THE TRUTH WITHIN
by Dadaji
edited by Ann Mills
FREE download of book

Part IV
On Dadaji

"Your Dadaji, Amiya Roy Chowdhury, says do not try to test the Supreme Being. Do not try to understand Him with the help of your mind or intellect. Ever follow the Truth. Then, and then only, you are in communion with Him."

7 Letter to Dadaji - by Bruce Kell, Strathfield AUSTRALIA

8 Life with Dadaji - by Judith Maltese, Long Beach, California USA

9 Dadaji: The Apostle of Truth - Dr. Brian Schaller, New Castle SOUTH AFRICA

Beloved Sri Dadaji,

What a surprise I received when Brian McLeod called on me today and gave me your personal message and told me about his visit to Dadaji. He also told me of the Elder Brother ceremony and he handed to me a medallion of "Inner Truth" which had been materialized for me. It was exciting to be able to speak to Brian McLeod about his visit to Dadaji because I could relive thosehappy days of my visit to Dadaji last year. Brian is a very practical fellow, so I gave him a framed picture of Sri Sri Satyanarayan because I had one available. The picture is a very large one.

I immediately placed the medallion on a chain around my neck and I noted that the medallion was silver in color. However, I have just taken the chain from around my neck and I have just taken another look at the medallion and it is now changing into gold. What does this mean? How is this possible? You can see how excited I am because of the mistakes I am making in my spelling and typing. In fact, if I were asked originally, I would have said the medallion could have been fairly dull silver in color, more like aluminum, nickel or pewter. I have just taken another look at the medallion and yes, it is no longer that dull silver in color but it is changing into shiny gold.

What a surprise! What can I say? Is it a miracle? Whatever it may be, and I mean whatever it may be to scientists or theologians or to psychologists or to metallurgists, to me it is a blessing from the Truth within, from Sri Sri Satyanarayan. May God be praised.

So here I am in Sydney, thousands of miles from Calcutta, and you have kindly sent me a personal message through dear Brian McLeod. This was a message in words, but it has now become a solid message which I shall always remember because of the medallion of "Truth within" which changed from dull silver color to shiny gold.

Sri Sri Satyanarayan is always present, omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. Salutations and felicitations.

Fraternally,
Bruce

I was at a gathering many years ago when, in the middle of a philosophical discussion, a woman suddenly poked her finger in my chest, fixed me with a piercing look and said, "Who are you?" I was taken aback and began to babble, "mother.... wife.... teacher...." Then she stopped me with, "No, who are you really?" I had no answer. The question frightened me! I realized I did not know the answer to this most fundamental question. That began a life-long search to discover the Truth, which ultimately brought me into the presence of Dadaji.

By the time I met him, I had already explored every avenue open to me: organized religion, popular psychology, academic studies, psychotherapy, psychedelic drugs, metaphysics, meditation, mysticism and esoteric forms of yoga. Periodically, when the opportunity presented itself, I went to see those Gurus who had convinced the Western world that they had the answers, hoping perhaps they possessed an answer for me. My life continued to flounder and I struggled to find meaning and purpose in it to no avail.

Then I had a dream. I dreamed of a Master who looked upon the world with eyes of selfless love, eyes devoid of all wanting, eyes which told me he held the key for which I was searching. As he disappeared from my dream, he communicated to me not to worry, he would return. A few weeks later, I was introduced to Dadaji by a business colleague whose only instructions, when I pressed for information about him, were to come to him without any expectations.

With great trepidation, I went to the private home where Dadaji was staying. My search thus far had revealed nothing of the inner Truth. I had experienced a few moments, glimpses of what one might call Universal Love, but they had been fleeting and had left me more confused, lost and alone than before. My expectation, which I could not dispel, was that Dadaji would be another in a long string of disappointments.

When, after a short wait, I was presented to a small Indian man dressed in a simple Lungi and t-shirt, reclining on an ordinary bed, without any of the pomp and circumstance surrounding the other Gurus I had met, I was surprised to find myself feeling overwhelmed, childlike and rather foolish! All of my critical faculties had disappeared, in fact the circuits of my brain appeared to be jammed and I found myself unable to think clearly. I was acutely aware of Dadaji's Fragrance and vaguely wondered if he dipped his fingers in scented oil. But the Fragrance had an intoxicating effect and I didn't much care about analyzing its source at that moment. We talked, but I remember little of what was said. Then, he asked me if I wished to receive Mahanam and without knowing what it meant, I concurred immediately. Dadaji went through the simple Mahanam ritual. I was handed a small blank piece of paper. He told me to bow before the image of Sri Satyanarayan and to place the paper between my forehead and the floor. He indicated for me to look at the paper and on his instruction, I repeated the two words that miraculously appeared on the paper. Once more he indicated that I should touch my forehead to the paper and when I arose Mahanam had disappeared. The paper was blank. Even as I wondered what was happening, I felt my heart open and tears poured down my cheeks. I knew I had come Home. I returned often to see Dadaji, bringing numerous friends and talking to others who had seen him, trying to understand who he was and what had happened to me. There were, of course, no answers. Everyone's experience was different. No one could explain him. The more I heard, the more confused I became. But, certain words were threaded through the conversations....God, Love, Truth.

Dadaji told me to bring a jar of pure water on my second visit. It was easy to comply, I was eager to please him. I sterilized a jar and filled it with distilled water. When I arrived, he was in the living room talking with a group of people. The room seemed to vibrate with Love and I felt a surge of inexplicable happiness fill my heart. It was impossible not to smile. Before I could join the group, he got up and came toward me. He gently took the jar from my hands, held it for a moment in blessing and gave it back to me. I opened it and to my amazement, the distilled water had become beautifully fragrant. He ignored my astonishment and brushing aside my questions, said, "Use it whenever you feel. It might be useful." It proved to be more "useful" than I ever could have imagined!

Dadaji returned to India and I returned to my everyday life feeling that I had entered the Kingdom of Heaven for one short moment in time. Although I was aware that somehow I had been profoundly changed by the experience of meeting him, I could see no evidence of this in my daily round of activities. My life went on as usual. Memories of Dadaji began to fade.

One night several months later, I had a whim to bake a German apple pancake as a late night snack for friends with whom I was staying. In the process of cutting and removing the pancake from the iron skillet, I forgot that I had just taken it from a 375 degree oven and grabbed the handle to steady the pan. To my horror, the impression of the hot iron handle burned into my hand. I was beside myself, not only from the excruciating pain, but also because I was taking an intensive massage course at the time and I knew that massage would be impossible with such a burn. The healing process would take at least two weeks away from my studies. My hand swelled, becoming puffy and red, and no amount of ice seemed to help. I was preparing for bed, angry at my carelessness, when my friend suggested that as a last resort I pour some of Dadaji's "holy water" (Charanjal) over the burn. I had little hope that it would help, however it seemed it couldn't hurt. So, I filled my palm with the fragrant water and let it sit for a few moments. It stung more than I had anticipated and I went to sleep convinced that it had probably made things worse.

When I awakened the next morning, before even opening my eyes, my thoughts immediately went to the condition of my hand. Tentatively, I wiggled my fingers. There was NO pain. I sat up and looked at my hand in disbelief. It was almost healed except for an angry red slash across two fingers where the indentation of the iron handle had burned particularly deep. I poured more "h oly water" over it, dressed and drove in exhilaration to attend my massage class at 9:00 AM. By the time I arrived, the last burn was gone and my hand was completely normal. Exactly twelve hours after I had experienced a severe burn, I was giving a massage as if nothing had happened! I understood very little else. I only knew that once again, for a moment my mind had surrendered its grip. Mahanam, which had opened up my heart, now took over my consciousness.

Six years have passed and I have been blessed with many phenomenal experiences of Dadaji, not the least of which is His Fragrance, a loving reminder of His Constancy. One of the most vivid reminders came to me recently while on a long and trying journey from Los Angeles to the Bahamas for a brief holiday. I found myself trapped at Miami Airport. My flight to Abaco had been canceled and I was unable to get a booking on any of the other island airlines. In desperation, as the ticket officer informed me that the last flight of the day was filled, I babbled my plight to her and asked, could she please help me? Hopelessly and helplessly I waited for her reply.

To my surprise, she looked at me sympathetically and said that there might be a chance that an earlier flight for Abaco on a different airline might not have left yet. She offered to call the terminal and see if the plane was still there. Although the plane was scheduled for another destination, Marsh Harbor, perhaps the pilot would be willing to take me on to Treasure Cay. The airline officer contacted the pilot and he agreed to take me, but said the plane was already prepared for take off and he had to leave immediately.

Although exhausted from a sleepless night and the stress of already running back and forth from one end of the Miami Airport to the other, I ran once again to the far end of the Airport dragging my baggage with me. I was relieved but still in a state of great agitation, afraid that if I didn't get to the gate immediately, the pilot would lose patience and leave without me. The small airplane was waiting and I boarded, gratefully joining a honeymoon couple bound for Marsh Harbor. I was unable to comprehend that in spite of all my trials, I was actually on the plane bound straight for my destination!

The honeymoon couple deplaned at Marsh Harbor and the pilot and I arrived in Treasure Cay ten minutes later, at exactly 9:00 AM. As we taxied down the runway and as I breathed a sigh of relief, the distinctive aroma of Dadaji's Fragrance enveloped me. At that moment, the pilot stopped the plane, removed his earphones and turned to hear my expressions of gratitude and appreciation for taking me beyond his scheduled route. His response was, "It's a miracle you're here, lady. This flight usually leaves Miami at 7:30 AM. It's only because my supervisor forgot to let me know I was on the schedule that we're running this late!" We both laughed.

It was later that I realized Dadaji had not only delayed the flight, but also provided me with a private plane and a pilot who was willing to go out of his way to take me exactly where I wanted to go, exactly when I wanted to be there! Some might say it was serendipity. His Fragrance told me another story. There are many stories, both playful and profound in nature, of Dadaji's influence on my life. They are only meaningful seen in the context of the whole, of which we see glimpses and He sees All. As I have become aware that Dadaji is guiding my destiny, small and large miracles have become a daily occurrence. They seem, at first, to be coincidences, examples of synchronicity which occur occasionally to all of us. We greet them with a laugh and, "Isn't it amazing?" "Well, would you believe that!" However, with Dadaji, these "coincidences" appear with increasing frequency and regularity, and seem to be the interconnecting pattern forming the very fabric of life. While not readily apparent to others, to me they are a clear and incontestable illustration of the palpable presence of Dadaji and His affect on my daily existence.

Not only am I affected, but also others seem to be touched by the mere remembrance of Dadaji and Mahanam. For example, and this has happened on numerous occasions, I'm attending a business meeting or social gathering; the atmosphere is tense, people are nervous, and the anxiety level in the room is high. Dadaji pops into my mind and suddenly Mahanam begins. In a little while the tension in the room dissipates. People become relaxed and comfortable with one another. Conversation turns warm and more loving. My own anxiety dissolves and I feel at ease, more natural. My worries about "outcomes" disappear and a sense of trust and harmony with the internal and external flow of events develops.

LEFT: Dadaji & Judy, Boulder Colorado USA 1985

Originally, this article was titled "One Person's Story," because I believed it pertained only to me. However, as time passes and I observe Dadaji's influence on the lives of others, it seems more appropriate for the second printing of the book to retitle it "Life With Dadaji." So often when I share Dadaji stories with others, they are deeply touched and express a similar expansion of awareness as they personally experience His Love. In this way, person to person, Dadaji's message of Truth is spreading in subtle waves.

Every year since meeting Dadaji in 1981, I eagerly await His annual visit to Los Angeles and spend every available minute at the house where He stays. He completely ignored me for the first three years, much to my dismay. I wanted His Love, which I experienced as manna from Heaven, all for myself. I wanted to feel special! Then I realized that the Infinite Unconditional Love which emanates from Dadaji is totally impartial, falling on all of us and full-filling us as if each of us were the complete fulfillment of His Life....which we are! Paradoxically it is experienced from the inside out, as well as from the outside in....initiated both in the heart by Mahanam, spreading impartially and all-encompassing as Dadaji's Love....and His Love is manifest in the world around us in all that we see and experience. That is Truth, Sri Sri Satyanarayan, which manifests as Truth-Love and is the same for everyone. We are in it and of it. As Dadaji says, "Only the mind separates."

With this realization, I was amazed and delighted when one day Dadaji singled me out to join Him in His room. As I tentatively entered, He motioned me to sit on the floor and He resumed a reclining position on the bed, head propped on one hand and eyes half shut. I sat where He indicated, crossed my legs and closed my eyes. Immediately, I relaxed. My breathing slowed and Mahanam began in my head and flowed on my breath into my heart. It seemed natural and no thought entered my mind. We stayed like this for an indeterminate, endless amount of time. I experienced an all-pervading, deep and powerful sense of Bliss; energies flowed through my body. I began to feel as if I were levitating. At one point, a thought entered, "The mind creates Hell." I spoke this to Dadaji and opened my eyes. He cocked His head, "Yes." My mind receded once more and I returned to my former state of Bliss.

After awhile, Dadaji indicated that it was time for me to leave. I knelt before Him in Pranam, my heart overflowing with gratitude. As I was rising, Dadaji stopped me and asked how I was doing Mahanam. Not if, but how. I demonstrated by chanting out loud, "Gopal Govinda, Gopal Govinda, Gopal Govinda," in rapid succession. He stopped me, shaking His head.

Taking my hand, He placed it on His chest covering it with His own and holding it against His heart. Then, He inhaled "Gopal" deeply, held the breath for an instant, and exhaled "Govinda" down into His heart, long and slow, letting go completely. At the end of the breath, He paused for another instant and repeated it. Once again He intoned "Gopal" on the inhalation of breath, as if to bring the sound inward through the third eye. After a momentary pause, Dadaji demonstrated a downward sweep with His hand, bringing the exhalation of "Govinda" from the forehead to the heart, almost like a sigh. The pause at the end of the breath was a long, full void. He looked me directly in the eyes. "You follow?" I had followed! On the second "Gopal Govinda" I found myself mirroring Him perfectly and I recalled with amazement, as I left the room, that I had been doing Mahanam in exactly that way, aware only of my respiration and heartbeat the whole time I was sitting with Him!

One of the most profound experiences of Mahanam is the wonderful state of full surrender that occurs on the completion of the exhalation. Following that total surrender, the next inhalation is revitalizing and even exhilarating. The mind recedes, the body is relieved of all tension. Complete relaxation pervades, followed by a state of blissful transcendence.

Dadaji often says to me, "You are, you are....you are, you are." So now, behind Mahanam I hear, "I am, I am....I am, I am." Whatever it is we perceive, Truth is something else, far beyond the mind's understanding. Since the mere fact of our existence puts our lives beyond our control and in His hands, the question of "Who am I?" is merely a function of the mind and ultimately redundant. I am Him. He and I are One. Dadaji has come to show us the way of Love. The Truth lies within and life with Dadaji is living with Mahanam, the key to unlocking the door.

In our strife torn present day world, Sri Amiya Roy Chowdhury, widely known as Dadaji (Elder Brother), comes as an invigorating breath of fresh air. While all the tremendous achievements of science-based technology, buttressed with various panaceas offered by economic theories, lag far behind the burgeoning demands and desires of the human mind in this peaceless world, the yearnings of the human heart refuse to be lulled into a stupor by all the outpourings of the rationalist planners.

No wonder the field is wide open for the exploitation of the big money spinning activities of saviors in the form of Gurus, Babas, Bhagawans, Swamis, priests and sundry other so-called religious preceptors....all advertising their own respective agencies to the Kingdom of Heaven. While Dadaji clearly proclaims the presence of All-pervading Supreme Truth in every heart, beyond the reach of mind and intellect, he thunders simultaneously against the exploiters promising to act as intermediaries to the Lord residing in our own hearts.

According to Dadaji, the sole foundational reality is the absolute Supreme Truth or Satyanarayan, that is pure undifferentiated Existence. It is as His Divine Play that this world of mind, which we call Nature, emerges. And, it is in this created world, all through pervaded by Him and perceived through mind and intellect, that there appear separated structures seen on the arena of space and time undergoing transformations and interactions according to Nature's laws that are the subject of scientific studies. As mortals we come into this world with our respective Prarabdha (destiny) for an assigned role in the Divine Play. It is the mind function that displays all the duality, ups and downs, good and bad, happiness and sorrow. Our duty is merely to go through the destiny with patience made sweet by loving remembrance of the Lord. All our confusions and turmoil arise from our constantly forgetting our Divine Origin, leading to our sinking deeper and deeper into the quagmire of wants and desires of the mind. When ego holds the stage, He is forgotten. When ego dissolves, He appears.

Thus, according to Dadaji our sole duty here is to perform our natural functions and roles in good faith with utmost sincerity along with a simple and casual remembrance of the Lord with love. No rituals, esoteric practices or any gymnastics of mind and body are required to be one with Him, Who is ever present in and with us. There is, thus, no place for any human Guru. All we need is awareness to change aright our angle of vision.

Dadaji is himself the best shining example of his teaching. Unlike any so-called Godman, he lives a simple unostentatious life of a householder, running a small toy shop in Calcutta to support his family. His life is a complete repudiation of ego. As if a proof of that and of the authority of his teachings, the Supreme Will displays all manner of fantastic miracles through him to humble our proud intellect and to iron out all atheism.

Numerous seekers, his younger brothers and sisters from all over the world and from all walks of life, have experienced in Dadaji's presence the revelation of Mahanam, the Divine Name vibrating in every heart. The seeker holds in his or her palm a small piece of blank paper and bows to a portrait of Sri Satyanarayan. And in a trice, the seeker hears ringing within the Mahanam, which also appears in his or her own native language on the piece of paper and then disappears again as mysteriously.

This is the real "seeing" (Darshan) or "initiation" (Diksha) of the Lord. No farcical whispering of a Mantra by one mortal into the ear of another mortal for a fee is involved here....for it is beyond any mind function. Many responsible persons of sound judgment have witnessed materializations of various objects of all shapes and sizes in the hands of Dadaji.

Dadaji's body constantly radiates a Divine Fragrance. The same Divine Fragrance appears thousands of miles away from him on various occasions. Miraculous cures, simultaneous presence in widely different places, control of Nature (like stopping rain at will), producing fragrant water as medicine when requested on the phone by suffering brother or sister thousands of miles away, etc., are examples of an unending series of stupendous miracles shooting forth from Dadaji.

However, Dadaji takes great pains to emphasize that he is nobody in all these happenings. They happen at the Divine Will alone, and can neither be asked for nor stopped. Their sole purpose is to instill in us a faith in the unfathomable power of the Supreme Being. Having obtained by His Grace an inkling of what is completely beyond our mind and intellect, we should refrain from confusing our puny intellect by trying to fathom Him. As He is already in us, all we have to do is just remember Him with love while practicing patience and living naturally. There is no place for dogmas, Ashrams, temples or churches in reaching Him.

Dadaji proclaims that all human beings are the children of Supreme Bliss and so all humanity is One, all languages are One, and Truth is One. This is the perennial Religion (Sanatana Dharma) of Truth being established by Dadaji.