The Divine Mother’s challenge

I was in Mauritius in the summer of 1999 and Swami had allowed me to be in his presence while he was meditating at night. During the space of three nights different deities would visit him in his room.

On the first night the compassionate Mother, Ma Durga appeared in Swami’s room. She showered love and blessing on me before leaving. I felt so honoured and elevated with energy after this that I was not able to sleep. I was so restless I kept asking Swami different questions about her. Eventually he told me to go to sleep as he was very tired.

On the second night another form of Shakti (feminine energy) came into the room while Swami was in deep meditation and left, giving us Her blessings.

On the third night again Swami was in meditation and another form of Shakti appeared. By now I was growing slightly anxious over the last few nights in fear that the Divine Maha Kali Ma would pay us a visit! I had heard stories where people had said that they had been shouted at by the Divine Mother and did not wish to be one of them!

So on this third night The Divine Mother form that appeared asked me “What do you want”? Although I was unaware which form of Shakti was talking to me, I remember that I was in complete awe of Her and Her energy. Again She asked firmly, “What do you want from me”? I did not know what to ask of Her, so I looked at Swami for guidance. However, he was still in deep meditation. She asked for a third and fourth time, “What do you want”? She was starting to lose her patience with me! I tried to search my mind for something to say, however I couldn’t come up with anything to ask her! My mind went completely blank.

As the Divine Mother was beginning to lose her patience with me, I started to consider that this form of Shakti might indeed be the Divine Kali Ma. Again I looked at Swami to ask for help; but he was still in deep meditation. At this point I considered the option of escaping out of the room. The only plausible way I could see out of the room was the window; however the bars on the windows restricted my escape! I tried to re-examine my escape plan again, however the altar in the room was completely covered in vibhuti and kumkum. I knew that if I messed this up, in trying to escape, Swami would be angry with me! Therefore I decided it would be in my best interest to stay where I was.

I sat quietly and the Divine Mother asked for a final time “What do you want”? Finally an idea entered my mind. I thought to myself, if I call this Divine Shakti by Ma Amba, she would appear in the form of Ma Amba. I foolishly replied, “Just your blessings Ma Amba, just all your blessings”. A stern voice replied, “I am not Amba Ma I am Kali Ma”! Acknowledging what an unwise thing I had just done, I quickly asked Ma Kali to explain Her different forms to me, which she did. Ma Kali explained that there are nine different forms of Shakti and showed all nine forms to me. She then explained that She must leave and told me that in order for Her to leave, I must cut a lemon into two parts, which I did and She left.

After about fifteen minutes Swami came out of Samadhi meditation. He looked at me and asked me why I wasn’t sleeping. I explained to Swami that Ma Kali had appeared and he smiled at me and asked one simple question. He said, “How did she sound”? I replied, “What? What do you mean”? He asked again, how did Her voice sound”? I replied, “It was very nice but compared to Ma Durga she was scary”! Swami gently smiled and went back into samadhi. At that very moment Ma Kali reappeared in the room and said in an angry tone, “Am I scary Ravi? This will be your last day on earth!”

Understandably, I panicked and again tried to escape via the barred windows but as before I was going nowhere! I quickly asked for Ma Kali’s forgiveness and she forgave me straight away. She explained that I was Her child and she would never hurt me. She continued to explain different aspects and significance of her Kali form and then left.

Swami came out of samadhi and smiled at me and asked again what had happened. As before I explained to him what had happened and he laughed. Swami then told me to go to sleep as he had asked me to accompany him to Port Louis the next day. Swami went back into samadhi for the third time. I tried to sleep but was not able to as the whole experience had filled me with so much energy.  All of a sudden Ma Kali appeared in the room for a third time. I thought to myself, what have I done wrong now!?  I tried to escape but I was again trapped in the room by my guru, the altar, the bars on the windows and the Divine Mother. I turned to the Divine Ma Kali who said, “Ravi, I would   like to test you, tomorrow I will appear three times in front of you at the temple. You will need to recognise me at least once; otherwise it will be your last day on earth”!  Saying this, She left once again.

I was afraid and did not know how I was going to recognise Ma Kali. I knew Swami would have the answer so I waited patiently for him to come out of samadhi. After an hour or so, Swami came out of samadhi and asked me why I was still sitting up looking at him. I told him what had happened and again he found it very funny. I asked him for his guidance as to how I would be able to recognise the Divine Ma Kali. However Swami said, “I am tired now. I think I am going to get some sleep.” Shocked at his calm reaction I turned to him and said, “How can you sleep at a time like this! It might be my last day on earth tomorrow! No more Ravi! You would miss me!” Swami just laughed and eventually said “The solution is very simple bro, all you need to do is touch the feet of every woman that enters the temple tomorrow and accept her as Ma Kali.” I asked him, “Do I need to touch Tina’s feet?” (Swami’s sister & my cousin sister) knowing that she would make fun of me for doing so. Swami replied smiling “No you don’t have to touch Tina’s feet, just touch the feet of married women bro.”

Then Swami went to sleep, however I could not as I kept thinking about what would happen if I failed Ma Kali’s given test. Before I knew it, it was 6 am. I got out of bed and went to have a shower and open the temple doors so that all the devotees could come and take the Lord’s blessings.

I sat on the temple steps and waited. As every woman would come and go I would walk up to them and touch their feet. I think they all thought I was a bit strange! My aunt came and asked me to come in for breakfast but I refused since I did not want to miss a single woman who came to the temple, as it might have been Ma Kali. My mother also came to see Swami that morning and I touched her feet, which she found to be extremely strange!

At midday Swami came to me and asked if I was ready to travel to Port Louis with him so I said, “No bro, how can I? I have to stay here and greet all the women; otherwise I may not be able to accompany you anywhere ever again”! Swami laughed and called me into his room. There the Divine Mother appeared. I was afraid that I had already failed the test that She had set me. She said in a calm voice “I have watched you all day my son, you have passed the test.” She went on to say, “Ravi, I visited you now four times in one day. You are very lucky, there are many souls that dedicate their lives to me and I have not appeared in front of them.” The Divine mother allowed me to have Her blessings and told me that as I had passed her test, She would grant me a boon of my choice.  I did not know what to ask for at the time, as my mind had frozen. I thought to ask the Divine Mother for liberation. However I realised that I have been blessed with a great guru who would lead me to liberation. I therefore asked the Divine Mother to appear whenever I needed Her guidance. The Divine mother chanted a mantra and then said, “So it shall be.” Before She left She told me that I should remember She is present in all women and I must make sure that I treat all women with respect.

I then set out with Swami for Port Louis. While I was there I bought a picture of Ma Kali, which I asked Swami to bless. On our return Swami put the picture on his altar, two minutes after doing so the picture was covered in kumkum. Swami called me into his room and explained that Ma Kali would always be with me and from time to time She would come and visit me.

The Divine Mother visits again

Just as Swami had said, the Divine Mother did visit me again, this time in London. I was working in a phone shop and an afro-Caribbean woman walked into the shop. She was dancing with a big wooden stick in her hand. As she was drawing a lot of attention to herself my manager was afraid and wanted to call the police. I told her that I would try to deal with the woman without police involvement. Before I spoke to the woman I closed my eyes and asked for my guru’s grace, to enable me to deal with this situation. I asked the woman how she was. She replied directly “I want something from you, give me anything from the store”. I said “I can’t give you something, but I can buy something for you.” She replied while dancing and jumping “You don’t need to buy me anything, just give me something”. I tried to concentrate on my guru’s inner voice again and asked him how I could deal with this situation. I could hear my guru advising me, to not worry and to continue talking to her. The woman asked a couple of times “Don’t you know who I am? Tell me who I am!” I thought hard in my mind and thought that this woman could be Ma Kali. The woman opened her arms as this thought entered my mind and said, “You recognized me son,” and She hugged me. After doing this she danced happily out of the shop with her stick in her hand. Swami said to me afterwards, when he visited London that the Divine Mother would visit me again.

Ravi – UK