Sant Bani Ashram

The Master left by car for Sant Bani Ashram, Sanbornton, New Hampshire, at 9 p.m. on the 15^th, immediately after the evening lecture at Harvard University. A few devotees accompanied Him, the great majority arriving the next day when the official program began.

Sant Bani Ashram consists of about 200 acres of mostly forest land in the foothills of the White Mountains. It was founded as an ashram by the Master Himself during His previous visit in October 1963, just nine years earlier. Many changes had taken place in the meantime as the work there had grown enormously, including the construction of a large Satsang Hall and several other buildings. In preparation for His coming, the dear ones there had made with their own hands and great devotion a house for the Master to live in. It was to this house, by the side of a pond, that Master was taken, outside of which were a large group of local initiates waiting with great joy to see Him. He sat with them so lovingly in the living room of His house, and reminisced about His previous visit and other past events. The weather was cold, but as He said smilingly,

Love knows no cold.

The next morning people began arriving from all over. The Satsang Hall and the main guest house, together with all other houses on the ashram, had been pressed into service in order to accommodate the devotees; in addition, two large tents had been constructed specially for the visit. With the loving cooperation of the local initiates, who worked very hard both before and during the visit, a langar – free kitchen – was set up, and with His Grace, two meals a day were served throughout His stay. The atmosphere there is quiet and congenial for meditation; as the Oriental proverb says, Mungle in the jungle – Bliss in the forest. Many people wanted to be there in Master’s company, and about 500 persons were fed and accommodated during His stay. Many others from the local area attended the public talks and came to see the Master.

At 9 a.m., 16^th October, the Master put all the initiates present – many still had not arrived – into meditation, after giving a short talk in which He commented on the radical change that had taken place at the Ashram since He had been there last. He mentioned that then there were only a few people and only one main building, and that there had been a rapid improvement. He urged the dear ones present to utilise the five days they had here for meditation, and told them not to gossip or waste time in frivolous activities.

Some of the public talks were held outdoors, by the pond, next to the Master’s house, and others were held in the Satsang Hall, which however was not nearly large enough to hold the dear ones who had flocked there. In order to accommodate as many people as possible, it was necessary for the dear ones to sit on the floor with their knees drawn up in front of them; in this way, about 700 people were squeezed in. But this was not enough; and overflow space was provided in the main guest house, with Master’s talk piped in on a speaker. – The Master graciously came down after the talk and gave Darshan to those dear ones. – About 100 more were accommodated this way, but this was still not enough. So some dear ones remained outside the hall during the talk, and heard Him over a loudspeaker set up outside. But when Master looked out the window and saw them outside, He instructed everyone inside to squeeze up still tighter so that their brothers and sisters could come in. Everyone had thought they were squeezed as tight as they possibly could be; but somehow room was made for all the others.

On some occasions, however, people were left standing outside; they just could not be squeezed in. Once, after all efforts had been made, Master said about those outside so compassionately,

God bless them – part of my attention will be outside with them.

When weather permitted, and despite the cold wind that blew continually, the Great Master held Satsang outdoors. Here everyone could sit in one place and enjoy His bliss.

A number of Darshans were held in the Master’s house; here of course only a few could get in, but it was the effort of the organizers to insure that everyone present was given a chance to sit in the Master’s living room with Him at least once during His stay. Some of these sessions were very profound, others light-hearted and jolly. At one session a group leader inquired how to save himself from group leader disease. The Master replied very strongly that he must remember he is working for God.

He told him that if he had a shield of humility, then nobody will harm him. He added that he should never take credit for any work he did, but be aware that he was simply a pipeline. On another occasion, a very old retired Christian minister was present, the grandfather of an initiate; the Master treated him with great respect, end engaged him in conversation for some time.

The gentleman said,

I feel peace in Your presence, Sir, but I can’t call You Master.

The Master smiled at him and asked,

What is your age, Sir, if I may ask?

The gentleman replied that he was 87. The Master said,

All right, just take me as your younger brother.

The Satsangis from Clinton, Maine, who operate Kirpal Goat Farm there, met with the Master for the purpose of establishing a branch of Manav Kendra at their farm. The Master advised them to think over the issue calmly, and said that it is not difficult to start things but very difficult to maintain them. He later gave His approval to the idea. At one of the afternoon meetings held outdoors, the entire student body and faculty of Horizon’s Edge School, a nearby private school, came to hear the Master. He addressed the discourse to them, and afterwards spoke with them in His house, where He joked with them and gave them Parshad. He told them to be devoted and obedient to their teachers, since only one-third comes through reading, etc.; the rest comes through receptivity. He also advised them to read biographies of great men.

On Tuesday, 17^th October, the Master paid a visit to the Sant Bani Press in Tilton, N.H., where Sat Sandesh and some of His books are printed. He thus graciously blessed the place, much to the joy of the Press staff.

On the evening of 19^th October, the Master spoke before an absolutely packed hall on the importance and nature of Masters, an extraordinary talk which, God willing, will be included in a future issue of Sat Sandesh.

The atmosphere of Love and joy that had been building all week long reached a peak in this memorable Satsang, which will live in the memory of all who heard it. (For pictures at that blessed week, see ‘Five Days with the Lord,’ Sat Sandesh, November 1972.)

On Friday morning, 20^th October, the Master gave initiation to 53 persons and connected them with the Sound and Light within.

That afternoon, after a very sweet farewell Darshan outdoors, the Master left by car to take His unfathomable Love to Kirpal Ashram in Vermont.