Spiritual experiences pertaining to Gurudev

The ultimate Saviour

1. Gurudev enquires about a seeker

During the early years of the Sanstha, a seeker from Akola (about 600 kilometres away) would periodically visit Gurudev’s residence in Mumbai, which also functioned as a Sevakendra. On one such occasion, he set out on his return journey to Akola after completing his satseva. At that time, Gurudev was engaged in another satseva. After a short while, He came out and enquired about the seeker, asking the others, ‘Has he left?’ The seekers immediately went outside to check and saw that the seeker had just departed in an auto-rickshaw. They returned and informed Gurudev.

2. Seeker meets his brother-in-law at the railway station, misses train

After some time, the seeker reached the railway station and proceeded to his designated platform. On the way, he unexpectedly ran into his brother-in-law, a resident of Kalyan, who told him, ‘Dr Athavale is looking for you on the other platform.’ Upon hearing this, the seeker did not waste a moment and rushed to the other platform in search of Gurudev. In doing so, he missed his scheduled train. With no other option left, he went to Kalyan to stay at his brother-in-law’s home for the night. Interestingly, the brother-in-law had already left for home after conveying the message to the seeker.

3. The realisation that he had been granted a new lease on life

As soon as the seeker reached his brother-in-law’s house, the latter was greatly surprised, because the seeker was supposed to be on his way to Akola. When the seeker narrated the incident that had taken place at the railway station a short while earlier, the brother-in-law said, “I never met you at all. Today, I did not leave Kalyan or go anywhere.” The seeker was astonished. Since he had missed the train and had no other alternative, he stayed there for the night.

The next day, the seeker learned that the train by which he was supposed to travel had met with a terrible accident near Bhusawal. The coach in which the seeker had a reservation was completely crushed. At that moment, the seeker understood the cause-and-effect relationship behind all the events and realised that Gurudev had saved him from this accident.

The timely protector

Once my father was travelling out of town by train. The station was crowded, and it took him some time to reach his coach. By the time he tried to board, the train had begun to move. As he attempted to get on, he lost his balance and was on the verge of falling. At that very moment, someone caught his hand and steadied him, saving him from what could have been a serious, perhaps even fatal, accident. At the time, my father had never seen Gurudev. However, sometime later, he happened to watch an audio-visual presentation on sadhana produced by Sanatan Sanstha. The moment he saw Gurudev’s photo, he said, ‘This is the person who held my hand when I lost my balance while boarding the train’.

The omnipresent guide

Once, my parents – Sanatan’s seeker (Late) Shri. Vamanrao Jaltare, and Pujya (Smt.) Kusum Jaltare (Sanatan’s 95^th Saint) – had gone to Mahur (in Nanded, Maharashtra) for the darshan of our Family Deity at the Shaktipeetha of Shri Renukadevi. The hill at Mahur has two peaks – one houses the temple of Shri Renukadevi, and the other the temple of Shri Kalikamata, which is generally frequented by those engaged in Tantra worship. Amid the heavy rush of devotees, my parents got separated, and my mother unknowingly began walking towards the Kalikamata temple. At that moment, a gentleman dressed in a simple white kurta approached her. He made her aware that she had lost her way, gently held her hand, and guided her safely back to my father. A few months later, when my mother happened to see a photo of Sachchidananda Parabrahman (Dr) Athavale, she was taken aback. She immediately realised, ‘The person who held my hand and led me back to my husband was none other than Him!’

– Shri. Yogesh Jaltare