27th August is Param Pujya Deviben’s Divine Day. P. P. Deviben is often referred to as one of the pillars of Gunatit Jyot, Param Pujya Jyotiben, Param Pujya Taraben and Param Pujya Didi being the other three pillars.
Deviben had studied law and prior to coming to Jyot used to work at a Law firm in India. Since coming to Jyot Deviben has not let her previous achievements and knowledge hinder her spiritual path. She has embraced any seva presented to her, acted as instructed without questioning why she had been asked to perform tasks, which do not tally logically and has remained focussed on her sadhna.
I feel very fortunate to have been born into this satsang, be assigned a guru at a very young age and have the opportunity to share my experience of my guru Param Pujya Deviben. For those of us that have experienced Deviben we all know how efficient she is. It used to make me chuckle when I used to watch advertisements or programmes on TV as we entered into the recession on how to save money. All of the principles mentioned were practices that Deviben has been operating as far as I can remember. Such as turning off lights when there is daylight outside and turning off the power to appliances that are not in use. Deviben avoids waste in relation to resources or time, both from a practical point in terms of making sure all of Jyot’s money is spent appropriately and from a spiritual point in making sure that she doesn’t waste a single second on anything that doesn’t relate to Guruhari Pappaji. She really is unique and I’m really honoured to have her as my guru.
When I was a child, Deviben provided guidance and taught me the importance of seva and pratna. I remember Deviben teaching me that I should say a pratna to Pappaji every morning as I awoke so that he’d be with me and protect me throughout the day. As I grew older, Deviben guided me in any challenges that I faced and gave me a number of small agna such as performing 11 malas daily. Often I’d perform these agna because my guru has instructed me to do this. As I gradually got older the 11 malas turned to 15 mins of dhoon and then 30 mins of dhoon. Deviben has never commanded that I do any of this, but has always explained to me that during the time of pratna that is my time with Guruhari Pappaji and I should use this time to maintain and develop that connection with God. I now feel that sometimes 30 minutes just isn’t enough not because of the challenges in my life but because I enjoy it and more importantly I now perform the pratna and dhoon not solely because of my agna from Deviben but because I want to do this. This gradual change has developed from many experiences that I have encountered in how this pratna works.
For example, some years ago when Deviben visited the UK I had been given the seva of driving Deviben from Lady Walk to a satsangi’s house. I was really excited to be given this seva and over the moon to able to drive Deviben in my new car. On the way to the satsangi’s house Deviben asked me if I had any bhajans or pravachans in the car. I felt really bad as I hadn’t transferred any of my CD’s from my old car to the new car so had to respond with a “no”. During this period, my work required me to travel a fair amount and I used to spend 2 -5 hours driving per week. Deviben didn’t criticize me or tell me off, but she explained to me that considering I spend so much time in the car it would be a good use of my time to listen to bhajans or pravachans and develop my understanding of the satsang. She asked me to return to Lady Walk the following day before I headed off to work in Norfolk.
On Sunday I returned to Lady Walk and Deviben presented me with 5 CD’s, four of which were bhajans by the beno and one was of Pappaji’s pravachans. On presenting these to me Deviben said that I could still carry on listening to the radio, music etc but as and when I feel, listen to these CD’s as well. I took Devibens ashirvad and returned to my car. On the drive up to Norfolk I quickly skimmed the tracks on each of the CD so that I got a flavour of what each CD consisted of. When I got to the CD with the pravachan, I felt a bit anxious that I wouldn’t understand it as my gujarati isn’t great. I inserted the disk and heard Pappaji’s voice. It was so nice to hear his voice; he was talking really fast, so fast that I don’t think I could make out many of the words. The second time that I listened to the CD I started to understand a few of the words. After the third time I understood more and got the general sense of what Pappaji was saying in his pravachaan.
Thereafter I started to understand more and began to seek guidance from my parents and beno with those parts that I didn’t quite understand. I really couldn’t believe that I started to understand these pravachans and each sermon was so pertinent to me and my life. I don’t travel so much any more but the CD with Pappaji’s pravachan has been so beneficial to me in the sense that when I face a challenge with work or in a personal matter I think back to the guidance that Pappaji has provided and I use that to solve any issues that I may face. On reflection when I think back to this if Deviben had not given these CD’s to me I would never have had the courage to listen to these pravachans as I really didn’t feel I’d be to understand them.
Over the years the various agna and guidance that Deviben has given me has been appropriate for my level of understanding and have all helped me in developing my spiritual awareness.
On this special day I pray to Param Pujya Deviben to continue to bestow her guidance and agna so that I can accomplish the mission that Guruhari Pappaji has set out to fulfil.
Author: Pujya Deemple Brain