Dada J. P.

Vaswani
MY GURU
MY MENTOR
MY GOD ON EARTH

By
MY GURU
MY MENTOR
MY GOD ON EARTH
By

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 PREFACE
My journey with my Guru started over 25 years ago. On
one fortunate day, Dada J.P.Vaswani was addressing a
small crowd of people at the Sadhu Vaswani Bal Centre
on Queens Road, Bangalore. My cousin had invited me to
attend this spiritual discourse. Initially, I was least
interested in attending it because I believed that my faith
in Lord Shiva, my God, was more than enough to give me
all the happiness, joy, and success. However, I decided to
go for it eventually. That changed my life! As soon as the
talk was over, I stepped forward to seek blessings from
the spiritual man. Little did I know that my life would
change after this meeting and he would become my Guru
– my Master for life!

The rst meeting was magical. His eyes gazed into mine,
and our eyes were locked till the magic of his love
enveloped me. He held my hand, and we both forgot that
there were hundreds of people around. We were lost in a
conversation that lasted several minutes as the crowd
patiently waited for him to reconnect with them. The rst
meeting built a bond between Dada, as he is fondly called,
and me. His love, humility, simplicity, philosophy and
oratory skills oored me. I was sold! It was the beginning
of a new journey - a new chapter of my life that would
change and transform me completely. It was God's grace
that I met the man who would be my Guru for life.

Today, as I look back at the two and a half decades that I

have spent with him, every moment with him is
invaluable, and I am indebted to Dada for devoting so
many years to help me become who I am. He is far beyond
a Guru and a Mentor. He is the very God that I pray to - my
Lord Shiva who has appeared on Earth as my Guru and
my Master.

I consider myself to be the happiest man in the world and

if this is so, the cause and reason is one – Dada, my Guru,
my Mentor, and my Master. He has led me from darkness
to light, from sorrow to joy, from doubt to faith, and from
despair to hope.

In this book, I share all these experiences with you. I share

the wonderful and insightful interactions I have had with
him – the hours, days, and meetings we have had together.
We have had several hundred discussions where he not
only patiently listened to my not-so-intelligent questions,
but also responded with utmost intelligence and gave me
advice about which direction I should choose for my life. As
my guide and my mentor, he transformed my life in so
many ways. I was a rough rock. He brought out the
diamond in me!

He polished me, cut me, and made me shine. All credit of

my life success goes to my Guru – Dada.
 Lord !
Make me,
Mould me,
Shape me so that
You are not ashamed of me.
 CONTENTS
1. Dada’s Life Story 1
2. How often do you see God walking on Earth? 8
3. My Experiences with Dada 12
4. Several Things Dada Taught Me as 37
Ravi V. Melwani
² Humility 39
² Forgiveness 41
² Patience 42
² Success 42
² Make God your Partner 43
² Brahmacharya and Succsex 44
² Reverence for life 46
² Vegetarianism 47
² Service to the poor is prayer to God 49
² Duty Towards God 50
² Discipline 52
² Sleep 53
² The Power of Silence 53
² Man Lives not by the Beats of His Heart, 55
But by The Grace of God
² Make God a Priority of your life 56
² Say “Thank You God” before every Meal 57
² Importance of Mantras 58
² To be Happy, Make Others Happy 60
² Value Your Human Birth 61
 ² Accept everything as Prasadam from God 62
² They will Say. Let Them Say! 63
² Surrender is the Way 63
² Daily appointment with God 64
² How to Overcome Anger 65
² Love God 66
² Gratitude 67
² Shut Down and Go To God! 68

5. What Dada taught me as RVM 72

² Forbearance 73
² Wait for God 74
² Universal Love 75
² God is within 76
² Yoga 77
² Tat Twam Asi 79
² Renunciation 80
² God is Everywhere 81
² What is the Purpose of Life? 82
² How should we work and what work should 83
we do?
² Don't Let the Mind Distract You! 84
² Free Will and Destiny 85
² Role of Religion 86
² Why did God create the Universe? 87
² God is One 88
² The Saints and Sages of the world 90
² “Rush, Do Not Delay,” Dada said 90
² Experience God 91
² Power of Focus 92
² Death – Going from One Room to Another 93
 ² Doors of the Human Body 93
² Pilgrimages and Rituals 94
² Where is Heaven and Hell? 95
² Grace of God 96
² What is Enlightenment? 96
² You are Not This Body! 97
² Koham Soham 98
² Talaash 99
² Turiyam 100
² Is there an Astral world? 101
² My E-mail To Dada 102
² Dada's Reply To My E-mail 105

6. Dada is an Amazing Story teller 110

7. The Goal of Life 123

8. Dada's teachings can change your Life! 131

9. Can we do without a Guru? 137

10. My Life story with Dada 146

11. What Dada continues to teach me as AiR 153

About The Author 166

MY GURU
MY MENTOR
MY GOD ON EARTH

1
 I

Dada's Life Story

9
2
 Dada's
Life
Story

S
ometimes words fail to express how beautiful the
sunrise and sunset are, how ecstatic a piece of music
is, and how amazing an experience of love is. I am at a
loss for words when I try to talk about my Guru – Dada J .P.
Vaswani (Dada Jashan Pahlajrai Vaswani). He is a unique
personality, second to none. In all my 50 years of life, I
haven't come across a person like him who is so humble,
calm, peaceful, loving, caring, intelligent, compassionate,
inspiring, generous, and kind. I am not saying this just
because he is my Guru, but because he is what he is.
nd
He was born on 2 August 1918 in Hyderabad, Sindh
province (presently in Pakistan) to Mrs. Krishnadevi and
Mr. Pahlajrai Vaswani. He was one of the seven siblings.
His was a simple family. Pahlajrai, his father, worked
with the Hyderabad Training College for Teachers in
Karachi. Krishnadevi, his mother, was a housewife, and
one of the rst few women to have beneted from English
education, which was a rarity in those days.

3
 Dada's Life Story

He was a brilliant student. He passed the B.S. examination

at a young age of 17. He was awarded a fellowship at the
D.J. Sindh College for standing rst in his class. His M.Sc.
(1948) Thesis on “The Scattering of X-Rays by Solids” was
examined by Nobel laureate Dr. C.V Raman. After
completing his education, he worked as a fellow at
D.J. Sindh College at Karachi.

Dada gave up a career in academics which could have been

very lucrative, to follow the footsteps of his illustrious uncle
and his future Guru, the great philosopher, educationist,
and humanitarian Sadhu T.L. Vaswani.

Along with his Guru and his followers, Dada moved to

Pune India in 1948. In order to propagate his Master's
ideals, he edited three monthly journals – the Excelsior,
the India Digest, and the East and West Series.

Dada's experiences with his Master are unique. He often gets

teary-eyed when he recalls the moments spent with his Master.
On 16th January 1966, after Sadhu T. L. Vaswani shed his
physical body, the baton was passed on to Dada J. P. Vaswani
to lead the Brotherhood Association, which was renamed as
Sadhu Vaswani Mission in 1978.

As the leader of Sadhu Vaswani Mission, Dada has led the

mission in all its efforts to reach out to the poorest of the poor
through their humanitarian initiatives. He has inspired
many people to live a happy and meaningful life through his
numerous books and booklets. He has transformed people's
life by inspiring them to live with meaning and purpose
through his innumerable talks and discourses.

Dada has appeared in several television programmes on

4
Dada's Life Story

various channels like Zee, Sony, and others. He talks

about how this human life is a gift to us and we must
treasure it and make the best of it before the journey is over.
Dada promoted the very dear concept of compassion to
one and all started by his Master T. L. Vaswani through the
Meatless Day campaign, which is promoted every year on
Sadhu T. L. Vaswani' s birthday on 25th November.

A new association called Stop All Killing (SAK) was

started to encourage people to love and care for animals.
Dada strongly believes that one must have compassion
and reverence for life and should not kill. He believes that
today, because man has no compassion towards animals
and kills them, man is not hesitant to raise his sword
against his own brothers and sisters. This is causing
violence and terrorism around the world.

He is an embodiment of love and compassion and of

saintliness and humility. Dada has authored many books on
secrets of happiness and non-violent living. His participation
in many world conferences on religion, compassion, and
humanity has spiritually enriched the world.

Dada's style of talking is very simple. He is a great

inspiration. He never leaves his talks open-ended. He
always ends his talks with practical suggestions, helping
people transform their life by inculcating values. His
ery, thought-provoking speeches have aroused interest
in the Hindu religion around the world and he has been
invited to several global platforms to share his views.

Although Dada encourages developing intellectual

skills, he always believes that training of the heart with

5
 Dada's Life Story

love and compassion to serve humanity is more important.

He says “Love and service are what the world needs the
most right now. Don't look at serving others as doing them
a favour, but look at service as an offering of love to God.”

Dada expanded the Sadhu Vaswani Mission to several

centers globally, and today there are centers all over the
world, including North America, South America, Europe,
Africa, Middle-East, and Asia.

A GIFTED WRITER

Dada is the author of over 80 books in English and many more

in the Sindhi language. Many of his books have run into several
editions, and several have been translated into Marathi, Hindi,
Gujarati, Kannada, Arabic, Mandarin, Spanish, French, German,
and Indonesian languages. Each of Dada's books is a treasure
that can change one's life. His books inspire people not to just
exist, but to live with meaning and purpose.

AN ORATOR

People from all over the world have benetted from Dada's
speeches. He has spoken at numerous venues. He spoke at
the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium of the U.N.O. about
“World Peace” on 18th April 1984. He addressed the 10th
Hindu Conference in New York at Madison Square in 1984,
and spoke on “World without War” at the British House of
Commons, London, attended the Global Forum of Spiritual
Leaders in Oxford on April 1988. He also addressed The
World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. Dada gave an
inspiring talk at the Global Forum of Spiritual Leaders and
Parliamentarians on “Human Survival” at Kyoto, Japan in
April 1993. He addressed World Vision 2000. He delivered

6
Dada's Life Story

a keynote address at the conference on World Religions, New

York, on the “Vision and Legacy of Swami Vivekananda” on
th
7 July 1994. He once again spoke at the House of Commons,
U.K., about “The World's Greatest Need – Love in Action” on
th
8 June 1995. In December 1999, Parliament of the World's
Religions also received Dada's love through a speech at Cape
Town, South Africa. He spoke at the Millennium World Peace
Summit at the launch of the World Council of Religious
Leaders – Bangkok on 12th June 2002. Dada has given
numerous speeches at several important gatherings across the
globe and through them, has touched, triggered and
transformed many lives.

A PHILANTHROPIST

As a philanthropist, Dada always says that, “If you want to be

happy, make others happy.” The Sadhu Vaswani Mission
advocates that “Service to humanity is prayer to God.”

Several service initiatives by Dada are noteworthy, such as

handing over of “Shanti Daan,” a home for the dying and
sick to Mother Teresa. He also handed over 91 newly built
houses to earthquake victims at Latur, Maharashtra, in
th
April 1995. On 24 November 1995, Dada consecrated and
commissioned the Morbai Naraindas Budhrani Cancer
Institute in Pune. Dada also visited “Gandhi Dham” in
Gujarat to initiate and personally supervise the Mission's
quake-relief activities in January 2001 amongst several
other humanitarian initiatives and endeavors.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

Dada has received several global recognitions and awards. In

appreciation, the Mayor of Chicago, Mr. Harold Washington

7
 Dada's Life Story

proclaimed June 5 - 11, 1984, as “Dada J.P. Vaswani Week.”

Dada was awarded Paul Harris Fellowship (Rotary Club) on
rd th
3 February 1989. On 18 May 1996, he was given an honorary
citizenship of the state of Georgia, USA. He received the “U
Thant” Peace Award in April 1998 for his dedicated service to
the cause of world peace.

If one would like to talk more about Dada, then one would
need to write a whole book about his awards, recognitions,
books, talks, and achievements as an author, speaker, and
philanthropist. But this is just a snapshot of my Guru, Dada
nd
J.P. Vaswani, as he starts his centenary year on 2 August
2017.

Although he is 99, he behaves as if he is 19 years old

because he believes that the soul never grows old. The
physical body may age, but Dada believes that age is a
state of mind. Dada always tells people that man never
dies - we are immortal and we live forever, changing the
bodies we wear.

While Dada may look very simple, he is the most evolved

soul I have come across in my life. He doesn't believe in
promoting himself or his mission. His low prole has
actually hid the diamond he is, from the world.

Kudos to Dada! I know him for over 25 years, and in my 5

decades on Earth, I am yet to come across a person who is
even remotely close to what he is.

8
 II

How Often
Do You See
God Walking
on Earth?

9
 How Often
Do You See
God Walking
on Earth?

I
s it not rare to nd a true saint – a saint who is actually a
God-man, a representative of God, or an incarnation?
Several may claim to be one, but how many of them are
truly God personied? Dada J.P. Vaswani is one such
saint who has been with us on this Earth for 99 years now.
These 99 years are invaluable – not just to devotees like me
and others, but also to the whole world because of his
overwhelming contribution to this globe.

Dada's humility, simplicity, and practical ways of looking

at life and thoughts on how one should live are attributes
that speak volumes about the amazing person that he is.
Through this book, I wish to share the several experiences
I have had with Dada at different times, in different places
and environments. It covers the conversations and the
questions and answers between us - both general and
personal ones that have had a big impact in my life. While
Dada has spoken from his heart and soul, the thoughts
shared by him have been captured by me as important
concepts to live a life of meaning and purpose. These

10
How Often Do You See God Walking on Earth?

amazing insights by Dada shouldn't remain a secret and

must reach out to the whole world.

I believe that every human being should be exposed to

Dada's thoughts on the following questions that relate to all of
us: Who are we? Why are we here? What is the purpose of life?
Where is God? What is God? Who is God? Where is heaven
and hell? Is the law of Karma real? Does reincarnation
actually happen? There are so many unanswered questions
that people have! If one delves into the scriptures, the
answers are so complicated that the common man may
nd it difcult to understand.

Dada is the answer! Dada explains the answers that we

need in such a lucid manner that anybody can understand
these concepts, however complicated they may seem. He
not only explains such concepts but also lives what he
speaks, and this adds credibility to his teachings.

I am fortunate to receive from Dada his priceless teachings

and those learnings I have put in this book. This is what
makes this book an amazing work of philosophy. It's a
book that will open your mind to life and its true meaning.
It will create a new life path for you to walk on. This book
can be a bedside book that you would want to read every
day, for it will guide you and mentor you to be happy and
live with fulllment. Not just that, it will also teach you to
make others happy and achieve the true purpose of life.

Dada is the most precious gift that I have received. I have

asked him many questions, and Dada always had the
answers. His super conscious mind is so alert and
connected to the Universal Power that he always gives me

11
 How Often Do You See God Walking on Earth?

the right solutions. His wisdom, experience, exposure, and

widely acquired knowledge are God-sent, and it is rare to
nd anyone like him these days. His answers to my strange
questions have opened my eyes to the reality of life. Of
course, these answers have changed and transformed my
life; I will be sharing these answers with you later in this
book.

I hope that through this book, people will get a chance to

know more about Dada. His teachings are so profound that
if imbibed, one's life can surely be transformed.

This book is worth its weight in gold. Every page of this

book has something about Dada's life and teachings that
will directly or indirectly help you live a better life. Of
course, there may be things that don't relate to you and
that you have not experienced, but this book will surely
provoke you to think about your life. I have sincerely tried
to capture Dada's thoughts that touched my heart and
have presented them here. Read this book as if Dada is
speaking to you from his heart, and hear his words for
they will truly lead you to a path of joy, peace, and
fulllment.

After all, it is very rare to experience God in a human form.

Those who have been blessed by Dada, know that he is truly
a manifestation of God on Earth.

12
 III

My Experiences
with Dada

21
13
 My
Experiences
with Dada

O
ne of the greatest treasures of my life is my
experience with my Guru, Dada. A Guru can be
far more than a mentor and a teacher. A Guru can
create so much love and joy that only one who has truly
experienced the presence of a Guru can understand this.

My rst meeting with Dada was about 25 years ago at the

Sadhu Vaswani Bal Center, Bangalore, where he was
giving a talk. To me, when I look back at my experiences, I
can call what happened 25 years ago as the moment of
falling in love with my Guru. He looked into my eyes and
I was lost. I had sunk deep into his love, compassion, and
care. He was giving a talk and I was there for the rst time
trying to understand what this man was preaching. It was
a special moment between my Master and me – a moment
where he would capture me and take me across from a
world of illusion to a real world – a world of true Ananda,
bliss, and joy!

My experiences between 1992 and 2017 – a relationship of

14
My Experiences with Dada

25 years, have been amazing, each experience surpassing

the previous one. These experiences have built my life
brick by brick and made me what I am today. Through
these experiences, I have transformed my life of
happiness and achievement to a life of contentment and
fulllment, and nally evolved to a life of realization of
the truth.

In the beginning, it was just communicating with him

either on the telephone, through letters, or meeting him
personally. I didn't have the opportunity of meeting him
often those days because I was busy with my work and he
was often travelling. I would x a time for a telephone
conversation, and then I would look forward to the call
with Dada. As soon as Dada used to pick my call, I used to
be overjoyed. I enjoyed every moment of my
conversation with him. And I would ask him several
questions, clarify many thoughts, and talk about my
business, life, and family. Whatever needed further
discussion would be continued through a letter, and
Dada would promptly reply to me. I was very sure that as
soon as my letter reached him, it would be just a matter of
hours before he would send a reply.

At that time, he was my Mentor. I wouldn't say that he had

become my Guru. But he was a guide, a teacher, and a
spiritual leader who was guiding me through life with a
philosophy that would give me happiness and fulllment.

He was the one who could answer my questions and take

me through what I call the jungle of life and lead me
forward, solving my problems, and helping me select the
right path.

15
 My Experiences with Dada

It took a few years for the relationship to mature. I would

go to Pune on important days like his birthday, Guru
th
Purnima or Meatless Day, which is on the 25 of
November. I was drawn towards him and I would visit
him as often as I could. Even more wondrous was my
good fortune that he was visiting Bangalore often as part
of his itinerary and staying at the Wadhwa House where I
could meet him every day and night.

He would come to Bangalore and stay for a week or two.

It would mean having breakfast, lunch, and dinner with
him. Dada would use time in between meals for his own
spiritual introspection and reading. He would meet us for
breakfast, after which we would all sit around casually
and he would be happy to answer questions. We would
meet again for lunch. I was known for asking a lot of
questions and people would let me lead the “Q&A”
session as it was called.

But the most amazing sessions were the dinner sessions,

where after having dinner, Dada would be very relaxed
and I would ask him several questions and sometimes the
sessions lasted up to 1–2 hours. There were questions that
were intriguing – questions about life, God, problems,
philosophy, and even religion. He found it interesting to
speak on subjects that were relevant to him. Often it
would look like the whole conversation was between
Dada and me. Of course, everyone was entitled to ask
questions and they did. My love affair with Dada grew
over the several meetings at Wadhwa House. I must say
that I am very grateful to the entire Wadhwa family for
tolerating me and my questions and letting our beautiful
relationship of a Guru and disciple grow.

16
My Experiences with Dada

The Q&A sessions continued even in Pune, where I was

fortunate to be allowed to meet Dada in the afternoon as
well as at night after lunch and dinner. This was quite rare
because not everybody was allowed to access Dada. For
some reason unknown to me, my Master had selected me
and permitted me to be a part of his inner circle. I was able
to go to him to chit-chat, ask questions, and be part of his
life. This is probably the grace of the Almighty and my
biggest gift from God that He permitted me to spend
quality time with my Guru, my Master.

There were no restrictions on what questions I could ask

Dada. In the earlier days, when I was a businessman, I
would ask Dada questions on business, politics, current
affairs, health and even relationships. Sometimes we
would talk about God, religion, philosophy and
spirituality. Dada was very loving and caring, and he
would answer all my questions, whatever be the topic.

I found it quite unusual because from what I knew, in any

Guru–disciple relationship, the disciple had to give the
Guru whatever the Guru asks or needs. In our
relationship, it was the Guru who was giving! In return, I
was hardly doing anything, probably nothing for my
Guru. And this troubled me. I wondered, “Why is Dada
not asking me for anything or giving me an opportunity
to do something for him or the Sadhu Vaswani Mission?”
But well, that was Dada! He was compassionate, he had
no desires, and he was always in a mood to give as much
as he could in as many ways as he could, and I was the one
who was fortunate to receive his love, blessings, and
wisdom in the meetings with him.

17
 My Experiences with Dada

In those formative years with my Guru, I met several

learned men, masters, saints, God-men, and Gurus. Many
of them made an attempt to win me over so that I could
become their disciple. But somehow, none of the masters or
spiritual leaders I met were able to get close to me. Without
mentioning names, I was fortunate to meet many other
spiritual leaders, probably because I was a seeker and
somehow I was destined to meet them. There was no magic
in my meeting with them; I didn't have any connection
with them nor was I on the same wavelength as I was with
Dada. I knew for sure that this is my Guru, my Master, and I
continued my journey with him without any hesitation .
My relationship was unconditional, with total faith, belief,
and trust, and there was complete openness in my
conversations with my Master.

Very often, I would ask Dada to give me some personal

time to ask him questions that were very private. I would
discuss my personal problems and difculties in my
private life. Dada would give me condential time and
listen to me patiently. He probably knew more about my
life than I knew about it myself. And I wondered how he
remembered everything. When I would meet him several
months later, and start talking about my life, he would
recall everything I had told him. Dada's memory is truly
amazing! Even today, at the age of 99, I think he is more
alert and his memory is sharper than that of any
intelligent man between the age of 30 and 50. And that is
the gift of God to Dada.

My experiences with Dada as Ravi V. Melwani between

1992 and 2007 – 15 years of my life – were experiences that
built the magic with my Master. My Guru won me over,

18
My Experiences with Dada

and to me, Dada became one of the most important

aspects of my life. I treasured Dada and the relationship I
had with him just as I used his advice to traverse
problems and climb the peaks of life.

If I look back at those 15 years, they were lled with

success and good fortune, and I attribute my success to
Dada, his advice, his love, and his blessings. It seems like
my Guru was with me all the time, holding my hand,
leading and guiding me, and taking me from darkness to
light. I never felt a moment of loneliness and while I
yearned to talk to him or meet him, I could nd the
connection between our minds. Even though we were
physically apart, we still enjoyed moments of being
together through telepathy and the sixth sense. In those
years of achievement, I would go to Dada with the
biggest problems that I faced in management, leadership,
and nance. I would also talk to him about problems in
my family and personal life. Dada had an answer to every
question. He was like an encyclopedia, an ocean of
wisdom, and he could effortlessly give answers without a
second thought – this was the magic that probably
oored me and made me respect and love my Guru
beyond words.

I do remember some of the experiences that I had with

him and would like to share a few. Once when somebody
hurt me very badly, and I went to Dada in a very negative
mood, he said, “You should be happy. You should rejoice
that you have been hurt because when somebody hurts
us, it negates our Karmic score. We have probably done
something, and our Karma that is negative, needs to be
wiped off. So when somebody does something wrong to

19
 My Experiences with Dada

us, we must accept it joyously. The Law of Karma is just

wiping out our negative Karma.”

I would speak to Dada about vegetarianism in the initial

days because I was a non-vegetarian. Dada knew it, but
he never treated me with any kind of disrespect because
of the fact that I was eating meat although he strongly
advocated pure vegetarianism. It is because of his love,
care, and guidance that in a matter of weeks and months,
I gave up eating meat completely and became a
humanitarian who never caused any kind of pain to
animals.

There was a time when I had a difference of opinion with

my father who I truly loved and respected and who was
also my business partner. Just like any two partners would
have differences in opinion, we had disagreements on a
particular policy. I went to Dada and shared this with him.
Very diplomatically and lovingly, Dada said, “Of course,
you must love your father and follow your father. But if
you think you have a difference in opinion, and then you
have an option. The option is to refer the matter to your
Heavenly Father. Go deep within, be silent, introspect,
contemplate, build a connection with your Heavenly
Father, God, and put your question to Him and you will get
your answers from within your heart.” And it truly
worked! Dada showed me a way out when it seemed that
there were no options.

Then there were those times when the problems were

beyond human comprehension. They were not just
“large” problems. I would call them XL or XXL problems.
My problems were huge! And then Dada shared a secret

20
My Experiences with Dada

of life. He asked me a strange question, “Have you made

God your partner?” I didn't understand what he was
saying. Then he explained to me that I must learn to make
God my partner. He taught me to keep a desk in my
ofce, which was the desk of my senior partner, God.
Adjoining my desk, I kept a tall chair and a desk, and I
called it “God's Desk.” Those who were close to me knew
about it, but I felt embarrassed to share this with anybody
else because they would think that I had lost some part of
my mind. But I believed Dada and trusted him. I started
this practice of keeping a table for my senior partner,
God, in my private ofce. Dada further said, “You can
treat God just like you treat your partner in every possible
way. You should give your partner a share of your prot,
that is, give God His share of prot. Just like your
partners take care of problems, let God handle the
problems that you would like Him to handle.”

I started following this advice – probably the best advice I

got in those rst 15 years of my life – “Golden words”
from Dada, as I would call them. I would set aside 10% of
the prot for God. Dada explained to me that just because
God doesn't demand His share, it doesn't mean that we
don't give it to Him. We pay our bills, don't we?
Electricity bills, payments to those who supply milk and
vegetables, and even fees to schools and colleges. Then,
why don't we pay our fee to God? And then I wondered
what would one do with that fee? Dada explained that
we should spend that money in any of God's work. It can
be spent to serve suffering humanity or for religious and
spiritual purposes. Anything that we do for God would
be counted in the budget of God's prots. I started
practising this magical formula, and it truly worked.

21
 My Experiences with Dada

While I spent 10% of the prot doing God's work, I kept

putting unsolvable problems on God's desk. And as if by
magic, those unsolvable problems got solved one by one.
Several private notes to God still lie in the drawer of
God's desk, which have become a memory now. As I kept
sharing my prot with God, I kept sharing my problems
too. And the equation worked. It was quid pro quo, and
God was giving me far more than I was offering to God.

I must appreciate all those who are around Dada – his

close team, including Krishna Kumari – Krishna as she is
fondly called and Gulshan amongst others. They were
very supportive in connecting me to Dada. Without their
support and kindness, it would have been impossible for
me to build this special relationship that I have with my
Guru. I am indebted to them for being blessed by Dada
and creating that connection between me and my Master.

Some of our most interesting conversations were in what I

call a “Walk and Talk” session. Dada was very fond of
walking, and I would try not to miss a single walk with
him, whether it was at Cubbon Park or the Indian Institute
of Science in Bangalore. Dada would choose very silent and
tranquil walking paths where there was only the breeze
and the trees and nothing else. Dada would give me time,
and we would walk and talk. These walks gave me an
opportunity to have long conversations with Dada.

It was probably these meetings with Dada that changed me

and my life. When I met Dada, I was just an ordinary
businessman but I found my life changing and
transforming to a life wherein I was not just making
money, but also starting to make a difference. I accelerated

22
My Experiences with Dada

my humanitarian work by setting up a charitable home in

just a few years after meeting Dada. I also evolved
spiritually, and after receiving a vision from God, built a
Shiva Temple in 1995. Directly or indirectly, I was
inuenced by two major forces – God and Guru. Both
were responsible for the ashes of inspiration that came
to my super conscious mind and for converting those
aspirations and ashes into reality. I would talk to Dada
about everything and share every thought that came to
my mind, whether it was a thought to build a Shiva
Temple or a thought to start an ashram for the sick and
destitute people. I would talk to Dada and take his advice
and inputs and then go ahead. I wouldn't do anything
important in my life without his blessings and advice.
Whatever I am today and whatever I have, I owe to my
Guru – my beloved Dada.

My life evolved between 1992 and 1995 and we made

prots and income beyond our wildest dreams. We had
so much money that I didn't know what to do with it. Our
business grew, and therefore, we took up another store 10
times larger, which became one of India's largest stores.
Both the Shiva Temple and the store were built between
1995 and 1997, and I must say that it was the blessings of
my Master that made me tide over insurmountable
problems. We even had a situation where I was told by
the authorities that my project was not legally viable and
that I would have to shut down my entire project. This
would mean that my investment of approximately 5
million dollars would be wasted. I went to Dada and
shared the problems, and Dada gave me faith and hope
and told me to trust God. My faith in Lord Shiva and my
Guru together made me believe and achieve. I was able to

23
 My Experiences with Dada

get a government order to legalize things because they

were only technical issues and there was no real problem.
I met the right people and I believe that I met them
because of the grace of the Guru and the blessings of God.

Dada visited the Shiva Temple and was in awe, amazed

by the 65-feet-tall statue of Lord Shiva. He somehow
made me connect with God in a very special way. He
became the instrument that connected me to my God, and
in course of time, he went on to be not just my Guru and
my Master, but also my God on Earth. He became a
manifestation of Lord Shiva, a reection of my God on
Earth.

I had requested Dada to inaugurate the biggest project of

my life – Kemp Fort, one of India's largest retail projects.
It was the kindness of my Guru that he came for the
inauguration of Kemp Fort on 15 October, 1997. As he cut
the ribbon, a helicopter was showering petals from above
and Sridevi and Anil Kapoor – stars of the Hindi lm
industry were the other guests of honour. There was
magic in the air as the biggest business dream of my life
had come true with the blessings of God and my Guru.

By then my relationship with my Master was 5 years old,

but in those 5 years, I had already transformed my life. I
had lost interest in making money because Dada had
taught me that the goal of life is not just to make money.
Money doesn't truly belong to us. It comes and goes, and
our journey of life is to be content and to live a life of
fulllment. He taught me spiritual concepts like “We are
not this body and mind” and discussed about the
principal statements of the Upanishads like “Tat Twam

24
My Experiences with Dada

Asi.” At that time in my life in 1995 when I was barely 30

years old, I couldn't really understand what Dada was
trying to say, but my life had started changing. Right
from 1997 onwards, I started paying more attention to
H .I .S. work (Humanitarian, Inspirational, and Spiritual
work), and Dada encouraged and advised me on how I
should proceed in doing God's work.

The next phase of my life between 1997 and 2007 was a time
when my life was evolving from a life of achievement
to a life of contentment and fulllment. It was the grace of
my Guru Dada that helped me move towards a better life.

Only Dada knew what I was meant to be and what I was

supposed to do. Probably, nobody else knew it. My
family who supported me and my relationship with my
Guru took it very positively when Dada advised me to
take up the opportunity of moving on in life. I ended my
commercial life in 2007, just as I turned 40 to pursue a life
doing H.I.S. work. It was magical because I got an offer to
shut down the store and convert and lease out India's
largest store into a mall. I would earn far more than what
we earned by doing business ourselves. More importantly,
as observed by Dada, I would be free from the shackles of
this world and would be able to pursue things that were
dear to my heart. I took this advice, and in 2007, I shut
down my business. With the grace of God, the blessings
of my Guru, and the support of my family, I was able to
make this transformational decision to move from
Ravi V. Melwani to RVM – to transform my life from a life
of earning to a life of spending and giving. This is one of
the biggest decisions of my life. At 40, it is very rare for
someone to shut down and to move to a more evolved

25
 My Experiences with Dada

life. Such a decision would have been impossible without

the guidance and blessings of my Guru and Mentor,
Dada. Through my Guru, God led me to a path where I
was meant to be, away from the noise of the world, which
was taking me nowhere.

By then, 15 years had passed since my rst meeting with

Dada. I must have met him hundreds of time, had several
discussions with him, and asked him innumerable
questions. Only Dada wasn't tired with my questions.
Everyone else around was quite fed up with the number of
questions that I would ask Dada, relentlessly and
passionately. In all the 25 years I have known him, he never
refused to answer a single question, nor was he unable to
clarify any doubt that I put forward to him.

Once, after the inauguration of Kemp Fort, when Dada was

in Bangalore, he developed some medical complication
and he was in the ICU. I was feeling so bad that he was
suffering in pain. Fortunately, I was allowed to see him
and I was surprised because although he was in the ICU, he
was smiling, calm, and undisturbed. The medical
condition of his body did not affect him at all. He was a true
Master who knew that he was not the body and while he
occupied the body, he was above it. So he never let the
physical problems or difculties affect him as he was aware
that he was the soul. He had already transcended the ego,
the mind, and the body.

In one such visit, at the ICU in the hospital where he was

admitted, he wrote on a little piece of paper “Man lives
not by the beats of his heart, but by the grace of God.”
Each of Dada's quotes became a milestone in the highway

26
My Experiences with Dada

of my life. I used his quotes to live my life as I absorbed

them. He never got disturbed or intimidated by what life
gave to him. He accepted everything in life with the
magical words, “Thy will, not my will, O Lord be done!”
He taught me things that were the blueprint for my
spiritual evolution. I am so indebted and grateful to
Dada, my Guru, to have held my hand and led me across
the ocean of samsara, or this illusion of the projecting
world to a life of Self–realization – a life lled with joy,
bliss, and Ananda!

Dada always treated me in a very special way. He

permitted me to meet him wherever he went – whether it
was at his private retreat in Lonavla, at the Wadhwa
House in Bangalore, and later on, at the farm house of the
Bangalore host just as he invited me to meet him as he was
travelling to Jakarta, Singapore, Hong Kong, and even
Dubai and London.

I was with Dada when he was under treatment at a

hospital in Chicago. Medical issues that are quite
complicated and upsetting to a normal man weren't able
to affect Dada although he faced very serious medical
challenges in the course of his life. He overcame them and
used his spiritual strength to let God cure all his health
problems and give him joy, peace, and good health.

Dada always knew that whenever I met him, I loved to

talk to him, ask him questions, and share some of my
thoughts. I was too talkative and disruptive, and I posed
too many questions to him. Today in retrospect, I wonder
how he tolerated me for 25 years and how he accepted my
nonsense at times so patiently, calmly, lovingly, and
compassionately.

27
 My Experiences with Dada

I would like to share one of my rare experiences I had with

Dada. I told Dada that we have a hospital on a land of 2
acres. We had started serving the poor and I showed him
pictures of those who were suffering, I shared with him
that I was not making money from my business, and
therefore, we were not able to invest in this new hospital
project. I have heard of disciples giving donations to their
Gurus in the form of cash, cheques, and contributions. But
for the rst time, I saw the reverse happening! My Guru,
my Master wrote out a cheque and gave me money to kick-
start the hospital along with his blessings. He told me
“Start! Put the rst brick”, and he wrote out a cheque and
sent me his contribution towards the humanitarian hospital
of RVM Foundation in Bangalore. I was dumbfounded and
abbergasted! I couldn't believe that instead of accepting a
contribution from me, my Guru was making a contribution
to me – this was unheard in the history of relationships
between a Guru and a disciple. His rst cheque truly turned
into a blessing, and we started the humanitarian hospital,
which now has over 250 beds. It has no cash counter and
with Dada's blessings; we try to treat every patient as a
picture of God. Like Dada's Guru Sadhu T.L. Vaswani said,
“Service to suffering humanity is prayer to God. To serve
the poor is to worship God.” Swami Vivekananda also
advocated a similar message, “Shiva Jnane Jiva Seva,”
which means those who serve the poor are truly
worshipping Shiva or God!

Dada never refused any request of mine – whether it was

asking him to come and inaugurate the 32-feet-tall
Ganapati statue, which was built besides the statue of
Lord Shiva, or anything else, he never said no. He would
always oblige, and he was very loving and caring to me

28
My Experiences with Dada

all through the years that I spent with him.

I never hid anything from Dada. I shared every feeling of

mine with him - thoughts that came to my mind,
emotions that were born in my heart, and aspirations that
came to my soul. Even if I was guilty of doing something
wrong, I would share it with Dada. And so in the years
after 2000, I kept telling Dada that I felt that life had a
larger meaning and purpose and I wanted to do
something more meaningful. When I got an offer to shut
down my business in 2006, I asked Dada, “Is it a good
idea for me to shut down my business fully or partly? I
have two options: either to shut down 80% of the business
and maintain a large toy shop or to shut down 100% of the
business.” Dada thought for a moment and then told me
that my life was meant for a larger purpose. So he advised
that I should shut down the business fully and dedicate
my life to do God's work.

I couldn't believe the advice I got from Dada. I never

believed that at the age of 40, I would be able to shut
down my business and be liberated from the problems
and tribulations of life. But such is the grace of the Guru
that he poured his love on me and transported me from a
life of problems to a life of joy and bliss.

I took the advice of my Master and shut down my

business in 2007. At 40, I was free from all the loans taken
to build this project, which were paid back to the banks
overnight with a magical deal that I had struck. Soon I
was completely free and I had an amazing combination of
time on my hands and money in the bank. Only the grace
of my Guru and the blessing of God could give me this

29
 My Experiences with Dada

and I thank God and my Guru for letting me transform

my life from Ravi V. Melwani to RVM – from a life of
making money to a life of making a difference, from a life
of earning to a life of spending.

From 2007, when I had shut down my business, my

relationship and my topics of discussion with Dada
changed. I now had the time to explore the world God has
made and I started travelling around the world. Every
time I showed photographs to Dada, whether of Alaska,
Iceland, or the penguins in Antarctica, we would discuss
God and this fascinating universe. Apart from travelling,
I also spent time writing inspirational and motivational
books as an author and penning down bhajans as a
lyricist and singer of Shiv bhajans. I was leading and
guiding a team to run the RVM Foundation to reach out
to more people and do more humanitarian and
compassionate work. I kept taking inspiration from Dada
and all these works were rapidly growing.

Our meetings continued only to become more passionate

and intense as our subjects of discussion evolved from
achievement to contentment and fulllment. I asked him
if I could meet him every month and he graciously
agreed.

Once I asked Dada, “Tell me, what I can do for you? All
these years, you have not given me an opportunity to
serve you.” At that time, Dada was preparing for the
birthday celebrations of his Master Sadhu T .L. Vaswani.
He had never asked me for anything all the 20 years that I
had known him, right from 1992 till then. However, once
Dada had mentioned that he had plans to take Sadhu

30
My Experiences with Dada

T.L. Vaswani' s portrait on a yatra across Pune city for his

birthday celebrations every year. The rath or the chariot
was supposed to be a simple cart with four wheels on
which the picture of Sadhu T.L. Vaswani would be placed
and the chariot would navigate across Pune city. Dada
asked me if there were a possibility of thinking of an idea
where we could make the rath more special for the yatra
as he loved and respected his Guru the most.

With the blessings of God and the inspiration from my

Guru, I got the designer Dilip Chhabria to design a
special rath in the shape of a spacecraft for my Master's
Guru. Dada was so full of joy when the day came and he
inaugurated and started the rst rath yatra. Little did I
know that my Master already knew that he would go
through several health hazards that would restrict his
mobility and he would need such a rath to be able to
perform the yatra in the times to come. Dada made the
best use of the rath made in the commemoration of Sadhu
T.L. Vaswani, and till today, I am happy that he uses the
rath – the amazing space craft – every year not just in
Pune but also in Pimpri to create awareness of the
goodness and the godliness of his Guru and Master
Sadhu T.L. Vaswani.

It gave me great joy to see my Guru happy, and I only

pray and wish that I continue to get such opportunities.
God has blessed me with everything.

I considered myself to be the happiest man in the world,

as I shared my life of bliss, joy, and service with Dada.
Dada felt that it was God's blessing to have such an
amazing life where I was nancially stable and I had no

31
 My Experiences with Dada

pressure in terms of time. I was blessed to do

humanitarian, inspirational, and spiritual work and in
leisure, travel around the world.

This didn't stop Dada from always asking me to focus on

the purpose and meaning of life that was beyond just
travelling around the world and doing humanitarian,
inspirational, and spiritual work. Dada always mentioned
to me that I was like Raja Janak. I was meant to be like a
king in my business empire, but like Raja Janak who
renounced desires of the world and took up a spiritual
path. He felt that there was a calling in my life to be able to
renounce the material possessions I had although they
were large and to take up a path of Self-realization and
God-realization. I didn't completely understand what
Dada was saying at that point, but today I have realized
what Dada meant when he said that I should try to live
like Raja Janak. I realize now how much love and respect
he had for me to suggest something like that.

Time ew and before I knew it, it was 20 years of knowing

Dada – from 1992 to 2012. He was instrumental in my joy,
happiness, and life transformation. But was it the end? I
didn't know. I thought I had reached the plateau of
success. I had made enough money, and I moved from a
life of achievement to a life of fulllment. I thought I
could continue to live happily forever until one day, at
one of Dada's birthday celebrations, while talking to a
large audience, he looked into my eyes and said, “Those
who truly love God and themselves should go on a
Talaash – a search or a quest to nd answers to these
questions: Who is God? Where is God? What is God?
Who am I? Where did I come from? Where would I go?

32
My Experiences with Dada

What is Moksh, Nirvana, and realization? What is the law

of Karma? Is rebirth true?” He put forward several
questions for me to introspect on, and he inspired me to
go on a Talaash. The thought impacted me so much that I
started my search for the true meaning of life.

My Master led me on a Talaash in 2012, but for one year, I

didn't progress much. In August 2013, when he met me
again, he asked the same question, “What is the progress
of your Talaash, your search, or your quest? And I was
actually embarrassed because I had not progressed much
in that one year in terms of Talaash or Spiritual
Enlightenment. But Dada's blessings were such that God
wanted me to go forward. In 2013 August, I delegated all
my work, the humanitarian, inspirational and spiritual
work, and tried to go into the mountains to retreat and
introspect with a bag full of books in my hand and
nothing else.

I would go away for days and weeks together, cut off

from the world, trying to introspect and learn about God
and His creation. Between 2013 and 2014, my life was the
life of a Jigyasu – a seeker seeking for answers to the
questions about life that Dada had put forward. I had
several discussions and question sessions with Dada
where I asked him weird questions. He calmly and
patiently explained to me until one day I asked Dada,
“You talk about an Astral world – a world where there are
no physical bodies and a world of minds and spiritual
entities. How can you talk of something like this when
there is no proof and how can you promote something
that seems to be an illusion?”

In fact, my ignorance had made me ask this question to

33
 My Experiences with Dada

Dada, and for the rst time, he told me “You are a Jyat – an
ignoramus who doesn't understand this.” He questioned
me, “You have a photograph of Antarctica in which there
are penguins and if I tell you that the penguins do not
exist, will you agree? You will say that you saw them and
you experienced it. In the same way, there are people who
have experienced the Astral world – the world beyond
skin and bones.” He continued, “You have to introspect
further to realize the truth.”

After that meeting, I sent an e-mail to Dada and his reply

to my e-mail transformed my life. I share these e-mails
later in the book as to how Dada taught me the secret of
life and God. It was only because of my Guru that I gave
up everything and made God my ONLY priority. I
studied the Upanishads as well as the life story of several
saints, including Adi Shankaracharya, Ramakrishna
Paramahamsa, Vivekananda, and Ramana Maharshi
amongst others. Dada had started my Talaash, and he
was steadily pushing me to realize the truth.

Dada sent me an equation in his e-mail:

Man − Self = God;

God + Self = Man.

Along with this, some Upanishads and selective books, I

retreated again into the mountains in solitude to
introspect. By the grace of God and blessings of Dada on
the 31st of August 2014, when I was on a ight from Paris
to Bangalore, I suddenly got answers to all the questions
that I was probing.

One day, in September 2014, I visited Dada with

34
My Experiences with Dada

gratitude in my heart and tears in my eyes and told Dada

that I realize that I am not this body–mind complex. I am
the Atman in RVM.

I was so happy that I had completed my Talaash and I got

answers to all the 9 questions that Dada had put before
me. Dada was very happy about this, but he was equally
concerned whether I had actually realized the truth or I
had only acquired the knowledge of realization. He
explained to me that unless we realize that we are the soul
or the Atman, and not the bodies that we have, our efforts
must continue.

My Guru helped me internalize the realization and

warned me that the battle will continue till the last day of
our life. It was a war between the Atman and the
ego–mind–body. If we fail, then we will not realize God
and we will be born again and again to suffer.

Post the realization of the truth, I went through a second

transformation. First it was from Ravi V. Melwani to
RVM, and now it was from RVM to AiR – Atman in Ravi. I
realized that I am the soul and not the body. One by one, I
gave up all my responsibilities to be able to seek God and
Liberation.

To share my search, I wrote a book – “Talaash” by AiR.

This book has everything that Dada taught me and shares
my experiences as I realized the truth that I am not the
ego–mind–body. Dada was kind enough to write the
foreword of the book. My relationship with Dada
continues to grow stronger each day. If it were not for
Dada, I would have lived and died as an ordinary mortal.
My Guru blessed me with the gift of realization, of

35
 My Experiences with Dada

immortality, of becoming one with God.

There are many messages, e-mails, and voice notes that

Dada has sent me; it is a treasure I possess. Each time I
reect upon them, my eyes are lled with tears of joy. I am
so happy that I met Dada and that he became my Mentor,
my Master, and my Guru. He is my God on Earth.

Little did I know that my transformed life from

Ravi V. Melwani to RVM would undergo a second
transformation – a metamorphosis – and I would change
my life from RVM to AiR (Atman in Ravi)!

Another unique experience that I would like to share are

the poems that Dada wrote for me. First, when I was
RVM, he wrote a poem in Sindhi, which literally
translates as follows:

Poem by Dada for RVM

Ravi, your heart, your soul, your mind ask so many

questions.
The questions are many, but the answer is one.
There is no end to questioning.
When we realize God, all questions will disappear.
The question of all questions is this one question -
How can I forget everything and hold Thy Divine feet?
The one who builds a nest at the feet of the Lord,
that dear devotee renounces everything in the world.
He seeks nothing, no wealth, no possessions.
He seeks and desires for just one thing.
I seek you O Lord, I seek nothing else.
My heart, my soul remembers you, recite you, seek you.

36
My Experiences with Dada

This poem became a part of my life! Maybe, it was what

transformed me completely.

A few years later, Dada joyously recited another poem –

this time to AiR.

Poem by Dada for AiR

Ravi, your heart just sings one song.

You have one desire, one craving, one prayer.
O Lord, I know none else but Thee.
I seek you and only you. Nothing and nobody else.
If he likes anything in this world, it is because he sees in
everything and everybody, You, You, and You..
For him there is no difference between a saint and a sinner.
You stay up all night singing the name of God.
O Master, I call out to you
Come… take me ashore.

What makes me wonder is how Dada wrote both these

poems without any reference, but with the same tune! These
two poems exactly captured my internal state of mind and
evolution, which was truly magical and beyond my
comprehension.

37
 IV

Several Things
Dada Taught Me
as Ravi V. Melwani

49
38
 Several
Things
Dada Taught Me
as
Ravi V. Melwani

O
ver the last 25 years, Dada has taught me so
many things - things that I learnt when I was
Ravi V. Melwani (between 1992 and 2007), then
what he inspired me as RVM (between 2007 and 2014),
and nally how he continues to guide me as AiR till date.
There is so much that I continue to learn as AiR – Atman
in RVM.

DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS

Dada always believes in the concept of different strokes

for different folks. He says that different people are at
different stages of life. We evolve just like a student
evolves from the time he starts his kindergarten and
continues to attend high school and nally goes to
college until post-graduation. It is not possible to talk to a
postgraduate and a school child in the same manner.
Therefore, Dada would talk differently to different
groups of people depending on how evolved they were.
If somebody were seeking a normal life - of success,

39
 Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

achievement, and happiness, Dada would guide them on

how to live happily. If somebody had evolved to a stage
of contentment and fulllment, then he would guide the
person on how to live with bliss, joy, and peace. Dada,
himself a completely evolved and realized soul, speaks
to me today in a language that he never spoke to me
when I was seeking achievement and fulllment. In this
chapter, I share the different teachings that I received
from Dada in the rst phase of my earthly life.

When I was living as Ravi V. Melwani, an enterprising,

creative businessman whose dreams and goals were
making money and being happy with all the pleasures of
the world, Dada taught me how to live a life of ethics and
values.

HUMILITY

I was quite a proud and arrogant man. When I met Dada,

his simplicity and humility were the key attributes that I
wished to imbibe. He always considered himself to be
nothing; he regarded himself as an ordinary person
although he had such wisdom. He was such an
extraordinary human being but he never considered
himself to be special. Today when I look back, I realize
that one of the most important lessons of my life from my
Guru was how to live a life of humility. Like water
always ows to the lowest point, Dada has taught that if
we are humble, we will attract wealth, love and success.
We should not be arrogant and live with ego because it is
arrogance and ego that leads to our destruction. If we
want to live a life of joy, peace, bliss and happiness, we
must learn to be humble as a little blade of grass. Dada

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Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

often quoted Jesus, “Blessed are the meek for they shall
inherit the Earth.”

Through his own personal example, Dada has shown me

the magic of humility. Humility is not thinking low of
yourself, but thinking high of others. Dada never loses an
opportunity to praise or appreciate someone - to talk
about people in a way that makes them feel special.

I learned to be humble from Dada. I was far from being

humble in my earlier days because ego and arrogance go
hand in hand with success and achievement, and it was
natural to lose humility along the way. But with Dada,
my humility was kept in check. Every time I met him, I
felt so humbled seeing his humility. He was so powerful,
famous, spiritual, and enlightened, but still he would
behave like a very ordinary person. He never hesitated to
apologize or to even bow down to anyone he met.
Numerous times, Dada himself has tried to bow down to
me as I bowed down to seek his blessings - as if he was
seeking blessings from me! This experience truly made
me feel ashamed of myself. I realized how proud I was in
comparison to Dada's humility.

Dada made me realize that our ego is our biggest enemy.

It makes us arrogant. It distances us from God and if we
want to realize God, we must rst eliminate or annihilate
the ego. The least we can do is to transcend it. We can't
totally kill the ego. The moment we completely kill the
ego, we are dead. Therefore, as long as we are alive, there
will be an ego; but we should learn to overcome it and try
to go beyond the ego. We should realize: we do nothing
and we are nothing, and God is everything, God does

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 Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

everything. God is the Power. Because we don't realize it,

we start thinking that I am doing something. What are
we capable of doing? Absolutely nothing! While we
think we did this and that, in reality we do nothing. We
have to realize that whatever is happening is happening
through us, not by us. God does everything. We should
realize that we know nothing and we are nothing. Dada
says, “I am not Alone. Thou Art!”

FORGIVENESS

I once asked Dada about how many times one should

forgive. Dada instantly replied that when someone had
asked Jesus the same question, he had answered, “I say to
you, not seven times, not seventy times, but seventy-
seven times.” What Dada meant to tell me was that we
must keep on forgiving and keep on forgiving! We
should never stop forgiving because when we make a
mistake, God forgives us several thousand times in our
lifetime. In the same way, we should forgive others.
Forgiveness creates peace in our heart. When we don't
forgive, we carry a poison inside us and that ruins our joy
and tranquility. I have learnt to forgive from Dada. Even
in situations when someone has hurt me badly, I
remember Dada and try to forgive. I should admit that it
is impossible to forgive like Dada because he always
forgives, never keeping anything in his heart. I would
have done a hundred things wrong in front of him. I may
have hurt him in so many ways, but he was so
forthcoming in forgiving and forgetting whatever
happened. The very next moment, he would not even
remember that something like that happened. He would
not let me feel that I had made a mistake or a blunder.

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Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

This way, Dada taught me two important lessons in life –

rst, to forgive and second, to forget.

PATIENCE

I remember an incident that happened at one of Dada's

birthday celebrations. The video that was supposed to be
played at the occasion didn't start as expected, and when
it did play, the mike had stopped working. When this
issue was resolved, suddenly there was some glitch in
the lighting – it did not fade off as expected. That day,
many things did not happen the way they were
supposed to happen. I was looking at Dada, and he had a
radiant glow and a smile on his face, and things on the
outside were not affecting him at all. He was calm,
peaceful, and patient. Dada's patience is unbelievable!
He taught me that there is a perfect time for everything,
and we should not hurry and rush. Of course we should
do our best, but thereafter we must trust God. When
things don't happen, we should believe that the timing is
not right, and when God makes it right, it will happen!
Dada taught me never to be impatient. He says that
everything has its perfect time, and if it comes too soon,
then it may not be good for us. God has got a plan and
only God knows His plan best. Therefore, we should
always learn to be patient and live in acceptance.

SUCCESS

When I rst met Dada, I was like anybody else, seeking

money, success, wealth, fame and happiness. Dada
understands that the whole world is seeking happiness.
It is believed that 80% of the world is seeking happiness
through achievement and success. He taught me that

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 Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

success should be achieved using ethics, values, and

principles without forgetting God. It should not be the
only goal of our life. He never criticized or condemned
success and in fact, he taught me many principles like
time management, people management and the art of
good leadership. Dada talked about so many things that
are important for success like the importance of leading
people with humor, laughter, and cheer. Respecting and
valuing people was a priority, he said because people are
the most important resource for success. Many of the
success principles that I use in my life stemmed from
Dada's teachings. Although he is a spiritual leader, he
doesn't ignore the need of people who are on the rst
journey of life seeking achievement and success. He
believes, unless someone seeks something, they live a life
of tamas or laziness and cannot succeed.

MAKE GOD YOUR PARTNER

One of the best secrets of success Dada taught me was as

Ravi V. Melwani “Make God your Partner.”

Once someone asked Dada, “What do you mean by

making God a partner?” Dada replied, “How do we treat
our partner at our work? We share the prot and loss and
everything related to the business with our partner. The
partner does his part and we do our part. God is our life
partner. God gives us this beautiful life, opportunities,
and success, but we forget to pay God back because God
doesn't ask.” Therefore, Dada says that if one truly wants
success and happiness in life, the most important
relationship the person would need is the relationship
with the senior partner, God.

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Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

We should give God His share. God doesn't demand from

us. God is happy even with 10% of what we earn. How can
we give this 10% to God? We can give it in the form of help
to God's representatives - the poor, diseased, and those
suffering on the streets. We can decide on how we would
like to contribute that share to God. We may give it to a
temple or church or to a cause of our choice, but surely it
should not be a selsh cause. It's not our share of prot, but
God's share of prot. The more we give, the more we shall
receive. It will also help us let go of the greediness that
makes us hold on to money and other material possessions
of the world.

This is one of the most amazing things that I have learnt

from Dada in my early interaction with him - Make God
your Partner! There was a drawer in God's table, and
whenever I had a problem I would write down my
problem and tell my senior partner, “This is beyond me
and you can take care of it.” Today, when I look at all the
impossible problems I left in the drawer of God's table,
every single problem has been solved. I realized that it
was God, my senior partner who did it. This is a magical
formula Dada taught me. If only we make God our
partner, we can succeed in anything.

BRAHMACHARYA AND SUCCSEX

About 17 years back, on the day of Buddha Purnima of

the year 2000, I was listening to Dada's talk in Pune. He
spoke about how powerful Ojas, the human sex energy, is
and how Buddha advocated celibacy or Brahmacharya.
While Brahmacharya means “to walk with God,” it is
more commonly referred to as being celibate. Dada's

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 Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

view on Brahmacharya is quite different. He is more

concerned about the wasting of the power that exists in
our sex energy. He once explained to me that the sex
energy called Ojas, which is capable of creating life, is
wasted by us and dissipated without being saved and
transmuted into creative power. He explained how
successful people in this world have achieved success
through the power of Ojas by transmutation of sex
energy. When people retain their sex energy, they are
able to use it to become Ojaswi – highly creative and
imaginative. This quality along with Tejaswi – being
highly brilliant and sharp, form two very powerful
attributes of a person's achievement and spiritual
progress. Dada inspired me to study this further, and this
led me to write a book called “Succsex – Success Through
Sex Transmutation,” which is about how one can convert
and save the sex power and transmute this energy into
success.

While studying the subject, I read “Think And Grow Rich”

written by Napoleon Hill wherein, I came to know that
people like Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, George
Washington, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Shakespeare
practiced sex transmutation or Brahmacharya. Today, the
world doesn't believe in these concepts because the
world is immersed in the pleasure of sex. Because of
Dada and his creative teaching, I could write a book on
celibacy and Brahmacharya and present it in such a
manner that it showed people how they could conserve
their sex energy and enjoy the power of sex. Thanks to
Dada, this book has been a huge success all over the
world. I myself have practiced this principle for many
years. I can truly vouch that the power of sex, when

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Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

retained within and transmuted, can create a genius, give

inspiration and intuition, and create telepathy, and sixth
sense. It can create imagination that will lead to success.

Dada's discussions with me on this subject were candid.

He knew how to deal with the subject without feeling shy
or holding back. It gave me condence to talk to him on
any topic. When Dada was provoked by some of the
devotees on how such a book can be written, he did not
bend to the pressure and stood rm with his conviction
of how important it is to educate people on sex
transmutation. In fact, in one of his talks when he was
addressing the youth in Bangalore, he urged them to
read the book – “Succsex.” He told the youth not to waste
their sex energy, but conserve and transmute it as
advocated in the book.

Dada was a highly learned master. He knew many

secrets unknown to common man. It was truly a blessing
to have met him and learn from him secrets like the
power of Ojas that would ultimately lead to liberation.

REVERENCE FOR LIFE

Dada values life even if it is of an ant or a cockroach. No

matter how small it may seem to the eye, it does not
deserve to be killed. I learned this invaluable lesson from
Dada two decades ago. At one of the meetings, there was
a cockroach ying in a room full of people. Someone
impulsively removed his shoe and smashed the
cockroach. Dada was so upset and he asked that person:
“Can you give back life to this cockroach?” The person
said, “How can I?” To which Dada replied, “I'll give you
as much money as you want. Bring back this insect to

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 Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

life.” That person felt so bad. He realized that he has done

something irreversible. He could not give back life to
something that was killed and therefore, one must have
reverence for life, and never kill.

Dada is very specic and particular about having

reverence for every living creature, be it a man, an animal
or an insect. Even when he is walking, he is extra cautious
that he doesn't stamp on any ant or insect that may be
below his feet. Of course, there will be situations in life
where unknowingly and unintentionally, we may have
hurt or even killed another living creature, but that is a
different situation. Knowingly and without compassion,
when we are the cause of any living creature's death, it is
inexcusable. Dada has so rmly taught me this, and I am
humbled to have reverence for all forms of life.

Today, one man is killing another man, nations are

ghting with each other and there is bloodshed because
there is no reverence for life. If people respected life,
there would not be so many wars and ghts between one
another for material possessions. Since we don't
understand the spiritual truth of life, that we come
without anything and we go without anything, we ght
for material possessions, power, and pleasure - nally to
leave all these behind. In the bargain, we kill so many and
disrespect life. As Dada says, “Remember, we must have
reverence for life because life comes from God and we are
actually disturbing the plan of God on Earth when we kill
a living creature.”

VEGETARIANISM

When I rst met Dada, I was a non-vegetarian. I used to

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Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

love eating meat and meat products. In fact, I would eat

meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner for six days a week,
except Mondays. I observed a fast on Mondays because I
believed in Lord Shiva, and as a child, I was taught that
one should not eat meat on Mondays. I was truly fond of
food and I used to frequent the best restaurants, where I
would enjoy all types of exotic non-vegetarian cuisine.
Now I feel embarrassed to list some of the animals that I
might have eaten in the past!

Dada always taught us that eating animals is inhuman;

every animal loves to live, and by eating an animal, we are
the cause that deprives the animal of life. He also explained
that the meat that goes inside the body is not satvik or pure,
and how it creates thoughts, habits, and behavior in us that
in turn lead us to negativity. I learned from Dada about the
importance of being vegetarian, and one day, impulsively,
I gave up meat eating. Since then, I have not eaten meat.
Dada has taught me compassion and love for animals,
which makes me discourage people from eating meat.

I am a promoter of vegetarianism. I work with other

vegetarians and animal welfare organizations trying to
promote this good habit in the world. Dada and his
Guruji both have been very strong about “going
meatless,” and I feel privileged to be a part of Dada's
efforts in the observance of the International Meatless
Day, which is celebrated on 25th November every year.
That day, we request as many people as possible to stop
all the killing and go meatless for a day!

When we cannot give life, we should not take life. Every

animal seeks to live and we must respect their desire to

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 Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

live. Have you ever seen a sh that is taken out of water
and how it struggles to live? Dada says that life is a
unique gift from God and his love for God made him
respect man and beast alike. Dada's love for animals
changed my life.

SERVICE TO THE POOR IS PRAYER TO GOD

Dada taught me that being compassionate and

humanitarian is very important. Our whole life depends
on our Karma – a law that believes that one's present
actions will decide one's future state of existence just as
one's present existence is due to one's past actions. Thus,
we should have love and compassion in whatever we do.
Dada taught me the importance of humanitarian work
two decades ago and with this inspiration from Dada, I
used to go to the streets and give food to those who had
not eaten. On winter nights, I would take blankets and
reach out to those who were suffering in the cold.

Dada used to say, “Service to the poor is prayer to God. One

must serve the poor, realizing that they are a manifestation
of God.”

I could not bear the suffering, pain, and agony of the poor
and destitute people. There were times when I took some
poor people to ashrams or to charitable homes and they
were refused admission because they did not t their so-
called criteria. There were so many criteria like age, cast,
creed, gender, and classication that stopped charitable
homes from admitting people who were dying on the
streets. With the grace of Dada, I opened an ashram to
take care of the poor and destitute ones who were
abandoned and thrown on the streets.

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Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

The ashram has grown to accommodate over 120 people

today. We also built a charitable hospital that has no cash
counter. It's a 250-bed charitable hospital, and we are
soon going to expand it into a 1000-bed hospital. We now
have a third destitute home that provides love and care
for over 200 people. Dada's blessings have helped me
reach out to the poor, who are none other than God, by
building more charitable homes.

Today, in all, we have about 700 destitute people who

live with us as members of our own family, God's family,
because Dada taught me that “Service to the poor is
prayer to God.” I tell my people that every time they pick
somebody from the street, it should not be with
arrogance or pride as if we were doing them a favor. On
the contrary, it should be with gratitude - let us thank
God for giving us the opportunity to serve Him through
them. Therefore, we reach out to the poor and destitute
ones with folded hands, compassion, and love, and we
take care of them just like they are our family members.
We try to cleanse them, heal them, and rehabilitate them
to a life of joy and bliss. If it was not for Dada, I would not
have learned that “Service to the Poor is Prayer to God,”
and all those thousands of people who have come to our
ashrams and hospital may still have been on the streets.
Thank you Dada!

DUTY TOWARDS GOD

Dada always reminded me that we must never forget our

duty towards God. Just because God doesn't ask us, it
doesn't mean we shouldn't fulll our duties. Usually people
expect returns for the favor they do. God gave us life, but He

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 Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

never gave us a bill and asked us to pay for it. Dada always
taught me to serve our fellow human beings and to fulll
whatever God wants us to do in life.

“What would God like me to do? God has done so much

for me; I have to be grateful to God! How can I return God's
kindness back to Him? What can I do to make God happy?
What is my duty towards God?” These questions will not
just make us do something good for God, but also motivate
us to do something important in our lives. It will make each
one of us a person with good habits. It will give us a good
character. It will help us live a more meaningful and
purposeful life.

Most of us forget our duty to God because we are so caught

up in the world - all its attractions and distractions that we
forget God. Often we are so caught up and involved with
our duty towards our Earthly Father that we forget our
duty to our Father in Heaven. Of course, Dada always
encouraged me to do my duty towards my parents, my
family and to be obedient and follow my father. My father
was one of my best friends and he advised me on how to
live, to work, and to succeed and to be happy. But there
were times when I had questions that were more than
earthly questions - questions that were challenges for my
soul, spiritual questions to which I could not get answers. I
went to Dada to seek his advice, and Dada taught me
something very beautiful. He said, “Your father will guide
you on earthly matters, but your Heavenly Father will give
you spiritual advice.”

From that day onwards, I started talking to my Father in

Heaven believing He was there for me always. Even

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Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

now, I always look up and ask questions: “Oh Father! I

have this situation; what would you like me to do? Oh
Father! Help me, guide me! I want to know whether this
is right or wrong.” You will be surprised to know that my
Heavenly Father never withheld giving me the right
advice and guidance, whether it was through an inner
voice or some incident or through somebody, who
would come and tell me the answer I was seeking. My
Father in Heaven has always answered my questions. If
Dada had not taught me to connect with my Father in
Heaven, I would have been deprived of this amazing gift.

DISCIPLINE

Dada always gave a lot of importance to discipline. He

taught me discipline through his personal example. He is
extremely disciplined in the way he talks, walks, dresses,
and speaks. He is also a restrained, controlled and an
organized person.

I remember an incident that happened recently.

Somebody was supposed to drink only one glass of juice.
Dada observed that the person was tempted to take a
second serving. He asked, “Why are you taking a second
glass of juice when one is enough?” The point I learned
from Dada is that we have to learn to discipline ourselves
by choosing to take only what we need. We need to have
control over our mind and our desires.

If we would like to achieve success in life, we need to

practice self-control. Dada always spoke of how it is
important to be a master, not a slave. The moment we are
not in the driver's seat, somebody else is commanding us,

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 Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

and we become a slave. We need to have discipline in

whatever we do; the moment we lose discipline, we lose
control of our life. Instead of being the master of our life,
we become the slave.

I learned how to be disciplined from Dada. I use

discipline a lot in my life, and I know that discipline is the
foundation of what I am today.

SLEEP

Dada always believed that life was a gift to us and we

should not waste this life sleeping. Sleep is a restorative
process. It restores the body and mind. Just like we need
food, water and air, man cannot live without sleep. But
there are some people who sleep for 8, 9 or even 10 hours.
He felt that it is a complete waste of time. He used to
advocate that sleep must be only to restore the body and
we must not waste our life sleeping. Therefore, if one
trains oneself, one can sleep lesser than their present
sleeping habit. Suppose one is sleeping for 8 hours, one
can try to sleep for 7 or 6 hours and try to cut down on the
hours they sleep to as less as possible.

There are people who sleep for 4-5 hours and are able to manage.
They are successful too because they use their waking hours
effectively. Dada endorsed that we should not sleep more than
what is required for the body to rest and restore.

THE POWER OF SILENCE

Whenever I met Dada, he would always emphasize on the

importance of silence. For the rst few years, I used to
wonder why Dada always talked about silence. How can

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Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

silence be so important for spiritual evolution? Whenever I

was in silence, I found that it didn't really make sense
because while my body was still, my mind was agitated. It
was wandering all the time. But Dada would say, “its ok
for the mind to wander, we need to practice, practice, and
practice. Discipline your body and then discipline your
mind. Without silence, the mind will never stop. It will
keep wandering”.

Dada never underestimated the power of silence. Over

the rst 15 years of my life, I must have had numerous
discussions with Dada and every talk that he gave, he
would talk about spending personal quality time, having
a daily appointment with God, meditating in silence,
introspecting, contemplating and going within. Through
all these methods, Dada was trying to talk of one thing –
Silence. To Dada, silence had power and it could do
many things. From his own experience and realization,
it was the key to taking a seeker forward on the spiritual
path. As one amongst those who are imprisoned by this
world, we do not realize the importance of silence. But
Dada taught me very clearly that if I want to progress on
the path, I must spend time in silence. He advised that I
should not just spend time in silence in random, but try to
make it a system, a routine, being silent every day at the
same time and in the same place. Dada said, “Make it a
habit. Make it a ritual, and silence will transform your life.”

Dada would explain that silence is needed to listen to

God's silent voice. Sometimes we talk to God and pray
and then we want God to answer our prayers. How can
we hear God with all the noise and the banter around us?
How will we be able to listen to God's soft and silent

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 Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

voice if we do not have silence? If we don't wait for God

in silence, then how can we connect and be one with
God? To get to the frequency of God's channel, silence is
needed.

In the several chats I had with Dada, he would give

instances of important meetings that world famous
people had where there was no talking, there was just
silence nothing but silence. People would sit for hours in
silence and communicate soul to soul. He knew the
power of silent communication and how silence could
change our life.

Dada would often mention about Ralph Waldo

Emerson's meeting with Thomas Carlyle. Both of them
were contemporaries. Carlyle was in England, whereas
Emerson was in America. Emerson felt a magnetic pull
toward Carlyle and said that he would love to meet
Carlyle. So he came all the way from America to England.
It is said that both of them were together for three hours,
but not one of them spoke a single word. After three
hours, when they took leave of each other, someone
asked, “Emerson, you met him but you didn't speak
anything.” He said, “We have spoken volumes!”

MAN LIVES NOT BY THE BEATS OF HIS HEART,

BUT BY THE GRACE OF GOD

When Dada had a heart attack and hardly anyone was

allowed inside the ICU, I had the privilege to be there
with him. I went with tears in my eyes, wishing that he
was recovering, and to pray that his physical body would
be able to bear the pain of the heart attack.

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Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

I was surprised to see Dada sitting on the bed, with a

smile on his face although he had several tubes from the
machines connected to his body. He was in a very
cheerful mood, and I told him, “I hope that you are doing
well. I pray to God that you recover soon and come
home.” He asked for a pen and paper and scribbled a
few words for me. The words read – “Man lives not by
the beats of his heart, but by the grace of God”. These
words have never left me, and they have been inscribed
on my heart by Dada!

We should be grateful to God for every breath and heart

beat because this life is a gift from God and as long as God
wants us to live, nothing can go wrong with us. Whether
we have to live for 10 years or 100 years, it is all by the
grace of God. We should learn to surrender and accept
the Divine Will, and we should not forget that God is the
one who gives us life, not the doctor.

Many people go to the doctor and say, “Oh Doctor! You

are my God! Save me!” It's so ridiculous that we look at a
human's physical body, talents, and skills and call the
person “God.” We overlook the soul of the doctor, which
is actually God, the real power. We forget that God exists
and takes care of us, giving us the gift of life!

MAKE GOD A PRIORITY OF YOUR LIFE

When I rst met Dada, I believed in God, but God was

never a priority of my life. Yes, I would pray, I would go to
the temple on Mondays and I would think of God
sometimes but if somebody asked me what was my
priority – it was my success, my business, my wealth, my
pleasure, my family and then somewhere deep down God.

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 Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

As my relationship with Dada grew, I found God

becoming a priority in my life because Dada always said,
“Make God a priority. God is important. God is the goal.
Always be connected with God.” He would never ever
miss telling me that our goal is God. That is, everything
else doesn't matter; what matters is God. In the initial
days when I met him, this was not an important part of
our discussion, but it did gure somewhere. But as my
relationship grew and as the years rolled by, God became
a key agenda in our discussions. We would often talk of
God - Who is God? What is God? Where is God? We
would talk about the power of God, how everything
happens just because of the grace of God. How nothing is
possible without God. God is present everywhere. He is
Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient. In our
discussions, the topic of “God” would surface, and
slowly but steadily, Dada made God a priority in my life.
I was already a believer; I already had faith. I started
fasting when I was 8 years old. To me, Lord Shiva was a
very important part of my life story, but it was more
theoretical. Dada practically brought God into my life.
Dada made God real in my life by teaching me to make
God a priority.

SAY “THANK YOU, GOD” BEFORE EVERY MEAL

One very simple thing I learned from Dada, which I

never used to do, was to say “Thank You” to God before a
meal. I realized that Dada would never start having food
until he thanked God, and I found this to be such a
profound exercise when I did it myself. I learned from
Dada that we should close our eyes, fold our hands and
spend a few moments thanking God for the food he has

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given us and for the health and energy we receive from it.

When I do this, I nd that the entire act of having a meal

becomes a spiritual experience. These days, I cannot have
a meal without thanking God and that makes the meal so
much more valuable. I enjoy my meals more than before!
My meal gives me energy, which takes me forward, and I
feel so grateful that I am fortunate to have the meal and
the ability to eat this meal!

There are so many people in this world who are deprived

of a meal or have no health to enjoy a meal. Don't you
think we all should learn these little things from Dada?
They may be simple actions, but they have a very big
impact; they actually make our life fullling. Therefore,
before every meal - breakfast, lunch, and dinner - I take
time to close my eyes, fold my hands and say a prayer in
gratitude. My friends and family feel shy to do this
because they worry about what others may think. People
may call us old fashioned or religious, but we need to
realize that showing our gratitude to God is more
important than what others think!

Dada's simple prayer before a meal:

Thank you God for the food I eat.

Thank you God for the friends I meet.
Thank you God for the songs I sing.
Thank you God for everything.

IMPORTANCE OF MANTRAS

Dada taught me the importance of a mantra. When I

started my journey with Dada, I never knew any mantra

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except “Om” and “Om Namah Shivaya.” He taught me

the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra and Gayatri Mantra, and
he made me understand how mantras are very important
in one's spiritual evolution.

I learned from Dada that the word mantra came from the
words – 'man' mind, and 'tra' instrument. Therefore, a
mantra is an instrument to control the mind. The mind is
like a monkey, it keeps wandering. Dada said it's nearly
impossible to control the mind. A mantra becomes an
instrument that calms and controls the mind, and makes
it stop wandering. What does the mantra do? We take a
few words and frame it as a mantra and repeat it over and
over. This stops the mind from wandering and focuses
our thought on the mantra – what it says and what it
means - thus programming our mind with it.

At one point, I had to face threats on my life. The police

commissioner disclosed that I was in danger of being
kidnapped and there could be an attack on my life. They
provided me with a gunman, 24-hour security, and even
gave me a personal revolver to carry with me along with
an arms license. I went to Dada fearfully and asked Dada
how I could overcome this fear. Dada smiled, he said,
“You can carry the revolver, but fear not because life and
death are a gift of God. Nothing can happen to you if you
believe in God.” He then gave me another mantra - a
mantra that would overcome fear. Today, I realize the
power of the mantra. The mantra programs our mind like
software controls equipment. The mantra makes us think
positively, eliminates negative energy, and reinforces
our faith and hope in God. I lived fearlessly, and more
than the revolver, it was the mantra that protected me.

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TO BE HAPPY, MAKE OTHERS HAPPY

Dada gives a simple mantra for happiness. He says if you

want to be happy, make others happy whenever and
wherever possible. He shares this mantra with everybody.
He says that if we learn to makes others happy, we can
easily remain in a state of happiness because the hand that
gives the rose cannot but retain some of the fragrance.
Dada says, “Go out and make as many people happy as
you can in as many ways as you can and as often as you can
because happiness that is shared is doubled and it spreads
to everybody.”

Many people don't smile. They don't give others the gift
of their smile. There is no humor in their lives. Their lives
are lled with negative emotions because there is no
cheer, laughter and joy in their life. Therefore, I made it a
rule in my life to try to make as many people happy as I
can. I spread happiness by sometimes giving a chocolate,
sometimes helping people, or with just a smile. Not just
to strangers, we can also make our near and dear ones,
colleagues, and family members happy and stop taking
them for granted. Dada says, “We must never lose the
opportunity of making others happy because it, in turn,
makes us happy”.

Whenever Dada gives a talk he never ends the talk

without some humor and laughter. His talks are full of
fun and entertainment. There is enthusiasm and
excitement in the crowds because he believes that we
should be happy even during a lecture. So Dada
encourages us to be happy and make others happy.

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VALUE YOUR HUMAN BIRTH

Many a time, Dada has said that we take the human birth
for granted. How many of us truly value the seven
wonders that God has given us – the eyes, nose, ears,
mouth, hands, head, and heart? These are more
wondrous than what the world calls as the “Seven
Wonders.”

Dada says the human birth is very important because it is

only then, one can realize God. Only the human being
has been gifted with an intellect without which one
cannot realize the truth. Plants and animals cannot
realize God. It is said that based on our Karmas, we may
be reborn as something other than a human being. In this
case, we will not be able to realize God. Therefore, being
born as a human is a precious treasure. But how many
human beings truly value the human birth?

Dada said the rst thing that we must be grateful for is

being a human. We can fold our hands in prayer. Have
you seen animals and plants praying? Dada made me
understand that the trees, animals, insects, and other
living beings are not as fortunate as human beings. The
one major difference between human beings and other
beings is that we have the ability to decide and choose.
We can choose to believe in God, to understand that there
is a Creator and that He has given us this life. We can
express our gratitude by trying to connect with God and
praying and valuing this human birth. Therefore, this
human birth is our biggest gift. We must make use of this
gift by living meaningfully and realizing our true self
before our journey as a human being is over.

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ACCEPT EVERYTHING AS PRASADAM FROM GOD

Another amazing thing that Dada taught me is that we

should not crave for anything but we can accept
everything that comes to us as Prasadam – a gift from
God. God will give us many things and we can accept
them, but it is not as simple as that. Sometimes,
something comes to us and looks to be a Prasadam, a gift
from God, but it is not! It is a test. Therefore, while things
come to us, we must still use our intellect to discriminate
whether this is a gift of God or is it a test to make us sink in
this world? Therefore, Dada taught (a) We should not
crave for anything. The moment we crave for something,
we become the body-mind complex. If we crave, we shall
go to our grave. (b) If we don't crave and things come to
us as a Prasadam from God, we should still discriminate
and see whether this would be good for our life and
whether it is actually God-sent.

Once we have used our intellect to conrm what has

come to us is denitely a Prasadam from God, and then
we should accept it joyously with open hands. Dada and
I discussed that some people advocate such stringent
discipline, for instance, they practically eat nothing, they
hardly drink anything, they don't encourage one to be
happy, and they don't even enjoy God's creations like a
sunrise or sunset. Why should we deprive ourselves of
God's creations? Everything that God has created is the
manifestation of God and we should enjoy it because it is
God itself. As long as it comes as a Prasadam and we
don't crave for it, we can enjoy it.

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THEY WILL SAY. LET THEM SAY!

Once, Dada and I discussed the way people talk, judge,

and criticize. Dada would always tell me, “They will say.
Let them say!” He continued, “Do not worry about what
people talk. Our job is to walk and keep going ahead in
the direction we want to go.” Dada said, “How does it
matter what people talk? Whatever we do, people will
have something to say about it. You know what you are
doing and why you are doing, and you are passionate
about it. You have the Divine grace and blessings from
God. Just go ahead and do it!”

Many a time in life, I just did what I thought was right

although it was exactly the opposite of what the world
thought. Things that I did were sometimes unbelievable.
Just because of the faith I had in myself and in God, and
because of my Guru's encouragement, I could do things
that seemed right to me. He guided me but never, ever
made me feel that I was going wrong. He always
encouraged and supported me. When others criticize, it
is good to review their criticism and see whether there is
anything meaningful in what they are saying. But, once
we know that their criticism is baseless, we need to stop
worrying. Like Dada said, “They will talk. Let them talk.
You walk!”

SURRENDER IS THE WAY

Whenever I have faced problems or difcult situations,

Dada used to tell me, “Surrender! Surrender completely
and give the problem to God and completely forget
about it. God will solve your problem.” Dada told me

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that we usually don't truly surrender. Even when we

surrender, we keep worrying to see whether God will
take care of our issue or not. How would things happen if
we doubt God? The way of surrender is complete
submission and absolute trust, not 99.99%, as Dada says.
When it is 99.99%, it is not trust at all. It has to be 100%! It
has to be total. When we surrender ourselves to God, He
takes charge. He takes over the issue, and of course, once
He takes over the issue, we know that the problem will be
resolved. Therefore, I learnt to surrender many things in
life that were difcult for me to deal with. When there is
no way, I use the formula of surrender and the
impossible became possible. Thank you Dada for
teaching me to surrender!

DAILY APPOINTMENT WITH GOD

Dada spoke about our daily appointment with God. He

always asked, “Do you have a xed time, a xed place
where you talk to God and listen to God every day?” We
should spend some quality time in communication with
God. Dada called this, “Your daily appointment with
God.” Even if you forget anything and everything else,
don't forget this one thing. Don't forget your daily
appointment with God. When you have a daily
appointment with God, God keeps that time for you and
God is always there to listen to you and to answer your
prayers.

What I learnt from Dada is that when we have a daily

appointment with God, we make God real in our life. It's
not like we should meet God at our convenience,
whenever it's possible and whenever we have time. When

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we make God a priority in our life, we make sure to keep

up with our appointment. If we had an appointment with
an ofcer, a doctor, or anybody important in our life,
would we miss it? We would never miss it. So Dada
taught me to never miss our daily appointment with God
because that is far more important than any other
appointment.

HOW TO OVERCOME ANGER?

Several years ago, I asked Dada a very simple question.

“How does one overcome anger, Dada?” Dada explained
that we all get angry because we don't understand the
true meaning of life. Dada said that anger is a very
powerful and a very strong negative emotion. Some
people think that once we express our anger, it is over.
Dada said, “No, when you express anger, it only comes
back again - stronger. So, you must not express anger.” I
asked, “How else then should we deal with anger?”
Dada said, “Some people try to overcome anger through
suppression. They get angry inside and they suppress it,
they hold it within. Anger is such a powerful negative
emotion that how much ever you try to hold it within
you, it will burst. The only way to overcome anger is
forgiveness. If you are angry with somebody, the only
way to get over the anger is forgive that person and
forget about the matter.”

We asked, “Dada, how many times can we go on

forgiving people?” Dada said, “You must go on
forgiving, go on forgiving and go on forgiving.” Then
Dada explained, “If we don't forgive, this anger will burn
us. It's like a piece of burning charcoal in our hand. We

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are holding this burning charcoal of anger to throw on

somebody else, but we don't realize that we would have
already burnt our hand even before we threw it on
others. Therefore, we must deal with anger through
immediate forgiveness.”

LOVE GOD

One of the most unique gifts of my life is my love for God.

It started when my grandfather, who was aficted with
polio, took me to a temple and taught me that God is the
most powerful energy in the world. God is the Creator,
Universal Power. My grandfather taught me to fast on
Mondays. He was the one to plant the seeds of devotion
of Lord Shiva in me. This was supported further by my
father who encouraged me, between the age of 8 and 18
years, to continue my religious pursuits, my faith, my
trust, my hope, and my enthusiasm.

When Dada came into my life, a very beautiful thing

happened. He actually turned my religious devotion into
a spiritual love for God. This Bhakti, this deep longing
and seeking and love for my God was inspired by my
Guru. His love for God and stories of Meera and Krishna
and various other spiritual leaders and their love for God
made a tremendous impact on my life.

What would my life be without my love for God? It

would be like a garden without roses; it would be barren.
My love for God has given me joy, bliss, condence,
courage, and enthusiasm. It has given me success. It has
given me a direction in life. It has transformed me!

Today, if I take away Bhakti from my life, I would be

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nothing, absolutely a zero. Whatever I am today, I

believe, it is because of my Bhakti, my deep love and
longing, and my devotion for God. If it was not for my
Guru, today I can frankly say that I would never have
been able to love my God the way I do now.

GRATITUDE

Dada used to always say, “Na kar kar… Kar shukar!”

which means “Don't worry. Be grateful!” Dada must
have spoken to me hundreds of times on gratitude and
how our life will be as barren as a desert without
gratitude.

We should be grateful to God every moment because

every breath that we get from the Creator is worth
gratitude. How can we be ungrateful and how can we
forget this beautiful gift of life that God, our Creator, has
given us?

If we look around us, God has created everything - the

sun, the moon, the stars, the birds, the animals, and the
owers. God made you and me. God made this beautiful
world. How can we forget to show our gratitude to God?

Are we grateful to God for each day? Each day brings to

us 1440 minutes. Do we value each minute with
gratitude, or do we forget that God is the giver of every
moment we live? Dada taught me to be grateful. He
taught me the art of gratitude. He taught me that I should
never forget to express my gratitude to God, and I believe
that this has changed my life!

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SHUT DOWN AND GO TO GOD!

Before I end what Dada taught me, I cannot but share my

last lesson as Ravi V. Melwani.

Dada knew me now for over 15 years - from 1992 to 2007.

He knew me in and out. He knew every aspect of my life -
what my aspirations, dreams, philosophy, weaknesses,
and strengths were. He was my closest friend. He was a
mirror and I could see myself when I looked at him. He
knew me in every posible way. Probably, nobody knew
me better than Dada.

Once I said, “Dada, I enjoy doing Humanitarian,

Inspirational, and Spiritual work (H.I.S. work), but I am
struggling because the business is not growing the way I
want it to grow. I am working 18 hours a day, 7 days a
week and something tells me that God has a different
plan for my life. If I am feeling that God wants me to do
H.I.S. work rather than THIS retail business, what should
I do, Dada?”

Dada thought for a while and then replied, “Ravi, shut

down and go to God!” I was shocked. I was abbergasted. I
did not know that my Guru would give me permission to
shut down my business and go to God. But he did.

I had a 3, 00,000-sq.ft. store and I had two options: Option

(a) Shut down 80% of the store and continue running one
toy store on 40,000 sq.ft. Option (b) A company willing
to take the entire store, and I would be 100% free.

Dada analyzed both options and said, “If you run a toy
shop, you will still be in this world. You will be doing

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 Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

THIS work (the retail business) and not H.I.S. work -

Humanitarian, Inspirational, and Spiritual work. If you
really want to do H.I.S. work, I think the time has come.
Although you are just 40, you can move on because you
are ready to go on a path that will lead you to God.”

This was the most dynamic discussion I have had with

Dada as Ravi Melwani. In fact, today I feel ashamed to
share that after Dada told me that I could shut down my
business completely, I was so shocked that I asked Dada
in disbelief, “Are you sure?” Dada smiled. In fact, he
laughed and he said, “If you have any doubt, then ask
Lord Shiva.”

With faith in my Guru and taking his advice, I did

something I never tried in my life. Over the many years
that I had spent with Dada, there was a private ritual I
observed. Dada would pray and write out two slips of
paper with two options to make a decision and offer it to
his Guru and God. Then he would pick one. This, I
believe, let his Guru and God make the decision.

It was a Monday night and I was performing aarti at the

temple. I took two slips of paper and on one I wrote “Shut
down completely,” and on the second, I wrote “Shut
down, but run a toy shop.” I put these two slips on the
aarti plate and started performing the Shiv aarti.

On that Monday night, when I was performing the Shiv

aarti, I thought that I would pick up one of the papers to
read God's decision although my Guru had already
given me the decision to shut down and go to God.
During the aarti, something magical happened. One of
the papers fell into the ames and caught re, and after

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Several Things Dada Taught Me as Ravi V. Melwani

the aarti, there was only one paper left. I did not have to
choose and when I opened the paper, it said “Shut down
completely.” My Guru was right. He wanted me to feel
that Lord Shiva endorsed the decision that I was taking.

It was the biggest decision of my life. I spoke to my

parents, and I told them that I wanted to shut down the
shop completely. Instead, I wanted to be free and do
Humanitarian, Inspirational, and Spiritual work.
because it was H.I.S. work. They agreed, and thereafter,
my life was transformed. I shut down the entire business
and became RVM from Ravi V. Melwani!

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72
 V

What
Dada
Taught Me
as RVM

87
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 What
Dada
Taught Me
as RVM

D
ada taught me different things between 2007 and
2014 because I had transformed my life. I was no
more Ravi V. Melwani making money. I was
RVM who was making a difference after shutting down
my business.

There were no more questions about happiness,

achievement, and success. I no more wanted to make
money as my objective was to reduce pain and suffering,
vibrate positive energy, and make people believers
through our institutions, charitable home, free hospital,
the RVM School of Inspiration, and the Shivoham Shiva
Temple.

FORBEARANCE

I asked Dada “What is forbearance?” Dada graciously

explained to me that forbearance is “Returning evil with
good.” Often, I have seen Dada responding with so much
love to people who have caused him harm in some way or

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What Dada Taught Me as RVM

the other. In fact, he not only showers them with love, but
also gives them a special gift or Prasadam to make them
feel even better. According to Dada, if we want to
progress on the spiritual path, forbearance is very
important. There will be many people who will be rude to
us, seeming like they are attacking us, but this is not real.
These are tests on this journey of life. When these tests
attack us physically, emotionally, spiritually, and
mentally - we must not react with an attacking attitude.
We should use forbearance by always responding
positively with a smile and a sense of understanding. This
is very difcult, but it is a must to progress on the spiritual
path. Therefore, I am trying to bring forbearance into my
life. But to do it the way Dada does is difcult because
Dada has reached a peak, and I have just started to climb
the mountain.

As we spoke further, Dada made me realize that

forbearance is the art of accepting little nuisances and
annoyances. Every now and then, when we move on the
spiritual path, we will be tested by small disappointments
and irritations. A man with forbearance will not get
disturbed by little things. He will not react with agitation.
Instead he will respond with love and forgiveness. This is
forbearance, the art of remaining calm without an
agitated reaction as one tries to return evil with good.

WAIT FOR GOD

On becoming RVM, Dada told me to slow down my pace.

He said that I need to learn to be patient, I should learn to
wait for God, and I should not expect God to act like a fast
food restaurant that delivers burgers and pizzas at the
snap of a nger.

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 What Dada Taught Me as RVM

God knows what is best for us. He has his own plans, and
we should learn to accept and surrender unconditionally
to the will of God. We should not be impatient and decide
what God should give us. We should realize that God's
will is best for us and have patience for God to enact His
will.

Dada once laughingly made me understand, “You pay a

security guard the whole month's salary. What does he
do? He does nothing. He waits for the whole month
trying to catch one thief. At the end, maybe he doesn't. But
it doesn't mean he did nothing. Even if he is doing
nothing, he is doing his job by waiting and watching and
he is being paid the salary just to do that.” Similarly, we
should be patient. Maybe it takes days, weeks, or months.
It is God who will make us do what we need to do. If we
learn to wait for God and not be impatient, demanding
our will rather than accepting His will, our life will be so
much more peaceful.

UNIVERSAL LOVE

Another important thing I learned from Dada is universal

love. We all love, but our love is possessive, specic,
singular, and worldly. Dada teaches us universal love
through his love for one and all. He pours his love out to
everybody and doesn't make anyone feel deprived of his
love. He treats the poorest of the poor with as much love
as he treats the richest of the rich. His love overows,
melting their hearts with his kindness. Dada's love
vibrates to the world even through an e-mail, voice
message, or telephone. He believes that God is in each
individual and that we should love everybody just as we

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What Dada Taught Me as RVM

would love God. This is true love. Otherwise it is not love

at all! I have learned about universal love from Dada, and
I try to implement it in my life. But still, I must admit that
while I can love everybody, it is so difcult to love
everybody universally like Dada does.

Dada once explained to me that when we tell somebody “I

love you,” we actually imply that “I love you because I
need you.” But this is not real love. The right kind of love
is when we imply “I need you because I love you.” You
love people genuinely when you realize that people are
not different from you. You and they are essentially one;
there is only a difference of the body that is external. Dada
tried to explain to me that universal love will give us true
happiness and not personal love, which is selsh and has
expectations. We human beings do not understand the
difference between the two kinds of love, and we get
confused. We think it is love, when in reality, it is trading.
We are expecting something in return for the love. The
moment you trade in love, it is not love.

GOD IS WITHIN

For many years, Dada has been speaking about the truth
that God is within, but I have only been able to
understand a little of what it truly means in the last one or
two years. I never understood when Dada used to say,
“All of you sitting in front of me are Krishna!” He used to
say that God is within. It is only after several personal
discussions and question-answer sessions with Dada that
I realized the truth - we are not this body; we are actually
the Atman – the soul. The Atman is an energy that can be
equated to the electricity that gives power to a bulb to give

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 What Dada Taught Me as RVM

light. The bulb by itself is incapable of giving light. It is the

electricity that creates the light. Likewise, energy exists in
each one of us, giving light to our life and power to our
heart and soul. It is this power inside us which is God,
says Dada.

Dada strongly advocates to all his devotees that one

should not look outside for God. Most of us search for
God in temples, churches, and mosques, but God is not
found in those places. Dada always says that it is good to
go to a temple because its spiritual vibrations help one
pray and develop the deep longing and seeking for God.
It helps the person to experience spiritual vibrations and
receive God's blessings. But Dada always emphasizes,
“God is inside your heart. Instead of searching outside,
stop and search inside. You will nd God within!”

Dada himself goes within very often, trying to feel peace

and silence and to meditate and build a communication
with the power called God. To me, this was a revelation
that God is within. We have the power of God inside. Just
like God is inside us, God is inside everybody, and so we
should have respect for everyone. In simple words, I
should love and respect you because you have got God
within you!

All this was difcult to digest, but because I trusted my

Guru, and therefore I tried my best to absorb it.

YOGA

Yoga is commonly understood to be physical gymnastics,

but, Dada taught me the true meaning of Yoga. Yoga is
“Yuj” or Union. It is building a connection with God. Just

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What Dada Taught Me as RVM

like a SIM card, which is pinging for the satellite,

discovers its own network, and then follows the network
wherever it goes, being in Yoga means being in constant
union with God and never disconnecting from God.

One who is connected to God grows closer to God and

nally achieves God. A seeker of God tries to remain in
Yoga at all times. Dada said that while it is said that there
are four types of Yoga – Karma Yoga or Yoga of Action,
Bhakti Yoga or Yoga of Devotion, Jnana Yoga or Yoga of
Education and Raja Yoga or Yoga of Meditation, there
should not be any differentiation between these four
types of Yogas. One overlaps the other - you can be doing
Bhakti as you are doing Karma, and you can be in Raja,
meditation, but until you have Bhakti, love in your heart,
even while you are in the Jnana, education mode, you
remain with the Raja mode, which means that each kind
of Yoga somehow or the other is connected with the other
kind of Yoga. Dada believes that we should not try to
differentiate. As long as we are in Yoga, connected or in
Union with God, it doesn't matter what type of Yoga we
are in.

I lightheartedly questioned Dada once, “Why do you get

disconnected with God by accepting to watch television
with the Sangath, members of the Sadhu Vaswani
Mission?” Dada smiled and said, “Maybe, I am sitting in
front of the TV and there are scenes I am seeing with
sound and music, but I am not disconnected from God. I
remain connected and remain in Yoga. It is this deep
connection with God that doesn't get disconnected even
for a moment that leads us to liberation.” Dada, a realized
Master, is one rare person who could be eternally in Yoga.

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Dada taught me that if I really want to progress on the

spiritual path, then I should spend time in silence and
introspection and never forget God even for a moment.
Of course, he said, “Your mind will wander. It will go
away. Bring it back without getting upset. Gently bring
the mind back and come back into Yoga!”

TAT TWAM ASI

Two decades ago, I saw a poster with the words

“Tat Twam Asi” at one of Dada's retreats in Lonavla. I
couldn't understand the meaning. “Thou Art That”.
Today, I laugh at myself that it has taken me 20 years to
understand what Dada taught me then. Dada tried to
make me understand this many times; probably I was not
yet ready to imbibe the true meaning.

It was with the grace of God and the Guru that I learnt
slowly but steadily that we are not this body. “Neti Neti”
– Dada always says “Not this, Not this” – you are not this
body. These are important words of the Upanishads,
which Dada tried to explain to those devotees who are
seekers –Jigyasus, as we call them. But Dada couldn't
explain this to everybody because we need to be on a
spiritual journey, and only those who are keen to seek the
truth will understand it.

Isn't it true that when we die, we leave the body behind?

Dada constantly reminds us of this simple truth that we
are not the physical body. We are the Atman, the soul.

How many of us truly understand the truth? Those who

understand the truth realize the self and move on towards
God- realization and the path of enlightenment. Dada

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warns that this path is a tough path, and this path has a
long way to go, but it starts with these three simple words:
“Tat Twam Asi” (Thou Art That). Dada's simple teaching
on “Thou Art That” has inspired so many people to think
and meditate on the following questions – Who am I?
What am I? And they have realized the truth, “I am not
this, I am that”.

RENUNCIATION

“Renounce, renounce, renounce!” Dada always says that

one very important challenge in our life is to renounce.
What should we renounce and why? At times, when we
get what we want, we are happy; otherwise we become
disappointed and miserable. Many people in this world
are unhappy. Why? Because they are unable to renounce
their desires and be masters of themselves! Unless we
renounce all desires, we will be disappointed and feel
caged and helpless when our desires are not fullled.

Dada taught me that to progress on the spiritual journey,

one has to be a Master, not a slave and thus, we have to
renounce. Why? Because if we don't renounce, then we let
something else become our master and hence we become
a slave. Consider drinking alcohol as an example. What
happens if one becomes addicted to drinking? One
becomes a slave of the bottle. The bottle becomes the
master, and the person who drinks alcohol from it
becomes the slave. And therefore, he or she will be unable
to progress on the spiritual path. Such a person can't
realize God nor be truly happy. In fact, that person's
happiness is at the mercy of the bottle.

I built my willpower, telling myself, “I renounce this.”

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The moment I am able to renounce, I am the master and I feel

strong; it gives me tremendous joy, peace, and fulllment. If
it were not for Dada, I would not understand the importance
of renunciation. I would never realize how Vairagya or
renunciation is so important on the spiritual path.

GOD IS EVERYWHERE

Dada has spoken about this truth several times and in

several different ways - God is everywhere and God is in
everything! He is also absolutely clear that every
individual being is a manifestation of God. Every soul,
every Atman is God itself, and therefore, when we talk to
somebody, we should realize that we are talking to a
representative of God.

Maybe the body and mind is not God, they are just an
illusion. But the soul inside every human is God. Dada
never doubted the truth that we are all Divine beings
going through a human experience. Dada says that God
exists in every animal, tree, and living being, and
therefore, we should treat animals with care and love.
When we touch a tree, we should realize that there is God
within it.

Dada even says that God is present in inanimate things.

We have learned and even science has proved that there
are molecules in inanimate things, which have energy.
Each molecule has electrons, neutrons, protons, photons,
and quarks, which are alive with energy. Science has
proved that energy exists in every atom. As per the
Upanishads, God has manifested himself through every
atom on Earth in every creation as energy. Therefore, all

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that we see and feel are nothing but God manifested in

Divine form.

Both science and spirituality now agree that there is

energy in everything…energy we call God.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE?

During one of my discussions with Dada, I asked him

about the purpose of life. Dada instantly replied that the
purpose of life is to realize God. Many of us think that the
purpose of our life is to be happy, to raise children, to
build empires, and to have name and fame. He made me
understand that all this is transitory.

Look at someone dying. Does that person take anything

with him? Absolutely not! We should realize the truth
that nothing belongs to us - not the wealth, buildings, or
assets. They are all just possessions that come into our life
and go during this short journey. We cannot even take
our near and dear ones with us at the end of life journey!
Therefore, Dada says that the one and only important
thing is our relationship with God.

What happens when we nish our earthly journey and go

to the other side of the shore? Who will be there to receive
us, take care of us and love us? It is our Divine Heavenly
Father! We don't know where he is, who he is, or what he
is, but he is there. We may come face to face with our
Creator after our earthly journey is over, and at that time,
what matters is whether we have built a beautiful
relationship with that Creator or not. Have we created
deep love and longing for the God who gave us life? Did

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we respect God with deep gratitude for all that we

received on Earth? We should shift our focus to make a
connection and build a relationship with God, rather than
just making money and building assets. Dada, therefore,
lays emphasis on spending time every day with God and
not forgetting that God is our Master.

HOW SHOULD WE WORK AND WHAT WORK

SHOULD WE DO?

Dada says the moment we think that “we” are doing

something, that work becomes useless because it is work
done by the ego. As Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad
Gita, “Whatever you do, do it as an offering to me.” If we
work realizing that we do nothing, then the Lord does
everything. If we work realizing that we are only an
instrument and that God is working through us, and if we
work without ego and without the feeling that “I” am
doing, then all such work is blessed work. It is work for
God. It is Karma Yoga. But the moment we do work as if
WE are doing it, then we are creating our own Karmas.
And therefore, we are getting entangled in this samsaar,
this maya of death and rebirth. That is, by creating our
own actions, we are creating a situation where we will
have to face the consequences of those actions in the
future. Whatever we do, even if we are doing Bhakti
Yoga, we should do it in such a manner that it is true love
and true devotion and longing for God. Dada explained
to me that more important than what we do, regardless of
what it is, it is the attitude that matters.

When one does any work with one's ego that leads their
mind and their body to act, then one creates one's own

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Karmas and does not progress on the spiritual path. But if

one is doing it as if we are embodied souls and the soul
energizes the action while we live in surrender accepting
God's will, then one is not actually doing something
himself. One realizes that one is acting as per the will of
God. We should work with an attitude of being God's
instrument, and then, work doesn't become an end, but
just a means to reach the end.

DON'T LET THE MIND DISTRACT YOU!

Time and again, Dada has advised me that the mind is

here to distract us, confuse us, and disturb our thought
process. In fact, we should realize that sometimes the
mind behaves like our enemy. According to Dada, Raja
Janak - Sita's father, started shouting: “I found the thief! I
found the thief!” Others around him were curious and
asked who the thief is. He said, “The mind!”

The mind steals our connection with God and thus steals God
itself. Dada says that we should not let the mind distract us by
asking several unnecessary questions. The mind confuses us,
complicates our path, and disturbs our focus, and it is our
challenge to not be disturbed by the mind.

The mind has been gifted with the skill of producing

thoughts every second. Does it mean that every thought
that the mind produces should take us on a “thought-
provoking” journey? Not necessarily! We need to realize
that our goal is one - to realize God. The mind has to be
subdued - Dada even said “sublimate it.” He says,
“Sublimate the mind, calm the mind, and transcend the
mind so that you can move closer to God.” The mind
sometimes comes between us and God. We have to go

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beyond the inuences of the mind, either by ignoring it or

making it our own friend, where it doesn't distract us and
take our focus away. If we are able to calm the mind,
control it, and overcome its distractions, then we can
transcend the mind and realize the truth.

FREE WILL AND DESTINY

Somebody asked Dada a question, “What is the difference

between free will and destiny? Is everything pre-
destined?” Dada explained that we all have an intellect
and we can make a choice. We have free will. But
everything is not free will. Many things are Karmic or pre-
destined. Many things are based on our past actions. So
our past actions and the corresponding Karma created are
like a road that is already laid. Our free will and choice is
like a car that drives on that road. We can go right or left,
fast or slow, or move or stop. That is our choice. Our life
journey is a combination of the road and the vehicle in
which we are driving. Therefore, Dada explained that
while our Karmas have some pre-destined things that are
already set, our choice and our free will create our actions
that can change our destiny. Therefore, we should
understand that we have a choice to change things, a free
will, which is born out of our intellect, and we should
make sure that we use this free will to evolve in the
journey of life.

Thus, I clearly understood that because of my Karmas

and Samskaras (the personality that I have developed)
and past actions, I am living a life that seems to be pre-
destined. But while my life is pre-destined in many ways,
it is not locked. Every moment, I still have a choice - to use

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my intellect and to decide. There is no doubt that even

those choices and actions are in God's command. But
God's Maya or His drama gives us an opportunity to not
just have everything pre-destined. He has given us a free
will to play our part in a way we like and build new
Karmas based on our choices, thus creating our own
destiny.

ROLE OF RELIGION

I often sat with Dada for hours asking him complicated

questions. I asked for forgiveness if my questions were
irrelevant, ignorant, or inappropriate. “Why is it that all
religions confuse humanity?” once I asked Dada. “We
portray Gods to appear in such strange ways as if we have
seen them in that form - Why? Why are there so many
rituals in religions that confuse us? Why is it that we make
saints into God and thereafter forget God?” I asked Dada.
“Explain to me who you think God is and where Heaven
is?” I wanted clarity, and I wanted to know who God is
and where God is. I wanted to understand the
relationship between God-men and God. I wanted to
understand the difference between earthly God and
Heavenly God. Dada calmly explained to me. He did not
lose his peace or tranquility. Very quietly, knowledgeably,
and patiently, he answered step by step what he saw as the
reality.

Dada said that all the religions are just like kindergartens,
and we have to go through kindergarten if we want to be
graduates. Graduation is Nirvana, Moksh, or Liberation.
But it cannot happen without passing through
kindergarten. All the religions of the world are

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kindergartens of God-realization. They plant the seeds of

spiritual evolution. Religions start man's relationship
with God. Maybe they use mythology or some other
ways, but at least, they make a child become aware about
the existence of God. Every religion plays its part in trying
to teach a person to grow in the love for God. Religions
teach us to believe in a personal God.

But that is the rst step to moving towards realizing God.

Without belief in a personal God, we may never be able to
have that deep Bhakti or devotion for God. So, there is
nothing wrong in Bhakti or a love for a personal God.

Yes, unfortunately religions have gone astray and they

start promoting their personal agendas. But that should
not worry us. Maybe religious preachers create fear of
God in people or they create certain rituals that must be
performed. These may not be the best thing to do, but
eventually the one who wants to move ahead on the
spiritual path may nd a way through this beginning.

Sooner or later the realization must come that this bhakti for
a personal God is an illusion that hides the real God that is
everywhere – Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient.
Dada taught that we should look for God as the ultimate
reality. God is everywhere and in everything.

WHY DID GOD CREATE THE UNIVERSE?

“Why did God create the universe?” I asked Dada once.

Dada chanted a sloka – words from the scriptures:
“Ekoham Bahu Syam,” which means God once said, “I
am one; may I become many.” There was nothing; there
was no world or samsaar, and there were no human

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beings, plants, or animals. What did God do? Being all

powerful – Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent – God
created the mountains, and the trees, rivers and seas out
of nothing. You, me, the plants, and the animals were
created out of nothing. All these are manifestations of
God - God is appearing as all these. That is the secret of
Creation. God did not just create this world, but he
manifested himself in the beautiful world through all his
creation.

Dada went on to explain to me that God created the

Universe just like the spider creates its own web. A
spider, from its own secretions creates a web, a world of
its own and just like the spider that has created its own
amazing world, God has created this world. Everything is
not a creation of God; it is a manifestation of God. This
whole world that appears is God appearing as the world.

That's why Dada believes that God exists in every creature

– human beings, plants, animals, insects, birds, and sh
along with the inanimate things. The mountains, rivers,
clouds, sky, earth, sun, moon, and stars are all
manifestations of God. It is so amazing to look at the sunrise
and sunset! It is unbelievable to see the birds that y in the
sky or the beautiful and unique roses in the garden! Each of
these goes on to convince us that all these are nothing but
the manifestation of God! Look at the beautiful human
beings that God has created. Such beauty can only be the
art of a great beholder of beauty – God!

GOD IS ONE

Once I was discussing with Dada about Lord Shiva, and

how mythology says that he cut off the head of his son

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and placed an elephant head to bring him back to life as

Ganesha. Dada amusingly listened to my questions
related to the stories of Krishna and Rama and the stories
of Vishnu and Brahma, various Gods of the Hindu
religion. He said, “God is one! Heaven does not have
many Gods. Christians do not have a different God and
Muslims do not have a different God! There is only one
God.” It doesn't mean that the Christian God might have
made the sun and the moon or the Hindu God might have
made the stars or the oceans. It is we human beings who
have confused the meaning of God! Instead of
understanding the simple truth that God is the one Power
that created everything, we have given names and forms
to God and have started ghting with each other. Today,
many wars in the world are due to the belief that one's
God is superior to the others. Dada explained that this is
ridiculous! Therefore, he goes to several peace forums
globally to share his view about. Let us not ght about
“our” God being more superior to “your” God. Let us
realize that we see God differently because our paradigms
and our perspectives are different. If we look at white light
through green glasses, does it mean that the light becomes
green? No. Some of us see God with green glasses, some of
us see God with red glasses, and some of us see God with
blue glasses; but that does not mean that God has
changed. Just because we are looking at God with Hindu
eyes, Muslim eyes, or Christian eyes – the meaning of God
will not change. God is a Power: ONE POWER that is
Omnipresent - present everywhere; Omnipotent – all -
powerful; and Omniscient - knows everything. Dada
strongly believes that the only way for the world to
progress harmoniously is through the belief that God is
one.

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THE SAINTS AND SAGES OF THE WORLD

Dada taught me some amazing things about the Saints and

Sages of the world. To Dada, it did not matter whether it
was a Christian saint or a Hindu swami. To Dada, all
religions have one objective – God. Whether it is Buddhism,
Jainism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Judaism, Bahá'í Faith,
Confucianism, Shintoism or Hinduism – they all believe
that God exists. Each of these religions has produced their
saints and sages, who help us, grow closer to God. Dada
spoke to me several times and taught me that most saints
and sages have a message for us to evolve spiritually. We
must learn to pick the positives from each saint. We should
not argue about things that we do not believe in, but to
complete our spiritual puzzle, it is sometimes necessary for
us to pick some messages that some saints and sages have
left in this world before they have departed. Many of the
saints and sages are the voice of God. As manifestations of
God, they can teach us something, which we will not realize
at that moment, but later that would be necessary for our
spiritual evolution. Dada taught me to respect the saints of
every religion of the world, listen to them with reverence,
and try to absorb all the goodness from their teachings.

“RUSH! DO NOT DELAY!” DADA SAID

Initially, I was not serious in my approach towards the

search for the truth and Dada corrected this. He said,
“One must absolutely rush when one is on the spiritual
path. One should realize that life is a short journey and we
can't postpone things to tomorrow. We should do it today
because we don't know what's going to happen
tomorrow. Our own mind, our own senses, samsara or
the world, maya or the illusion, trishna or passion, iccha

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or desire – there are so many enemies that may attack us.”

Do we want to fail? Do we want our boat to drown in the

ocean of life? Or do we want to go to the other shore? If we
want to go to the other side, we should row our boat with
all our energy, without wasting a minute. “The time is
now!” Dada said, “Rush, and please don't think you will
do it tomorrow; there may not be a tomorrow. Also, the
chance of us going across the shore is only when we are
alive. We can't do this after death.” Dada said, “If we have
that commitment, dedication, and devotion and if we
nish off things now, then there is a chance of us going
ahead on the path of realization. But we should not have
complacency, laziness, or lethargy. We should not have a
lazy behavior or be tamasik. We should be active and
keep moving ahead to achieve our goal.”

EXPERIENCE GOD

Once I spoke to Dada about how I experience God. I told

him that I experience God in the sun, the moon, the stars,
the birds, the animals and the owers. When I see the
river Ganga owing, I can feel God's presence. He said,
“It's good that you experience God, but that is not the end
of the spiritual path. Experiencing God is the act of the
mind. The mind makes us experience the power of God;
the mind and the intellect together make us realize that
the sun is created by God and the sunrise is a beauty that
is God's beauty, and therefore, we experience the power
of God.”

He made me understand that there is something beyond

experiencing God. It is great to enjoy the snowfall and
experience God. It is great to see the fog owing from the

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rain-laden clouds onto the valley and experience God. It

is great to be in a garden and see the amazing owers and
experience God, but Dada taught me that the next step is
to move towards realizing God. I asked him, “What does
it mean to realize God?” Though I didn't know what it
meant to realize God, Dada asked me to believe and keep
walking on the path of God-realization. He said, “Keep
seeking and keep wanting God and loving God. Be
dedicated and devoted to God. Keep your passion and
obsession for God alive and you will realize God.” Thank
you for the guidance, Dada!

POWER OF FOCUS

I used to talk to Dada on topics such as religion, spirituality,

the world, and peace, oneness of God, humanity, and
service to humanity. Dada said, “Have you seen a convex
lens? What does it do? All the rays of light that are focused
on the lens get converged onto one point and it creates
re.” He said that it is the power of focus. “Focus all your
energy. You and God matter! Nothing else. Go forward
and focus on your priority. Don't lose your energy. Don't
distract yourself and wander in different directions. Don't
waste time. Don't lose focus. Ignore the world. Ignore
everything. Don't worry about what people say! Don't
worry about what books talk about! Don't worry about
what Gurus speak. Don't worry about what many
religions may tell you. It is an inner search. Realize God!
God is within; so don't try to dissipate your energy. Focus
all your energy on God. Create a tremendous re of faith,
a re of passion for God, and a deep seeking and deep
longing for God. That is all that matters and you will
realize God.”

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I didn't realize what Dada was truly saying then, but

today, I realize that Dada already knew the path that I was
going to take. Dada already knew where I was going!

DEATH - GOING FROM ONE ROOM TO ANOTHER

What is Death?

Dada explained. Our body dies. The physical body

experiences death. But the soul within is immortal, it
never dies. That energy or spirit lives on forever.

If we create Karma, then our inner instrument – mind,

intellect, memory and ego - will take another birth and be
reborn in another form. Therefore, death is not the end. It
is just a bend to transcend. It is going from one room to
another.

He once talked about Sri Ramakrishna and Sarada Devi.

When Ramakrishna passed away, Sarada was going to
break her bangles in deep agony and sorrow.

But Ramakrishna appeared and said, “I have but moved

from one room to another.” We don't truly die. We give
up the body, but the true self, the spirit, the soul, or the
Atman lives on. It is immortal!

DOORS OF THE HUMAN BODY

One day, in a very interesting conversation, Dada

explained to me that we human beings are given nine
doors: the two eyes, two ears, the two nostrils, the mouth,
and two organs - one of excretion and one for procreation.
All these nine doors or openings are looking outside.
Dada mentioned how Guru Nanak said that if you want

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to achieve Liberation or Enlightenment, then we must

open the tenth door. He called it the “Dasmay Dwar.” I
asked Dada, “What is the Dasmay Dwar or the tenth
door?” Dada explained to me that we need to open the
door that looks inside because the Creator is inside us. But
because of the distractions due to the mind and the
attractions due to the senses, we are always looking
outside and we do not open the door to look inside. Many
people, he said, talk of the door being at the centre of the
forehead. A spiritual aspirant knows that he is beyond
the gross body. He knows the truth and he tries to open
the tenth door that would not look outside but look inside
and realize God within.

PILGRIMAGES AND RITUALS

There is no meaning in going to meet God in places of

pilgrimage because God does not live in Mecca,
Jerusalem or Kashi. God is everywhere! No doubt that
these religious places have spiritual vibrations because of
the prayers of millions of devotees. It is good to go therein
that perspective, but hoping to be blessed by God in a
pilgrimage is an illusion because God lives within. God is
not physically present in any religious destination. Don't
blindly believe in religious dogmas and rituals.

There is the Creator and we should not let superstition or

rituals make us do things blindly without meaning. We
should question everything told to us and we should do it
only when we are convinced about it. Dada strongly
advocated not following the herd and doing things just
because others are doing it. If there is a benet, then we
should do it; otherwise we should listen to our intellect

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and do what we intellectually choose to do.

WHERE IS HEAVEN AND HELL?

According to Dada, heaven and hell are states of the mind

and not physical locations where we can nd God or
where we go after death. This whole concept of heaven
and hell was probably popularized to instill the fear of
God in people so that they would lead a spiritual life. If
people were not afraid, then they would not lead a
virtuous life. Therefore, don't expect to go to a physical
location called heaven or hell. Everything is on this Earth
– hell and heaven! We can make this Earth a heaven of hell
or a hell of heaven – that depends on our Karma, our
actions. When our actions are good and we are sincere in
our life, we will create a heaven for ourselves. But if our
actions are bad, we are sure to create a hell.

When I further questioned Dada, our discussion took me

to understand the fact of life that every physical human
being dies. Therefore, the physical human being doesn't
go out of this Earth, but becomes dust. So supposedly
there is a heaven or hell, where are these located and who
goes to heaven or hell? If heaven or hell is a virtual
destination, and the subtle mind or the non-gross identity
of us goes there, then it is beyond human comprehension.
Dada made me understand that getting into all these
thoughts and discussions will lead us nowhere. The mind
is making us think of these things because the mind wants
to confuse us. It wants to trap and imprison us. We should
go beyond the mind. We should not let the mind create
thoughts that would make us get lost in this journey and
forget our true and ultimate goal of realizing God.

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GRACE OF GOD

What makes things happen is the grace of God! Many

discussions with Dada end with this simple truth – it all
depends on the grace of God. Dada strongly advocates
that it is not our skill, luck, or even Karma that makes
things happen. Ultimately, it is the grace of God!

If the grace of God is upon us, nothing is impossible. We

should therefore have a very strong Bhakti or love for
God. Dada always says that the strongest Yoga or union
with God is through Bhakti – deep love and longing for
God. He describes three attributes of Bhakti. He says one's
Bhakti should be very strong. It needs to be stronger than
a miser's desire for gold, a lover's desire for his beloved,
and a child's desire for its mother who it has just lost.
Dada says that Bhakti is very important to invoke the
grace of God. So, in our quest for spiritual evolution, we
must invoke the grace of God through our sincere
prayers, our deep seeking and longing for God. We
should spend a lot of time in devotion and dedication to
God because it is this deep, genuine love for God that will
bestow upon us a grace that will make anything possible.

WHAT IS ENLIGHTENMENT?

When I was on the RVM journey, one of the common

discussions with Dada was on Enlightenment. One late
evening Dada explained to me that people give different
names to it. Some call it Moksh or Nirvana; some call it
Mukti. It is also called Salvation, Liberation or
Enlightenment. All these terms refer to the one and same
thing! When one becomes aware of one's ignorance and

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realizes the truth that I am not this ego, mind and body,
but I am that – the Divine Spirit or the soul, then one starts
the journey of Enlightenment.

Of course, Dada explained to me that knowledge about

realization of the truth is not Enlightenment. The rst step
is the knowledge and we learn what Enlightenment is.
But we don't actually get enlightened; then we
contemplate on the truth of Enlightenment and about
who we are and what we are not. If the grace of God and
the Guru is upon us, then we actually realize the truth. We
can feel, “We are not this. We are that.” This feeling that I
am not this ego, mind and body, but that I am that Divine
spirit, or the soul, starts the journey towards Enlightenment.

Dada warned me that it is very difcult to say who is

enlightened and who is not. There may be many seekers
on the path of Liberation and Enlightenment. The
difference between a realized soul and the enlightened
one is this – the enlightened one is no more a prisoner of
the ego, mind and body. Enlightenment happens when
we truly overcome the ego, mind and body, which is
practically impossible. Thus it takes lot of effort for a
realized soul to be truly enlightened. This mostly
happens when we are heading towards the end of our
earthly journey.

YOU ARE NOT THIS BODY!

I nd it surprising that I never understood what Dada

taught me decades ago, that I am not the body, the mind,
and the ego. I am the Divine Spirit! The Guru had not
failed, but as a disciple, I was not prepared, I was not

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ready at that time.

But Dada has led me step by step on the spiritual path and
he has made me understand that we are not what we
think we are. The fact is that we are the soul, the Atman! It
is with the blessing of God and the grace of the Guru, who
are not different from each other, that we can succeed in
realizing the self, the true self. Our body is made of ve
elements - earth, water, air, space, and re. When we die,
these will merge with the universe and our Divine Spirit
will move on.

Dada clearly explained that we continue to live as per our

Prarabdha Karma, the karma we brought to this world.
When my Prarabdha Karma is over, this Jeevatman or
embodied soul will drop dead. Whether the Atman
merges with the Paramatman or the ego continues its
journey of being born again in some other form depends
on our evolution as a realized soul. If our Self-realization
is complete, we will be liberated and not be reborn. If we
can see the Divine spirit in all as God; if we can
understand the principal statements of the Upanishads
that reveal the consolidated truth about life and if the
grace of the Guru and God are upon us, then we will not
just understand this, but will live with this realization!
And the moment we live with realization, we are
liberated.

KOHAM SOHAM

Dada explained that when we go into meditation and ask the

question, “Koham?” or Who am I?” and if we are truly
meditating, then the answer comes as “Soham” –“I am that.”

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According to Dada, it means that I am not this physical

body, but I am the Divine soul. How could this be possible
was my thought when Dada told me that we are not this
body, which I all along thought myself to be? How can we
be nothing? How can we be just a soul – energy? Then I
realized that only when we go into deep contemplation
with the mantra – “Koham?”, then only we will realize
“Soham.” Unless we transcend the ego and mind, we will
never realize, “We are not this. We are that.”

Dada said that the fact is we are a God particle – a part of

divinity, but we live and die in deep ignorance – Ghor
Avidhya. We are something far beyond and more
powerful. We are God itself appearing as humans. When
Dada said that just like a dream, all these are unreal, how
could I believe it? How could I believe that this is an
illusion? How could it be possible?

Once Dada asked me, “Have you seen a kaleidoscope?”

With one eye, we look at the magic crystals forming
different shapes and colors. All are actually manifestations
of little pieces inside, nothing else. And so Dada said that
this world is a drama. It is not real. Things come together as
an act. We are all actors in this stage. God is the producer
and director. He knows what the plot is. He knows the
beginning and the end, but we don't. We play our part or
role moment by moment - the way it unfolds to us as His
Divine Will. But we must realize that this whole world is
a huge stage – a theatre that has been created, produced
and directed by God.

TALAASH

In August 2012, during Dada's birthday celebrations,

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Dada was giving a talk. He gazed at me and spoke on a

subject called “Talaash.” Later, at dinner, he explained it
further to me. In his talk, Dada had said, “We human
beings live and die, but we do not discover the purpose of
life - Why are we here? What is the purpose of our life on
Earth?” He said that we should go on a quest, a search, or
a Talaash. It struck me during the talk itself, but I needed
my Master to explain to me. And so I asked Dada what is
this search about. He then explained that we live in gross
ignorance, and we don't know the truth or the reality. We
live in darkness and we should go within to nd the true
answers. We think that we are this ego, mind and body.
But in reality, we are not this, we are that. We are a Divine
soul, Atman or energy. Due to ignorance, we are unable to
overcome the mind, transcend the ego and control the
senses. We live and die without going on a Talaash- a
search for the truth.

Our life actually starts when we search for the truth, we

go on a Talaash, and we realize who we are and we realize
God.

TURIYAM

At another occasion, Dada explained to me about

“Turiyam”. Turiyam comes from the word “Chaturiyam,”
“the fourth” which means we are the fourth entity. He said
that we human beings go through three states of
Consciousness – the waking state, the dream state and the
deep sleep state. We are not these three – the waker, the
dreamer, the sleeper. We are the fourth: the one who
experiences these three.

The waking state is a state where our body and mind are

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both awake and active. We all know the waking state. We

are also familiar with the dream state where the body is
asleep but the mind is active, and we are familiar with the
state of deep sleep where both the body and mind are
asleep; there is no dream and we experience sound sleep.

Dada explained to me, “We know that we had sound

sleep, but who knows? Obviously, there is somebody
who is beyond the Waker, the Dreamer and the Sleeper –
that is Turiyam – the fourth.” Dada tried to explain to me
that we are all actually Turiyam, which is symbolized in
the Upanishads as “Om” or the power of God, but we do
not realize it. We think we are the Waker, the Dreamer
and the Sleeper, but in reality, we are not these three. We
are experiencing these three states of consciousness, but
we are the fourth – we are Turiyam.

IS THERE AN ASTRAL WORLD?

Dada tried to explain to me that like this physical world,

there is another world – it's called the astral world or the
subtle world, the world of the mind. This was beyond my
understanding and I started arguing with Dada. “How can
there be an astral world, Dada? How is it possible for our
mind to go to a world where just minds live after our
death?” I questioned him persistently till he nally said,
“You are talking like a “jyat.” For the rst time in life, Dada
told me something that was a little unpleasant. This word
meant that I was an ignoramus; I was ignorant of the reality.

But Dada didn't stop at that. He said, “Just because you

don't know that there is an astral world, it doesn't mean
that it doesn't exist. Of course it does.” But I continued to

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argue. I asked him, “How is it possible? We die, our body

is burnt, and then what's the proof that the mind goes to
another world, which is the world of the minds and subtle
bodies. What's the proof, Dada?”

He said, “Ravi, you tell me you went to Antarctica and

you saw penguins. Give me proof.” I replied, “There are
photographs. I can prove it to you, Dada. How can you
prove to me that there is an Astral world?” Dada said,
“Many people have experienced the Astral world and
when you realize the truth, you acknowledge the Astral
world.” But I refused to believe that there was a world
called Astral world. And the discussion ended abruptly.

It was not as simple as that. I went back, contemplated,

introspected and wrote a long email to Dada. I am sharing the
e-mail I wrote below:

MY E-MAIL TO DADA

Dearest Dada,

How are You? I hope you are well as always :)

Before I write further, let me apologize for the long and probably
ignorant e-mail that follows. But being my Guru, my Guide for
the last 25 years I got the courage and condence to write
knowing that you Love me and acknowledge my Love for God.
And so I write.

Further to our discussions when I was in Pune regarding the

TALAASH journey you have led me onto....... And for which I am
grateful beyond words, I seek your guidance to take me from
Darkness to Light, my dear and most respected and loved Guru.

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Dada. I had asked you several questions.

Who is God?????
You answered.
The Creator.
Does heaven/hell exist??
You said. Only In the mind
What about life and death?
You said. Life is a gift from God. A journey of experiences.
To perfect oneself.

I felt that all this is so perfect and I could relate to it all.......

And then you said, We go from this world to the Astral
world!!!

When I tried to question, you just said you are talking like a
"JYAT"

Like you don't know anything. :)

Dear Dada, My Talaash journey has taken me forward

questioning everything, as a believer of God would question.

You have always taught me to be practical.

Not follow superstitions and rituals. You know my faith in God

is unshakable. Complete. Unconditional. But when you said
that we go to the Astral world I suddenly felt: How is this
possible?

Anybody can say so. I even tried to search about the Astral
world, saw a movie called Astral city. But all this is
imagination. The spirit world as it's called.

A world where the spirit goes after the body is shed on so called
Death.

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Dada, just because some people imagine the existence of the

Astral world does it become real? My feeling is that there may be
a world beyond this but only GOD knows. Man has no clue.
And this is action of man's imagination. One cannot say I have
been to the astral world and come back. To me this is untrue.

Dada Please guide me.

How do I believe in the Astral world? It looks like another false

belief like another My theological Tale. But in sophistication I
have tried to dedicate and devote my life to Talaash. It includes
my Deep aspiring Longing for God, Prayers, Poojas, Bhajans,
a lot of Meditation, silence, spending Time with God, Searching
for answers, service to humanity, remembrance of God, reciting
the Divine mantra, being always connected, living in total
surrender, in acceptance of God 's will, living with faith hope
trust enthusiasm. Everything that you have taught me.

My Talaash journey is making me read new books on God.

Experience all that I have touched over the last four decades. I
feel so strange. I always believed God was just Shiva and now I
know God is beyond. Much beyond. With your teachings I know
that God is beyond any statue. Any religion. And now suddenly
to believe that there is something called Astral world and that
the physical beings talk to astral beings seems like a fairy tale.

Sure God exists. You and me know that. Our belief is beyond
doubt. But Dada that we now know the mystery of death!!!
Somehow I don't agree. We don't know where we came from.
And we don't know what happens after death.

Maybe there is a spiritual world. But we can't prove it, maybe,

there is life after death. It seems logical to believe the law of
karma. But it's still a belief. But the Astral world and all that the
world says about it is so difcult to believe.

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I would be so grateful if you can make me understand this

confusion that I am in. First, by some basic answers to this email
and then if you say I can come whenever wherever to
understand from you more on this Talaash journey.

Dada you are everything to me. My Master, my Guru, my

Guide. Whatever I am today, I Thank God and you. I always
considered you to be like my God on Earth.

Today while I continue to respect you as my only Guru, your

own teachings have made me question so many things. Like idol
worship. Like worship of living masters. All this makes me feel
that we are taking our focus away from God.

I may be totally wrong but I would like to share my honest

feelings with you. I am sure you will understand and will take
me from my current darkness to light.

With deep Gratitude and Love

Your disciple
Ravi

Within 2 hours of sending this e-mail to Dada, he replied.

I am sharing his e-mail below:

DADA's REPLY TO MY E-MAIL

My very Dear Ravi,

Your e-mail has been read out to me. Believe me, as I have
repeatedly said, I am not a Guru. You are a disciple: I too seek to
be one. We both are fellow-pilgrims on the Path that is Endless.
On this Path we have to transcend the mind. We have to detach
ourselves from the mind. If we listen to the mind, there will be no
end of questions—one question leading to another and there

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will be no end to the process. Therefore, the emphasis is on

realization. Whether the astral world exists or not—is a
question which should not bother me. As I move on the pilgrim-
Path, several diversions will occur. I should not waste my time
and intelligence on trying to understand them. My goal is God.
What is God? Is a question which cannot be answered in words?
God is to be realized. For this I have to live a life of Sadhna and
entreaty. I have to cry, shed tears—even come to a point where I
feel like killing myself if I do not have a realization of God. Out of
the very depths of the heart comes the aspiration: “Life without
Thee, O Lord, is futile.” It is this intense yearning which when
it wakes in the heart within, makes us forget ourselves
completely, that is essential. When we forget ourselves, we get
God. The equation is: man minus self is equal to God. God plus
self is equal to man.

But these are all words and there is no end to them. Let us pray
to God to give us this intense yearning. A Holy man said that a
seeker must have these 3 types of yearning before he can realize
God: 1) The longing which a miser has for gold; 2) The yearning
that the lover has for his beloved; 3) The yearning which a child
has for its mother whom it has lost somewhere.

Come, Ravi, let us forget all else and together let us cry for this
triple yearning which alone will help us to draw closer and,
when it be His Will, to realize God.

Dada

This e-mail changed my life. It completely transformed the

way I looked at things. I knew that my Guru, my Master
who loved me so much was trying to make me understand
something that was beyond my comprehension. But I
didn't give up. I took the e-mails with me, went to the

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mountains and spent days contemplating and

introspecting on what Dada said. I thought, “Surely, Dada
knows that I am ignorant of the facts, surely there is
something I don't understand, and surely I am a “jyat ” (an
ignorant fool) who doesn't realize the truth. I am living in
ignorance and my Guru wants to teach me something. I
must understand it! For sure, something like the astral
world exists, which is beyond my sight. It's like I am
climbing mountains and there is a mountain far beyond
my sight. Just because I can't see it, it doesn't mean it
doesn't exist! Therefore, it does exist. What is it?”

I started contemplating on Dada's answer and tried to

spend time on the equation the he sent to me. I had not
spoken on that equation to him. So then I asked him,
“Dada, what is this equation?”
Man– Self = God;
God + Self = Man
Dada tried to explain it to me. He said, “We human
beings are a combination of ego, mind, body, and soul. So
when we remove the ego, mind, and body - which is the
self – from the man, what's left is the soul or God. When
God is added to the ego, mind, and body (self), it becomes
the man.”

This simple equation was mind blowing. But my mind

went into a quandary; it was lost, it went at, and it
collapsed. I spent hours contemplating about this
equation. But nally one day, when I understood it, I
realized the truth that we are not the ego, mind, or body.
We are the Divine Soul or the Atman that is a part of the
Paramatman. We are the microcosm of the macrocosm.

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God is the sun, and we are the rays of the sun. We are just a
God particle. We are a small, tiny speck of God's energy.
This helped me make my decision and transform my life
for a second time after I realized the truth that I am not
RVM, but the soul - the Atman in RVM, and this was
probably the biggest realization of my life.

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110
 VI

Dada is
an Amazing
Storyteller

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111
 Dada is
an Amazing
Storyteller

O
ver the last 25 years, Dada has narrated
hundreds of stories to me. These stories have
made a tremendous impact in my life. I am not
able to recall all the stories from my memory, but there are
a few I will never ever forget.

STORY OF THE ENGINEER

Once, Dada narrated the story of the most brilliant

engineer in a kingdom. The king had conquered an island
nearby, and he found it very difcult to navigate from one
island to another using boats. So, he asked the engineer to
design something that would facilitate the navigation.
The engineer designed an underwater tunnel that did the
trick. Once the tunnel was inaugurated, the king was
extremely pleased.

The king called the wise man in the kingdom to suggest

an ideal reward for the engineer for completing the
amazing task. The wise man procrastinated. Several

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times, the king kept asking him for his suggestion.

Finally, the king was annoyed; he asked the wise man,
“Why are you not suggesting a reward for the engineer?”
Then the wise man told him, “Let me give a nal thought
and get back to you tomorrow.”

The next day in the court, the king was waiting for the
wise man's answer. Very hesitantly, the wise man told the
king, “If you really want to give an award to the engineer,
then he should be whipped one hundred times by the
soldiers.” The king was completely aghast! How could an
engineer who achieved such a remarkable feat be given
one hundred whips? He told the wise man that he wanted
to give a prize to the engineer not a punishment. “Why are
you suggesting this?” asked the king. The wise man then
explained to the king, “When I asked God what should be
the prize, this is the message I got. My conscience says
that this engineer was given an amazing intellect to use it
for God-realization and to promote God's work, not to
create tunnels and do scientic discoveries and
inventions. So, he was misusing his intellect as per the
message I got from God. Therefore, he should not be
given a reward. Instead, he should be given a hundred
whips for not using his God-given intelligence and skills
for the sake of promoting God's work in this world.”

Dada's story made me realize that we all have skills and

intelligence, but are we using them to do God's work?
Instead, most of us misuse our skills and intelligence.

Therefore, we are losing the opportunity to live a life of

meaning and purpose, to realize God, and to nd the true
goal of life – Self-realization and God-realization.

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STORY OF MANSUR AL-HALLAJ

Dada very interestingly narrated the story of the very

famous Su Saint, Mansur al-Hallaj, who used to scream
in ecstasy “Anal Haq, Anal Haq!” which essentially
means, “I am God, I am God” (I am the Truth). When he
calmed down, people asked him why he was screaming
so, he replied in embarrassment, “I never say that. How
can I say “Anal Haq, Anal Haq”? His followers told him
that in reality, he was shouting, “Anal Haq, Anal Haq!”

This happened several times, but he refused to believe it.

His followers then decided to bring his close inner circle
to the scene the next time he shouted, “Anal Haq, Anal
Haq!” His close group was called to prove to him that he
was actually shouting “Anal Haq, Anal Haq!” When he
came back from his ecstasy, his very own and close people
told him that he was shouting, “Anal Haq, Anal Haq!” He
exclaimed in disbelief, “How can I say that?” He then told
his people to take a sword and cut off his head the next
time he says “Anal Haq, Anal Haq!” They reluctantly
agreed to do it.

The next time, when Mansur was in his spiritual ecstasy,

he started shouting, “Anal Haq, Anal Haq!” As per his
earlier instruction, some courageous followers took the
sword and tried to cut off his head. They were shocked!
The sword was going through his body, but they were not
able to behead him as he continued shouting. They could
not understand what was happening.

When he returned to his senses and came to know what

happened, he seemed to realize the reason, and he

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explained to them, “It was not me who was saying, 'Anal

Haq, Anal Haq!' When I was in that deep state of
meditation, and I knew I was the soul and not the body; it
was my soul that was responsible for saying 'Anal Haq,
Anal Haq!' Therefore, although you tried to behead me,
you couldn't.”

A STORY ABOUT LIFE

Life is a treasure – just like precious stones!

A farmer was busy digging his eld and he found a huge

bag of red stones. Although they were very pretty stones,
he thought of them as just ordinary stones and took them
to his lunch table. As he was eating his lunch, some
vultures hovered around him, disturbing him. He took
one of the red stones and threw it at the birds to chase
them away. Some time passed and several of these stones
were thrown at the vultures and the stones landed in a
stream below, which washed them away.

Eventually, only two stones were left. His wife asked him
if she could keep those two stones for their children to
play with as the stones were very attractive. He agreed
and gave her the two stones. One day when the children
were playing with the stones, a rich businessman of the
village passed by. He was a jeweller and as soon as he saw
the two stones, he asked the children if he could take the
stones and in return, promised to give them lots of toys.
The children were very happy to exchange the two stones
for toys, and they came back and told their father what
had happened.

One day the jeweller came back to the farmer and asked

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the farmer, “Do you have more of those stones?” He came

with a lot of sweets and gifts for the farmer and his family,
and the farmer was surprised at his gesture. He told the
farmer that the two stones were actually two huge rubies
and that he had sold the rubies and earned a huge amount
of money. “Do you have any more left?” he asked the
farmer. “These stones are a very precious treasure.”

The farmer had unknowingly thrown away all these huge

rubies thinking of them as just stones. And now he held his
head in despair. He could have become the richest man if he
had not thrown away the treasure which God had given
him. Dada then explained that life too is a treasure. This
treasure is made up of days, weeks, months, and years,
which are given to us. And what do we do? We do nothing
with this treasure. We throw away this treasure. We throw
away our moments, our days, our weeks, and our months,
till such time when we reach the end. We realize that we
have wasted our life. The human birth is a treasure that
must be used to realize God. We must not waste our human
life in pursuit of pleasures and sense attractions. Most of us
waste this treasure, and we throw away the real rubies that
are given to us.

STORY OF RAJA JANAK

One day, a courtier came to King Janak and informed him

that there was an attack on the kingdom. King Janak
prepared himself and declared war. It was one of the
toughest wars, and unfortunately, he lost it and was
wounded. The enemy king captured the kingdom and
ordered King Janak to leave the kingdom immediately.
Wounded, hungry, and thirsty, King Janak started his

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journey out of the kingdom. He asked for water and food

from the people, but they refused in fear of their new king.

King Janak, left with no options, tirelessly walked for

days and night with no food and water. However, at the
entry of the new kingdom, he saw that food was being
served to the poor people. Immediately, he walked
towards the queue of poor people, hoping to eat
something. But the moment he reached the counter, the
food was over. The server saw him and said, “I can give
you starch. I am sorry, but this is the only thing that I can
offer.” King Janak, being helpless, agreed for the starch.
The cook gave him the starch, but the moment King Janak
took the bowl of starch to help himself, an eagle jumped
on it, and he dropped the bowl on the ground. King Janak
lost his last hope and fell down seeing the starch getting
mixed with the dirt. In utter despair, he screamed, “Oh
Lord!!!!” That moment, his bodyguard entered the king's
bedroom and saw King Janak on his bed, sweating
heavily and with pain in his chest. The bodyguard asked
if he was alright. King Janak took a deep breath and
asked, “Is THIS True or THAT True?” He questioned,
“What is the Truth? Am I a king who dreamt I was a
beggar, or am I a beggar dreaming that I am a king? Is This
True or That True?”

King Janak remained in that condition of a trance for a

while, leaving the people in his kingdom to worry about
their king's state of mind. One day, a learned saint
Asthavakra Muni came to his capital. He heard about the
king's condition and decided to visit the court. Seeing the
king confused, he asked what the matter was. The king
again murmured, “Is THIS True or THAT True?”

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 Dada is an Amazing Storyteller

Saint Asthavakra replied, “Dear King Janak!! Neither

'this' nor 'that' is truth. YOU ARE THE TRUTH!!!”

For the rst time, king Janak got an answer to his

question. In the past, people had told him, “Of course,
you are the king. Why do you doubt that? You know you
are the king. That was a dream.” That's what people had
said. To which, king Janak had always said, “No, but
what is true? Am I a king dreaming that I was a beggar, or
am I a beggar dreaming I am the king?” King Janak could
not believe their answer that he was indeed a king. Saint
Asthavakra told king Janak, “Neither this is true – that
you are a king dreaming you are a beggar, nor that is true
– that you are a beggar dreaming to be a king.

STORY OF JAMUN KHAYEGA

Dada spoke of how often we become slaves to our own

desires through a story, which he used to call “Jamun
khayega toh entha uthayega” − which means if you really
want to eat jamuns (an Indian fruit), then you have to
carry stones.

There was a young lad who had a deep craving for

jamuns. He worked at a construction site so that he could
earn money and eat jamuns. Once, his hands started
bleeding due to the bruises caused by the bricks and
stones. He took his money from his wages and went to
the shop to buy jamuns. He got 16 jamuns from the money
he earned. He then realized how much he had to suffer to
fulll his craving to eat the jamuns. What did he do? The
young lad went to the nearby river and thought, “How
stupid of me to have bruised my hands so badly for the

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sake of the jamuns. To overcome his craving, he started

throwing the 16 jamuns one by one into the river
repeating the words – “Jamun khayega toh entha uthayega” –
“If you crave for jamuns, then you have to carry stones.”

This story makes us realize that our desire for satisfying our
senses has a heavy price to pay. Let us remind ourselves
that if we want to give into the sense pleasures and cravings
of the body, we will have to suffer.

STORY OF AMAR PHAL

One of the stories that Dada always used to narrate was

the story of “Amar Phal” – the immortal fruit. Once some
saints from the mountains visited a king and told him that
they wanted to give him a precious gift. It was a fruit and
the one who ate it would become immortal. It was one of
its kind and there was no other fruit like this on Earth.

The king was very pleased and carefully preserved the

gift of immortality. He was just about to eat it when he
realized that it would be futile to live forever without his
beloved queen. So instead of eating the immortal fruit, he
went to his queen and asked her to eat the fruit. He
wanted his queen to be alive till his last breath.

The queen was excited to receive the Amar Phal. She was
in love with the king's charioteer, and she thought that
her beloved should live forever. She gave the fruit to the
charioteer in secrecy. The charioteer was happy to
become immortal, but he was in love with a dancer and
thought it was pointless to live without the dancer. He
gifted the immortal fruit to the dancer so she could

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 Dada is an Amazing Storyteller

become immortal. The dancer knew that her life was a life
of sin. Her trade made her expose herself to so many men
and she was quite frustrated with her life. She started
thinking about who would be the best person to live
forever. She knew that the noblest in the kingdom was the
king. She went to the king and offered him the fruit of
immortality.

The king was shocked! How could the immortal fruit

reach this dancer? He called the queen and after much
questioning, he came to know the entire story. He was
heartbroken. He wanted to give the gift of immortality to
the one he loved, but he was cheated.

The king realized that this world is maya or illusion.

There is dukha or suffering. The only true happiness
comes from God and liberation. He gave up his kingdom
and renounced everything. He wanted Self-realization
and God-realization, which is true immortality and
eternal bliss.

STORY OF JAIMANI

During Ved Vyas's time, there was a king named Jaimani.

He wanted to renounce the world so Vyas told him,
“Don't stop your devotion and love for God. Renounce
your desires here itself.” But Jaimani insisted on going to
the forest and left. One day, in a storm, a group of girls lost
their way. One girl strayed away from the group and
reached Jaimani's hermitage in the forest. She was
completely drenched and looked sensual. Jaimani told
her to go away, but she said that it was raining and
animals would attack her in the forest. She requested

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Dada is an Amazing Storyteller

Jaimani to give her a place to stay for the night.

After much persuasion, Jaimani gave her a room, provided

that she would agree to go in immediately, lock the room
and not open it at night for anybody, including him.

As it would be, the sensual image of the girl disturbed

Jaimani, and he went to her room later at night and
knocked at the door. She refused to open it. Even when he
said, “It's me – Jaimani.” She refused.

Finally, Jaimani climbed to the window at the top of the

door, pulled it open and jumped inside. He saw Ved Vyas
sitting inside. It was a test to show Jaimani that going to the
forest does not mean that a person has renounced
everything. Renunciation is about having will power and
the power of discrimination to control cravings.

Unless we control our mind and the senses, we cannot

live a life of renunciation and liberation. And this need
not happen in the middle of the forest. Man is a social
being. He has to act. Man cannot abstain from action. We
can have freedom in action, not freedom from action. The
mind would always think, and the senses would always
perceive. We cannot stop the mind from thinking and the
senses from perceiving. But we have to get the mind and
senses under the control of the intellect and the intellect
under the control of the soul. That is the challenge!

What I learned is that by running away from this world,

we cannot get liberation. We have to face this world. We
have to realize the truth of who we are. And we have to
live, renouncing the cravings of the senses. We have to

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 Dada is an Amazing Storyteller

live despite the wandering of the mind. In this world, as a

seeker and as a renunciate, we have to renounce by
knowledge of the truth that we are not this body and
mind. By suppressing our feelings, we will not reach
anywhere. And there cannot be a better story to teach me
this truth.

STORY OF “CARRYING IT IN THE MIND”

Dada often spoke about how the mind is the problem, and
how it carries so many negative thoughts, which makes
our life negative. Dada narrated a story to explain this.

“Two Sanyasis were taking a walk near a river and they

heard a girl crying for help. She had fallen into the river
and was unable to get to the shore. Immediately, the Guru
jumped into the river and saved the girl. The Guru asked
the girl to be careful while crossing the river in future. The
Guru and the disciple walked back and reached the
ashram late at night. While having dinner at the Ashram,
the disciple told the Guru that he was completely shocked
seeing the Guru's act of saving a girl. He asked, “How can
you hold a girl close to your body? We are Sanyasis. How
can we touch women?” The Guru told the disciple, “I left
that girl there in the river, but you are still carrying the girl
and brought her here in your mind!”

Dada explained how sometimes the mind carries

something for days and weeks together. We should not
let the mind be a sponge to take in and keep negative
things in our mind. We should learn to forgive and forget.

My relationship with Dada is incomplete without Dada's

stories. How I wish I could narrate the hundreds of stories

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Dada is an Amazing Storyteller

he has told me. I have not seen another storyteller like

Dada thus far. Each of his stories has a moral and a
purpose. His stories shall live in my heart forever.

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VII

The Goal
of Life

143
124
 The Goal
of Life

D
ada spent several sessions with me trying to
explain the true goal of life. I was a very goal-
oriented person and did not touch the topic for
the rst 15 years.

What is the Goal of life? The whole world thinks it is

Happiness.

Who doesn't want to be happy? Is there anybody in this

world who doesn't want to be happy? The whole world is
seeking happiness. Different people are seeking different
things. But if one researches as to why people seek what
they are seeking, the ultimate objective of what
everybody seeks is “happiness.”

While everybody wants to be happy, different things

make different people happy. Since we human beings
seek happiness, we are always pursuing pleasures. In
fact, the whole world seems to be living by the “pleasure-
pain” principle. This principle states that we all are

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 The Goal of Life

attracted towards pleasure and we all shun pain. We will

always do things that give us pleasure and make us
happy just as we will distance ourselves from anything
that gives us pain and makes us unhappy. We all want to
be happy!

It seems that our life purpose is happiness. When Dada

discussed this with me, it was clear that people wanted to
be happy, but not everybody was. Dada used to mention
about many rich people being unhappy. They would
share their problems with Dada. He made me realize that
most of humanity is chasing happiness through
pleasures that come from material possessions. Dada
knew very well that happiness is not external. You cannot
go to a supermarket and buy happiness. Therefore, it is
true that most people think that the goal of life is
happiness, they search for it and THEY NEVER FIND IT!

AREN'T WE LIKE THE MUSK DEER?

An extremely fragrant and valuable musk is found in the

navel of the Himalayan deer, giving it the title of “Musk
Deer” in the Northern Hills of India. When the aromatic
musk comes out of the navel of the musk deer, the deer
becomes attracted to the aroma of its own perfume. It
leaps and roams around searching for the fragrance. The
confused deer jumps from the high cliffs out of
restlessness into the valley below in an attempt to track
the source of the fragrance, and thus meets its fate. The
hunters catch it and tear out the pouch of musk, also
known as Kasturi.

A poet mentioned: “O you foolish musk deer, you sought for

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The Goal of Life

the fragrance everywhere, but in your own body. That is why

you did not nd it. If you only had touched your nostrils to your
own navel, you would have found the cherished musk and
would have saved yourself from suicide on the rocks below.”

I introspected a lot. What did Dada mean when he said

that just like the musk deer has its source of fragrance
inside, do we have happiness within? I couldn't
understand! How could happiness be within? Only
things that were outside of me made me happy. I never
found anything inside me that could give me happiness. I
couldn't truly understand what Dada was saying. But he
smiled as if he was telling me that I will understand one
day. He never lost hope. But he was very clear that
happiness was like a shadow. We may chase it as much as
we want to, but we will not get it. We were like the musk
deer − chasing something that is within, which we will
never nd outside.

Then, one-night Dada shared the funny story of this lady

who lost a pin. She was trying to nd the pin, but she
couldn't nd the pin and she kept looking. A lot of her
neighbours came and saw her searching for the pin
outside her door. All of them, out of respect for the old
lady, also started looking for the pin. They all kept
searching until one intelligent neighbour asked her a
question, “Madam, where did you drop the pin?” She
thought for a moment and said, “I dropped the pin inside
the house.” He looked at her in wonder and asked, “If you
dropped the pin inside the house, why are you searching
for it outside the house?” She replied, “Because there is
no light inside the house, it's dark. Because there's light
outside, I am searching for it outside.”

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 The Goal of Life

This made me realize that just because there is darkness

in our life, why are we seeking for answers in a wrong
place that has light? We have to nd a way to eliminate
the darkness. Dada kept on emphasizing, “The goal of life
is within, not outside.” Dada always called this the
“Dasmay Dwar”, which Guru Nanak spoke about as the
tenth door.

Then Dada explained to me the goal of life in the words of

Guru Nanak. He said Guru Nanak always said that
human beings have nine doors. But the problem with
these nine doors is that they look outside. None of these
are looking inwards. Guru Nanak said that unless we
open the tenth door, the “Dasmay Dwar” which looks
inwards, we will not realize the true goal of life. And then
I went into several discussions with Dada, wherein I was
trying to understand how the true goal of life was to look
inwards, not outwards. Dada explained to me how
realization is the true goal of life.

Dada said that man is chasing happiness; but the more he

goes towards it, the further it goes away. While chasing
the shadow, he does not realize that the shadow is his
own and he will never be able to catch it. This chase
continues unless the seeker realizes that whatever he is
seeking is inside him, not outside.

I never understood what Dada was trying to say! I kept

seeking happiness and I moved from happiness through
achievement to happiness through contentment and
fulllment. But I reached a plateau and I was looking for
the next peak of happiness. I kept asking Dada again and
again, “What is the next peak of happiness?” That is when

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The Goal of Life

Dada told me the story of the musk deer.

For the rst two decades, for me, the goal of life was
happiness. I knew beyond doubt. I had no apprehension.
There was no discussion and I would just talk to Dada
about how we human beings want to be happy, and we
would rest the discussion on what happiness is and how
can one be happy.

Little did I know that happiness was not the real goal of
life. Twenty years after meeting Dada, I realized that the
real goal of life was Self-realization and with it came
eternal joy and peace.

T HE REAL GOAL OF H U M A N L I F E I S S E L F -
REALIZATION

The real goal of human life is the realization of the truth

by the removal of ignorance that exists in humanity. It is
attaining contentment and fulllment, joy and bliss, and
peace and tranquility that are not interrupted by any kind
of misery, pain, and sorrow.

Realization is nding answers to the following questions

about life – Who am I? What am I? Where did I come
from? Where will I go? What's my life's purpose? On
realization, one will be liberated, but realization is not a
simple achievement. This is because our ego, mind, and
body oppose realization. They fear that on realization,
they would become extinct. What is this realization
about? It is becoming aware that we have a body, a mind,
and an ego, but we are not the body, mind, and ego. For
instance, you have a car, and you drive the car. This

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 The Goal of Life

makes you the driver of the car, not the car. Similarly, you
have a body and you have a mind, but you are not the
body and mind.

You are the energy that gives life to the body and mind.
But because of our ego, our intellect is not able to
discriminate, and the ego makes us believe that we are the
body and mind. Because we are not able to differentiate
between what we are and what we seem to be, we get
imprisoned in the body–mind complex.

Realization is about knowing that we are not this body

and mind. What are we? We are some energy or power
that gives life to the body and mind. We may refer to this
power as soul, shakti, prana, or spirit. It doesn't matter
what we call it, but the complete understanding, belief,
and realization that we are the “ENERGY” is the essence
of realization and liberation from all the prisons of misery
and sorrow.

Dada made me realize that the goal of life is not

happiness. Man cannot be happy the way he seeks
happiness because when he tries to seek happiness
through achievement, there will be a peak and valley of
joy and sorrow. Life will be like a yo-yo. Then, when he
reaches the next level of contentment and fulllment, he
undoubtedly becomes happy, but he faces pain with
disease, old age, and death. Dada always recalls what
Buddha had said, “This world is full of dukkha or
suffering, and man cannot nd true happiness in this
world. The only way for man to nd true happiness or
Ananda is through liberation from this world of
unhappiness.”

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The Goal of Life

Dada then explained to me how one must go on a Talaash

− a search or a quest − to nd the true goal of life. Some
people call it Enlightenment. Some call it Moksh or
Nirvana. It is liberation from the cycle of birth and death. I
asked Dada “Is it possible?” He smiled and said, “Of
course! That is the goal of life.” Less than 1 % of humanity
know about it, and out of this 1%, 1% may search for it,
and further out of this 1%, 1% may go close to it and just
like that, a very, very small fraction of humanity may
actually realize the truth and be liberated. Dada made me
understand that the goal of life was not happiness but
liberation that came from realization.

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 VIII

Dada's
Teachings can
Change
Your Life!

151
132
 Dada's
Teachings can
Change
Your Life!

T
ill now, you have read about how Dada changed
my life, what he taught me as Ravi V. Melwani,
and then as RVM. I also shared the stories Dada
told me. This is an honest sharing of what I understand
my Guru taught me. There may be things that he said or
meant otherwise. If I have made any mistakes, I beg for
forgiveness from my Guru, but I have only shared
whatever has happened in the last 25 years. All I can say
in conclusion is that Dada's teachings have changed my
life! His humility, his simplicity, his expressions of truth
are so clear, Divine, blessed, special, spiritual and so
honest that they can change your life too!

One has to be committed and dedicated to his message, to

the philosophy and to the teachings. You cannot just
follow 99% of the path. If one follows the path 100%, one
is sure to arrive at the destination. You don't take only
some of the directions to reach the nal destination
because you need to follow all the directions. Of course,

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 Dada’s Teachings can Change Your Life!

even if you don't follow all the directions, and follow just
bits, it will still lead you to happiness and fulllment.

Dada's message to the world is a very simple message − a

message of non-violence, love, humility, compassion,
simplicity, forgiveness, positivity, and love for God,
Bhakti. It is a call for us to realize the truth of who we are,
of realizing that life is very short and that we must
realize God before this journey of life is over. It is a
message of being happy and cheerful, laughing and not
letting small things make us worry and lose the beauty of
this gift called life. He inspires us to be kind not just to
human beings, but to animals too. Dada's message of how
to live life and how not to be caught in a tornado of desires
and cravings are messages that help us avoid being
miserable. They are messages that give us shortcuts to
happiness and success. They are messages of good living,
messages that can actually transform our life.

Dada has written several books and each of these books

can change your life. Pick up a book and scan through it,
and you are sure to nd pages that will instantly have an
impact and change your life. Dada's talks can truly be an
inspiration and help one nd the right direction that will
lead to the destination. Dada's videos, talks, television
shows, Bhajans, songs and each of his writings have
completely transformed my life. I am sure if anybody
were to follow Dada's philosophy, their life will be
transformed too. They are sure to live a life of bliss, joy
and peace.

Dada has been a role model. He doesn't just preach, he

practices everything that he says. He is very fond of

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Dada’s Teachings can Change Your Life!

giving practical suggestions, which if implemented, can

change one's life. He is a symbol of truth. Being the
fortunate one to be selected by his Guru Sadhu
T.L.Vaswani, Dada has created a benchmark for the
world in respecting his Guru and proving to be a good
disciple. He has left footprints for us to reach that
destination of Bhakti with bliss and joy.

You can pick any book written by Dada. It may be a book

on anger or his personal life or you can select any title that
interests you. Some of my favorite books of Dada are as
follows:

• Daily Appointment With God

• Life After Death

• Sadhu Vaswani – His Life And Teachings

• The Good You Do Returns

• Begin The Day With God

• Dada Answers

• Snacks For The Soul

• Daily Inspiration

• How To Overcome Tension?

• Stories For You And Me

• Joy Peace Pills

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 Dada’s Teachings can Change Your Life!

• You Are Not Alone

• Conversations with Dadaji

• Glimpses into Great Lives

• How to Have Real Fun out of Life

• Why do Good people suffer?

• Burn Anger before Anger Burns you

Dada's book on the Bhagavad Gita has led me forward in

my quest for realization. His teachings have inspired me
to write a letter to God every day for the last 2 decades.

These books and the many others I have read of Dada

have led me to contentment and fulllment. I am sure my
Guru's writings and teachings will touch, trigger, and
transform your life too.

136
137
 IX

Can We Do
without
a Guru?

157
138
 Can We Do
without
a Guru?

W
hat is “Guru”? 'Gu' refers to darkness and 'Ru'
refers to light. So, who is a Guru? The one who
takes us from darkness to light is a Guru.
These days, we have hundreds of people who proclaim
themselves to be Gurus and who are looking for disciples.
Need I say more?

A true Guru is absolutely essential for a seeker on the path

of realization of the truth to reach his destination. Without
the help of a Guru, it is practically impossible for a true
seeker to be enlightened and liberated.

The Guru is a manifestation of God on Earth. The Guru's

voice is God's voice. The Guru is the one who shows us the
path, and then holds our hand and walks with us, helping,
guiding, and leading us onward, forward, inward,
upward, and Godward!

These words are words I picked from the conversations

with my Guru − deep conversations that we had from the

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 Can We Do without a Guru?

heart and soul − that made me realize the importance of

my Guru − my Mentor and my God on Earth!

For those who haven't met a Guru or are new to the

subject, we can consider the Guru to be someone who is
similar to a good teacher, trainer, and coach. Can any
student excel in his education without the help of a good
teacher? We may have textbooks that we can read, but is
that enough? Don't we need a good teacher to explain
what we read in a textbook? Are we capable of reading
and then absorbing what we read and implementing it
into action? We may succeed, and it's not necessary that
every time we need a teacher to show us a practical
demonstration of what the theory is. But generally,
practical explanations that follow theory are a far more
effective method of learning than just learning from the
theory.

Teachers come into our life to teach us. At a young age, in

school and college, we realize the value of a good teacher.
They mentor us, guide us, coach us and nally lead us not
just to be schooled but also to be educated. They don't just
make us read textbooks, but they make us understand the
subject so that going forward, we can practically apply it
in our life.

Beyond schooling, we still need coaches. If one were to

look at the life of successful sportsmen such as Tiger
Woods, Sachin Tendulkar, and M.S. Dhoni, these
sportsmen are humble enough to accept that their lives
have been successful because of the effort of their coaches.
Without the training of their coach, they admit that they
would have never made it to the top. Of course, it's simple

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Can We Do without a Guru?

to understand that all experts in their elds have reached

there not by magic but by logic that follows teaching,
training, coaching, and mentoring.

A Guru is not just a teacher, a mentor, and a coach, but also

someone who leads us forward in our life. A Guru helps
us to form a life philosophy and then helps us to walk that
path, to choose a life and live it so that we have meaning
and purpose and reach a destination of our choice.

Beyond the world of art and sports, even in the business

world, CEOs and leaders in global corporations use the
help of advisers who coach and mentor them with their
vast experience. It isn't rare for large multinational
companies to appoint advisers to the Board of Directors.
These advisers act as mentors to young vibrant
entrepreneurs who have the energy and the passion to
make it happen, but denitely need coaching and
mentoring so that their decisions take their company to
the pinnacles of success.

While we see the need of a teacher, a trainer, a coach, and

an adviser in various aspects of life, especially when we
consider a spiritual life, a Guru is not just necessary but
also indispensible for spiritual success.

Have we come to the conclusion that it is absolutely

essential to have a Guru on a spiritual path? The spiritual
path is not a new science. It is something that has evolved
over centuries. Thousands of years ago, the rishis and the
saints from India, China, Egypt, and across the world
realized certain principles of life, certain universal laws
and then created a philosophy and theology that has given

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 Can We Do without a Guru?

a basic foundation to the world. Today, the world has

evolved with so many religions and belief systems that
humanity is confused – what path should I choose? Every
religion proclaims itself to be the best religion in the world
and their God to be the most powerful. The common man
is actually lost in this jungle of numerous religions,
theologies, philosophies and belief systems. If a common
man wants to live a peaceful and joyful life with meaning
and purpose before his journey ends, he needs the help of
a spiritual Master − a Mentor who is honest, humble, and
truthful and has the wisdom to explain to him the options
that he can choose from.

A Guru is absolutely necessary in this modern world for

those who want to discover their spirit and who want to
leave behind the ego, mind, and body. By nding
somebody who can lead them on the spiritual path, they
can evolve, grow and transcend the trials and tribulations
of this world.

Therefore, if somebody wants to start on a spiritual path

and looks for random books to choose from, without a
systematic approach, one would be lost – in fact, totally
confused.

A Guru can simplify, clarify and show a spiritual seeker

various theologies and explain the principle truths of the
universe. Then it is for the seeker to not just read but also
understand, contemplate, introspect, and meditate. With
the help of the guide and Guru, the seeker will also be able
to nd his path that will liberate him from this world of
attractions and distractions.

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Can We Do without a Guru?

A Guru doesn't just become a Guru, but is often mentored

and coached by his Guru – without which it may not be
possible for him to call himself a Guru. Therefore, a true
Guru is one who continues the legacy of a genuine Master,
taking a theology and philosophy forward to lead a seeker
to God.

The Guru's wisdom, experience, and knowledge are

therefore not just six to eight decades of his own life, but
also the combined knowledge and wisdom of his Guru
and several other predecessors. All these together form an
ocean of wisdom and knowledge collected over many
centuries that is available to the Guru and which he uses to
help his disciples walk on the spiritual path.

How would it be possible for a random seeker to

otherwise access spiritual truths that will liberate him?
Without the help of a Guru, how does a seeker actually
know what is right or wrong? The seeker may presume
what he is following to be right, but in reality, it may be
just a commercial diversion that will lead him astray or
worse in the direction opposite to his destination. A true
spiritual Master or a Guru helps one identify the right
path and walk on it. It is not very easy to walk on a
spiritual path, there are challenges! A true Guru teaches
one that without the use of discipline, discrimination,
dispassion, and desire for liberation, it is impossible for a
seeker to reach his destination.

A true Guru doesn't go shopping for disciples. A true

Guru is a true Master. He arrives at the path of a genuine
seeker as per the grace of God, and a connection is made
not by chance but by design of the Universal Master. True

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 Can We Do without a Guru?

Gurus are hard to nd. They are genuine, learned Masters

who help seekers transcend the various peaks of life to
arrive at the nal state of liberation and enlightenment.

Without a true Guru, one may go to the rst step of

spiritual progress - reading books and scriptures. But one
cannot go to the second and third steps that are necessary
for liberation. The second step is the ability to understand
and analyze what one has read. A true Guru acts as a
sounding board to a seeker. The Guru discusses, analyses,
and explains what the disciple reads and makes him
understand it. Therefore, a Master or Mentor on the
spiritual path is necessary for the seeker to cross the
second step of spiritual learning.

Thereafter, the Guru lets the disciple absorb what has

been studied and understood within. A true Master
watches his disciple as the disciple ghts against his own
ego, mind, and body. A lot of discipline is needed on the
spiritual path. A true disciple not just follows his Guru,
but also lives with discipline and desire for liberation.
Unless a disciple is genuine and sincere in his efforts, all
the efforts of a Guru will be wasted. Therefore, a Guru has
to not just patiently teach and explain, but also watch his
disciple, correct him, and hold him by the hand. A true
Master sees dozens of drawbacks in his disciple, but
knows that nobody is perfect. The Guru lets his disciple
make mistakes, learn, evolve, grow, and transcend till he
reaches the destination.

On my journey of life, I realized that life without a Guru is

a sure recipe to bondage and suffering. If I have arrived
anywhere on the spiritual path, all credit goes to my Guru.

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Can We Do without a Guru?

Without the guidance, mentorship, support, and love of

my Guru, I would have been nothing. My Guru held my
hand for the last two and a half decades and not only
showed me the way forward, but also pushed me, guided
me, and taught me to walk onward, forward, upward, and
Godward.

He started teaching me 25 years ago, and today, I feel

ashamed that it has taken me two and a half decades to
understand what my Guru was trying to tell me, not that
the efforts of the Guru were insufcient. But the subject is
so complicated for a seeker − he is unable to understand
the message even though he reads because his mind is his
biggest enemy. The mind does not want to accept what it
reads and understands. The mind has that aspect of
discrimination called the intellect, and it is the Guru who
separates the intellect from the mind and activates it so
that one is able to discriminate between right and wrong.
Without the help of the Guru, the faculty of discrimination
remains dormant in a human being.

The Guru guides, coaches, and trains us to use our intellect,

to live with dispassion, discipline, and discrimination, and
to desire liberation as the only craving of life. Therefore, to
me, wanting to have spiritual success without a Guru is
like trying to y an airplane without fuel. It is impossible
for any aspirant to achieve spiritual success without a
Guru. The Guru is like a blueprint and beyond that − a
source of energy and power! He is the driver of our
spiritual success. He is the light that shows us the path,
and he is the energy that takes us forward. Remember that
not just any Guru, but a true Guru is absolutely necessary
for a genuine seeker to grow, evolve, and be liberated
while progressing on the spiritual path.

145
146
 X

My
Life Story
with Dada

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 My
Life Story
with Dada

I
f I have to “plot” my life story with Dada, I would say
that it began the year I consider myself “born”, in 1992,
because that was the year I met Dada, which makes me
25 years old now! I met Dada for the rst time at the Sadhu
Vaswani Bal Centre in Bangalore, and thereafter, my life
has moved from one peak to another. I was a very
ordinary person chasing money, wealth, pleasure, and
possessions. Dada would look at me and laugh. Somehow
he knew there was something beyond − something that I
couldn't see, but he could. He loved me and cared for me,
more than a father, a brother, and a friend. He was a true
Guru. He led me from a mundane life to a life of
realization of the truth.

When I met Dada, I was an arrogant and egoistic

businessman who thought that the world rested on my
shoulders. I thought I was one of the most successful
young retail entrepreneurs because that's what the media
called me, but then, I was wrong! Today, I realize that if I
had not met Dada, I would have lived and died as an

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ordinary businessman who had just made money and had

gone from womb to tomb without meaning and purpose.

Dada held my hand from 1992 till date, and for 25 years, he
has never once let go of me. Through thick and thin, he has
taught me the meaning of life, to live with love and
compassion, and to serve suffering humanity, as they are
God. The Atman, the soul in every creature − man and
beast alike, is nothing but God.

I was a meat eater who loved non-vegetarian food, and I

used to eat it six days a week for breakfast, lunch, and
dinner. Therefore, it was one of my biggest challenges to
stop eating meat, and I gave it up soon after meeting Dada;
it was as if he touched me with a magical wand. I stopped
eating meat 25 years ago, not because of religious reasons,
but because of my Guru and his humanitarian attitude.

Today, I promote vegetarianism because I believe that

reverence for life is very important. If we cannot give life,
we should not take it. We can't create life! Life is a gift from
God. And so today, I am a vegetarian and I also promote
the concept of people eating mock meat, rather than real
meat. Mock meat is food that looks and tastes just like
meat, but it is a healthy alternative to meat and made of
pure vegetarian ingredients. This change in my life is
because of the inspiration I got from Dada's vision that this
world should stop all killing.

HOW DID MY LIFE TURN?

Dada did not enter my life and try to change me. He

advised me to become a good businessman and be
successful in whatever I did. My goal was making more

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and more money, and he always told me that while

making money was ne, we should use our money for the
good of the world and society. With Dada's blessings, I
started a humanitarian organization – a home for the aged
and destitute, and a charitable hospital. As a result, today,
700 poor and destitute people live in our three charitable
institutions in Bangalore, which are run by our RVM
Foundation. Dada has not just inspired me to start these
institutions, but also blessed me at every step and guided
me on how I should take care of these institutions.

Dada also encouraged me to become an inspiration to the

world. He encouraged me to write quotes and books and
give talks and with his blessings, I have addressed several
groups locally, nationally, and globally. If it were not for
Dada, my life as an inspirational speaker wouldn't have
taken a step forward. He mentored me, polished me,
taught me, and trained me how I should speak and what I
should speak. Sometimes when I speak, I feel that “I” am
not speaking, but just delivering a message of Dada. His
philosophy and teachings have always been an
inspiration for the talks I deliver.

With the grace of Dada, I have authored 10 books on

various topics, such as happiness, positivity, philosophy
and success. I also wrote a very unique book on the topic of
sex transmutation. Dada inspired and taught me way
back in 1999 how ojas, the sex energy, gifted to every man
is wasted by humanity in the pursuit of pleasure. He
quoted great people like Mahatma Gandhi amongst
others who realized the power of ojas and who conserved
and transmuted the energy to use it as a source to trigger
the super conscious mind and to achieve great success as

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genius. I followed Dada's advice and went into a deep

study of sex transmutation. Despite the criticism that this
was not a spiritual subject, I worked on it with the
blessings of Dada and eventually published the book
called “Succsex”. Its copies were sold all over the world.
This book has helped people learn the secret of the
transmutation of sex energy into creativity and power.

Dada led me and helped me reach the peak of success

between 1992 and 1997 when my business prospered, and
then started teaching me that the goal of life is not to just
make money. He quoted Jesus who said, “What would it
gain a man if he gained the whole world but lost his own
soul?” He taught me that there was more meaning and
purpose to life. Therefore, between 1997 and 2007, I spent
a lot of time doing H.I.S. Work – Humanitarian,
Inspirational, and Spiritual – work mentored by my Guru.
In the year 2007, there was an opportunity for me to shut
down my business and I took the proposal to Dada. He
looked at me with love in his eyes and compassion in his
heart and said, “Ravi, you are not meant for this world.
You have a different purpose. What would you do with
more wealth and possessions? Your heart belongs
elsewhere, your soul is pure, and you are a lover of God.
You seek God. You have my concurrence to shut down
your business and move towards living a life of meaning
and purpose.” The world was shocked when a very
dynamic business man who had set up India's largest
departmental store suddenly decided to shut it down in
2007. I was barely 40 years old, and I decided to move on
from a life of making money to a life of making a difference
– this big step of my life is inspired, guided, and blessed by
my Guru, Dada.

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From 2007, inspired by my Guru, I started living a life of

contentment and fulllment, rather than chasing a life of
achievement. I was the happiest man in the world. Dada
had gifted me a life of joy, bliss, and peace. I had no words
to show my gratitude to my Master for leading me from a
life of achievement to a life of fulllment.

I started travelling around the world and visited over 50

new countries, and Dada would laugh when I would show
him the photographs of Alaska, Iceland, Australia, and
Antarctica where I went to see the penguins. But he never
discouraged me from whatever I did. Probably he knew
that man evolves and transcends in this earthly journey.

In 2012, Dada led me onto a Talaash – a search or a quest

for Self-realization. He supported me for the next 2 years
helping me focus on realizing the truth. He saw me ght
my ego, mind, and body and lovingly and caringly helped
me overcome the ignorance that I was deeply in. I have
shared several discussions and even arguments that we
had, but kudos to Dada for his patience. He never lost
hope and as a true Guru, helped his disciple overcome
darkness with light.
st
My Talaash ended on 31 August 2014 – thanks to the
grace of the Guru, I thought I had all the answers. Dada
was pleased but he knew that my journey had just started.
He warned me that knowledge of realization is not true
realization. He helped me introspect till several months
later I realized the truth and transformed my life for the
second time to AiR (Atman in RVM – Ravi V. Melwani).

Dada has taught me about the Upanishads and scriptures

that are relevant to realize the truth. He made me

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understand that no two realized souls follow the same path,

and unless it is the grace of God, we will not be able to
achieve what we are supposed to achieve. Post 2014, as I
lived a life as AiR, I published two books with the blessings
of Dada – “Talaash” and “3 Peaks of Happiness”. I continue
to live a life that has only one mission: to realize God and
help people realize God.

My entire life is indebted to Dada. What would I be

without my Guru, my Master? That's why for me, Dada is
not just my Guru and my Master, but he is also my God on
Earth. He is the soul, the Atman, the Paramatman embodied
in his physical body and sent to Earth to be my Guru to
lead me across to God. No words can express the feeling
of gratitude in my heart, love, deep reverence, and respect
I have for Dada. Dada is the most important person in this
world for me. Nobody can take the place of Dada, and to
me, when I look at Lord Shiva; I see His presence on Earth
in the form of Dada.

My life actually started in 1992 and my life is lled with

Dada. Every breath I take has Dada in it. Not a single day
goes by without thinking of Dada, thanking Dada, and
sharing my thoughts and feelings with him. Although
Dada and I may be physically apart, in different cities,
countries, I feel that Dada is with me all the time and he is
always a part of me, not just because I keep his photograph
on my desk, but because of his energy in my heart and soul.

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 XI

What Dada
continues to teach
me as AiR

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 What Dada
continues to
teach me
as AiR

I
continue to learn a lot from Dada, after 2014 when I
underwent the second life - changing transformation -
a metamorphosis. I no longer call myself RVM, but
AiR - the Atman in Ravi V. Melwani. Dada continues to
guide me as my Guru and my Mentor to live life as a
liberated soul.

The teaching process of a Guru and the learning process of

his disciple never end. It goes on till the last breath. Till I
breathe my last, I will continue to seek and learn from my
Guru. To me, the most important thing today is absorbing
the energy from my Guru, my Master.

One of the rst lessons that Dada taught me after I started

the AiR journey was that although I had realized that I
was not the ego, the mind, and the body, I still had an ego,
mind, and body. “These will continue to attack you; they
will not stop until your last breath,” Dada said. He
cautioned me “Beware! They are your enemies. They are
going to try to destroy your realization and make you sink

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 What Dada continues to teach me as AiR

in the maya of samsara so that you lose your way in the

illusion of this world. Don't think that you are through.
You are not! The tug of war continues; the ght and the
challenge continue. Every realized soul faces the same
challenge - to be able to transcend the ego, mind, and
body. As we live, the mind continues to wander, the body
continues to crave, and the ego constantly believes, 'It's
me, I am everything!' Of course, you know you are not
what you seem to be. But then who is that who knows that
you are not? It is the use of the intellect, which makes you
know, but the intellect is a part of the mind. The mind,
intellect, memory and ego are the inner instruments or the
Antahkarana. The Antahkarana is either under the
command of you, the soul or you, the ego. If your ego
wins, you lose. If your soul is pure and you are able to
discipline your ego, mind and body, then you are able to
transcend them and realize the truth. You need the grace
of God to do this. You don't have to put in too much effort.
The best thing is Bhakti - love and devotion for God.
Focus on that! Just love God. Pray to God, live with
entreaty, shed tears, cry to God and tell God that you seek
Him and nothing else. Be a Mumukshu – a true seeker of
God and liberation. Seek nothing else, you are already
there. You may have overcome the desire of things, but
tomorrow, the body can start to desire and the mind can
go astray and lead you in the opposite direction. So
beware! Continue to live with discipline, continue to live
with Sadhana, spend time in yoga and in Bhakti, and
continue your journey as the Atman, realizing that it's not
over and you have got to be aware and awake.”

Dada had taught me 25 years back “Tat Twam Asi” or

“Thou Art That,” but then I didn't understand it. Then

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several years ago, Dada mentioned to me “Shivoham

Shivoham” and I couldn't understand it. Today, Dada
continues to lead me forward on the principles of the
Upanishads. He is able to now take me forward because I
have understood that I am not “This” - ego, mind and body.
I am “That” - the Divine Spirit. And so Dada continues to
teach me how to try to live as the Divine Spirit. Dada knew
many years back that I have to learn the meaning of
Shivoham, which means that Shiva is not just in the
temple outside us, but Shiva is inside the temple of our
heart. There were times when I would wonder why Dada
would not pay much attention to idol worship or rituals
and now I realize what it meant. Dada continues to
encourage me to believe in the truth, the realization.
Although the whole world may not agree that God is not
just in a temple, mosque or church, God is within –
Shivoham, I have realized this is the truth and Dada
endorses it.

Dada encourages me to ask the question Koham (Who am

I?), and the answer comes: Soham (I am that). Dada has no
doubt about “Tat Twam Asi” or “Thou Art That” and
“Neti Neti” or “Not This, Not This.” Dada speaks less
about these topics because he knows that the world
doesn't understand all this. But when he sees that a person
is a true seeker, a Jigyasu, a disciple who is genuine in his
Sadhana, then Dada explains the treasure of spirituality.
He is an expert in these treasures. He is the Master. But
there's no point in trying to teach a child in kindergarten a
complicated lesson of science or electronics as he can only
learn the alphabets. Dada taught me that we should realize
that not everybody is evolved enough or will be on the same

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wavelength of understanding these profound secrets of

spirituality.

Dada tells me that although we are the Atman, we are

embodied creatures; we have an ego, mind, and body that
imprison us and throw challenges - such as lust, duty, and
shame - at us every day. Dada once explained to me that if
I want to overcome the world and be liberated, I should
overcome these three bottlenecks, which are roadblocks
on the highway to liberation.

Dada said that the rst is “lust”. Lust will attack you in a
direct or indirect form. There will be this deep craving that
will come and disturb your focus as the Atman. It is
natural for the mind to wander. It is not rare for the body
to fall prey to lust. If you have control over the intellect, if
you are a truly realized person who knows 'I am the
Atman,' then the Atman controls that faculty of mind
called the intellect or Vivek or Buddhi. The Buddhi
discriminates and destroys the lust. It does not let the lust
overcome the intellect and the Atman. Therefore, there is a
war between right and wrong - between the Atman on one
side and the ego, mind, and body on the other. Dada told
me, “You have to win over the rst roadblock – lust.”

It is not over! The next roadblock is “duty.” Sometimes, it

will be the call of duty that will make you leave your
Atmic journey and go on a Samsaric (worldly) journey.
The journey of the soul doesn't get carried away with the
journey of the world. The world is an illusion; it doesn't
exist. It is just a 4D projection; it is a myth. Of course, it's
like a dream. The dream is there, but it is not there.
Similarly, the world is there, but it is not there. It is like a

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game of Monopoly - as long as you are playing, it's there,

but when it's over, it's nished. So, when duty attacks us
on the highway of liberation, we should not let duty stop
us. Of course, we should do whatever we can do on the
path. This doesn't mean one should ignore one's spiritual
responsibility. Dada says, “When an earthly responsibility
competes with a spiritual responsibility, it is at this time
that we need to have devotion, dedication, and love of
God to use our discrimination and be dispassionate to
overcome that duty that pulls us away from liberation.

The third aspect is “shame.” So often we give up the

spiritual journey because we are ashamed what people
would say and what the world thinks about us. Of course,
the world will not understand us! Of course, you don't
expect people to understand you when you are on the
spiritual path, but that should not stop you. You have
your own conviction; you have your own conscience, the
inner voice of God, which is telling you to move on. Don't
stop! Move on the spiritual path. Don't be ashamed of
what you are doing. Be proud in a humble manner. Let
there be humble pride of your spiritual realization and the
path that you follow.

Another thing that Dada continues to teach me these days

is: we are nothing, God is everything. Being a spiritual
Master, he knows that we may look like this, but we are
not this. He knows we are that, that spirit, energy, Prana,
and Atman. And Dada is so absolutely sure. Recently, we
had a discussion on how science has proved that although
I may look like this, I am not this. When scientists
examined a cell under the microscope, they found the cell
was made of molecules, atoms and when further broken

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up, electrons, neutrons, protons, photons, till they found

quarks – the tiniest of particles. They realized a human
body that looks like matter is not actually matter; it is
energy! We are therefore trillions of small tiny invisible
energy particles which when put together, appear as a
human being. This is not a spiritual belief. It is scientic
research. And Dada knew about it decades ago! Many
years ago, Dada had mentioned to me that even a table
and chair has life. At that time I laughed. I thought Dada
was joking. Dada now tells me, “After all, you know now
that we are nothing. God is everything! God is the energy
that manifests as you and me, the table and chair, the
mountains and rivers, and the trees and seas. We are
nothing. God is everything!”

The Law of Causation falls into place and Dada endorses

the fact that while the wave thinks itself as the wave, it is
not the wave; it's the water of the ocean. If we remove the
water of the ocean, there is no wave. Similarly, a ring will
think “I am a gold ring." If you take out the gold, it is
nothing. A pot may think “I am a pot.” But if you take out
the mud, it's nothing. It is only the mud that makes the
pot. In the same way, we think that we are this, but
actually we are God. If you take out God, we are dead and
we become nothing. Dada explained all this, and
continues to teach me to live with this realization, “We are
not this. We are that!”

Dada never loses the opportunity to remind me that our

mind is our enemy. Our mind always wanders. He says
we are not disciples; we are wanderers because we let our
mind wander. The mind takes us away from God and
spiritual thoughts. It uses the ve senses of sight, smell,

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What Dada continues to teach me as AiR

hearing, taste, and touch and sinks into maya, the illusion of
the world. Therefore, Dada always says, “Beware of your
mind. Control the mind like a saddle needs to be put on the
horse and controlled.” The mind is even wilder than a
monkey that keeps on jumping from tree to tree. We should
use our intellect, Buddhi, or Vivek to discriminate between
what is right and wrong. God has gifted us intellect, and we
should make it sharp as a knife constantly with the help of
the Atman, the conscious energy inside, and let the intellect
be controlled by the Atman, not the mind.

Recently, in one of his creative moods, Dada told me that we

should live like a tortoise. Have you noticed what a tortoise
does when the enemy attacks? It withdraws within its
protective shell. It shuts off when it is attacked. We too
should learn to live a life like a tortoise. When external
inuences tempt us and attack us, what should we do? We
can't face them; we will be defeated. We should withdraw.
We should go within our protective shell. If there are
passions, obsessions, desires, and lust that come around us
and attack us, we should be like the tortoise. We should not
try to experience these passions because when we
experience these passions, there are chances that we will
drown in them. Therefore, instead of going and attacking
them or facing them, one good option is to live like a
tortoise, to withdraw into our own protective shell and let
the enemy pass. After the enemy passes by, just like a
tortoise does, we too should come out of our protective shell
and continue our journey on the spiritual path by letting the
passions pass.

“Live like Raja Janak” – Dada started this conversation

many years back but I didn't understand what Dada was

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 What Dada continues to teach me as AiR

saying. Recently, Dada endorsed his guidance to me that

when we are pursuing the path of spiritual realization, it
is not necessary to become a Sanyasi, to give up our
business, our life, our money, and our family. It is not
necessary to give up everything and go to the forest.

Raja Janak was a liberated soul. He was a man of wisdom,

the father of Sita. But he knew that as long as he is alive,
there cannot be freedom from action, one need to have
freedom in action. Dada said, “We should be like the lotus
in a dirty pond. We don't have to sink in that dirty pond,
but we can shine like a lotus above the pond. We should
live like a boat on a river. The river may be dirty and
muddy, but the boat doesn't sink into the dirty river. It
uses the river to navigate from one point to another. It
travels on the river and reaches its destination. Dada
continues to teach me to live like Raja Janak - to live with
Vairagya (dispassion or detachment). Although you are
like a king and have everything, you don't need to go to
the forest. You can live without lust and craving right here
in the world. Each one of us, as Dada said, is born with
Samskaras - a personality - and we cannot change that. We
cannot change our mother and father, our city of birth, or
our family. We all have Samskaras, which is what we
grow up with and become. Instead of leaving it all and
running into the forest, we may be better off by living
dispassionately wherever we are.

Dada, in this context, always mentioned about so many

people who ran to the forest but failed. Running away into
the forest as a Sanyasi or a Sadhu is not the solution or the
right way to spiritual realization. To me, Dada said, “You
don't have to give up the world. You can achieve Moksha

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or Nirvana living in the world. Although you run your

business, you do your charity, you are an inspirational
speaker, you sing bhajans, and you run a temple, the only
thing to do is to annihilate and transcend your ego. The
moment you think YOU are doing it, and then you will fail.”

Of course, you can't kill the Ego because it is the ego that
keeps us alive. We can only transcend it and give it up at
death. Go beyond the ego and use your discriminative
power to choose the right from the wrong. Refuse to
compromise on your principles. Live with love of God, be
in constant yoga, uninterrupted union with God −
whether it is yoga of action (Karma yoga), devotion
(Bhakti yoga), education (Jnana yoga), or meditation (Raja
yoga). Learn to live meaningfully like Raja Janak who
used his kingdom as a domain of wisdom. He had wise
people coming in for debate and discussions on how to
realize God. His Dharma or duty was to make the people
of his kingdom happy. He was a renowned king and lived
as a Self-realized soul.

Dada has a great sense of humor. Jokingly, he recently

said, “You know you can fail even on the last day of your
life.” I asked Dada, “What do you mean?” He said, “It
means when an aspirant who is a Jivatman or embodied
soul has to become a Jivanmukta or the liberated soul, the
aspirant has to learn to live as the Atman and not the jiva.”
The aspirant is attacked by desire, lust, and all the
passions of the world. This onslaught doesn't stop till the
last day of life. Every day is a new challenge. The ve
famous enemies – kaam, krodh, lobh, moh, and ahankar,
which are lust, anger, greed, attachment, and ego,
respectively - constantly, attack us. If we fail and if it happens

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to be our last day on Earth, then we have to come back to Earth

again and again. Therefore, Dada warns that we should live
each day as a Jivanmukta - a liberated soul. Every single day,
we should not fail nor let these temptations overcome us,
because if they do, then we will fail to realize God. Dada
mentioned to me that enlightenment has three processes –
illumination, purication, and unication. I always
questioned Dada when he says something in order to learn its
deeper meaning. I always ask him to explain, and he always
explains with love, care, compassion, and kindness. For him,
life without Karuna, kindness, or compassion is incomplete.
Dada explained to me the rst part of enlightenment: we are
illuminated so the knowledge comes to us as a spark, like a
light - the Upanishads call it Sravana. The second part is
purication. This happens when we process the knowledge
to purify our mind and our life. The Upanishads call it
Manana - we reect upon it, we try to absorb it, we move from
theory to practical, and try to pass the second phase called
purication. Then Dada says the third part is unication.
Unication is the ultimate phase where we become one with
God. We unify, we are always in yog or yoga and this is
Nididhyasana.

Nididhyasana is actually realizing God. You realize you are not

the ego, mind and body. You realize you are the Atman and this
is the toughest of all. First, you should have illumination, then
purication, and only nally you can reach unication.

Dada is now 99 years of age, although he considers himself to

be a teenager. It's true because while his body might have
lived for 99 years on planet Earth, his mind and soul are as
fresh as a newly bloomed ower. Dada is so full of life,
enthusiasm, faith, hope, fun, and laughter that it is difcult to

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be somebody like Dada. Even now Dada doesn't stop

discussing, even though it's so difcult for him to speak.
When you ask him a question, he doesn't hesitate to reply and
to explain. Of course, Dada loves intellectual questions. He
loves to be provoked on spiritual subjects on life and God and
I continue to ask him such questions. I believe that these
questions and answers over the last 25 years have actually
changed my life. My habit of asking Dada questions never
stopped. It started 25 years ago when I was Ravi V. Melwani,
it continued when I was RVM and it still continues today. I
recently troubled him with another question and he smiled.
He said, “Just remember one thing - I am nothing! That's all!
Nothing else! Just remember this one thing.”

Yes Dada! I realize I am nothing but I live in ignorance.

I need Thy grace.
I need God's Grace to be liberated from this ignorance. Without
you my Guru, what would I be?
Continue to lead me, my dear Master to the one reality. Continue to
guide me.
Continue to bless me.
I need you.
I can't do without you. I Love you.
I am nothing.
I know! I realize.
And I realize I don't know what I know.
Only you can make me realize this by opening my 'real eyes',
My Guru, my Mentor, my God on Earth

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 About AiR
(The Author)

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167
 About AiR (The Author)

AiR – Atman or the Soul in Ravi, is an embodied Soul

whose only mission in life is to help people realize the
Truth. He was born in Bangalore on October 15, 1966. At
a very young age, Ravi V. Melwani mastered the craft of
business and became a very successful businessman who
revolutionized retailing in India with the stores
KidsKemp, Big KidsKemp, and Kemp Fort.

After making millions, he realized that life is not just

about making money. He shut down his business at the
age of 40, transformed his life to RVM, living by the RVM
philosophy – Rejoice, Value Life, and Make a Difference.
He started doing H.I.S. work – Humanitarian,
Inspirational and Spiritual work. His mission was to
'Make a Difference' in this world before his journey was
over.

As a part of the humanitarian initiative, a charitable

hospital and charitable homes were set up with an aim to
provide free medical treatment and care to the poor,
destitute, and needy. Today, over 600 homeless and
suffering people are served and cared for in destitute
homes and provided with free shelter, food, clothing,
and medical care.

A School of Inspiration was set up that inspired the lives

of many people through motivating talks, inspirational
books and videos, and thought-provoking quotes.

A Shiva Temple was built in the year 1995 in Bangalore,

which is now known as the Shivoham Shiva Temple. AiR
now AiR – Atman or the Soul in Ravi, is an embodied Soul
whose only mission in life is to help people realize the

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About AiR (The Author)

Truth. He was born in Bangalore on October 15, 1966. At

a very young age, Ravi V. Melwani mastered the craft of
business and became a very successful businessman who
revolutionized retailing in India with the stores
KidsKemp, Big KidsKemp, and Kemp Fort.

After making millions, he realized that life is not just about

making money. He shut down his business at the age of 40,
transformed his life to RVM, living by the RVM
philosophy – Rejoice, Value Life, and Make a Difference.
He started doing H.I.S. work – Humanitarian,
Inspirational and Spiritual work. His mission was to 'Make
a Difference' in this world before his journey was over.

As a part of the humanitarian initiative, a charitable

hospital and charitable homes were set up with an aim to
provide free medical treatment and care to the poor,
destitute, and needy. Today, over 700 homeless and
suffering people are served and cared for in destitute
homes and provided with free shelter, food, clothing,
and medical care.

A School of Inspiration was set up that inspired the lives

of many people through motivating talks, inspirational
books and videos, and thought-provoking quotes.

A Shiva Temple was built in the year 1995 in Bangalore,

which is now known as the Shivoham Shiva Temple. AiR
now believes that religion is just a kindergarten of
Spirituality, and we all have to go beyond religion to
truly realize God.

One day, his Guru provoked him to introspect: What is

the purpose of life? Is life just meant to seek pleasures

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 About AiR (The Author)

and to live and die without any purpose? What happens

after death? Will we be reborn? Where is God? Several
questions like these took him on a quest, a search for the
Truth. He gave up his life of Achievement and
Fulllment in search of the nal peak of life:
Enlightenment.

After a few years of intense search in retreat, deep in the

mountains, he realized that we are not this body. We are
the Soul, the Atman. He changed his name to AiR –Atman
in Ravi. He metamorphosed to AiR and gave up his
entire life as RVM and started living as an instrument of
God doing His Divine Will. This led to several
realizations that formed his new mission of life – to help
people Realize the Truth.

Since then, AiR's life has been dedicated to reaching out

and helping people to eradicate the ignorance that we
live in. Truth is Truth but our mind does not realize that.
With AiR's own realization, he has published several
books, written bhajans, blogs, quotes, poems and taken
up several other initiatives that can direct people
towards the Truth. His vision, now, is to help people to
Ask, Investigate, and Realize. He believes that unless
people ask questions, they will never start a quest and
even if they start the quest unless they really investigate,
they will not realize the Truth. This Truth cannot be
learned in a school, college or university, it must be
realized. AiR has dedicated his life to helping people
realize the Truth.

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 BOOKS BY
THE AUTHOR

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 Books By The Author

1. Talaash

'Talaash' means Search or Quest. This book by

AiR is his personal journey to realize the Truth
where he shares his realization that we are not the
body and the mind that we seem to be. We are a
power. The Divine life force is known as Soul,
Spirit or Atman. This search and quest by AiR
made him transform his life. It is a quest that
made him realize the Truth. It might be just that
book that inspires you to liberation.

2. 3 Peaks of Happiness

3 Peaks of Happiness by AiR is a simple book that

talks about the quest of all humanity. Everybody
wants to be Happy. But is everybody Happy?
No. The reason is we are stuck on the first peak of
Happiness – Achievement. 20% of the people are
lucky to climb the second peak of Happiness –
Fulfilment, which comes from contentment. But
there is a third peak beyond. The third peak of
Happiness will liberate you from the prisons of
misery and sorrow and give you eternal Joy and
Bliss.

3. I will Never Die. Death is not "The End”

In the journey of his life, AiR realized many

Truths. One of the Truths was that he would
never die. The body will die, but the one who
lives in the body never dies. We are not the

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Books By The Author

bodies that we wear; we are the ones who wear the body.
Death is not the end. It is a bend to transcend. This book
reveals the Truth about Death.

4. Death is Not "The End". Death is "Liberation"

Death is Not "The End". Death is "Liberation" – the

second book in the series of books on death by AiR
– touches upon the secret of the Kathopanishad,
which talks about what happens at death. One of
two things happen – if we think we are the body
and mind as a doer, we are reborn. But if we think
we are not the body and mind, but the Energy, we are
liberated to eternal joy and peace.

5. I am not I. Who am I?

I am not I. Who am I? – is a very interesting

book by AiR, which talks of his quest and
realization that we are not who we think we
are. We have a house, but we are not the house.
We have a car, but we are not the car. We have a
body, but we are not the body. We may have a
mind, but we are not the mind. Who are we?
Realize the Truth.

6. The Mind is a Rascal

Can you believe that the mind is a rascal? You

always thought that the mind is king – it is
everything. But just try this. Sit quietly for an
hour, and try to find the mind. Where is it? You

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 Books By The Author

will find the mind doesn't exist. This amazing book by

AiR will teach us that the mind is our enemy. It is the one
that makes us suffer. It is time to find the rascal and to kill
it. How do you do it?

7. A Cosmic Drama

This book authored by AiR challenges us to

think that whatever is happening in life is not
real. It is nothing but a drama. The earth is a
big stage, and we are all actors who come and
go. There is no need to worry and cry till we
die. If we understand the Truth, we can enjoy
the show called life.

8. Who is God? Where is God? What is God?

Well, this might seem to be a simple set of

questions, but nobody really knows the
answers. We all know that God exists. We pray
to a God as per our religion but what is the
Truth about God? Has anybody seen God?
Where is God? This simple book will change
your perception and belief about God and
bring you closer to this Power called God. It
will help you realize God.

9. The A to Z of Karma

Most people are aware of the concept of Karma – the Law.

What you give is what you get. But not everybody knows
the A to Z of Karma, that we can actually transcend Karma,

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Books By The Author

escape from it and achieve Moksha,

Nirvana, Liberation or Enlightenment. This
book reveals the secret – of eternal joy and
peace - a life without any misery or suffering.

10. Who Are You & Why Are You Here?

'Who are you and why are you' here is a

simple book which challenges us to
discover the secret of our life. Most of us
think we are the body-mind complex, but
in reality, we are not. The body will die
and return to dust. Where is the mind, we
cannot find. Who are we in reality? And
beyond that what is the purpose of life on
earth. This book will give you all the
answers.
th
11. The 4 Factor

Man thinks that he can achieve anything.

He believes that there is nothing in this
world he can't do. But, he doesn't realize
that his efforts and equipment are not
enough to decide the results of his actions.
Sometimes, he does his best but things
don't work out the way he wants. He then
realizes the importance of the 4th Factor, a
factor that makes the possible, possible
and without its consent even the possible
becomes impossible.

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 Books By The Author

12. Be Happy in the NOW!

Every human being on earth wants to be

Happy. There is nobody who enjoys pain.
People want to achieve Happiness but they
fail to realize that Happiness is the journey
itself, not the destination. Then, what is the
secret of eternal joy, bliss, and peace? It is
being Happy in the NOW. Every time we let
the suffering of yesterday take charge of our
life, we destroy the joy of today. When our
thoughts anxiously jump into what may happen in the
future, we lose the tranquility of the present moment. We
seem to be like helpless monkeys jumping from one
branch to another, from yesterday to tomorrow. And in
the bargain, we lose the gift of being Happy in the present.

With this book, AiR hopes to inspire people to live life

moment by moment, if they really want to be Happy.

13. Questions you must answer before you die

Most of us live and die but we don't ask the

question – Why? We just exist! We don't
want to invest time in asking essential
questions which are actually needed to lead
a fulfilling and blissful life. There are so
many critical questions that we must
answer before our journey of life is over.
What will happen to us after we die? Who
created this universe? How can we be
Happy all the time? Who is God, where is

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Books By The Author

God, what is God? Like this, there are so many questions

which we are ignorant about and somehow, we believe
that ignorance is bliss. We blissfully live in ignorance till
we die. Isn't it time to stop and ask questions?

14. Suffer No More

Suffer No More is a personal experience of

overcoming anguish, anxiety, distress, and
grief. We all suffer physical pain. Who on
earth can escape from it? But while there is
pain, can we do away with the suffering?
What is suffering? While we all experience
it, have we gone on a quest to understand
what the primary cause of misery is? We
live in this ignorance, this myth, that
suffering is an unavoidable part of life. We can be free
from suffering if only we realize that we are the
prisoners of negative emotions that continue to make us
miserable. Suffer No More is an analysis of suffering,
what causes it and how we can overcome it. If one wants
to truly live with eternal joy and everlasting peace, it's
possible! This book will help you Realize the Truth and
Suffer No More!

15. Success is not Happiness...Happiness

is Success

Everybody wants to succeed. If one goes

deep into the psychology of winning, one
will realize that people want to win
because this makes them Happy, just as

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 Books By The Author

failure makes them miserable. People want to succeed

and they do everything possible to win because they
want to be Happy. In fact, humanity, by and large,
believes that Success is like a cause, of which Happiness
is the effect. In the present book the readers will discover
the reality that Success equals Happiness is an illusion.
No doubt Success creates a sense of gratification that
makes us Happy but Real Happiness is beyond
achievement. It is contentment and fulfillment. It's time
for us to realize the Truth. Instead of chasing Success to
be Happy, we should try to be Happy.

16. God = Happiness

We understand what it means to be happy,

especially when we compare it to those
times when we are miserable and unhappy.
But how exactly is our state of joy or sorrow
connected to God, remains a mystery. Yes,
we pray thinking of God as somebody in
heaven who has a magic wand with which
he controls our Happiness. But is this true
or is there something else that we are ignorant about? In
his quest to discover Truth and the purpose of life, the
author found answers that liberated him from misery
and sorrow. He also realized that people didn't know
where exactly to search for Happiness. All pray to God
but do we know the Real Truth about God? We may
believe in any religion but that hardly matters, because
God is beyond religion. While we evolve in life, we don't
Spiritually evolve to realize that God is far more
powerful than what we imagine. This book is not about
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Books By The Author

religion. It takes us far beyond religion to Realize the

Truth about God and how God is Happiness.

17. Life ! Realized ! !

The present book is a personal reflection

of the author who has written several
books on life, happiness, and almost
everything that matters in the life
journey. Like anybody else, he too spent
many years of his life chasing success and
money but then, he took an exit from this
first peak of happiness - Achievement,
transformed his life and started living
with Contentment and Fulfillment. He realized that
what mattered the most was his Life Realization. There
were many questions in his mind and after a profound
investigation he discovered the Truth. He decided to pen
down all his realizations together to share them with the
world. Those who wish to start a quest of self-realization
and God-realization must read this book as it will direct
them towards the path which will help them realize the
Truth.

18. True Love is Bliss Not Just a Kiss

True Love is bliss, not just a kiss. It is sad

that Love which is the source of joy and
happiness, is not understood by the
world. The world thinks of Love to be just
hugs and kisses, romance and sex. Is this
True Love? No. True Love is Love from

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 Books By The Author

the Soul. It is Divine Love that manifests as Love from

the day we are born to the day we die. Stop! Discover
True Love and live your life with eternal bliss and joy.

19. The True Meaning of YOGA

Yoga, today, is primarily taught as a set of

body postures or Asanas. Some take it a
step further and include breathing
exercises referred to as Pranayama. But
this is not true Yoga! This may be good for
our physical well-being but true Yoga is
something completely different. Those
who think that Yoga is just about stretching the body will
be in for a big surprise when they read this book. It will
trigger their mind and help them overcome the
misconceptions about Yoga. Yoga, in reality, is a Union
with the Divine. There is no doubt that as part of the entire
Yogic experience, some saints advocated certain body
postures and breathing exercises to be a part of the overall
Yoga practice, but most definitely, these by themselves are
not Yoga. This book attempts to explain everything about
Yoga, its actual meaning and significance, how it must be
practiced and how through Yoga, one can be liberated and
experience ultimate Bliss and Divine Peace .

Coming Soon

20.The Ultimate Goal of Life MEN - Moksha

Enlightenment Nirvana

21. Religion ! A Kindergarten To Spirituality

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 If you have any questions on life,
rebirth, liberation or anything relatedto
spirituality, you can visit Ask AiR, and
AiR will answer your questions.

Please visit the link if you would like

AiR to answer any questions.
www.air.ind.in/ask_air/

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AiR Institute of Realization
www.air.ind.in | [email protected] Ask Investigat e Realize

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