Wednesday 6 February 2013

Tapaswiji Maharaj and Shivabalayogi

When Tapaswiji Maharaj met Shivabalayogi for the first time the yogi was 15 years of age and the elder sage 182. Despite the great disparity in age they hit it off but at their first meeting the younger was deep in samadhi and not available for mundane colloquy. Tapaswiji was an adept in the use of rejuvenating herbs and the esoteric branches of ayuravedic medicine combined with kaya kalpa. At the age of 90 he had undergone this course and become a new man. Previously at the age of 55 he had taken up sanyas after an interview with the last Mughal Emperor. The stories he could tell!

When he came back on another visit Shivabalayogi was in everyday consciousness mode but due to his long period of sitting in asana his legs had become fixed like the twisting of dried cooked spaghetti and he was forced to drag himself about. Using oils and massage Tapaswiji made him limber again. He related to him that he was bound to do him service as in a previous incarnation Shivabalayogi had done him service during his tapas back in the day. ‘Now’, he said, ‘is there anything more I can do for you, to make you comfortable’.

- Well, said the youth, whom it would be recalled had undergone a great deal of hardship at the hands of louts who at one point had thrown his body into the nearby canal whilst lost to the world in samadhi. He sank to the bottom and then popped up again like a cork and back on the bank. After this they had let him alone.

- Well, there is one thing that is bothering me that is a great distraction and an impediment to my meditation. There is a window at the back there with a loose catch and when the wind is in a certain quarter it rattles. Can you get it fixed?
- Done, said Tapaswiji.

1 comment:

ktismatics said...

If this post had a "like" button I would click it.