Spiritual guidance along with medical training
by Dr Ira Shah (MD Pediatrics) on 20 Jun 2020
During my MBBS, I used to go often to meet Kaka (Satguru Devendra Ghia). Whenever I used to go to meet him, I would either bunk my lectures or practicals. And when I used to come back to college after meeting him, I would come to know that either the practicals got canceled or they were just a repetition of the previous ones. Similarly for the lectures, they would either be canceled or the attendance was not taken in that particular lecture. Those meetings with Kaka (Satguru Devendra Ghia) were full of spiritual discussions, practicalities of life, and lots of laughter. Kaka (Satguru Devendra Ghia) taught spirituality in a way that was never heavy or rigid. He never insisted that we do a particular asana, do a particular meditation, or even do a particular chant. I remember asking him once, what should I chant? I had read in a spiritual book, that if your guru gives you a mantra, then you have been accepted as a disciple. When I asked Kaka about what should I chant, he just replied, "You can take any mantra whichever you like". I was disappointed at that time that Kaka did not give me a mantra but now realized that he was never rigid. In fact, he was the most flexible guru that one can come across. Once I asked him, what spiritual practices should we do and he replied that I am taking you through a process called SAHAJ KRIYA YOGA. SAHAJ YOGA is by Siddharth baba and Kriya yoga is by Mahavatar Babaji Maharaj. Both Siddharth baba and Mahavatar Babaji Maharaj are satgurus of Kaka . Now Kriya Yoga has been described in the book AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI and it included certain breathing exercises. Kaka was never making us do that. He only told us to get up at 5 am and sit in pooja at that time and connect with him. He would do the rest. Out of laziness, we would not even do that, and then when we would tell him, that we are not doing that, he would just wave his hand and say JA LEHER KARO.
Meeting Kaka would give us a kind of peace and joy that cannot be described. He would change things internally within us without even knowing how it happened. This is SAHAJ YOGA as Kaka explained, everything occurs on its own. That is why it is called SAHAJ. But that occurs only through grace, the grace of a divine guru. Kriya yoga became much clearer later. It is not so-called breathing exercises. Kriya means activity and yoga means union. In any activity, when I connect to god, then it is Kriya yoga. Again that connection occurred due to Kaka's grace. We were incapable of connecting with God, but Kaka did that. We just surrendered to Kaka and he would take care of everything. Then purification of thoughts, mind, heart, and feelings would occur on its own. The spiritual path was not about reading scriptures but was all about the clarity of thoughts and purity of the heart. This is what Kaka taught us and this is what lives in us!