What is the Extent of His Power?

This is a rather difficult topic for most people to talk about since a lot of the devotees are shy and often speak only of the 'Love and Grace' aspect of Maharajji, I thought that I should simply take a leap of faith and say things as they are.

Maharajji can do anything and everything in the Universe.

Imagine a being that could effortlessly perform all the miraculous deeds that Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Ram, Hanuman and anyone else you'd like to bring into the picture do, Neem Karoli Baba has probably done it too, and is continuing to do it somewhere as we speak. He has the power of all the Gods, yet chooses to stay on earth and focus on alleviating human suffering.

Even now, the constant stream of Maharaj Ji miracles that get reported on a daily level is quite large. To some, he magically deposits exactly the amount of money in the bank that was needed for the devotee's daughter's wedding, to some he saves them from life threatening illnesses and prevents them from having fatal accidents. To some others, he pops out of the frame of his photograph and brings the dead back to life and disappears. These are just the beginning of his miraculous powers. He works on so many planes and so many dimensions that it's hard to comprehend where or what the limits are of his Divine Power.

Maharajji as the SatGuru

The dominant role that Maharajji plays in the world as a whole, even though he is an Avatar, is that of a SatGuru. Even though the word Guru should suffice in traditional terms, for this particular Guru I deliberately use the word SatGuru each time. The word SatGuru is given to a Rishi (sage) or a Saint who has attained the highest state of Self Realisation or union with God and his or her sole purpose is to guide and initiate the seeker into the path of spirituality and God Consciousness.

Most Gurus initiate disciples, but Maharajji clearly said

"I MAKE DEVOTEES, NOT DISCIPLES"

In this statement, Maharajji reveals his divinity, as only Gods have devotees, not gurus. Technically, a SatGuru is someone who has returned from a state of'Savikalpa Samadhi' which is the final stage ofYoga where the Yogi becomes one with Brahma or Parabrahma (The Creator or Creative Energy of the Universe). Kabir says "Satpurush ko Jansi, Tiska Satguru Naam" meaning "One who has seen the supreme lord of truth is the SatGuru. Kabir also says that worship of SatGuru includes in it worship of all deities.

The Master Fisherman

I boasted among men that I had known you.
They see your pictures in all works of mine.
They come and ask me, 'Who is he?'
I know not how to answer them.
I say, 'Indeed, I cannot tell.'
They blame me and they go away in scorn.
And you sit there smiling.
I put my tales of you into lasting songs.
The secret gushes out from my heart.
They come and ask me, 'Tell me all your meanings.'
I know not how to answer them.
I say, 'Ah, who knows what they mean!'
They smile and go away in utter scorn.
And you sit there smiling.

~Rabindranath Tagore

Baba Ram Dass in one of his later lectures wrote something extraordinary about Maharajji when he was addressing the Satsang in the United States. He said, "Maharajji is the Fisherman, I am the worm, you all are the Fish". I borrowed the title for this chapter from that statement. It's totally true. Maharajji handpicks his devotees.

How The Hanuman Chalisa Changed My Life

On the way back from my life-changing trip to Kainchi Dham, I had to stop in Delhi for a night to catch the flight the next day in Goa. In the taxi going from the hotel to the airport, we passed by a very huge statue of Hanuman, after which the taxi driver started to get friendly and speak about things. Somehow we started to speak about Sri Ram and Hanuman. I was very new to these topics, because after so many years of atheism Maharajji gave me proof of the existence of God, especially Hanuman and Ram as deities. When the conversation got deep, I remember two profound statements that the taxi driver made. Firstly, he said, “even more powerful than Sri Ram is the name of Ram (Raam Naam)”. Secondly, he said, “if you want to know Ram, you need to go through Hanuman and the most important thing you can do to meet Hanuman is learn the Hanuman Chalisa”. I did not quite understand what he meant, but I wrote down “Learn Hanuman Chalisa” in my to do list on the phone.

Now firstly I need to explain to you that even though I have a basic knowledge of Hindi, it was still my third language in school and I struggle with reading and speaking till this day. Hence the need for the translator in this book. However, I came back to Goa and one of the first things that I started to do was learn the Hanuman Chalisa. The ‘Darshan’ that I had at Kainchi was so powerful that it shook the foundations of everything I believed in. Anyway, Hanuman and Maharajji are treated as one in most of the temples. They sing the Hanuman Chalisa to both the Murti of Neem Karoli Baba and the Murti of Hanuman in Kainchi. So I was keen on learning this magnificent prayer, which honestly speaking is quite an arduous task because it contains 40 verses plus intro and outro in the Awadhi language which is far different than the Hindi we speak today.

The Shy Devotee

I've come upon several types of devotees of Maharajji. Each has their own unique relationship with him. Whether they are rich or poor, eastern or western, young or old, man or woman, the common thread that connects all of us is Love. I've seen a lot of religious sects and a lot of different kinds of people belonging to religious groups, in my personal experience none are as kind and loving as the devotees of Maharajji. There's an extremely subtle sense of unity which doesn't just limit itself to Neem Karoli Baba or Hanuman, this energy that Maharajji radiates in all the houses that even have a picture of him permeates into the family and makes them welcome the stranger and extend a helping hand to each other. It's like they become him and it's beautiful to watch.

Somehow, most of the devotees that I've come across end up feeling a transcendental sense of satisfaction in their lives. Moving closer and closer to Maharajji, their ambitions become transformed into grace, their sense of competition with one another disappears, and they somehow end up very content with what they have. This is especially true among the Indian devotees (I haven't been outside oflndia yet, most of my western Satsang is on Facebook). Some devotees are even afraid of acquiring wealth because they fear it will disrupt their frequency of Bhakti and make a mess. Maharajji has been known to have said:

"MONEY BRINGS ANXIETIES"