CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH GOD!!!
or LIFE THREATENING EXPERIENCE!!!
or LIFE THREATENING EXPERIENCE!!!
or Power of Prayer! Relation of God, Guru-Disciple!
It was a beautiful morning of June 24, 1992; Linda
Dessaint, one of
my favorite Yoga students walked in my office. As we were chatting about her plan to visit Ananda
Ashram (Yoga Center in upstate New
York) for July 4th weekend, I started leaning over to the left side. In order
to prevent myself from falling down, I moved my left hand to rest on the table
I was standing next to, but my hand started sliding as if it had no strength to
support my body weight. I felt like my left side was just melting. Fortunately, my chair was just waiting to
receive me and I just slumped into it. I knew then and there that something was happening beyond my control. I knew I
had a blank look as if staring into
nowhere. Linda had quizzical concerned look on and wondered whether I was okay!
I remembered replying to her that I didn't know, but it was possible that it
could be a reaction to overworking late
nights for last couple of weeks, as I was trying to finish the book by my 'self - imposed' deadline. (Book was the English translation of Pujya
Morari Bapu's Katha on 'Patanjali YOGA Sutra' from Gujarati.) After a few moments Linda asked me again,
"Sudhir, are sure that you are
Okay? Should I call
for help? I had realized at that point that my condition is beyond my control.
I have definitely suffered a stroke. My left side was paralyzed. I nodded in
agreement feeling helpless. She
rushed outside the office to get hold off Sol Asmar (my peer) who had just passed by my office. He rushed to my office a
kind of bewildered! "My God! He is having an heart attack!! I said mentally, "No no no!
It's a stroke, not an heart attack! I know the difference." May be I was
choked to say anything as I was thinking of my Guruji who had suffered a stroke
and is still paralyzed with his right
side for some seven years. "My Guruji is paralyzed on right side and me on left side. Boy! God really knows how to
balance! The rescue squad responded practically
in a flash (And I am very thankful to Bruce Randall and Greg Gillette for the
timely and prompt response.) (Working
for OSARAM Sylvania, Hillsboro NH)
They lowered me to the floor on the stretcher.
Greg asked me to squeeze his fingers, raise my leg and bend my knee; but there was no response on my
left side. That confirmed my suspicion that my left side was paralyzed. I was speechless emotionally at first then
physically in the Ambulance. I knew
that I was fully conscious throughout the whole ordeal. I gestured to give me
something to write so that I can give answer to their inquiries and I did. "I thought off and
asked to have someone get in touch
with my wife." I was told that she had been contacted and someone will
bring her to the hospital. "I wanted to see Rajiv, my first son, right
away and I asked them to inform him." (Even today (10/26/92) I get choked thinking about that.) Next thing I
knew that I was being taken to hospital. I was having severe pain in my right
side of neck as if it was like a tight rope in spasm. I was massaging. Greg asked, "does it hurt you there?' I
nodded. "Well, I am not a good masseur but I can try." I did feel
better! "Sudhir, just relax! Everything will be fine. (I felt as if it was my own echo, as I considered myself an apostle
of "RELAX"! This is the central theme of my message to all my Yoga students.) "Sudhir, we
are taking the back road as the main highway has traffic jam...We will be there in no time..... Here we are approaching
the emergency entrance ..... They will take good care of you! "
The doctor checked for my responses on my left
side but to no avail. Then I was taken for CT SCAN test. I wear rosary made up of RUDRAKSH beads and I had been
chanting along the way. My mind is
trained to begin chanting especially under adverse circumstances. I was told
that I looked a kind of scared as I
was taken through the emergency entrance. I started
chanting my favorite Hanumaan Chalishaa (Forty stanza prayer
to Lord Hanumaan. It started coming in a kind of scattered instead of in proper sequence. I jumped to one of my favorite
stanza, "Sadhu Sant ke Turn Rakhavare, Asur Nikandan Ram Duare (you
are the protector of Saints & monks and with your
blessings all the evil forces are destroyed.). I thought of Pujya Shri Moran
Bapu (Contemporary Saint from India). Once someone suggested
to him to entertain a possibility of having
a police protection, as he makes political remark at times. He responded that
it would mean he does not have faith in God.
If Lord Hanuman is there to protect saints and good people why should he be concerned
about his protection. Ashth Siddhi Nav Nidhi ke data. (You are the bestow-er of eight kinds of power and nine kinds of
wealth .....)
Then the one way conversation with GOD
followed:
"God,
what's happening! I am neither a saint nor a monk I know that. You are
supposed to protect them. But you know that I am doing a lot of good work in
your service. Won't you take care of me, now that I am down! I am not looking for any powers
though you are known to bestow them. I see my dreams shattering in front of my eyes if I don't get better. Who is going to
carry on the work I am doing. If you think I am not doing your work the
way you want me to then why didn't you steer
me in the right direction? Why didn't you correct my wisdom? If you think my work is finished and it is
someone Else's turn, it is acceptable
to me. Well, if I don't get better, then it is your LOSS. I know I have been serving you in the manner I think is best. If
you didn't like it then you ought to
have corrected my wisdom. Lord, at least do not take my speech away as I do not want to stop singing your glory. That is
my life. I just put you on the top of the mountain last night (Front cover of
my book.) and I am laying on the ground
today helplessly. Won't you pick me up?"
Next
thing I knew, there was a tremendous surge of energy, starting with intense white
glow of light in the head. In a flash of a moment, it gushed down the spinal
cord like a bolt of lightning and went to the left side of the body. I felt the
life coming back to left side. I picked up my left forearm, and clasped my
fingers, in utter amazement, cracking my knuckles to make sure that I wasn't dreaming.
I lifted my left leg. I slid my knee up but could not control lowering it.. It just dropped. Well,
it had not been restored completely!
I was brought
out in the waiting area where I would meet my folks. First person I saw walking
was my wife and next one along with her
was my x-secretary and friend Ginny. Then Laura Alves, my secretary, Cheryl
& Don. The first person I had expected to meet from my workplace was Ginny! My speech
was also restored. When I saw Don Meuse, my Foreman, I jokingly said, "what are you doing here? I am all right! Go back
to work and make some money for
me!!" Doctor walked in and asked me
to make a decision whether I wanted to stay
in that hospital or move to Manchester hospital, which was near my house. I asked whether I can go home. He said that he would have to
run some tests to see whether I have recovered
enough. He asked me to stand up and close my eyes after bringing my feet
together. I started leaning and falling
leftward and took support of my stretcher-bed. Then doctor said, "Sorry, not yet." As I insisted to go home, he
said he would come back to check on me in half an hour. My thinking was if anything would happen to me, let
it happen in my Home temple, but not in the hospital.
I prayed God, whatever you did before,
do it again! As we were chatting, the
surge of energy started coming again. So I asked everyone standing around
to pay attention to the heart monitor - Oscilloscope and notice any changes
taking place. The surge would not last more than probably ten seconds. The energy began in the head, like explosion of
light, as if thousands of Suns shining together.... going down through spine
zapping the left side and ended in
quivering the left leg. Ginny reported that the Heart Beat Rate (HBR) rose from 50 to 71 and abruptly drop to 50
again, every time I said that it was
over. This phenomena repeated four to five times. I mentioned to Cheryl that this may be the experience of Kundalini
awakening, (Cheryl has been my regular Yoga student and has had
discussions on this subject matter.) I
realized then that the surge in energy was
really fixing my left side, especially the uncontrolled lowering of the knee. I verified that before the arrival of
the doctor. When I mentioned that if
I did not recover, the book I had been working so hard to complete would be my
gift to the world. I saw Laura (my secretary) emotionally choking and welling up with tears. The doctor arrived again
for a retest "And this
time," He said, "You convinced me to allow you to send home!" Well, I was released!
I prayed God, whatever you did before,
do it again! As we were chatting, the
surge of energy started coming again. So I asked everyone standing around
to pay attention to the heart monitor - Oscilloscope and notice any changes
taking place. The surge would not last more than probably ten seconds. The energy began in the head, like explosion of
light, as if thousands of Suns shining together.... going down through spine
zapping the left side and ended in
quivering the left leg. Ginny reported that the Heart Beat Rate (HBR) rose from 50 to 71 and abruptly drop to 50
again, every time I said that it was
over. This phenomena repeated four to five times. I mentioned to Cheryl that this may be the experience of Kundalini
awakening, (Cheryl has been my regular Yoga student and has had
discussions on this subject matter.) I
realized then that the surge in energy was
really fixing my left side, especially the uncontrolled lowering of the knee. I verified that before the arrival of
the doctor. When I mentioned that if
I did not recover, the book I had been working so hard to complete would be my
gift to the world. I saw Laura (my secretary) emotionally choking and welling up with tears. The doctor arrived again
for a retest "And this
time," He said, "You convinced me to allow you to send home!" Well, I was released!The next day, we decided for me to fly to Maryland to be under the care of my concerned Drs. Bhasker and Rita Jhaveri (my brother-in-law & his wife). They work for Shanti Medical Center in Leonardstown, Md., which has been fully equipped with modern facilities. They took all the necessary tests, including another CT SCAN of my brain as well as of my neck, sonograms of carotid arteries which supplies blood to the face and brain, also for the heart and kidney, put me on 24-hour heart monitor, and number of blood tests, and EEG (Electroencephalogram) test for brain. These tests revealed that there is a spur on the sixth vertebra, which would explain the tingling I have been experiencing for quite sometimes, a slightly higher red blood cell count, which would be a cause for a concern for me being a vegetarian and higher cholesterol level of 225. Most important of all, the news was that there was no damage caused to the brain, and all the major organs of the body were in good healthy condition.
A few calls were received in Maryland from
concerned friends. Vipinbhai and Nirmalben really touched my heart when they said,
"Sudhirbhai, please take care of your health... we need you... if something happens to you who is going to take care
of SATSANG (The Indian community organization)...
we love the activities of SATSANG... you have to get better for
us..."These raised two major
concerns, one about my well-being that it was not just for me or my family
anymore but also for friends and
community at large, and second was that I have yet to inspire enough community friends to be selfless for the cause of
SATSANG.
In order to respond
to the first need, I must reduce my weight at least by 17 pounds, which I half halfheartedly had been struggling for a few years
mainly through increased level of exercises. I am determined to pursue an all out efforts especially
of dieting along with specific neck and abdominal exercises. The big incentive came from Rita, my
challenging doctor, to have a bet to reduce four pounds in one month. When I went back to Maryland again after one month
for further follow up tests, I was
exhilarated to find losing seven pounds! Boy that made me feel good. Who
wouldn't by beating your doctor! My plan has been attached herewith for your
benefit. Dear ones, I must tell you one thing: please get
rid of that excess weight. It cannot help you. It can only hurt you silently.
While waiting in the doctor's office I came across one article in Readers' Digest on THIN
THIGHS. Eighty percent of the weight reduction comes from
proper diet and other twenty from exercise. To me I proved it.
New blood test found the red blood cell count
within limits. I passed the Treadmill Stress test with flying colors!
More on weight reduction: I was so excited with
my program that I decided to continue and I earned the gift of shedding another eight pounds. I have decided to go
for another 6 to 10 pounds. When I went to Germany I gained 4
pounds back in only 4 days. Another point of interest is that I have
gone up to practically 80 to 100% of my normal amount of food I used to take. I came
up with two conclusions, one that amount of
water plays very important role. It took me two weeks .to get rid of those four pounds and I seem to
maintain the weight even though I have increased the food intake. In Germany I did not take enough
water that may be the cause of the gain.
Two month later I went to Japan for a week. I ate a lot more than normal
but kept up with plenty of water. As
a result, in my opinion, I did not gain any weight. Isn't this very
interesting?
The trauma continued for at least another month:
After one week of initial testing I returned home and decided to resume normal life against the
will and orders of my concerned doctors. The only restriction I honored was to avoid driving and to
some dietary restrictions. A week later I had planned to go on vacation including going to listen to Bapu (Saint from
India) for four days and then travel
to Chicago and then fly back & forth to Detroit on the same day. I stuck to
my original plan. My family is also very courageous to honor my wishes.
The thinking I had was that if I stayed home I would have plenty of time to think negatively about the
possibility of another attack and it
was possible to be victim of self-fulfilling prophecy. At times I had lot of
apprehensions. "Am I too naive,
stupid or really courageous!" For first 10 days or so, I would get
tremendous quivering and a kind of
jolts in my left leg especially in the morning. A few times I felt very weak with strange painful sensations all over the
body. Almost every time I got strange feeling as if I was going to fall over, my left side would turn
very cold. One thought I kept entertaining was that nothing was going to happen to me. God has taken
over my health and I have surrendered to his wishes. I had set an alarm to sound off every eleven minutes to remind
me to check my thoughts. I had to
maintain positive thoughts and make sure that my mind was on the right thinking
track and also engage in chanting.
I had finished the book and had just enough copies
printed for the kathaa.
I talked to Guruji about this incident. He advised
me to keep my mind very strong whenever I do not feel
right, He advised me to lay down at that time and enjoy, but do not be afraid.
"You have been blessed. God has
been pleased with you." He confirmed that since I was conscious during the whole ordeal, it was the awakening of the
serpent power, Kundalini.
ROLE OF ASTROLOGY IN LIFE:
When Arunbhai Desai, an astrologer friend heard
about my condition, he asked me for my birth chart. I am always eager for an astrological analysis of
important event such as this mishap. He came up with, amazingly analysis enough for skeptics, practically same
physiological causes as discovered by my doctors, including some of the symptoms, I have been suffering for some
times. He asserted that according to
my astrological aspects, I should be crippled or incapacitated at this time.
Only
God's or Guru's
grace can save me! He warned me to
really take care of my health and not to ignore any symptoms.
He saw danger. If I get another attack, I would be permanently retired!! And
there is the strong possibility till May
1993. I resolved to continue my strong sense of TOTAL SURRENDER
to God. If God spared me this time, he will take care of my well-being but I
must not deter from my work and must not allow myself for any kind of sympathy
or self-pity. That does not mean to disregard any
precautions I have been taking to reduce my weight and practice of Yoga,
Meditation and Aerobic conditioning. Symptoms such as left hand fingers
tingling and twisting, left leg falling to sleep or an occasional quivering in
my left leg still persist till today, 11/17/92,
but the frequency has diminished greatly. I went on to my business trips to
Germany and to Japan just to keep life
normal. I am keeping up with my very hectic social/community activities
for the same reasons. Astrologers are usually very good and accurate for the
past events. So I decided to check the
significant event of early 70's. "Arunbhai asked me whether I had any
heart attack? I said, 'NO'. Did your Guru had one? 'Yes,
he did!!!' Well that was my heart attack not his!
! ! !" My Guru suffered from heart attack on March 6th, his birthday, year
may be 1974. And I was informed from two separate sources the possibility of
that interpretation at that time. Vilma Devine (We called her Grandma) called
me after the attack, that she met Guruji and asked him that how come he
suffered an Heart Attack as he is YOGI?
Guruji replied that He took away someone's heart Attack as he has lots
of work to do in future. Then I asked Babubhai Gandhi, great Astrologer friend,
the same evening, whether he was available to go to see Guruji the next
day. Babubhai said that Guruji took away
my heart attack!
I mustered my courage to ask Guruji on Jan 18, 1993,
some 19 years later, whether that was true. I could not face to see the expression on his face. His eyes were filled with tears. I put my head in his lap and I cried like a
baby! He patted my back. I turned my face
up and asked him, "Why do you have to do that and suffer on account of me!"
He got Raman Maharshi's book and opened the page for me to read. (He found that
page in no time!) That page talked
about the oneness of Guru and God and the reason for blessing the devotee in
time of crisis.
To the best of my recollection, that chapter emphasized:
1.
Before one accepts someone as Guru, make sure to check out.
2. But once you accept someone as your Guru,
regardless of the Character or behavior of Guru, you stick with him.
3. It
is God, NOT Guru, who decides to descend his grace or mercy to save one and he
acts through Guru. (This reminds me off
this incident. One time after the Morning Meditation, he asked if anybody had
any question. He looked at me in anticipation. After I asked the question, he
picked the book on "Silent
Explosion" by Acharya Rajneesh. He opened the page and handed that book to
an American follower, George Bailan, to read. To my utter amazement the chapter
on that page started with exactly the
same question verbatim.)
I
interpret this experience as a blessing of God, as the lightening originated in
the head first and then traveled to the left side.
If the surge of energy had started from the Muladhar, the first psychic
center, and traveled upward then I would say that it would be awakening of
Kundalini as a result of Yoga practice. This is
not the field of my expertise, and probably God wants me to get some
experience! Whatever the case may be "It is thine not mine, WILL that
shall prevail and I shall willingly and happily
welcome it." One of my YOGA students revealed the similar experience he
had but had kept in secrecy as he did not know how it would be received by
others. Within a week after my experience, I
heard on TV CNN Headline News that there some 8000 reported cases in United
States had the similar experience of WHITE GLOW in
their head but no available explanation. People hesitate to discuss
these kinds of experiences in open as it seems strange. Accomplished Yogi or
Guru can explain and guide them. The very
purpose of writing this article is to bring it out in open. I would like
to hear from you, if you have had similar experiences.
Some
important dates:
1. I met Guruji in summer of 1972 in New York
City Studio. Vilma Devine took me
there and introduce me to Guruji. Guruji
asked me to come to Ananda Ashram on next Sat.
He said that he would have something interesting to show me, I being an
engineer. I went there and he
demonstrated a Japanese Toy car powered by Solar panel on the roof. Then he talked about how YOGIs in India used
their palms to gather the solar energy and energize their systems such that
they did not need to eat. I was
attracted by Guruji.
2. He took away my Heart Attack on March 6th
1974.
3. I asked for Initiation by him as my Guru and
accept me as his disciple on July 7th, 1977.
4. June 24th, 1992: Hanumaanji blessed me with White Light and
averted my crisis.
5. Jan 18th, 1993, Guruji confirmed that his
Heart attack of 1974 was my attack, he took away. So he knew that I am destined to do something
of importance and also he was My Guru before I requested him to initiate
me.
I
waited 22 years to publicize this as it coincides with our Anand Ashram's 50th
Anniversary. Hopefully this would
inspire the readers that there is a Divine Force, we call it God! There is a purpose (Mission) in our life and
the importance or roll of Guru in our life!
May GOD BLESS US! Revised June 24, 2014
SUDHIR
PARIKH, 169 Daniel Plummer, GOFFSTOWN, NH 03045 603-623-1930.
nirusudhir22@yahoo.com,
sudhirparikh.blogspot.com, youtube.com/nirusudhir
Guruji: Dr. Ramamurti S. Mishra, later known as
Brahmananda Sarsvati- Baba Bhagvandas
Founder and Guru of
www.anandaashram.org Yoga Society of NY.
I have come across many
Guru like Personalities in my life and I believe that whenever my Guruji wants
me to learn something different or more, they come in my life and Guruji works
through them. I consider Swami Vivekananda
- Shree Ramkirshna Paramhansa as my first Spiritual Guru. Then Parmahansa Yogananda-Yukteswarji, Lahiri
Mahashaya, Babaji. Mahatma Gandhi. Swami Shivananda. Living Gurus I met in this life: Besides
Guruji, Pujya Shree Morari Bapu, Bhagvan Sri Satya Saibaba, Swami
Chinmayananda, Grand Master Choa Kok Sui - MahaGuruji Mailingji, Dr. Nagendraji
& RaghuRamji of www.svyasa.org, Last but NOT least Baba Ramdev.
