My spiritual understand is complicated. I was raised by 2 devout Catholic parents who stayed together for 50 years, until my mom died. I had 12 years of Catholic education. In the late 1960s the Beatles were all the rage. They went to India to consult with a yogi. How cool was that? So, I wanted to know about India and the yogis. A book came out by Ram Dass “Be Here Now” who went to India and met a yogi and was changed. I got interested and read Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana, and some other Hindu stuff. I also read all of Castaneda’s book, at least 3 times each! I even saw Castaneda in 1997 only a year before he died. Then I read a series of books about him that proved he was something of a liar. I read Ram Dass “Miracle of Love” that I highly recommend. This thread is dedicated to that. When I was 27, I was working a miserable job as office clerk and a girl who worked there gave me an invitation to a free banquet. She was a Margi, a follower of the Ananda Marga’s guru, Ananda Murti. I went and enjoyed the strangeness of it. I was invited back and later met the Dada (disciple of Baba) and I was offered a room to rent in their big “Jagerti” (yoga house) for $150 per month. It was closer to my job than where I lived so I told my folks I was moving to a room closer to my job. Dada had told me to not mention Ananda Marga to my parents. I lived there for a month and then I met my wife. We are still together after 42 years. Here are a few stories about Neem Karoli Baba, whom his devotees called “Maharajji.” I hope you enjoy them. Please contribute your own experience. These stories are edited to shorten and clarify them. “This is how Maharajji became known as Neem Karoli Baba, which means “sadhu (holy man) from the town of Neem Karoli.” This was perhaps when Maharajji was in his late 20s or early 30s. For several days nobody had given him any food and hunger drove him to board a train to the nearest city. When the conductor discovered Maharajji seated in the first-class coach without a ticket, he pulled the emergency break and the train ground to a halt. After some debate, Maharajji was put off the train. The train was stopped near the village of Neem Karoli (aka Neeb Karori) where Maharajji had been living. Maharajji sat under the shade of a tree while the conductor blew his whistle, and the engineer opened the throttle. But the train would not move. The train sat there while every attempt was made to get it moving. Another engine was even brought to attempt to push it, but to no avail. A local magistrate, who knew Maharajji suggested they coax the young sadhu back onto the train. The officials were appalled by such superstition, but after many futile attempts to get the train moving, they decided to give it a try. They requested that he board the train. He agreed on 2 conditions: (1) they must promise to have a station built for the village of Neem Karoli (at the time the villagers had to walk several miles to the nearest train station), and (2) the railroad must treat sadhus better. The officials promised to do whatever was in their power, and Maharajji boarded the train. Then they asked Maharajji to start the train. He retorted “What is it up to me to start trains?” The engineer started the train and it moved only a few yards, but then he stopped it and said, “Unless the sadhu orders me, I will not go forward!” Maharajji said “Let him go!” and they proceeded. Maharijji said that the railroad kept their word, they built a train station at Neem Karoli and sadhus received better treatment.”
