me. I am so blessed that I have a living God by my side. My human birth is only for Him and His seva. What can be shared on paper is limited. Gurudev can only be experienced; He cannot be put in words.

Quotes

Focus on the Guru's abidance in the pure Self during every activity. He remains a witness while appearing as a doer.

Show your strength in defeating your inner enemies, not in controlling the weak.

If you feel the absence of others, you will experience loneliness. But, if you sense your own presence deeply, you will find solitude.

A good student is a learner for life.

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#SadguruWhispers If you feel the absence of others, you will experience loneliness. But, if you sense your own presence deeply, you will find solitude.