Guru's Last Message

Sahatvam: On the day of Guru’s Mahasamadhi, the sad message of his passing reached me while I was in the car driving back home. I had just given a lecture in Frankfurt on the subject of happiness. Could there be any bigger contrast? I was simply shocked. We all knew that Guru would not be in the physical with us forever; but as his love and concern for us had been so tangible in our hearts, we always liked to push aside that thought. Luckily, I arrived home without causing an accident.

While entering into my room, my eyes were filled with tears. The world I had been living in was totally smashed, no consolation in sight. I sat on my bed and looked around the room trying to find something that could relieve this state of inner turmoil.

Then suddenly my eyes locked on the pile of Guru’s books on my bedside table.  I reached out and picked up volume 52 of My Christmas-New Year-Vacation-Aspiration-Prayers. I just flipped through it and somehow focused on the very last one:

“My physical death
Is not the end of my life –
I am an eternal journey.”

Right away I got a real shot inside my heart. That was Guru’s immediate answer to my grief. I felt a kind of relief, because Guru told me in his own way: “I am here with you. I shall never leave you alone. We are connected throughout Eternity.”

Although I still was mourning, my heart was filled with gratitude. Of course, we all are missing Guru’s physical presence, but our souls will always be in Guru’s Oneness-Heart.

Agraha: Guru used to call regularly to dictate poems to me. I used to love this more than words can describe. Guru was always very concentrated, but with perfect calm and in a most harmonious flow as he brought forward new spiritual wisdom for all humanity. Guru would always dictate a round number of poems – usually 100 or 200 at a time! Every so often, he might ask me how many poems he had dictated and then proceed.
Just a few days before Guru’s passing on October 11th, 2007, he called and began dictating poems. I was so happy – for I could always feel a small touch of Guru’s concentrated peace and creative genius also enter into me. Around poem 31 or 32, Guru dictated this poem:

“My physical death
Is not the end of my life –
I am an eternal journey.”

Immediately after, Guru hung up the line. I was actually very worried – the words, the uneven number, the sudden end to the call. I immediately called Guru’s house, where I was almost sure Guru was calling from, and there was no answer. I kept reflecting on this poem with much consternation. And then Guru called again the next day, and all seemed normal.

Guru passed just a few days later. I knew that Guru wanted this poem to be his last. At the time, I was almost inconsolable with the deepest grief of my life. Not long after, I remembered this poem, and I marvelled with gratitude at Guru’s boundless Love.
This was the last poem of the last book published while Guru was in his physical being.