A Different Form of Misdirection

When I used to live in Maharajji's Vrindavan Ashram for long periods, I heard many stories not found in the books. Many are contained in this book. One story that seems to illustrate what was really happening constantly around Maharajji describes a day when Maharajji left in a car with four men. After some time(possibly several days?), they returned to the ashram. After Maharajji retired to his room, the men were hanging out together talking about the experience. They were shocked to discover that they had all gone to different places. How is that even slightly possible ? It seems that one could never be sure what was really happening when you were around Maharajji. However, this extended to other parts of one's life when you weren't even sitting directly in or near the physical presence of Maharajji.

The word "misdirection" is used to describe something used by magicians doing sleight-of-hand magic(In Hindi, Jadu). Maharajji wasn't doing magic, but He seems to have used a different form of misdirection. Multiple things seem to have been happening at the same time around Maharajji. Each person was having his or her own experience. It was perhaps that in Maharajji's presence each was hallucinating.

Often when devotees were sitting with Maharajji, He would be saying something apparently to one person, but the depth of the meaning of Maharajji's words was totally aimed at a different devotee. Everything Maharajji did seems to have been some sort of teaching for someone there.

One Western woman described to me that she was with Maharajji, it often appeared to he other young Western kids there that Maharajji treated her very badly. Maharajji would pull her hair and slap he face, and yell at her. Once she saw Maharajji walking with some men on the Parikrama marg in Vrindavan. She ran to Maharajji and pranamed before Him. Maharajji just stepped right over her and continued walking. As He stepped over her He kicked her in the head. The other young Westerners would ask her how she could possibly stay with Maharajji when He was treating her so badly. But she was not having that sort of experience at all. Everything she experienced coming from Maharajji was with utter love and caring for her. Maharajji was blasting her with a feeling of profound love. She continues to have this experience till the present time, many years later. It is so amazing that with Maharajji nothing appears as you think it is.

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