Satguru Maharishi OM
In July 1971, in a small but beautiful village near Ganaur (in northern India) close to the holy banks of Yamuna River, a baby boy was born. His first sound came out of his Mouth "OM". He came into this world not crying, but with a beaming smile on his face as if prophesying the joy and bliss he was to bring to the world. His parents gave him the name Omdutt, but his parents and teachers always called him OM.
Local Astrologer Sri Chhajjuram Brahmachari told his parents that he will be a saint not a householder and will renounce worldly attachments at the age of 17. In an attempt to change Guruji’s fate, his parents tried their best to arrange for a childhood marriage. Several times his parents invited families over for a marriage proposal, and each time Guruji OM would vanish to a distant ashram called Gurukul Barnava Lakshaagrah in state of Uttar Pradesh until the coast was clear. As predicted, Guruji renounced his home at age 17, thereby ending his ‘family life and ties’, and entered spiritual practice fulltime.
Guruji OM’s boyhood spiritual practice served as a living example for the world. At an early age, Guruji OM immersed himself in intense spiritual practice. By the age of four, he had already begun composing devotional prayers laden with deep mystical insight. Even as a small child, Guruji OM could often be found absorbed in a deep meditation state of samadhi (like Lord Buddha). He loved to perform yagna (homa or sacred fire rituals) in the forest or in remote farm areas often going into the state of deep bliss. Quite naturally, walking without shoes was never a problem for the young OM, for he was totally oblivious of his surroundings. As a child, Guruji performed many healing miracles in his village. He often healed people through prayers or natural herbs (ayurvedic medicine).
At the age of seven , Guruji searched and found his guru, His Holiness Shringi Rishi. It was Guru Shringi Rishi that answered various spiritual questions that were raised by Guruji as he was growing up. Due to a curse, Guru Shringi Rishi had to take birth again. In his present life, Guru Shringi Rishi was known as Bramrishi Krishan Dutt Bramchari, but he retained all of his divine knowledge of his life when he was the guru for Raja Dashratha, who was no other than Lord Raama’s father! It was Guru Shringi Rishi who blessed Raja Dashratha in the Putra Kameshti Yagna. It was in this special ceremony that Guru Shringi Rishi said that Lord Vishnu will be incarnated in your home as Lord Raama. In his most recent life as Bramrishi Krishan Dutt Bramchari. Guru Shringi Rishi never went to school, but at the age of one, he was able to speak clearly in his meditative state of samadhi. He soon began to preach the Vedas (while in Samadhi - in sleeping flat type yoga posture) in an ancient form of Sanskrit. Imagine, a toddler in a deep trance like meditation revealing Vedic mysteries in ancient Sanskrit! This was too much for Guru Shringi Rishi’s parents, who were simple, yet sincere rural farmers. They thought their son was possessed! In spite of Guru Shringi Rishi’s parents attempts to stop this child prodigy, divinity prevailed, and after some time Guru Shringi Rishi was recognized for the Holy many he was. At age 30, Guru Shringi Rishi predicted, while in samadhi, that he would leave his body at the age of 50. Before he left his body, Guru Shringi Rishi visited Guruji OM’s village ten years later. At the time, still in high school and was just 17. Guru Shringi Rishi performed a yagna (homa / sacred fire) prayer in the public kitchen and food was served to all. It was at this auspicious time that Guruji OM received Guru Shringi Rishi blessings and Guru Shringi Rishi said to Guruji “You are now purna (self realized). Renounce your home and start your spiritual journey everywhere in the country and in the world.” It was that time that Guru Shringi Rishi gave the mission to Guruji OM. Three weeks later, Guruji OM left his family to start his spiritual quest.
Another quality that was manifested early in Guruji OM was his love and compassion. Though only a child, Guruji did whatever he could to ease the suffering of his elderly neighbors. He donated his own clothes, bathed them, and even brought them food and clothing from his own home. This habit of giving away things and performing prayers yagya from his family’s house landed him in trouble. However, no amount of physical punishment could stop the expression of his inborn compassion. He later said, “Blessing for all, all are equal in the eyes of Divine Mother and Holy Father.” He also said, “An unbroken stream of Love flows from me towards all beings in the cosmos. That is my and everyone’s true inborn nature that is deep inside us. You can listen to your own self and supreme self in your own heart.”
‘Maharishi OM’ as Guruji is known today, has inspired and started innumerable humanitarian services. He has earned international recognition from many organizations for his outstanding contributions to the world community. He is recognized as an extraordinary spiritual leader by the famous saint of Himalaya’s Swami Rama Krishna Das in Chitrakoot.
Although Guruji Maharishi OM makes no claims of his greatness, those who have been blessed by his presence know that he is the sincerest example of his teaching. His disciples and believers take in his teachings by being with him.
On March 1, 2003 on the auspicious day of Maha Shivaratri, Lord Shiva and Mother Divine accepted Guruji’s offerings. Everything Guruji offered to Lord Shiva and Mother Divine simply disappeared. That same day Lord Shiva and Mother Divine transferred their divine energy into Guruji’s soul. This divine gift enabled Guruji to awaken the divine energy within spiritual seekers just by meditating or touching the devotee’s forehead.
Guruji Maharishi OM has dedicated his life to the uplifting of suffering of humanity through the simplest of gestures – such as showering motherly love and embracing those who comes in his contact. In this intimate manner, Guruji has blessed many by merely putting his hand on their foreheads. Just as Guruji OM received divine powers from his guru, Guruji Om mirrors this blessing to those who he encounters. In its true form, this is the simplest way seekers can receive blessings and start to experience the real truth and bliss that is within them.
When someone asked Guruji why he receives every person who comes to him in a loving embrace, Guruji OM replied, “ If you ask the air, 'Why do you flow?' what can it say?” we are all part of same ocean.
Guruji Maharishi OM spends most of his waking hours receiving the distressed and all who come to him for comfort, day after day without a break. He runs a spiritual center in Chicago and an ashram in the Himalayas at Haridwar, India. Once a reporter asked Guruji how was it possible for him to embrace each and every one in the same loving way, even if they were diseased or unhappy. Guruji OM replied, “When a bee hovers over a garden that has a variety of flowers, what it beholds is not the difference between the flowers but the nectar within them.” Similarly Guruji sees the same Supreme Self in each and every one. “We are all equal in the eyes of mother divine. She (universal mother) is omnipresent.”
Dr. Satish Tyagi, while presenting Guruji Maharishi OM with the 1997 Yogi- Award for Non-violence, said,
He stands here in front of us. God's love in a human form...
OM Shanti Shanti Shanti OM
Sreeni Challa
President