SADHU VASWANI
Sadhu Vaswani, Baba, Vaswani’s nephew and chief disciple, Jashan P. Vaswani
SADHU VASWANI T. L.
In 1957, Dada T. L. Vaswani, aged seventy-eight, was a former college professor of English and history who had renounced all to serve humanity. He was called “Sadhu” and had established and was running the Saint Mira School in Poona, and was regarded by many to be a saint. There was a longstanding invitation from him to Baba to visit the school. Not to disappoint His “Beloved child,” as Baba would call him, Baba agreed to go and a date was fixed.
On 23rd March 1957, Meher Baba visited St. Mira School in Poona and was received by Dada T. L. Vaswani and gave darshan to the students and others in School Hall. There was a public darshan program outside where nearly 10000 people had His darshan and received prasad.
Baba cautioned the Meherazad mandali to be always with Him during the Poona program, and he kept repeating this warning for days prior to going. At 6:30 A.M. on March 23rd, Baba, accompanied by Eruch, Bhau, Kumar and Aloba left Meherazad for Poona in Meherjee’s car.
Joyous singing and shouts of “Jai Avatar Meher Baba!” accompanied Baba’s car as it slowly made its way through the crowd toward Saint Mira High School. The car was decorated with garlands, and in the vanguard of the parade a band was playing. Vaswani received Baba at the door of the school and embraced Him tightly. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he led Baba to a private room, where he sat with Him for a while. Baba comforted him and was then carried in a chair to the school’s Sanctuary Hall, where He was seated on the dais. Vaswani sat on his right and Irene Conybeare was given a chair opposite them with some other people.
After recitations from the Bhagavad Gita and kirtan singing by the students, Vaswani, deeply moved, paid tribute to Baba in his welcome remarks over the microphone. The following is a part of his talk:
Sisters and brothers, children of the One Divine Mother! I speak in the presence of one whom His disciples in different parts regard as the Ancient One …
For thirty years and more, He who is in our midst today has borne witness to the truth that there is something better than speech. That is silence. It is, to my mind, the truth of Truths. He has spoken to the world through silence. His witness to the “Kingdom of Silence” went into my heart many years ago. In this age of noise, He has taught the truth: Be silent!
I have been impressed, too, with another truth in the life of Beloved Baba. He is a lover of the simple life. He is simple, and therefore He rejoices in the company of the little ones. In His message … He said it did His heart good to come in contact with the little ones, the children of the Mira Schools.
There is a third thing too which I have noticed in regard to Meher Baba – the smile on His lips. A beautiful smile plays on His lips always. He has suffered as perhaps not many have. He has experienced pain as not many have. But there is always a beautiful smile playing on His lips.
His silence, His simplicity, and His smile – these are His three gifts to us. I bow down to him with love and humility in my heart.
On Baba’s behalf C. D. Deshmukh spoke eloquently for five minutes, emphasizing Baba’s Avatarhood and mission. The hall was full to capacity with Vaswani’s students and followers. Baba’s lovers had to stand outside by the gate.
The headmaster of the school, C. B. Advani, spoke a few words, and also the secretary, Sri Gangaram, after which Baba asked that this message from him be read out to the students:
The youth of today is the ruling force of tomorrow. All things have a small beginning; the seedling grows into a tree, the stream into a river and the child grows into a man to use or misuse the lessons he has absorbed in life as a youth. But even after he has grown into a man, he often remains a child in the spiritual sense of the word. The world is the kindergarten and school necessary for the spiritual lessons man must learn through countless lives of experiencing the opposites – such as pain and pleasure, joy and suffering, good and bad, wealth and poverty, et cetera.
All growth is gradual, and it is only through slow and gradual stages that man begins truly to grow up and discover his True Self and to relinquish the childish playthings of hate, greed and anger through selfless service and love. In the spiritual school also, there are many grades to be passed which few have the courage and determination to go through. Just as you need masters and instructors to guide you along the path of your studies, so there exist Perfect Masters who can guide you along the path of the spirit to the glorious destination of Godhood. Few have the good fortune to meet and follow such a spiritual Guide – when you do, you must earn His grace and be worthy of His love.
Do not balk at the discipline given by your parents and teachers. Discipline in small ways leads to the greater necessary discipline of self. Do not try to conquer others – conquer yourself and you will have conquered the world. The simplest way to do this is to love God. Begin to love God by loving your fellow-beings. Begin to see God by seeing Him in all beings and things. Give without thought of return. Serve without thought of reward. God is everywhere, in everything. Most of all, He is right within yourself. You do not exist for the world – the world exists for you.
There is an amusing illustration of this in the story of the ant. An ant was trying to cross a stream on a leaf. Midstream the leaf, tossed by the wind, overturned and the ant cried: “Help, help, the world is drowning!”
A frog close by said: “What rubbish. The world is not drowning; you mean you are drowning.”
“Well,” said the ant, “Once I drown the world might as well not exist for me. So for me it means not only that I am drowning but that the world is drowning too.”
In the same way, all existence is within you. God is to be found within yourself, and once you find Him you have found the only treasure worth finding. I give you My blessings that you love God and find Him.
After the welcoming ceremonies, Baba gave darshan and prasad to the women and students inside, and hundreds surged forward to take advantage of it. Goldney and Pukar locked hands to stem the tide of the crowd from overwhelming Baba with garlands and embraces.
Baba was then carried outside and sat on the veranda to give darshan and distribute prasad to His lovers and many others from Poona whose number now exceeded ten thousand. Elbows flew as some pressed forward. The situation became so serious that Baba’s safety was at stake. Physically, Baba was suffering terribly, but despite it, he had come to Poona to give darshan. The crowd continued to grow out of control and pandemonium eventually broke out.
A well-known singer who had been on Baba’s return flight from Australia had come with his party to sing before Baba. But his harmonium and other instruments got broken in the melee and total confusion reigned. The mandali surrounded Baba as the police appeared on the scene. Not knowing who they were, the police roughly manhandled the mandali and separated them from Baba. Kumar was forcibly removed and taken some distance away where he was made to sit down. He, whom Baba had made the Commander-in-Chief during the Andhra and Hamirpur programs, was now in the custody of the police. Bhau was shoved so violently that he was just saved from falling several feet away. Had Narayan Bundellu not caught him in time, he would have been severely injured.
On the one hand, the mandali were pleased that the police had come and now surrounded Baba, but on the other, they had Baba’s order to remain close to Him during the program. The police would not allow them to come near, and they had to stand helplessly at a distance. Only Eruch was allowed to stand by Baba’s side, conveying Baba’s words.
Although order was restored after some time, the crowd continued to be undisciplined despite the presence of the police, and nothing could be done to keep the people in line. The out-of-town lovers had been pushed back and had to stand in the hot sun near the gate. Amidst the throng, Bhau observed his wife, Rama, with their two children, Sheela and Mehernath, and her brother Dhiraj, moving near Baba. Bhau tried to approach Baba, but the police again did not permit it, and he was unable to meet his family. In spite of their being there for Baba’s darshan, Bhau had no chance of speaking with them, not even a minute. From a distance, Bhau could see that Baba asked his wife how the children were, and He made Sheela turn around and show him her burnt back. The skin had healed with hardly a trace of the accident’s scars. . .
Before leaving, Baba’s arti was sung and He remarked, “Today’s program gave Me much pleasure.”
REFR: LordMeher/ambprasarkendra
SADHU VASVANI’S INVITATION TO MEHER BABA
The social and charity worker Sadhu Vaswani, of Saint Mira High School in Poona, invited Baba to visit there. Baba accepted and set Sunday, July 6th, (1958) for the occasion. The night before, Baba had a high fever and was unable to pass either urine or stool. He tried several times, but without success. Still, at 7:00 A.M., he left for Poona with Eruch, Bhau and brother Jal, stopping in Ahmednagar to pick up Dhake. Homa Dadachanji was driving. Because of Baba’s indisposition, he was not in a good mood.
Along the way, the car was halted under a tree, and Baba tried to urinate behind a white sheet held around him by the men. Another car happened to drive past. Recognizing Baba’s car, it too halted. The passengers alighted and asked Jal if they could quickly take Baba’s darshan. The Avatar was suffering unimaginably, and on top of it, his devotees were seeking his darshan. Without passing urine, Baba returned to the car, and the people approached him. Smiling, Baba greeted them. After they had left, he complained, “I have a high fever, I cannot piddle, there is much pain and discomfort – but to please others, I have to smile.”
Baba was given a splendid reception by Sadhu Vaswani, and as soon as he arrived at Saint Mira High School, a rapid change overtook him. Baba’s face blossomed like a rose and joy flowed from his sweet expression. A bhajan program was to be held.
Baba also had a private meeting with Vaswani and a few others in a separate room. Vaswani’s secretary asked, “Baba, when will I realize God?” Baba did not answer, so the man said, “Baba, why don’t you answer me? There are so many questions I wish to ask.” The following reply was dictated by Baba:
There is only one question. And once you know the answer to that question, there are no more questions to ask. In fact, there are not two questions. There is only the one Original Question. And to that one Original Question there is only one Final Answer. In between the Original Question and the Final Answer, there are innumerable false answers.
From out of the depths of unbroken Infinity arose the Question: “Who am I?” And to that one Question there is the only Answer: “I am God!”
God is Infinite; therefore His shadow, too, must be infinite. Reality is infinite in its Oneness; illusion is infinite in its duality. The one Question, arising from the oneness of the Infinite, goes through a maze of answers infinitely unending in the duality of illusion.
So before you arrive at that Final Real Answer, there are countless false answers to be received, tested and discarded – such as “I am stone … I am bird … I am animal … I am man … I am woman … I am great … I am small,” and so on, and so on, ad infinitum. These answers are as distorted echoes resounding from the hollow forms of unending nothingness, repeatedly misleading until finally leading to the right answer, the one and Final Answer, “I am God!”
Therefore, stop giving yourself false answers, and then you will realize God.
Sadhu Vaswani had many followers, all of whom Baba allowed darshan. Baba appeared to be in a happy mood. Homa was to drive Baba back in Meherjee’s car. Meherjee’s wife brought the car to Saint Mira High School and handed the keys to Homa, who locked the car, but by mistake left the keys inside. Baba was occupied with giving darshan, and Homa was gazing at him as if entranced. Joy and happiness prevailed in this pleasant atmosphere. Seeing Baba’s smile had a wonderful effect.
Suddenly Homa remembered the keys and discovered he had locked them inside the car. He became nervous, went to Meherjee and told him. Meherjee told Homa to go quickly to his house and bring a duplicate set. The darshan was about to end. Homa took another car and was able to return just as Baba was stepping out of the hall. Baba left with the mandali in Meherjee’s car for Meherazad, and remarked on the way, “No stool, no urine, but the work done was quite good.”
Baba was in a cheerful mood, and when informed of Homa’s blunder, he remarked to him, “I am so happy today that I forgive you. Now, drive fast.”
Baba’s fever left him and his face glowed with triumph, as if he had won a major victory. Throughout the previous night, Bhau witnessed how restless Baba appeared. Dr. Goher had tried her best to make him urinate, administering diuretics and other preparations, but all her efforts were to no avail. Baba had been in a wretched mood when they set out for Poona. Now after the darshan, a transformation had taken place, so the mandali concluded that Baba was in fact suffering only for others. He had to do some special inner work at Saint Mira High School, and it manifested in this physical way or complication. His real work was to take the burden of others’ sanskaras upon himself, and it was the sole cause of his suffering.
Lord Meher, Original Publication, Bhau Kalchuri, Vol. 16, pp. 5477 – 5478
https://avatarmeherbababombaycentre.com/sadhu-vasvanis-invitation-to-meher-baba/
Sadhu T. L. Vaswani, an Indian saint, philosopher, and spiritual teacher, remains an enduring symbol of selfless service and devotion to humanity. Born on November 25, 1879, in Hyderabad, Sindh (then part of undivided India), Vaswani dedicated his life to spreading the message of love, compassion, and spiritual enlightenment. He is best known for founding the Sadhu Vaswani Mission, which continues his legacy of service through various humanitarian and spiritual initiatives.
Early Life and Spiritual Quest
Vaswani was a brilliant student and a gifted writer, excelling in both academics and literary pursuits. However, he chose to walk the path of renunciation and spirituality, driven by a profound yearning for God and service to mankind. His teachings emphasize universal brotherhood, simplicity, vegetarianism, and reverence for all life.
Meeting with Meher Baba
One of the most notable episodes in Sadhu T. L. Vaswani’s life was his meeting with Meher Baba, the Indian spiritual master who declared himself the Avatar of the age. Their meeting was marked by mutual respect and a deep spiritual connection. Vaswani referred to Meher Baba as the “Messiah of Love and Compassion” and recognized his role in awakening humanity’s spiritual consciousness. Their interaction remains a testament to the unity among spiritual luminaries, transcending doctrinal boundaries.
Legacy and Mission
Sadhu Vaswani’s teachings continue to inspire millions through his books, speeches, and the activities of the Sadhu Vaswani Mission. His birthday is celebrated as International Meatless Day, promoting non-violence and kindness toward animals. The mission operates schools, hospitals, and community service programs, fostering education and holistic well-being.
Sadhu Vaswani’s life exemplifies the transformative power of love and selflessness, making him a guiding light for those seeking a higher purpose in life.
Learn more about Sadhu Vaswani Mission here
Please feel free to contact us for any corrections/omissions
