Capturing Moments That Last Forever

 Gayatri

OM

BHUR BHUVA SVAHA

TAT SAVITUR VARENYAM

BHARGO DEVASAYA DHEEMA 

DHI YO YONAH PRACHODAYAT

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

“Gayatri is the Mother of all scriptures (Vedas). She is present, wherever Her name is chanted. She is very powerful. The One who nourishes the individual being is Gayatri. She bestows pure thoughts on anyone who worships Her. She is the embodiment of all Goddesses. Our very breath is Gayatri, our faith in existence is Gayatri. Gayatri has five faces, they are the five life principles. She has nine descriptions, they are ‘Om, Bhur, Bhuvah, Suvaha, Tat, Savitur, Vareñyaṃ, Bhargo, Devasya’. Mother Gayatri nourishes and protects every being and she channelizes our senses in the proper direction. ‘Dhīmahi’ means meditation. We pray to her to inspire us with good intelligence. ‘Dhīyo Yonah Prachodayāt’ - We beseech her to bestow on us everything we need. Thus Gayatri is a complete prayer for protection, nourishment and finally, liberation.”SSB

‘My Dear Students’, Vol 3, Ch 2, Mar 19, 1998

The Gayatri photograph is the second life changing photograph received after the very 1st Sai Baba of Shirdi Photograph. (Expressed later)  When the Gayatri mantra came to me, I had no real knowledge or understanding of the concept of mantras. The sounds, symbols and esoteric meanings behind an ancient language created by sages that is a combination of prayer and action, meditation and reverence if approached with the right intention.  The intuitive guidance to chant it silently within my heart cavity confirmed through an inner vision of Satya Sai Baba when He appeared to me spontaneously at the same moment in meditation when asking the silent heartfelt question, “should I chant this at all?”. In that moment in the inner vision He appeared looking into my eyes..I never questioned it’s importance again and chanted it whole heartily with every movement morning till night. The mantra was a welcome diversion to my myriad of troubles. 

“Now the time has come, the Gayatri Mantra must be propagated among all, irrespective of caste creed sex or religion. This Veda is our only authority and everyone has a right to it” Swami Vivekananda 

complete works III pages 454-461

What transcends cultures and beliefs is sounds and pure vibrations. It is a powerful saving grace of sounds and protection that fosters discrimination and in my estimation protection in all the worlds. 

Chanting this Mantra by the inner guidance of Satya Sai Baba was a great gift to the inner vision. The silent, daily, weekly and hourly chanting for more than 10 years, using the sounds and resonance of Satya. Sai Baba’s chanting voice and tones in pronunciation and cadence became a meditation in movement for me creating stillness in movement was experienced after some years.… It was strange that people would comment that they knew what I was thinking, or what my intentions were when in fact I was internally chanting teasingly while being accused of this or that by Psychic leaches. Who rather than peer into their own hearts would try to read the hearts of others. It revealed a lot about other people without even uttering an audible syllable. Little did I know or understand the protection it afforded me, that became apparent in one important story I will relay later on. 

This Mantra was the prerequisite meditation and concentration to transcend many of my future experiences, but also to reveal others who did not have my best interests at heart. It created an impenetrable wall but not without experiencing what it was protecting me from..the paradox of the experience and wisdom of the words of the masters who propagate the mantra for all. 

. The photograph of the Gayatri Shrine in Satya Sai Baba’s ashram came to me at the invocation of the Shrine by SSB Himself. Immediately after His Physical Blessing and invocation of the Shrine, I was amongst the 1st 50 people to walk into the shrine’s inner vestibule and be “:guided by my heart” to take a photograph of it. It was one of the only photographs in the original Blessing of this manuscript. After that process of walking around the statue, the Shrine was closed and gated to the public.. It just happened..along with the Padhuka Puja of that Year. 

I had it framed and wondered about the Gayatri Mantra and the transcendence of cultural influence, after all I was from a progressive Mennonite background, and a Hindhu Goddess, nor even the Virgin Mary was high on the list of biblical teachings hobbling femininity.  

“Truth has been planted in the centre of the heart as Allah’s trust, entrusted to you for safe keeping. It becomes manifest with true repentance and with true efforts. It’s beauty shines on the surface when one remembers God and does the dhikr. 

At the first stage one recites the name of God with one’s tongue; then when the heart becomes alive one recites inwardly with the heart“ 

Abdu’l-Qadir Al-Gilani