Fond Memories

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This year is the 100th anniversary of Guru Nitya’s birth and I would like to share what his life has meant to me. This may manifest in short, random memories of time spent with him.

 

I first met Guru Nitya in 1975. We were at a retreat held at “the Center for Truth” in LaCenter, Washington. Guru (then addressed as Swami) would give classes or discourses. He spoke very softly and I wasn’t familiar with his Indian accent so I didn’t understand much of what he was saying, yet I felt a very strong connection. A few days into the retreat we were given the opportunity to have a private session. After I sat down he asked me what my question was. I pondered for a bit then said I didn’t have a question, I just wanted to be with him. “Okay, we’ll just be” and we sat quietly together for some time.

 

To say that that meeting changed my life would be an understatement.

 

There were no more “public” events following the retreat, but I couldn’t not see him again. Somehow I found out that he was staying with a few folks at a private home in town and managed to get ahold of Peter O. to ask if there was some way. Peter said “nothing public, but I could come mornings and sit in on Guru giving dictation.” This was also my introduction to the people who would become my family over the next 49 years.

 

One morning just after finishing the dictation, Guru looked at me and said, “you look happy” and I realized I was.

 

For the next few years he was traveling a lot but returned to Portland (where I lived) every year. In 1977 he stayed for several months and gave classes both at Portland State and at the house where he was staying. That was the year he gave us his commentary on Atmopadesa Satakam (One Hundred Verses on Self Instruction). Over the span of 100 days we were given instruction on one verse a day. We would gather early morning for the lesson and then I would go to work carrying it with me, noting how it affected my day. In the evening we would gather again and share. I don’t have the kind of mind that remembers/can quote verses, but I do know I’ve internalized the lessons (some of them, at least).

 

In 1979 Guru returned to India. He invited the group of us to join him there. In September that year I set out on my first trip outside the US. Guru sent me a telegram that simply said to come to Tellicherry, go to a certain advocate’s home and he would know where to find Guru. This was pretty scary but I had absolute faith that Guru knew I’d be okay and that I would find him….I did, but that’s another story.

 

I returned to India several times over the next 20 years. And I treasure my memories of those times.

 

When staying in Ooty, my bedroom was next to Guru’s and in the morning when he awoke he would put some music on which was my wake up call. I would go to his room and we would drink the tea which Jyothi made and then go for a walk along the road by the tea plantation often standing looking towards the hills as the sky lit up and chant the gayatri.

 

Guru was a brilliant scholar; there didn’t seem to be any topic that he didn’t want to know more about. He dove deeply into ancient scriptures, the upanishads and vedas, sharing what he understood in his commentaries and of course he pondered over the writings and lives of his gurus and shared his understanding of these too. Fortunately, many of these studies, commentaries have taken on book form and can be shared with generations to come.

 

But he was more than a scholar, philosopher, psychologist; he was compassionate and loving. In addition to his studies and books he gave discourses on topics that he intuited his audience needed to hear.

 

I feel so fortunate to have been in many of these audiences, to have taken the dictation or to have typed or proofread or indexed some of his written studies. But I feel even more blessed to have just lived day to day life with him observing the ease with which he faced whatever the day brought him.

 

One day Guru and several of us took a bus from Ooty to Coimbatore so that he could give a talk there that evening. On the way the bus broke down. Everyone got down and we sat on the bank next to the road waiting for another bus. There were some German passengers who were very upset and quite vocal about the broken bus. When another bus did come along, Guru told the Germans to go ahead we would wait for the next one. He had an engagement which he might possibly be late for or miss all together, but he was not at all worried or agitated. He sat calmly and waited. In the meantime a lorry came along and brought us all sandwiches. And then a bus; we did make it in time for a bit of a rest, some tea and then to the talk. There was nothing to be gained by becoming worried or agitated. An invaluable lesson which I confess I don’t always remember.

 

I’m sure many who knew him felt as I did, that he understood me without my saying. When we were staying in Ooty he spent much of his time in his room where he had his desk and books. His door was usually closed; I would observe various people going in and out. I surmised that they had particular questions or were doing something (taking dictation, writing letters, etc.) for him. I wanted to go in too, but didn’t think I had a “good” reason. At one point I asked if there was anything I could do for him. He understood what I was asking and said that he wanted me to come every morning and straighten up his desk. He then said that I could come in anytime and just be. While there, he often did ask me to take dictation or find a book or read something to him.​