The three wise men!!

A few weeks ago, in one of those rare moments of serendipity, I came across a wise man, the encounter with whom made me realise that in my life’s journey this meeting will always be one of those distinctive moments, where my life paused, took a deep breath and smiled with wonder. Such serendipity is typical of a constantly surprising life whose overlapping paths continually come full circle. 

So the story goes, - for the first time in my life I was lucky to attend an International Conference on Vedas, held on 17th-19th of March,2017, at Gameri, Assam. I was clueless about what this event would be about but was excited nevertheless. Unwittingly; I packed my bags and eagerly accompanied Swami Purnachaitanya, who was to represent Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, my beloved Gurudev, at the conference as a keynote speaker.

The International Conference on Vedas

Perhaps the journey itself was a harbinger of the wonders that the next few days would bring.  We travelled with Mrs. Gordana Nis, a transcendental meditation teacher from Serbia and Dr. Mohan Karki, a yoga expert from Patanjali, who were to speak at the conference. So, the motley group of four travelled from Guwahati for seven and half hours to reach Gameri, a remote picturesque village in Biswanath, Assam.

With all the honored speakers.

Preparations were in full swing for the event. 

Amongst the hustle bustle, Mr. Omnath Sharma, one of the main organisers of the event welcomed us and handed us over to his extremely adept personnel who showed us to our modest but most charming and clean quarters. I could sense that resources were limited in this remote corner of the world, but everything was just so perfect. I was amazed by the professionalism I saw. Refreshed, I decided to go for a walk to take in the environment. On the way out I chanced upon Mr. Omnath carrying toilet cleaning supplies and enthusiastically cleaning the common washrooms. I was pleasantly surprised to see a man of such a stature alone cleansing the toilets for our convenience late night. He had a contented smile on his face, I could not spot a bit of worry, as if he had a direct contract with the divine.

Mr. Omnath started a Veda school in the village where about 70 children are enrolled today. How he organised this conference singlehandedly is remarkable and a thing to wonder.

With  Vedanta, a cute Veda boy

The conference started with soothing Rigveda chants by the Veda boys of the local village school. There were speakers from NASA, professors from BHU and many other eminent personalities. Swami Purnachaitanyaji gave the keynote speech and we were done.For the next three days I had to listen to other speeches which was personally a tough task for me.

Now, when I look back I realise that destiny was at play there.I sensed a gentle breeze, a sublime presence. Someone walked to the stage. I was enraptured. This person was not some regular meditation or yoga expert. I could feel it in my bones, this soul was divine. There was something about him.  I later enquired and found out that he was Dr. Bhudacharan, a monk from Thailand. My instincts were not wrong. He was one of the earliest disciples of Mahrishi Mahesh Yogi and his resemblance to his Master was uncanny.

For me, the monk was nature encapsulated in human form; his thoughts were so innocent and yet full of such wisdom! He was free like the breeze, simple, natural and divine! Swamiji and I were looking forward to spend some quality time with him.

Swamiji and the monk( Thailand meets Holland)

Next day we travelled together to a local temple. He told us that he attended World Culture Festival, 2016 at Delhi. He also talked about Gurudev Sri Sri   and had high regards for him. He remarked that our happiness and contentment was due to the grace of our Master. He recalled that Maharishi had often wished for Gurudev to sit in his throne making others go in wonder how come a little boy be so honored by Maharishi.

It so happened that our wise monk had a wish to share his thoughts in Hindi. Fortune smiled upon me as I was handed the responsibility to  translate his ethereal talks for the audience. Eventually I sort of happened to become his temporary secretary.Like Swamiji, he shared with us the real essence of the Vedas with his own experiences.

The meditative session

To our wonder, the moment he chanted the Sri suktam from the Rigveda, it started raining. This was a sign of the fullness of the maha Yagya. His understanding of the Vedas was so deep and yet his explanations so simple and profound. He explained things as if explaining them to a child.In his presence I felt such love, such a feeling of tranquillity, charm, serenity, graciousness and completeness. The feelings are hard to put in words, but a person such as him is hard to find just as a large flawless diamond that shines with inner light and beauty.

The three wise men

One day the wise monk (as I prefer to address him) touched my pulse and told me that my digestive fire is weak and I don’t know what he did, but from that moment on my stomach feels light and gives me no trouble at all. (I understand that everyone who travels a lot will know how burdened our digestive systems can become).

What I remember about him most is his generosity. A simple monk has little worldly wealth, and whatever this wise monk had; he shared with everyone around him. On the whim of the little village children he bought them sweets. He invited us to Thailand too.

Lucky to be in the company of saints

Of all the speakers of the event, truthfully; both Swamiji and our beloved monk stole the show. Now that I think about it, it does not come as a surprise. He was an unpretentious human being, so deeply in touch with himself and the divine. His wisdom, gained from years and years of training and hard work, first with his Master and then as a teacher.

I was fortunate to be a part of this conference. Such conferences are the platforms that enable us to preserve our rich culture and a place of amalgamation, a scientific laboratory where great minds, seekers and social activist converge to learn and teach the world.

Towards the end of the event, the monk blessed me and appreciated my attentiveness and willingness to serve. 

A selfie with the monk

I feel Saints like Swamiji and our monk are the ones who are spreading divinity and peace in this chaotic world.I feel such gratitude towards Gurudev for blessing me with the opportunity to have this beautiful experience in their divine company.

At end will like to convey my thanks to Archanaji and Atika Dhandhia for suggesting the title of the blog.