samadhi day naqshbandi sufi onkar nath - bhaiyyaji ra

8/6/2019 Samadhi Day Naqshbandi Sufi Onkar Nath - Bhaiyyaji Ra

1/18


2/18

Oct 1934-May 20th 2008


3/18

gujr h lMh e ijNdgI ke trI sa ehvt m e jabn gye h vae Aaj lMhye nUr ijNdgI ke mrIbn k e inSbte nKzbNdI Day e h ijNdgI me mrI)Ula kae h r


4/18

Solemn are the moments of life spent in thy company

Verily have these become the moments of Light Divine

As the moments of Nisbet-E-Naqshbandi

Now adorn my Life, My Living and my Being too

Flowers get verily jealous as these moments

Fill each congregation with Light Divine

And life moves on as the blossoming of such moments

May thus the sojourn continue erelong

Such is my humble prayer each finite moment!!!

-Taoshobuddha


5/18

jIvn sumn cFa kr t erI hm AcRna kregjnm jnm t erI hm v


6/18

Shrine Naqshbandi Sheikh Sufi Onkar Nath Bhaiyya ji RA

Naqshbandi Sufi Brij Mohan Lal RA and Sufi Shakuntala Devi RA

(Parents Naqshbandi Sheikh Sufi Onkar Nath BhaiyyaJi RA)

Naqshbandi Sufi Sheikh Onkar Nath was born in October 1934 to the

parentage of Naqshbandi Sufi Brij Mohan Lal RA and Sufi Shakuntala Devi

RA. Unlike many other masters whose birth date is not clear Sufi Onkar

Naths date of birth according to Gregorian calendar is not certain.


7/18

According to Hindu Lunar calendar he was born on the fifth day of Hindu

period of Pitra Paksh or Kanahgat. This is the period when Hindus pay

oblation to their departed ancestors for their salvation. And it is not

considered as auspicious for celebrations. As a result all celebrations are

postponed until after the end of this period of fifteen days. Under thesecircumstances Sufi Jai Devi who is the consort of Sufi Naqshbandi Raghuber

Dayal or Chacha Ji RA and the grandmother of the Sheikh Onkar Nath

suggested that the birthday be celebrated on the fifth day of the following

period of Navratri. This is considered as the auspicious period between Pitra

Paksh and Deepavali. Since then the birthday was celebrated on the second

day of the spiritual gathering as this gave the opportunity to the other

devotees as well to participate in the birth celebration of their beloved

master.

Later in 1960s the fourth son of the sheikh Prakash Mohan and morepopularly known by his nick name Ootte was born on the second day of

the function and the also the son of sheikhs younger brother Rakesh

Mohan was born around the same time. Therefor the celebration became

triple fold.

I recall it was during the spiritual gathering at the shrine of his master-

father during the month of Dashahra or Vijay-Dashmi festival that my

grandmother Shakuntala Devi along with other family members and the

congregation of other devotees will celebrate the birth day of Sheikh.Therefore, the second day of the festival according to lunar calendar is

dedicated to the birth of the sheikh.

He was born in Fatehpur where his father Sufi Brij Mohan Lal was posted in

his government job after two brothers and a sister. From the early childhood

he was under the benign care of his parents and thus the traits of the

masterhood were inculcated in him.

Onkar Nath and his elder sister were entrusted with the responsibility of

taking care of the basic needs of the Sheikh from arranging his bed to otherthings. Every night both brother and sister will arrange and fix the bed of the

father. And each time when the sheikh will sit on the bed his usual complaint

was that the bed is not fixed correct. So he would get up from the bed and

consciously in his usual gesture of indrawn-ness into his being will move the

bed from side to side and then when satisfied that the bed is fixed good he

would sit in preparation for other prayers and tawwazojh to the disciples far


8/18

and wide. Both my mother Gyatri and Sheikh Onkar Nath found his father

to be really fussy for such small things like bed.

So one day both of them decided to test if the sheikh really knew what he

meant by saying that the bed is not fixed good or he was simply fussy and

complaining. They planned a way out. They put a mark around the posts or

legs of the bed and the next day they kept the bed slightly away from these

marks where the bed was shifted by the sheikh. Both continued to watch

next day what happens. As usual when the sheikh came inside after the

meditation session was over and sat on the bed complained saying these

people do not know how to fix the bed correctly. Saying this he got up from

the bed and in his usual manner shift the bed until his consciousness was

satisfied that the bed is now in order sat.

Now it was the turn of the both brother and sister to watch if the fatherreally knew what he was saying or he was simply complaining in his usual

manner. To their surprise they found the posts of the bed were on the exact

marks where the sheikh fixed the previous night. Such is the delicacy or the

fine or precise tuning of the consciousness of the sheikh.

Thus Onkar Nath grew in such an environment that instilled the fine seeds of

mindfulness according to Buddha of small things. Remember human

consciousness is the aggregate of such moments of mindfulness. And also

such is the way of master for his disciples.

Sufi Brij Mohan Lal the father on the sheikh was the master of such fine

things. Through these alone one indeed learns the art of meditativeness

moment to moment. Meditation is not something to be done once or twice

for the day. Indeed it is inculcating the habit of moment to moment

awareness and being conscious of both inside and outside.

Initiation of the Sheikh

Initiation is the ultimate in the process of transformation. Why is initiation

into meditation or initiation to a master essential?As such as man exists, he is asleep. Even in his waking he is asleep. His

sleep is neurotic. He cannot wake up from this sleep. On his own, he maywake up but still remain in slumber. A Master is needed to wake him up from

such neurosis. Initiation is the process for him to remain in contact with theone who is awakened. Without this it is almost impossible for you to be

awake. You are capable of dreaming even when you are awake.


9/18

When it is said that man is asleep, this has to be understood. Man dreams

twenty-four hours a day. In the night when we are closed to the outer world,

we continue to dream. During the day our senses are open. Our senses open

in the outer world of duality. It is through the senses that we continue to

experience the outer world, but the dreams continue within. Just close your

eyes and you start dreaming again. Dreams are continuity inside. You are

aware of the outer world but that awareness is imposed on the dreaming

mind. Thus, continues the dream. In such a case we cannot envision reality

although we are awake. This is how dreams are imposed on reality. What we

actually see is our projections on reality.

Everyone is plagued with dreams. A father is full of his unfulfilled dreams.You become an object of projection for your father. Your father will project

his dreams on you. Then, whatever he understands about you gets mixed upwith his own dreams. So projecting ones dreams on someone else is

different than loving. When you love someone, you do not impose yourdreams on them. He will appear quite different than when you do not love

him. The other becomes quite different when you use the other as a screento project your dreams.

When someone loves you, the dream is different. Also, that person appears

different. On the contrary, when you do not love someone, the person is thesame, the screen is also the same, but the projection differs. In that case

you are not using the other as the screen to project your dreams. Things can

change again. Once again you can love the other and then he will appeardifferent. Normally, we do not see what this is. We go on seeing our owndreams projected on reality.

A master is not the same to each one of you. Each one projects somethingdifferent on the master. In reality, he is one as far as he is concerned. If the

master himself is dreaming, then he will differ in each moment. It is sobecause, each moment his interpretation will differ. But when the master is

awakened, then he will remain the same in all situations and circumstances.Buddha said the real test of an enlightened one is that he is always the

same. It is just like sea water. Its taste never changes wherever you taste itfrom.

As a person you are a projection of ideas, notions, conceptions, and

interpretations. Like a projector you go on projecting things that arenowhere but inside you. The whole becomes a screen. Then you cannot be

aware by yourself. This is deep sleep.


10/18

I have heard, there was a Sufi master, Hijira. One day an angel appeared to

him in a dream and told him to save as much water as possible, because thenext day the devil would poison all the water and whoever drank that water

would turn mad. So that night, the Sufi collected as much water as he could.The phenomenon really happened. The next day everyone became mad after

drinking the poisoned water. The whole city became mad. No one knew whathad happened. It was only the Sufi who was not mad. But everyone thoughtthat the Sufi had become mad. But he knew what had happened. No onebelieved him. He went on drinking his water and remained sane by himself.

However, he could not continue for long in this way. The entire city wasliving in an altogether different world. And one day the rumor came that he

would be caught and put into prison. It was believed that he had gone mad.Finally, one morning they got hold of him. He had two options, either accept

the treatment for his madness or be prepared to go to prison. He was notallowed freedom. He was condemned as mad. It was based on the

conclusion that he spoke a different language that could not be understood

by the masses.

The Sufi was at a loss. He tried to remind people of their past through everypossible means. But the people had forgotten everything. He was

incomprehensible to them. So they surrounded his house and caught him. Atthis, the Sufi asked to be given some time to cure himself. He went to the

well and drank some water. As he drank the water, he became one likethem. The whole city was happy that the Sufi was cured now. Now hismadness was no more you are asleep. But you are never aware of thissleep. When everyone is mad and you are also mad, you can never be aware

of this. Initiation is, therefore, the way to awaken you from this sleep.

By initiation is meant that now you have surrendered to someone who isawake. You are a part of the world; a part of its duality and its madness.

Living in this world you are always plagued by dreams. Such feelings can

also come from someone who is in a sleeping state. Sleep is not alwaysdeep. In the beginning sleep wavers. Sometimes it is deep at other times it

gets shallow. There is a similarity between ordinary sleep and themetaphysical sleep. Ordinary sleep fluctuates between various planes and

levels; metaphysical sleep also fluctuates. At times you are on the

borderline. You are very close to being a Buddha. You can then understandsomething that Buddha is saying. However, whatever is heard or understoodis not exactly the same. But you do get a glimpse of the truth. It is like

looking at the sunrise from a room through a window. You are not as yet inopenness under the vast sky.

The master observes this. A person who is on the borderline of this

metaphysical sleep needs initiation. He needs to be within the energy field of


11/18

an awakened or enlightened master. He can hear something. He can

understand something. He can see something as well. Everything aroundhim is like the mist, yet still he feels something. Thus, he approaches an

Enlightened One, not really knowing the essence of enlightenment. He isready to surrender. This is the only way to wake up from this metaphysical

sleep. Sleep of lives! Only this much this person can do. Surrendering bringsthe understanding that something other than sleep is now happening.Somehow he feels this. But he cannot exactly know what this is.

Whenever an enlightened one passes, those who are on the borderline ofthis metaphysical sleep can recognize that there is something different about

this person. A different breeze, a different energy field surrounds thisperson. He behaves differently. He speaks differently. He lives differently. He

walks differently. Something different has happened to him. He looks likeone of us, but in reality he is much more. Much more than total human

intellect can comprehend! He is the pulse of the unknown. So those who are

on the borderline can feel this. But they are asleep. Also, the borderlinesleep is transient. They can fall back into sleep at any time.

Before they fall back to sleep or deeper unconsciousness, it is essential for

them to surrender to an awakened one. This is initiation. But this is from theside of the one who is to be initiated. He is incapable of doing anything for

himself. He knows that if he does not surrender now, it will be impossiblelater on. This moment cannot be lost. Such moments come only once in ourlives. It is not in anyones hand to be on the borderline once again. Ithappens for so many reasons, that they are beyond human control.

This is the beginning of the process of initiation. On the part of the initiated,

this refers to total let go a state of total surrender. It can never be partial.A partial surrender is never surrender. This is like deceiving yourself. In

partial surrender you hold something within. And that which is withheld may

push you again into deep sleep. And then you have lost the opportunity formany lives! Remember that the non-surrendered part will prove fatal. Any

moment it can go back to sleep!

Surrender is always total. For surrender total trust is an essential

precondition. The moment you surrender totally, change begins to happen.Then you cannot fall back in into dreams. When you surrender, the entireprojecting mind gets shattered. This projecting mind is born out of ego. Also

it remains connected to the ego. So it cannot exist without the ego. Ego isthe base of this projecting mind. When you surrender, you have surrenderedthe cause of your existence up to now. You have given up completely.


12/18

Initiation means that the person who was sleepy till now is seeking help to

be awakened. He surrenders to one who is awake. Though it seems simple,it is not so. When you go to an Enlightened One to surrender yourself, what

you are surrendering is your sleep, your dreams, and your neurosis. Nothingelse needs to be surrendered because you are nothing more than your sleep,

your dream, and your neurosis! In fact, you surrender your sleep, yourdreams, your neurosis, and the whole nonsense of the past. From the side ofthe initiated, this is surrender. Surrender of the past! But from the side ofthe one who initiates you, it is a responsibility for the future. It is a

responsibility for transcendence and for the birth of a new man. One who isasleep can never be responsible. Responsibility comes with awakening.

This is the fundamental law of life. One who is asleep cannot be responsible

even for himself. And the awakened one is responsible even for others. Sowhen you come to an awakened one, he becomes responsible for you. That

is why an awakened Krishna could tell Arjuna, Leave everything. And come

to me. Surrender at my feet. Or as Jesus says, I am the truth. I am thedoor. I am the gate. Come and pass through me. I will certainly be a witness

on the last day of your judgment. I will answer for you.

This is analogy. Every day is the Day of Judgment. Not only every day,instead every moment is the Day of Judgment. There is nothing like the last

day. These were the words of Jesus that he spoke to his disciples, who couldunderstand Him. They were within the energy field of Jesus. And this hadbrought to them an understanding of the message of Jesus. However, thepresent day followers of Jesus cannot understand the message. They are

only interested in the business not the transformation. Jesus was, in fact,saying, I will be responsible for you. And I will answer for you in front of the

father. I will be there as a witness. Surrender to me, I will be your witness.This is the responsibility of the master. When he initiates you, he undertakes

to transform you, so that a new being is born out of you. No one, who is

asleep himself, can take the responsibility for you. One can be responsiblefor others only when he need not be responsible for himself. He is

unburdened. He is no more. He is just the pulse of the unknown. Anemptiness that simply echoes the whispers of the unknown! He is the

manifestation of the unknown in finite form. So only such a person can really

initiate you! Not otherwise! No particular person can initiate anyone. And ifthat happens, (and this is happening everyday) it is like a blind trying tolead the blind. However, in reality, both perish.

One who is asleep cannot initiate. But the ego cannot help. This attitude isdangerous. The whole initiation, the whole mystery of it, the whole beauty ofit, has now become so ugly because of those who were not entitled to


13/18

initiate. Only one who is not plagued by ego, who has no dreams within, can

initiate. Otherwise, initiation is a great sin.

In the olden days initiation was not so easy. One had to wait for a long timeto be initiated. Sometimes this waiting was for the entire life. This was

discipline. And now there is a competition among the pseudo masters toinitiate as many as possible! It has become an ego game.

I belong to a Sufi family of Enlightened Masters. Sufis would initiate you only

when you had waited for a long time. When you stayed with a master withinhis energy field, you were being prepared. You had to wait, without

questioning. And when the times came, the master himself would say thatthe time had come. Sufi masters remained in whatever vocation was theirs.

If the master was a shoemaker then one would continue helping him in thetrade for years. And you could not even question the relevance of

shoemaking. So you went on helping the master and waiting for years.

There was no talk of prayer or meditation. He would not talk of anything butshoemaking. Your waiting was prayer. Your waiting was meditation. Helping

the master in shoemaking would cleanse you. I was never taught any prayeror any technique of meditation. I was a witness to all those who were

initiated. My job was to fix the meditation room, take care of the personalneeds of the master, take care of the visitors, and answer their queries when

the message of the master was not understood. One day, when I complainedto another master about this, I was told that the elder master had given meeverything. All that is, had been bestowed on you earlier, and this nowneeds to grow.

When you are around the master, a simple waiting, this unquestionable

waiting, prepares the ground for complete surrender. So it was only after along wait initiation was possible. My uncle, the present Sufi master, my

mother and my father were initiated on the night of Phagwa the Hindu

festival of color.

My uncle was a young boy who was collecting the firewood and donationthat night for the Phagwa fire. My mother was asleep, and was not

interested in anything like initiation. She had asked her father many times

before but the sheikh refused saying that not yet. Therefore she, being theeyeball of her father decided not to ask again for being initiated.

And my father Naqshbandi Lakshmi Sahai knew nothing of initiation, justone month ago he had been married. They all resented the idea of initiation.But they were on the border of metaphysical sleep and they had to bebrought by force, so that my Grandfather, the Sufi master could initiate.

Such is the way of the masters.


14/18

Now everything is different. No one wants to wait. We are time conscious.Because of this, initiation has become difficult. You cannot be initiated. The

whole running of the present day mind is because of the fear of death. Weare only conscious of death our body. There is no consciousness of the

deathless. In the past the aspirants were conscious of the deathlessness.There was no hurry and initiation was easy. In fact, everything was easy.

If you are in a hurry and the master initiates you, your running or your

dream state, it is a devise. A devise so that you can wait! Masters have usedthis devise to persuade you into the process. On the contrary, when the

master asks you to wait then your process of transformation cannot begin.In such a case the master will allow you to wait afterwards. The master

creates devises and techniques to play with. While you are playing with suchtechniques you can wait as long as the master wants. And when the master

finds you are ready, and then the second initiation happens. This second

initiation was the first one in olden days. Now this is the formal initiation andthe second will be the informal one. For the second, you need not ask the

master. This he gives on his own.

Surrender on the part of the disciple and the responsibility on the part of themaster is the bridge. And as soon as you are ready to surrender, the master

appears. Masters have always been in existence. No master can begin theprocess without surrender. You only surrender that which you think youhave and in reality you do not have. And what is that which you think beingin possession of? Indeed, it is your false entity or ego or nafs and the clatter

of the mind that you consider as your possession master takes away and inplace of this fill you with his awareness, understanding, and lovingness. Thus

continues the inward journey for fruition.

When you can find someone, to whom you have to surrender, that is good.

But if you do not find, then the master appears. He comes whenever you areready, when you are empty within. Then the spiritual force rushes towards

you and fills you. So when you feel you are ready to surrender, dont delay.When the moment comes, just surrender!

When you are ready, do not hesitate; surrender! It is not important to whomyou surrender. You can even surrender to a tree. Because the real thing is

surrendering! Surrender to a tree. It will become your master. And

whenever there is surrendering, one always appears, who becomes

responsible for you. This is what initiation is.


15/18

Thus when Sheikh Onkar Nath was initiated he was only 16 years. It was the

beginning of a new chapter in the life of the sheikh. His father no more

remained his father alone instead he became the master as well. He always

hesitated in coming forward in front of the sheikh for anything so he had to

push forward his elder sister Gyatri. He knew very well that the father willnever refuse her. This was more so when they want to go to movies.

Amidst all this floating within the energy-field of the sheikh and long chain ofsufi masters sheikh Onkar Nath continued to blossom for the future works.

In 1955 when Sheikh was still a student of B. Sc. in Lucknow University, that

during the satsang congregation Naqshbandi Sheikh Sufi Brij Mohan Lal RAentered into samadhi. Because of financial constraints he had to discontinue

the studies and seek work to maintain the family including the mother and ayounger brother. First he worked in Canal Office on Temporary basis and

then he got the job in the Reserve Bank of India the central bank of the

country as a clerk. Then 1962 he along with his brother in laws youngerbrother began the graduation process as a part time student and passedwith honours and the First Class.

And on the tenth day ceremony under the care of his mother Sufi

Shakuntala Devi Sheikh Onkar Nath was bestowed upon with the status ofthe sheikh as the 39 Sheikh of the Golden Chain of Naqshbandi Mujaddadi-

Mazaharia-Ramchandria order of Sufism.

Thereafter he continued to grow to his full potential as the sheikh guided byhis mother. She took care of the eternal garden of the sheikh Brij Mohan Lal

for nineteen years. And when she found the tree has grown to its fullpotential and is capable to giving shelter to many aspirants Shakuntala Devi

too entered Samadhi on April 12th 1974. And on March 25th 1985 his firstwife Shyamwati Devi too entered samadhi. There after he got remarried to

Mamta Devi who is the daughter of his devotee Ishwari Sahai.

From the job when he was retired he moved from Kanpur to the city ofLucknow where the shrine complex exists. He established the trust. And also

the combined professional kitchen service started at the complex where theseekers can get full meals for a very nominal cost.

His health continued to fail but not the inner spirit. In January 2008 I visitedIndia and during our meeting which was a silent communion he was indrawnfor certain reasons that I cannot explain as yet.

On May 20th 2008 Sheikh Onkar Nath entered Maha Samadhi. On the tenth

day after the funeral rites the mortal remains were enshrined. And theshrine of the sheikh stands in the same shrine complex of his master sheikh

Brij Mohan Lal And mother Shakuntala devi RA.


16/18

Unlike after the enshrinement of Sufi Brij Mohan Lal the master hood was

not conferred on any one as each lacked Nisbet, trust in the sheikh andinner preparation. There are several factions and each carries the work

separately.

There is apparent faction for various reasons. Under these circumstances thesheikh manages the affairs in his un-embodied form. After Samadhi the

sheikh can continue like this even for ten years.

I must end here knowing the purpose and the place where this is being

published. However the entire life of the sheikh in details will appear soon inthe volume 3 of the Leaves from a Sufi Heart.

I must end the homage with a prayer and commitment that let our lives be

the flower at the altar of the sheikh.

jIvn sumn cFa kr t erI hm AcRna kregjnm jnm t erI hm v


17/18

Naqshbandi Sheikh Sufi Onkar Nath Bhayyia ji RA


18/18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3emb21AJU4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RETdQ81YH8o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIydbfNbWL4

http://youtu.be/5eYerNzzjqQ

samadhi day naqshbandi sufi onkar nath - bhaiyyaji ra

Documents