Celebration
:
The Master
Sri H.W.L. Poonja
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Celebration : The Master Sri H.W.L. Poonja |
| . | Papaji says that our bodies are just on temporary loan from the
panch mahabhutas, the five elements. With majesty, he returned what
he borrowed at about 10:15 in the evening, September 6, 1997, in Lucknow,
India.
Celebration! Some may feel that this is not the best word to use for this event, but most will agree that celebrating That SatGuru every minute of your life could not come close to displaying the gratitude for the Diamond that is now revealed. To capture the events around the Mahasamadhi, faxes, emails and photos from those days are offered below. Everybody's experience of this awesome event is unique as these notes reflect. Photos are mostly from Mahaveer, ChandiDevi and RamCharan. 2002 Mahasamadhi anniversary celebrations are scheduled for the following places and more: Lucknow
Papaji's House and Satsang Bhavan
The 1998 Lucknow and Sante Fe celebrations were very beautiful and these photos prove. Boulder had everything from Bhajans to Belly Dancing. The San Francisco gathering was very sweet as well with about 15 of us sitting in Silence among the Redwoods. When the full moon rose, Jupiter rose with it situated right above the moon like a crown. It was spectacular. The Sanskrit word for Jupiter is GURU! and it represents that benevolent force. Is the fact that his Solar mahasamadhi anniversary occured on a jupiter crested full moon a coincidence or yet another one of millions of examples of the majestic awesomeness of THAT called Sri H.W.L. Poonja? If you have anything to add to this page, anything from an email
to a photo to a remark to a celebration location, just email it to prashanti
@ igc.org
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"This photo was taken on my birthday in the office on the 5th of
August '97. He was not feeling healthy at all. It was the last
time he came out of His house, except for Krishna Jayanti."
Yamuna |
Papaji goes out to celebrate Yamuna's birthday. It is one of the last times he leaves his house. |
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A note from Arunachala,
Monday, Sept 8, 1997
Dear Friends, Saturday evening Gopal Ram shared the fax he had just received from Devrishi in Lucknow telling of Papaji's condition. Prabhakar and Priya were also present; all of us grouped by the steps in front of the New Hall. A deep stillness descended, where there was little that could be said in the silence. Yesterday, Sunday, Gopal Ram came home and told us that Papaji had left the body the previous night. No thoughts, no sadness worth the name. Just a deep inner pull, an outer expansion. First thing in the morning,i had looked at the Mountain, noticing that great cumulus clouds were sailing over the Mountain against a clear sky, coming from the north-east, which was opposite of the prevailing conditions. It had been a spectacular sunrise. Hearing the news from Gopal Ram, i turned to the Mountain, and it was the same scene. In the companionable togetherness, i felt Papaji has now dissolved into the universe, present and available in every shaft of sunlight, every leaf, every breath of air, finally established in what he tells us all along, from where he speaks. We continued to sit in silence, gazing at the Mountain, our minds and hearts centered on His ineffable form, imagining the scene and the energy on the banks of the Gomti River, where the fire would be returning the elements to the elements. This afternoon Gopal Ram, who is on his way north now, informed me
that all of satsang was going to Hardwar, where Papaji's ashes are going
to be immersed in the Ganga on Wednesday. How now to touch that love? By
simply being that love? By just keeping quiet? Yes, and yes again. With
all our love,
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While Papaji is in the hospital, Sanga gathers in Satsang Bhavan to sing and meditate and wait for news : 
Papaji's body returns from the hospital to the Satsang Bhavan around 1 A.M.
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A note from Lucknow,
Monday, Sept 8, 1997
Dear Friends, By now you know that our beloved Master left His body on September 6, 1997, at around 11.15pm. We are so grateful to be able to come to Lucknow to say our final goodbye to Him, although He had left his body even before we arrived. It was on Friday night (Sept 5) Surrendra called to let us know that Master was in a 'coma', and we managed to get the last seats on the next plane out. By Grace, there was actually someone at the Indian Consulate that night, who arranged for the Visa Officer to specially come on a Saturday morning to stamp my passport; and knowing that our Master was in such a serious condition, the kind man would not even accept the taxi fare for his trouble.... We arrived in Delhi to hear that Master had left just as we landed, after a week of critical illness. Perhaps you already know the details; what we have managed to piece together is that it began with a seemingly innocent cold the week before, and on Sunday Aug 31, he had a bad asthma attack. On Monday apparently he at first seemed to refuse the drip and oxygen, but Yamuna explained that it was absolutely necessary to continue, and he agreed. He had a very difficult evening, suffering another asthma attack and perhaps even a stroke, and by Tuesday (Sept 2), his condition was becoming very serious; in that evening around 6.30pm just before he fell unconscious, he was admitted to the Ghandi Memorial Hospital. They put him on a respiratory system and vacuumed the phlem from his chest, but his condition continued to deteriorate, and from all accounts, his body was suffering extremely. He was in intensive care, and although many people were coming to the hospital, only his doctor and Yamuna and Bharatmitra were allowed in, and occasionally a few others from his family, but only for very short periods. Everyone still had great hope that he would pull through, and on Wednesday evening, the doctors decided to reduce his medication and to see if his body could function without machine assistance. Even so, by Thursday afternoon, it seemed He was ready to leave. Apparently He was trying to remove the oxygen mask from His face, saying gently but firmly, "Bas!", enough! Yamuna and Bharatmitra understood His wish, but could not convince the doctors. Then there was an incident that will no doubt be known as the Master's final teachings; apparently He was trying to raise Himself, half-shouting to Yamuna and Bhartmitra; "where is Buddha? where is Buddha?", and through their communication with Him, they came to understand that they should look within and know the Buddha;....then He said to Yamuna "bring him in! bring him in!"..... These were the last words He spoke. And by all accounts, that was the night that His Presence left. The doctors insisted on reconnecting Papaji to the machines. His heart stopped three times throughout the night, and each time the doctors managed to revive it with electric shocks. They put Him on anasthetic so that he was basically unconscious on life supporting machines. By Friday, the tests showed that He was developing pheunemonia. Despite His condition and His wish, the doctors would not abandon their efforts to keep His body alive. Even so, by that evening, they also had to admit; "if a Yogi wishes to leave, there is nothing anyone can do to save Him." By some freak incident, the drips leading into His main artery completely clogged up, and despite all their piercing in His body they could not re-establish them in time. Fortunately they recognized their efforts were in vain, and although
His last breaths were still breathed through the respirator, they were
peaceful.
During that night, his body was brought to Satsang Bhavan, wrapped and soaked and covered in flowers. We arrived Sunday morning, to find his body empty yet His Presence filling the entire hall. He lay peacefully on a raised iced platform in front of His satsang chair, feet pointed towards His own beloved Master, Ramana. He was covered in garlands, and His face was serene, with his teeth out and some stubble on his face. There was an incredible silence in the hall, filled with people's reverence, tears, prayers, meditations and outpourings of love. There were many devotees who had miraculously managed to arrive in time, and there were also quite a few who had been there all through the summer. Of course I knew, as we all did, that this day would come; just as we knew in truth He is not this body we related to as 'Him'; still, I felt deeply my love and attachment to Him and cried many tears for the loss of His beautiful presence. So many memories flooding through, and such gratitude.... All day, people were coming in and out of the hall to namaste and prostrate, circling His form, praying, singing, touching His feet, pressing their foreheads against His body...everyone freely saying goodbye to Him in their own way. There was some kirtan and bhajan, and His favorite songs being sung, and then reverberations of OM rang throughout the hall, until the truck arrived and He was taken back to His house for the wrapping to be changed and the final rites to be performed in the presence of His male family members. He was dressed in a beautiful pale peach silk chiffon pyjama, and everyone was given one last chance to file by Him and prostrate before His body was shifted to the cremation stretcher at around 2pm. Many of the men took turns carrying Him on their shoulders as we made a procession up the street, past Amrapali market, all the way to Satsang Bhavan. There was a spontaneous joyfulness and spirit of celebration that came over all of us; we were shouting "Papa-ji Ki Jay HO!" to the heavens, singing and dancing, "Arunachala Shiva" with showers of rose petals all around; the procession became bigger and more lively as we came to the truck and loaded His body, driving through the streets of Indira Nagar, with an umbrella covering His face from the blazing sun, and the huge pile of flowers on His chest, with people jammed in every place, hanging over the edges and on the roof; "Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai, Jai Ram" and "Papa-ji Ki Jay HO!" all the way to the cremation ground on the Gompti River. Everyone united in their love and gratitude to our Beloved Master as guru bais; on this day, there was no past between anyone....all dynamics were suspended in supreme honoring and appreciation of this great blessing. And somehow, all the differences in the past seemed so distant.... |
Manifest exhubrience dances through the streets
of Lucknow as the Master's body is carried to the burning Ghats on the
Gomti river
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Jaya Jaya Jaya Papaji ki Jaya |
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...We gathered around His form as the fire was being prepared, and
there was a thunderous downpour from the heavens....and a few last people
managed to arrive just in time, as He was taken to the platform and laid
on logs of wood. The priest performed the final rituals, covering His body
with sacred herbs and chanting, building a pyramid of logs along His body
and finally, alighting flamable burning material...and suddenly the fire
was blazing. There was tremendous heat and smoke. We all gathered around
the fire for many hours; chanting, meditating, prostrating, circling His
firey form.
By morning, all that was left was a large circle of ashes, still gently smoking. People came and went quietly throughout the day... |
During the day and through the night flames return the Master's body to the 5 elements. |
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The next day ashes and bones are recovered, and the trip to Haridwar begins. There the following morning, Sanjay, Papaji's grandson, holds the urn while his Father pranams to his Father's ashes. |
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...Tomorrow, (Tuesday Sept 9), Surrendra will gather the ashes and
the priest will locate the one bone that is the only remains of a jivamukta;
then there will be a final ceremony in His house and a celebratory feast
at
Satsang Bhavan. We are all booked on the overnight Doon Express to Haridwar, where the ashes will be offered to Master's beloved Ganga at Haki Puri at around 11am. There are no words to express the gratitude for the profound blessing of His Presence, and the final teaching of His leaving...these are blessings received by all in His Love. Our Beloved Master will live on in our hearts and memories and in the silence that sings through us. Truly He will remain illumined in all there Is, inviting us from beyond to honor That which He always was and will be. Om Papa ji. Hari Om. With love, at His Feet,
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Surendra holds the Urn while Sanga offers the ashes to the Ganga : 
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The ashes and remaining bones of Papaji's body are merged with the Ganga in Haridwar. Attachments to his glorious form are offered. Swaha! |
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Hari ki Pauri Ghat, September 10th, early afternoon |
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Papaji is always calling Swamiji Ramananda Giri over to tell
him special little things. Nearly every day for years Papaji would
say, "Where is Swamiji? Bring him in!" One of Papaji's nicknames
for Swamiji is Buddha.
I think it is great that a few people who are very close in Papaji's Life carry the irreverant and clearly iconoclastic thought, as their Master often does, that Papaji was actually calling for Swamiji when he was saying, "Where is Buddha? Bring him in." This shows that people's impressions of what Papaji said will always differ, because only No one can comprehend Him. For some people there is still nothing to hold onto, not even a "Final Teaching" |
Eleven days after Papaji leaves his body, a traditional vedic puja is performed. |
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Papaji's Waterfalls below Neelkanth |
The Ganga at Phool Chatti |
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Now a grateful Sanga thrives together
in Papaji's Rivers and Waterfalls of Grace
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Question:
Where will you go after you leave your body? Will you ever come back to planet earth? Papaji:
Why should you go? The king does not desire,
'I want to buy that house or
I am always Here!
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Papaji, Who are You? "Hold no doubt, I Am That!" |
