Eknath Found It

When I reflected on Eknath's story, the quality of pure intention and total absorption, stood out for me—where there is only one goal: to give oneself completely to the task on hand. I reflected on my experiences of being absorbed completely in giving my best and the instant reward I received, whether at seva, at work, or with family. My focus was only on giving, without settling for anything short of the best outcome and without any agenda for me, and that is when I met with success.

I know it is an inherent quality I possess and with constant connection through the spiritual practices and teachings, I can allow it to manifest more and more.

Thank you, Gurumayi, for the new initiative of teaching us through the website, which serves as a study forum with the global community.

While the opportunity to perform Guruseva is a big fortune in one’s lifetime, performing seva with utmost sincerity is a sadhana, leading to Self-realization. Making a choice of this uncompromising attitude toward seva is svadharma.

In that story, Eknath had such devotion for his guru that he was able to accomplish seva with 100% focus.

When you have this kind of focus on seva, your mind gets stronger and steadier, and you are ready to receive the full grace of the Guru to attain the ultimate goal.

Thank you Gurumayi, for giving us tools to contemplate the Siddha Yoga teachings.

Thank you, fellow Siddha Yoga students for sharing your profound insights. To add to the global pool of wisdom, here are my thoughts.

Firstly, Eknath would have had the utmost respect for his Guru Janardan Swami. To me this quality underpins many that have been beautifully mentioned by other students. Likewise Janardan Swami showed utmost respect to Eknath in return.

What I love the most is the cycle of giving and receiving. Eknath gave everything of himself to find the Guru’s paise. The Guru fully received his offering and in return offered everything to Eknath, which Eknath received fully. Thus the cycle was completed.

When I was contemplating the story of Eknath, a new dimension of the story was revealed to me. It is when one longs for perfection in every single action, knowing it as a Guruseva, the ultimate perfection comes seeking you. It is what Eknath received from his Guru.

Thank you Gurumayi for this beautiful insight.

I understood that Eknath's love and gratitude for his Guru was so great that whatever he did was completely suffused with devotion and bliss. His longing was the most important thing in his life and it was totally natural for his search to be fulfilled. He had met the perfect Master whose grace gave him everything he needed to get the job done.

Years ago in Shree Muktananda Ashram, I was doing seva as a cashier in the bookstore. One evening, I was checking money in a small room covered with a dark red carpet.

"One cent is missing! " I said to another cashier who was standing nearby.
He answered, "It's only one cent."

The story of Eknath came into my mind and with faith, perseverance, and determination I kept looking for it. Soon after, I found the coin like a brilliant light on the carpet and also found joy in my heart.

The first time I visited Gurudev Siddha Peeth, I was amazed by the attention to detail that was given to everything in the Ashram. The seva I offered was in the Ashram kitchen, and the sevites would focus on the quality of each grain of rice before it was added to the pots for cooking. The story of Eknath reminded me of the teaching I learned there. Time spent in service to the Guru is never too small and is never wasted. Thank you beloved Gurumayi for the glance of your wisdom and love.

What was Eknath’s attitude while he was spending the night looking, searching for the paisa?

Did he worry because he couldn't find it? Was he thinking, what will my friends say tomorrow if I don't find the paisa? Why didn't he say, ohh, just one small paisa, why should I bother; I'd better go to sleep?

How did he keep his mind quiet, concentrated on only the paisa during the entire night?

My answer is that he was searching for the knowledge of the Self, and in that moment the missing paisa was knowledge for him, the knowledge he was looking for.

In my life there are plenty of missing paisas, plenty of opportunities to receive the knowledge of the Truth, here and now.

Thank you, Gurumayi, for this beautiful story.

Eknath understands that everything associated with the Guru is alive with the Guru's mysterious and transforming power. Even something that appears to have no tangible value at all (a glance, word, gesture, or paisa) can be a vehicle for the highest attainment, if it is looked at with the right understanding. If we think a penny is just a worthless penny, we receive nothing. It is our awareness of the true value of what we are encountering, combined with gratitude and self-effort, that opens the channels for grace.

Living and working in the world, I find that grace pours through even the smallest things when they are treated with care and love, as if they belonged to Gurumayi.

Thank you for this opportunity for contemplation!

Eknath, taking full responsibility for the seva, never stops offering his love and devotion without expectation of reward for himself. His only focus is serving his Guru. When we focus the mind, heart, and consciousness on service to the Guru, all our actions become seva—small or big, all actions are service. Reading the story brings me great joy and reminds me of the real purpose of seva and the grace of the Guru.

Eknath knew it was his dharma to find that coin. He lost himself in accomplishing it without worrying about how valuable this action was, or was not, to others. In the end, he felt completely happy for accomplishing his duty for his Guru. And not just that—he received an invaluable gift without asking for it.

The story taught me that we must be careful with every single thing that is in the
Guru´s Ashram and with every single act we perform there. It also taught me that to give ourselves up to seva brings us closer to our final goal.

Thank you.

When I read the inspiring story of Eknath I thought that the lesson was: only when a disciple can be diligent and trustworthy in caring for the smallest of things, finding the Guru’s paisa, can he be trusted with the greatest of things, Self-realization. Eknath showed he could be trusted and was ready to hold the greatest gift of his Guru and so it was given. How wonderful to be reminded of this powerful teaching again. Thank you, Gurumayi.

I am struck by the enthusiasm of Eknath to balance the books. He is so diligent. He succeeded. He gained a reward for his perseverance. In his devotion was the seed of his enlightenment.

Reading this story I was struck by how Eknath's unflinching devotion to his Guru, his distress of losing the paisa, and his unbridled joy when he did find it came so alive for me. Reading about Eknath this time, I felt that I was reading about someone very present, a flesh and blood person, who had immense love for his Guru and a deep and abiding longing to know God...so much so that he wouldn't rest until his longing was fulfilled. I sensed that Eknath saw and treated the Guru's money as Janardan Swami himself, and this identification was so complete that his Guru knew that Eknath was ready to receive the highest wisdom.

Thank you, Gurumayi, for telling us this timeless story and for enlivening it with your grace, your divine intention. I see now that the story of Eknath Maharaj and Janardan Swami is not a remote and far away story. It is our story that we are walking right now on the Siddha Yoga path.

I offer seva researching images for the Siddha Yoga path website. In reading this wonderful telling of the story of Eknath, and looking for images that would reflect the light of Eknath’s profound realization, I was reminded of the deep reservoir of wisdom that India has given to the world. I am so grateful to Gurumayi for bringing the experience of this eternal wisdom to us all.