Is it his smooth, glinting skin? Those sharp, deep eyes? Was it the master who entered my former home at the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore more than a decade ago for a spirituality conference? It was.
Sri M, one of our many self-realised gurus in a terrain brimming with frauds, entered quietly in a light tan kurta and sat down on my family’s divan. His softness and goodness were palpable. My intuition told me that he always remains connected to the Self internally. So he is none other than the Master himself.
With a silent and unmoving aura, his online and offline presence takes me into a world where devotees party with the gods. Sattvic and bhajan parties are attracting young Indians so why not? If you can drink wine I can drink gomutra.
Sri M is a cut above the rest and therefore does not belong to the fake god market. Very different from the likes of the so-called Sadhguru and Sri Sri who have been part of a network of self-coined gurus who have done more harm than good to the holy realm.
If Mother Meera, one of the living goddesses of South India whose main ashram is also in the district of Madanapalle in Andhra Pradesh, said all avatars are connected, then Sri M is one such conduit of the divine. In fact, he is the divine itself—like our other innumerable saints dotting India’s yogic landscape. But if you ask him whether he is a Master, I am sure you will get a very clever answer!
For that is what Sri M was when I spoke to him in our house. My parents and I touched his feet and sat down in front of him, basking in an aura of regality and power that were emanating from his body.
Back then I was skeptical of Sri M. I changed. I have my own Guru now and that does not stop me from accepting other self-realised beings who have the exact power of the Self and who have come down (or is it up?) from the heavens to lead us on our journey to self-revelation.
While sitting on the floor I felt he was reading my thoughts. This usually happens when people fry their brains, but this was a different kind of frying—it was the frying of the soul. My brain calmly accepted the truth that all Masters see through you and know what is going in your mind. I said my pleasantries as my parents spoke to him and did a vanishing act back to the kitchen to prepare the table.
Soon he sat down and ate from a plate reserved only for self-realised guests (one permanent guest being me!). He ate the idlis and green chutney prepared by my mother who has fed all the Masters who have entered the IIM here in Bangalore.
I could relate to Sri M well because he spoke the finest English in a sweet voice that carried with it sounds from paradise. The English itself was a gift to hear. When a Master speaks it, one can use it for one’s articles. I exchanged a few words with him at the end and noticed he was completely aware of what was going on in my life.
Would Sri M and Mother Meera share the same stage in their ashrams? What would their respective answers be to the same questions posed by devotees? These cannot be known unless a comparative study is done in the religious domain. However, I will say that as an anthropologist I know the politics of guru-faith. They are not evil like worldly politics.
Sri M and Mother Meera are the same in that they have attained Realisation but they are not the same in other ways. All gurus hold the paradox of having different yet same opinions on matters. It is part of their play.
As a seeker of eternal bliss, I was ensconced in Sir’s mere presence. He may brush this aside as a matter of inconsequence but I say this as a matter of conviction. He is truly a self-realised guru. You need not speak to him personally to understand him. In communicating with him internally, your answers slowly-slowly appear as you progress on the path to salvationary freedom.
While he was eating I took in his words and held them in my heart. They remain etched in memories on the internet, which is now the zone for spiritual striving.
The word “spiritual” is highly misused and having met Sri M I say without trepidation that that meeting with him not only changed my perspective on “modern gurus” but also gave me a sense of relief that Masters do speak and write the finest English. That is enough to become a devotee.
