Who Is This White Robed Monk?

  Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal, India
Friday, February 1, 2008

Baba told a beautiful little story tonight. Coming back from Assam yesterday, he was in the airport standing in the security line, bundled up with his black cap drawn over his ears and his forehead, all wrapped up in woolen scarves with hardly any of his face showing. (It was very cold in Assam.)

Always Ready to Share a Smile, a Laugh

A heavy set man walked up to him from nowhere and asked in a quietly incredulous, penetrating way, "Who are you?" Baba was quiet as he looked back at the man. Then he asked, "Who do you think I am?"

The man looked Baba in the eyes, then scanned Baba from head to foot, and replied, "I think you are a MahaPurush (a great saint)." He paused again, then added, "One thing is for sure, you are no ordinary man. You have a presence. You have such a light about you. I have never seen anyone with such light. Everything about you has a glow. You must be a mahatma, a very great soul, a true Holy One."

The White Robed Monk

"You are very close," Baba responded. "I am a speck of
dust on the feet of such a One. I am a servant of a
Holy One."

Honoring the One He Serves

Baba's response obviously overwhelmed this man. "Would you please be so kind as to spend a few minutes with me?" the man pleaded.

At Baba Lokenath Temple ,Kalighat, Kolkata

"I would love to be able to, but it is not possible now. I must catch the flight to Kolkata. It is boarding. I am late now and will miss my flight."

"You will not miss your flight," the man said. Removing a walkie talkie from of his pocket, he proceeded to instruct someone to hold the plane until he got there, that he would personally be bringing a passenger to the plane. "They will not leave without you. Now would you please give me just 2 minutes of your time?"

On a Walk through a Village

"What is it that you want to ask me?" Baba inquired.

"I don't want to ask you anything. I just want to spend a few moments with you. I want your blessing."

"O.K." said Baba. They visited for a few moments. Baba shared some of his insights about life and the world and how we can all work to change it. The man told Baba that he was a devotee of Bholanath (one of the titles of Siva), that he had totally surrendered his life to Siva. "Then you want for nothing, you need absolutely nothing from anyone else," Baba said, "He is the Lord that orders the entire Universe, if you have surrendered to him, everything about your life is in his hands."

With the Villagers He Serves

The man led Baba to his office to show Baba his altar, with its image of Siva. The man, it turns out, was the Director of Security for the entire airport. Then he kept his promise. He took Baba back into the main terminal area. He called several guards, who rushed over to carry Baba's bags. So here is our sweet, white robed monk with his black winter ski cap and thick woolen scarves wrapped around his neck, being escorted by the Director of Security and 3 uniformed security guards with guns who are carrying his bags. The Director is leading Baba past the crowd to the security scanner, personally seeing to it that no one touches Baba as Baba goes through the body check area. It was quite the spectacle. The crowds parted like the Red Sea in front of them as they made their way. Apparently no one receives this kind of treatment but heads of state. The man led Baba to the front of the line at the gate, guards still in tow with Baba's carry-on bags. Then he got down on his hands and knees and reverently bowed at Baba's feet in front of the guards and everyone there.

With Street Children of Kalighat

I asked Baba, "When something like this happens, is it because there is a soul connection between the two of you and some kind of recognition has occurred?"

"Absolutely," Baba said. "No one else came up to me like that. The airport was full of people. I am in airports all the time. No one else saw what he saw in me. There was some powerful connection between us from a former life. We had a predestined appointment then and there, some karmic dance to complete, me in service to him, him honoring me in the way that he did. Nothing happens out of nowhere."