184. Doctor Manocha. Part two

 

His dormant spirituality reawakened after several decades of sleep around year 2000, when I told him that I have developed love for God, and practice meditation once or twice every day. He started pursuing God, in earnest. He had a deep attachment with Hindu religion, a deep love for Radha Rani (as a mother), Lord Krishna, and all the other Hindu deities. He also remembered what his deceased Guru had taught him. Very soon his love for Bhagwan (God) became so deep that mention of God’s name would bring tears to his eyes and his body hair would stand up. I remember, once he told me, that when he goes for weekly puja to the temple, he sits alone, separate from others, so that people should not be able to see tears rolling down his face, otherwise they would think that this ‘old fool’ has gone mad.

 

He really hated religious or racial bigotry. His father was Hindu, his mother had been born Sikh, and he studied in an Islamic school as a boy. He once had a vision of Jesus in a dream. He would often use the word Allah and rarely did recitation of Allah-hoo (traditional phrase in Islamic mysticism) too. He would visit gurudwaras (Sikh temple). One time when he went to a gurudwara, he saw penumbra of light around three persons, two were on the dais, and one was in the audience. This was his first and last experience of spiritual halos.

My brother became acquainted with a pious man who once a week or fortnight let his body be frequented by a spirit. During that time, he would give answers to needy person’s problems, free of charge. Dr Manocha submitted the question that when will he get his Guru? The spirit replied, “He already has his guru in the form of his maala (rosary). To find a live guru, he will have to do jatra (pilgrimage)”. Pakistanis are not familiar with Hindi words like maala and jatra. This pointed to the authenticity of the message. Dr Manocha later said that may be his maala was his guru, because it almost never left his hand; even in sleep he kept his maala wrapped in his hand. If he would wake up at night, he would start rolling the beads of his maala.

His personality was uncomplicated. He loved nature. One moonlit night as he stepped out of a building he was transfixed by the trees, the shrubs, and the flowers bathed in serene milky light. A security man was close by. Dr Manocha held the leaves of a plant in his hand and showed it to the man and said “Don’t you see God in these leaves?” the security man quickly left him. I mailed him the book “Living with the Himalayan Masters” by Swami Rama. He very much liked the book. It reminded him of the beauty and grandeur of Himalayas and of his life in the Himalayas as a young man. He did not like the philosophic part of my book (part one) and said that such matters were beyond him.

He had his share of spiritual wonders. Once he was watching a film on the life of Lord Krishna (or Ram). Leaving the film unfinished, he went upstairs to his bedroom to sleep. Before going to sleep, he made sure that the TV was off. After a while he felt a glow in the room. He opened his eyes, and was startled to find that the TV was turned on, and he film which he had left incomplete was running. There was no connection between the two TVs. He immediately realized what had happened and loudly exclaimed, “It is a miracle”

One time he was idly looking at the starting bead of his rosary, which is always bigger than the rest. Suddenly it multiplied into two, and after a few more moments into three. As he was watching in amazement, the three pieces detached themselves and got into air. He rubbed his eyes to make sure that he was not hallucinating. Suddenly a fear entered his soul. He loudly said, “That is enough Bhagwan”. Everything reverted to normal.

Once, as he entered into a temple, he saw a murti (statue) of Lord Vishnu on the stage. As he paid homage to the Lord, a sudden wave of blessing came out of the murti and hit him. The bliss was marked and palpable. It lasted for three days.

Not too long ago he went to India and visited holy sites. He visited the Amarnath cave, in Kashmir, one of the holiest shrines of Hinduism. It is located at 12,756 ft. He was exhausted by the climb. The pilgrims touch their foreheads to a certain holy stone in the cave. As he rested his head on the stone, waves of indescribable bliss enveloped him.

He had two visions of prophet Muhammad^pbum, both times in dreams. In the first vision the holy prophet was sitting on a mat or something. A black blanket was wrapped around him. He had a thick beard of white and grey hair. His head was covered with a black turban. His face had pitted scars on it. Dr Manocha thought that Hazoor (a title of respect) must have suffered from small pox sometimes. He watched the holy prophet by walking in an arc. As he watched, he realized that those pits were emitting light like stars. Second time he saw prophet Muhammad^pbum from a distance. He was walking with a group of people. When he visited India, he specially went to a shop and bought a black shawl.

 

Few years ago, he had tremendous spiritual progress. He started going into Samadhi, once or twice a day. It would last for ten to twenty minutes. Sometimes he would be completely oblivious to time and space, other times he would be partly conscious of his surroundings. Sometimes his hands, feet and body would smell of sandalwood, a fragrance associated with Lord Krishna. He would experience deep peace during that time.

It came as a complete surprise to everybody concerned, when the Great Qalandar of Khyber Pass, who lived thousands of miles away from Dr. Manocha, and had no ordinary way of knowing Dr Manocha, acknowledged his spirituality ( see, Introduction; Part one ). He said; “And he(mkadk) has a Hindu friend, a good man, a pious man, a man close to Allah” (see footnote). There is no greater gift from God that a man can aspire than to be close to God, and Dr Manocha attained it.

In his final years in life, God gave him a sickness. It confined him to his house. It was a blessing in disguise, because now he could concentrate full time on his beloved Bhagwan.

Dr. Manocha did not have lofty spiritual ambitions. He was happy at where ever God put him. He never had restlessness and despair which some of the travelers on this path get, and which leads to the dark night of the soul, which St John of the cross (blogs 39-50) has discussed (1).

 I want to repeat what I wrote earlier (blog 129):

When my brother asked the Great Qalandar that why my Hindu friend was given the gift of closeness to God, when he was so rich, had never performed any penances and austerities, and had never quit the world (tiag). The great mystic gave the surprising answer, “These things do not matter. He got it because of some spiritual site (which he visited). There are sites in the world where you get grace (of God). Consider Jerusalem, holy to three religions”. Although in this mote’s opinion he got the grace of God (from the site) because he loved God, perhaps, as good as anybody else.

 

 

Footnote. He used the word Allah and not Bhagwan, implying that Allah and Bhagwan are the same.

(1). The dark night of the soul, by St John of the cross. Translated by Allison Peers

 

 

 

155. Shah Sahib. Part Three

 

11/14/14. I talked to my brother today. He gave the following news:

When he was in train with Shah Sahib, he asked Shah Sahib whether he ever had any doubts about Islam.  Shah Sahib replied, “How can I even have an iota of doubt about Islam, when I found the light of Allah through Islam. One can reach God through different paths and creeds (same thing which Great Mystic of Khyber Pass, Yogi from India, Sri Ramakrishna, and the Baba from Saudi Arabia had said)”. He said that the study of the life of Prophet Muhammad^pbuh cannot be done without the study of Hadith ( sayings of the Prophet), because his life was not a secret. It was open. He lived with his companions, and had been observed by 20-25 thousands Muslims. Some of them had known him since he was a young man. Most of the Hadiths are reliable. Certain aspects of his life, like marriages, have been criticized. So be it.

 

Shah Sahib said a great thing, which delighted my heart. He said he respects other religions too. They are true also. It is just that the followers of the religions distort the message. However, the followers of each religion must follow their commandments faithfully, like doing good, and helping others. Thus Shah Sahib did not insist that Islam is the best, and the only true creed, a cause of so much bloodshed and intolerance.

The other day my brother was sitting in Data Durbar when a man approached him. He said are you Mr. …….? My brother replied in affirmative. He said last night he had a dream. In the dream a venerable person appeared and said “ Go to Data Durbar. There will be a person, ………, wearing white dress. Give him five hundred thousand rupees. So here are five hundred thousand rupees”. My brother asked him how did the person in the dream look like? That man replied that he could not tell, the features were not clear.

Soon my brother received clear orders from a different source. He learnt that this money is for enclosing the grave of Shah Sahib with a quadrangular wall. It should have two doors, one in the North and the other in the South side. So my brother went to the village of Shah Sahib. He gathered two village elders and the special Disciple. He told them the plan of the wall and gave the Disciple the money. It requires registration of the deed for the land in a Government office. Money was put in a steel safe deposit. 

This incident tells three things: a special spiritual site at Sayva is being created, already supplicants have started coming. Secondly, that Data Sahib, with the approval of God, takes care of his special disciples even after they die. Through the tomb of Shah Sahib and this mote’s blog, Shah Sahib’s name will be remembered, perhaps for a long time. Thirdly, it means Shah Sahib was no ordinary person. 

What can I say about the life of Shah Sahib? His life was an embodiment of Sufism, at its best. Never married, lived in poverty, never extended his hand to others. He met his expenses by accepting money from the grateful persons helped by him. Acceptance of such donations is allowed in mysticism, provided the money is given freely (mystics never ask for money, their gift is free) and is small (bigger donations are accepted if many students are attached to the shrine, or if free food is distributed). He even set his own money aside for grave-diggers. He bought his own coffin. He loved God. He got everything through Data Sahib. He helped the sick and the needy that came to him. He was a spiritual guide to my brother and this mote, although I never met him in person. I am honored that he mentioned this mote by name minutes before his death.

I do not know what special powers he had. He could cure some ailments. He had a receiver in his brain to receive messages. He knew of events, such as my brother’s meeting with the yogi from India. He could discern spirituality in others.

The Merciful God rewarded him for his lifelong piety and gave him the great gift of His Light. Such a reward is extremely hard to earn. As St Teresa of Avila (and Brother Lawrence) remarked (see blog78):

“If there is a single thing to which a man clings, it is a sign that he sets some value on it; and if he sets some value upon it, it will naturally distress him to give it up, and so everything will be imperfection and loss (also mentioned in blog 37)”. Probably Shah Sahib was close to that stage.

 

 

Footnote one. Spiritual light is very powerful. Nobody can endure it. Moses fell down unconscious. St Paul fell down from his horse and became blind for three days. A Qalandar who has been my brother’s mentor, and got injured in Data Durbar (blog 64), became oblivious to time and space (Jazzab) for over three weeks.

Footnote two. My brother survived the fire with only the clothes he was wearing. That was the greatest calamity of his life.

Footnote three. This mote has a different interpretation of the incident of fire. The fire occurred due to electric malfunction. It was a natural incident, not ordained by God. But  he was saved by the intercession of spiritual forces. I have called this Minor Interventions in blog 145.