Satsang with Baba: Volume 4 (Ganeshpuri, India: Shri Gurudev Ashram, 1987), p.11
I experienced that Bade Baba and the mantra
Om Namah Shivaya saved my life. Many years ago I was very ill in the hospital. My vital signs were dropping. I had
Play of Consciousness at my bedside opened to the picture of Bade Baba. I brought my bed up to a sitting position and repeated the mantra all night long. I experienced Bade Baba’s presence enter my body and fill me. His light was so tangible. The next morning the doctors were amazed. My vital signs had remarkably improved.
California, United States
Seeing this teaching reminded me of my first experience of seeing how “charged with power” this sacred mantra is.
My journey on the Siddha Yoga path began in 1998, and I remember being mesmerized by the power of repeating the mantra Om Namah Shivaya during my first Shaktipat Intensive. It was the Gurupurnima Intensive of 1998.
As I repeated the mantra, with my eyes closed, I dove deeper and deeper into a realm of utter silence, peace, and contentment. It was as if time had stood still. All sensation of body consciousness evaporated and I felt at one with the universe.
St. Laurent, Canada
Bade Baba’s teaching on the mantra
Om Namah Shivaya is so potent! I read it and decided I would keep it in mind during a late afternoon walk. As I did this, I realized I had been spending more time focused on the happenings in my outer world than my inner world.
Then I started to recall an experience of divine contentment I had at the conclusion of a
sadhana retreat several years ago. That feeling arose anew within me, and I realized that this is what I truly want in this life—divine contentment!
I feel so blessed to rekindle this understanding and this longing. I bow to the lotus feet of Shri Guru.
Colorado, United States
On reading this teaching of Bade Baba’s, I recalled an experience I had once at Gurudev Siddha Peeth. After singing the evening
Arati to Bade Baba, everyone sat down in the hall for a few minutes of meditation. As I sat there, I felt my attention go deep inside and I experienced very powerfully that Bade Baba continually showers blessings upon the universe. I felt that the spiritual power—the Guru's grace that Bade Baba embodies—
is the
mantra
Om Namah Shivaya. The mantra and he were one and the same. The power of Bade Baba was the power of the mantra.
This experience radically changed how I perceive Bade Baba, by deepening my understanding of who he is and why we worship his form.
London, United Kingdom
As I read these words, I became aware of receiving Bade Baba’s
darshan. I was taken into a very deep state. It was as if his hand was on my head. I felt my body being cleansed, repaired, and restored. I received advice regarding my mental disposition. It was an amazing experience for which I am deeply grateful.
Hounslow, United Kingdom
Some years ago I had a dream. I was in heaven with Gurumayi. She was climbing up a ladder, surrounded by angels and cherubs, all of whom were chanting
Om Namah Shivaya with the sweetest voices I have ever heard on earth. The ladder had no end; Gurumayi went up and up until I couldn't see her anymore.
From this experience I realized how sacred this mantra is, and how blessed we are to have the chance to receive it as a divine gift from the Siddhas.
Milan, Italy
Hearing Bade Baba attributing the mantra
Om Namah Shivaya to the primal Guru fills me with a sense of profound connection to the universe. I see an unbroken lineage of Gurus, with
Om Namah Shivaya radiating outward from them into the world like a powerful river, always flowing and readily available at all times, in all places, and to all beings.
I experience this at times when I begin to repeat the mantra in my ordinary life, and it feels as if I’ve joined a chorus that is already singing all around me. At such times, I realize that
Om Namah Shivaya is always being recited, and that all I need to do is notice and join in.
Massachusetts, USA