Spiritual journey & initiation of first shishya

Having been in the company of a spiritual master, whom I had so far (until the year 1969) regarded as an intimate friend, I was slowly drawn into the spiritual way of life. Sometime in 1971, standing in the waters of the Holy Ganga at Haridwar, I was initiated and formally became his ‘shishya’. Soon after that, I had the proud privilege of having darshan of almost all the symbols of Lord Shiva that appeared, one after the other, in his hands and body. He had Aum, Jyoti, Shivlinga, Trishul, Crescent Moon, Padam, Ganapati, Nandi, and three ‘pindis’ of Maa Vaishnodevi (Shakti) and I was completely overawed. Later on, quite a few ‘shishyas’ and many persons from the public also had the proud privilege of having ‘darshan’ of these divine symbols from time to time.

During my initiation ceremony, I had an awe-inspiring experience. Revered Guruji was standing in the waters of the Ganga and there was a strong current. Guruji asked me to lie down horizontally in the water in a posture that my head touched His feet (Dandwat pranam). I hesitated because the water current was too strong and I did not know how to swim. At that point of time, Guruji commanded me to follow his instructions, and to my utter surprise the gushing waters of the Ganga became still and I obeyed his command and the initiation ceremony was performed. Overawed by this happening, I ventured to ask him how the gushing waters of the Ganga came to a stand-still for a while? Very calmly he replied that these objects of nature were under his control.