Gurudeva
Sri Sri 1008 Lalandasji Maharaj
I address my Gurudeva, as Babaji. I consider him as my father and friend. Undoubtedly, only due to his love and compassion, the floodgates of divine Grace have opened for me. Babaji spent his life as a householder till the age of 50. He took Sanyasa Deeksha with the blessings of His Gurudeva, Sri Sri Devraha Babaji Maharaj.
Babaji then spent his days as a wanderer or mendicant for the next 30 years. During this period he travelled the entire north-eastern states and established small temples of Hanumanji Maharaj, his Ishta Devata. He spent his life eating fruits and performing sadhana, as a mendicant. His soul resides in the Sri Ramcharita Manas. Babaji lived by the dictum:
Lord Ram is the origin and soul of creation and Sri Hanumanji Maharaj is Sri Rama’s soul.
WORDS OF BABAJI
Babaji also revealed to us that none other than Lord Shiva gave him his ultimate Mantra. By the Grace of the Lord, I was initiated with this very same potent mantra during my Deeksha. Babaji had many Darshans of Sri Hanumanji Maharaj. Many have witnessed Hanumanji in the auric field of Babaji, as if Babaji himself transformed into Hanumanji during Darshans. Many have been shocked with this vision.
The scientific basis of such an experience tells us that when one’s consciousness becomes one with the deity, the deity presents Himself through that individual. Because there remains no iota of difference between the deity and the sadhaka. All experiences must culminate into this one reality. Babaji still lives and is 105 years old. He stays mostly in Kashi, Ajodhya or Chitrakoot. He has some disciples in Mumbai and so visits that city too.
My Journey
Damodar Das and Spirit Meaning
I am Damodar Das and Spirit Meaning is an initiative to share my spiritual journey with the world so that the ones interested may benefit from it. Contributing to genuine spirituality has been my goal, owing to the fact that I have spent the last 35 years of life pursuing spirituality.
I am a householder but I have been fortunate to receive the blessings of my Guru Parampara. It originates from the Sri Sampradaya but more aligned to the teachings of Jagadguru Ramanandacharya.
I currently reside in Giri Govardhan, Mathura District with my family of wife and three children. I have been fortunate to have associated with elevated saints who are my Shiksha Gurus from various Sanatani Parampara systems.
My Deeksha Guru, Sant Lalandasji Maharaj is a dear disciple of Sant Devraha Baba, a saint of the highest order belonging to the Ramanujacharya sect in Northern India.
I had been employed as a software specialist and worked with various organizations during my material life days. However, I pursued spirituality for all these years and performed sadhana with the order of my Deeksha Guru. At the same time, with his permission, I am fortunate to have absorbed the teachings of other Vaishnava sects. I have put forth these teachings through my Spiritual Blogs.
I also delved into Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta philosophies during my spiritual growing years. All this happened with the kind grace of My Gurudeva Sri Sri 1008 Lalandasji Maharaj.
The Inspo Behind Spirit Meaning
Shobha Parameswaran (alias Rohini Devi Dasi)
My wife, Shobha has been the inspiration behind this initiative. Without her we could not have dreamt of embarking on this long and arduous path of Sadhana. She has been my friend and constant companion in all our spiritual endeavours.
Service to our Gurudeva could not have been imagined without her in my life. She is the driving force of the entire initiative and I thank the Supreme Lord for having kept her by my side during the entire course of setting the path for new spiritual aspirants.
The Volunteers of Vraja Dham Seva
We, namely Damodar Das and Rohini Devi Dasi have 3 daughters. The first two daughters are twins and 20 years old now. Both are doing the Bachelor in Arts through Open University. Both of them namely Viraja Devi Dasi and Vani Devi Dasi have dedicated their lives to Dham Seva, the Service of this great Land, namely Vrindavan.
Disha Parameswaran (alias Vani Devi Dasi)
Divya Parameswaran (alias Viraja Devi Dasi)
My daughters help me in compiling and editing Videos, other youtube activities and maintaining our website. All of us are actively involved in Dham Seva, through whatever little funds made available by devotees. Both Viraja and Vani are dedicated towards Sadhana and Seva to Bhagawan and are whole-heartedly devoted to Dharma. Their service is of great help to me, especially in performing all technical work for the channel as well as doing Gau Seva, Serving the flora and fauna in Goverdhan (Vrindavan), and whatever service is demanded by the Dham to us.
Sri Vrindavan Dham
– Śrī Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, Vṛndāvana Mahimāmṛta (7.7)
vṛndāvanavidhurāstāmāstāṃ vṛndāvaneśvarī tasyāḥ
santu ca sakhyo vṛndāvanaikatarupallavo’tapi mohayatia
What to say about the glory of Vrindavan, or the Queen of Vrindavan Shri Radhika, or Her female friends. Even a single leaf of a tree of Vrindavan has the power to enchant the entire world.
Our Shastras, especially the Srimad Bhagavatham have spoken very highly about Vrindavan Dham and the sages have especially extolled the Dham Seva or Service towards this Holy Land of Vrindavan. So all of you, who contribute towards this great Seva, shall cent percent earn a great deal of spiritual merit that shall help dissolve accumulated Karma, as per Scriptures.
We are dedicating our Service to the Dham as well as the Website namely spiritmeaning.org and the Spirit Meaning Youtube channel to the Seva contributors and followers who kindly support us. Our Prayers, Seva and Best wishes go out to all such dedicated devotees.
Param Gurudeva
Sri Sri 1008 Devraha Babaji
Param Gurudeva, addressed Babaji as “Bhola”. He wanted him to take over some of his mutts in north India. But, Babaji simply denied the offer saying that nothing but Sri Rama and Hanumanji interested him.
Devraha Babaji Maharaj, thus tested his dear disciple Bhola. Subsequently, Param Gurudeva, blessed Babaji saying that he will ultimately have visions of Hanumanji, both in dream state and waking state. The blessings came true within a short time.
Indeed, the power of Guru’s blessings cannot be measured. A Guru tests his disciples to see whether they completely surrender to Bhagavan or not. Popular in Northern Bharatha, Devraha Baba had many mutts. Many believe that he occupied his mortal coil for more than 700 years.
It has been noted that the grandfather of the first President of free India Dr. Rajendra Prasad visited Maharaj for the first time at a tender age. Pujya Devraha Baba blessed all living beings including the politicians of those days. He desired to establish Sanatana Dharma in the hearts of the common man.
He spent most of his life consuming Ganga and Yamuna water. Spending his final days in Sri Dham Vrindavan, he lived on a machan set up on the banks of Yamuna Devi. His Samadhi in Vrindavan narrates his great life, even today.