Shiva appears in Bidadi and One month of Shiva Sutras at Bidadi Ashram🔗

It was January 2005. Swamiji decided to speak on Shiva Sutras for one complete month. Swamiji told us that Shiva Sutras will be the mission's scripture. To be specific, the date was January 5, 2008.

In those days, I would go near Swamiji's quarters and remind him it was around 6:00 am. Swamiji would have gone to bed around 4 am. He never sleeps for more than 1 or 2 hours a day. When I went near his room and said, "Swamiji it is 6 am!", he called me back and said, "Shiv, I have something to tell you!" He opened the door and said in a very excited manner, "Shiv! This morning Shiva walked in flesh and blood right here" He then pointed out the spot where Shiva walked and then went on to describe what had happened.

Swamiji told me that right around 5:30 or 6:00 am, he heard a sound in front of his quarters. Swamiji stepped out of his room and shouted in Tamil, "Yaaru?" (Whos is it?). He was thinking that it was some of the workers who worked on the adjacent farm. The person turned and smiled at Swamiji. By now he clearly saw this person's Ajna chakra and instantly knew it was none other than Shiva himself. Swamiji told me that he immediately wondered if this was real or if it was a darshan. He immediately knew this could not be a darshan since enlightened masters cannot have darshans. He immediately touched Shiva's feet and looked up at him. When he touched His feet he found they were solidly on the ground, further proving it was not a darshan, but His presence was in flesh and blood! He smiled at Swamiji and there was a deep communion. Shiva then walked away towards the Ananda Nilayam which is right adjacent to Swamiji's quarters. Ananda Nilayam was the venue for Shiva Sutras that was going to commence that day. Swamiji then told me not to tell anyone about this incident and asked me to drive him to the Banyan tree.

It was the middle of winter. The leaves of the banyan tree would normally be quite dull in winter. However today, it was something quite different. The Banyan Tree was shining. Actually I could feel the glow as we came near the tree. There was no rain for quite some time now, but each leaf felt that it was individually wiped clean. I mentioned this to Swamiji. He said "She is celebrating His presence!"

I could not contain myself and blurted this out to Ayya. After spending a few moments under the banyan tree Swamiji went back to his quarters. We were supposed to start Shiva Sutras in the morning. It was not until 9 pm that night that Swamiji emerged from his quarters. Those of us who knew Swamiji could see he was in a much expanded state and was in Samadhi all day. He walked to the Ananda Nilayam and sat down. There were no words exchanged, just silence, pure vibrant silence. All we did was sit with Him. There were about 40-50 people, mostly ashramites and a few close devotees from Bangalore. We played songs in praise of Arunachala for hours together. Then, after a few hours Swamiji narrated the incident about Shiva appearing in Bidadi.

Immediately when they heard this, Ma Sachitananda, Ma Priyamayi and Ma Maneeshananda, sprang up and said that they had a very interesting experience that morning. The four of them were walking towards the Banyan Tree around 5:45 am for the guru pooja. They heard distinct foot prints of someone walking next to the road. This was clear and lasted for their entire walk. They were afraid and talked among themselves and said, "Don't look, may be it is a bear!" The footsteps disappeared at the banyan tree. When they mentioned this conversation, one of our early devotees from Salem, Anand, had tears in his eyes and showed a picture he drew in the morning. He said while he was walking to the banyan tree for guru pooja, he saw a person walking towards the banyan tree. He did not know what or who this person was but was courageous to catch a glimpse of him. He quickly came back to the room and made a drawing of what he saw. The drawing clearly showed matted locks and long hair, a face that had uncanny resemblance to Shiva.

That night after the inaugural session of Shiva Sutras, Swamiji took all of us to his quarters and showed the place where Shiva set his foot on the soil in Bidadi. We quickly placed stones around this area to mark this spot. Now, even after 3 ½ years after this incident, the stone marks are still there. The entire areas around this spot there no vegetation, only bare soil. And yet just in the area that where we placed stones, there is lush vegetation. We do not water or do anything different in this area, but yet we can see lush vegetation in that spot. Swamiji said we will build a small temple in this area to memorialize the day when Shiva appeared in Bidadi, to bless all of us and to symbolically recognize this living enlightened master's delivery of His teachings again to the planet earth.

If I look back at this incident, the memory is vivid. Indeed this land, our home in Bidadi is blessed, for it is where my master resides in flesh and blood and it is where Shiva appeared in the physical form.