I have been posting to this blog of 'words heard' by Guruji for quite some time now. I decided to put down some things I remember about Guruji..I will continue to post them as they come up.
This photograph by JohnPaul Douglas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMB8Lslegmc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DmQygllvVM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWLqu5DWtbw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtiWFkyvh4o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J__kLNLIPpA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7tlg_HiZsc
Walking down a dusty road in Haradwar, on our way to the Ganges River, 2 Indian men were walking behind Guruji..they said to each other in Hindi, "Look at that fool...Painted on!" (referring to the tattoo on the back of Gurujis' head)..Not knowing that Guruji spoke and understood Hindi..Guruji asked me to go to the food vendor and get a cup of water..Guruji went to the men and pored the water over his head, rubbed it and said in Hindi, "Painted on? I don't think so!" Whenever we saw the men again they were very respectful and offered their pranams to him.
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I was sitting in the backseat of the van that we used to travel in when we were in India. We went through a small town and had to stop momentarily for the traffic. Across the street (a very wide street) a well-dressed Indian man was standing, eating at a food stall..He had his food just about at his mouth when he caught a glimpse of Guruji in the front seat of the van...the food stayed there in his hand while his mouth was wide-open in astonishment at what he was seeing.
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When Guruji took Sanyas in India the Pundits who performed the ceremony said to him afterwards.."Oh Swamiji, how are you going to go back to America and live..You have done something so powerful this taking of Sanyas.
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I find it so hard to believe that in 25 years of traveling the planet only 2 people have ever asked Guruji about the tattoos on his forehead..or why he did it. One girl said, "Oh, I would never ask him about them..they seem so personal." His response when he heard this was, "If they were personal, I would have tattooed them on my ass!" A great man, one evening..walked across the street from where we were sitting and asked if he could shake his hand and said, "I am so glad to see you walking around on this planet." Me, I would have chased after him when I saw him and asked him things like, "What do the tattoos mean? (They must be very special & important for you to tattoo them on your forehead for everyone to see.) Why did you do it? How do you live with that?" But that's just me..
Once we were listening to a 'shock jock' on the radio..(This was about 20 years ago..before computers and we have never had a TV.) He was interviewing someone who was talking about how committed he was to whatever it was he was committed to..The 'shock jock' said to the guy, "That's bullshit!..If you were really committed to it you would have tattooed it on your forehead!!..
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When Guruji & I were in Australia last time we met an old friend of Gurujis' that hadn't seen him in a long, long time..Discussions went on late into the night and the old friend said to Guruji, "But you can't be the Guru..You don't fit the mold!" "Exactly, that's right, I don't." was the reply.
