Proceso

It was in the year 1986 BS (1930 AD) when the first devotee of Sri Shivapuri Baba, Man. Das Tuladhar, met him at the top of Shivapuri Hill. One Lama took Man Das as an interpreter, while going round the encircling hills of Kathmandu Valley, as a Parikrama, i.e., Going-Round -Ceremony which Buddhists usually take, in respect of Lord Buddha. This took them about 3-4 weeks. Shivapuri was the last place.

“About 100 feet by 50 feet of the top of Shivapuri was cleared of the trees, where a small garden with waist-high level of surrounding wall of stones was present. A small cottage with thatched roof and mud-plastered walls stood there. Madhav’s father was there. He took our request to the Shivapuri Baba who kindly allowed us to see him. After the preliminary exchange of greetings, the Lama and SB started to talk, the details of which I am afraid, I do not remember. But the gist is as follows:

Lama : What is your name? SB : Govindananda Bharati.

Lama : How old are you? SB : 110 years old.

Lama : There are so many religions. What about the Truth?

SB : The same Truth is spoken in all the religions and every religion takes you to the same goal.

Lama : So do I think..

SB : Right Life is the same as Buddha’s Original teaching consisting of Sheel,

Samadhi, and Pragya. The Goal is the same, and the road is almost the

same.

After the short interview the Lama asked whether he could revisit him again. SB replied that he could come any time he liked:

YB: (To Man Das): In what way RL is different from Buddhism?

AM: Well, Buddhism believes in doing the “greatest good to the greatest number”: but RL believes in privacy, and also does not believe in preaching, as was done by Buddha.

“SB at first tries to teach in an ancient way, the Eternal Religion or Sanatana Dharma or the so-called Hindu way. But when he finds that the faith of the seeker is different, he takes him by the Tatter’s own way. Well, this is very

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good indeed. SB never tried to “convert” anybody; rather he respected others’ faith, and tried to help them as far as possible. SB had written a book. International Religion, in Europe, probably during Queen Victoria’s last days. His teachings are always synthetic, never antagonistic to anybody or any teaching. For example, he used to say, “Ten Commandments for Christians; Sheel, Samadhi and Pragya, for Buddhists; Five Noble Truths for Moslems and Swadharma for Hindus. These are all RL - more or less”. The Lama told me that SB was a Yogi of a very high order, that I should go to him whenever I had any problem, that I should never ignore him and so on.

YB : Did you go back to him?

MD: Well, when I returned home I was immediately sucked into the whirlpool of

Samsara or this-worldly affairs. My financial position was not good. I tried one business after another, trying to make both ends meet from one to the other, losing my capital money in each attempt. My spirit came down to the lowest, my mind clouded by vague thoughts, my intelligence was dull, so that I could not get out of the morass of unhappiness. Then suddenly, I remembered SB and his kind words that I could see him any time if I had any problem.

With about 1 seer of flour as a present (for that was what I could afford then) I went to SB, placed it before him and told my misery, my failures.

SB: You ought to have come to me earlier. You did not do so; so you had to

suffer. Now, since you have come, there is no reason to fear. Of course, I will help you.

He told me, after listening to my owes at great length, that I lacked consistency, i.e., rocklike attitude in my profession, that I must stick to my guns steadfastly and long enough till my work bore fruits. “Do not worry for the initial failure in your kind of business; stick to it; wait and wait; try to do better: you will succeed,” he said.

He told me many other things as well. I became very happy and full of energy. From that time onwards I never wavered, I stuck to my guns, I fell upon my professional duty like a lion, and I succeeded! I became, by Nepali standard, quite a rich man in a short time. Whatever I possess today is entirely because of the kindness of SB.

Later on, soon after the episode of Prachanda Gorkha (a political problem) I was dragged into the Library Episode when the Prime Minister of Nepal, Bhim Shumsher, attacked us. I wore Khaddar dress and did some work for opening Library then. SB guided me all the time, and I was saved from many difficulties.

I used to visit him every fortnight or month for quite some years. Later SB shifted first to Kirateswar and then to Dhruvasthali. There too I continued to visit him every fortnight or month. I took Purna Bahadur “Manab” to him at the last place.

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