Newsletter #83, by Sophia Pilbeam (9 November 2015)

Samarpan Online Group Meditation Newsletter

TOPIC FOR THE WEEK – Samarpan House Voigstdorf Germany – a Sadhak’s divine experiences.

1^st visit – OCTOBER 2013

The first time I was lucky enough to go to Voigstdorf was a completely unexpected answer to a heartfelt prayer; I had heard Heike sing the mantra on JCO and really felt a deep knowing; a message from my soul, that I should go to spend time In Voigstdorf, Germany. So I prayed. I felt inspired to email Heike asking if it may be possible to visit at some time. She immediately emailed back and said ‘it’s so strange that you ask, Jaya and Surendra are planning to come over in a few weeks, so we are all having a skype meeting tonight to discuss the arrangements, just join in and we’ll sort something out’. Jaya and Surendra said another UK sadhika wanted to come as well so perhaps I could call her. Within a few weeks I was picking her up from the bus station to stay overnight before our early morning flight to Berlin. That night she dreamt that Swamiji went to Voigstdorf to check out and energise the house. I didn’t sleep a wink because the Brahmanaad was so loud and the energy so intense in our bedroom, that it was impossible. On the flight over to Berlin we both simultaneously looked at each other with tears running down our cheeks, saying to each other that we felt so blessed and that the grace of the Gurus were definitely with us. In the car up the hills on the way to Samarpan House we again both looked at each other and at the same time said we felt the energy rising and becoming clearer and purer. As it turned out this same Soul sister and I shared a bed so we became so close we merged at a soul level often thinking the same thoughts, spontaneously waking and sleeping at precisely the same moment. We arrived at Samarpan House Voigstdorf in the dark and were greeted with open hearts and smiling faces. As we walked up the stairs into the very warm and rustic ‘Heidi-house’, the other UK sadhika had a look of amazement on her face, as she had seen the exact same house in her dream the night before.

As we went to bed that night she exclaimed that in her dream Swami had been in this room and the one next door. In the darkness before we went to sleep, I saw Jesus Christ in white robes with long white hair walking across the room towards the bed we were sleeping on. There was such an atmosphere of deep peace, coolness and love in the room. The next morning I looked towards the direction where Jesus Christ had appeared, and realized there was a picture of Swamiji’s subtle body there. So I had the divine experience that SwamiJis subtle body picture is truly a medium for all Great Saints and Sages consciousness to be transmitted to us All! At 5am During our early morning meditations we were wrapped up in loads of blankets due to the cold, so we were nice and snug. But we still felt cool air blowing within us and heard the brahmanaad singing all around us. The fire ceremonies that we experienced were truly amazing. For the first time I really understood the depth, the meaning and the process that we went through; after the ceremonies we felt like we’d had a divine bath of clear golden light. As we left Samarpan house at the end of our stay we saw the shape of a foetus in the sky as well as the ‘Om’ sign as a cloud formation, and as we drove away a beautiful rainbow filled up the whole sky over Voigstdorf.  We were all so, so joyful and full of wonder and amazement.

2^nd visit – Anushthan 2014

I had a deep wish in me to go to Anushthan, but as things didn’t work out for me to go to India, so Swamiji directed me to Voigstdorf instead. Two of us travelled from England to join a few German sadhaks for the last two weeks of Anushthan. The 2 weeks we followed the same programme as the Ashram in Dandi, but here in an environment of hills, blue sky and lush green German foliage. It was true Christmas weather; frostiness in the morning and clear sunlight in the afternoon. We had a very purifying, wholesome and fun time. As we were coming back from a walk one day, from the back of the house towards the bridge, I saw Swamiji’s subtle body standing on the bridge over the small stream that led to the front of the house. I couldn’t keep my eyes off Him, but we kept walking and seemed to walk through the subtle body! I couldn’t understand what I’d seen so I looked back and He was still there smiling! I felt He was very happy that all the European sadhaks had joined together in collectivity in Europe for this Anushthan. When I shared this with the group we decided to go back to and stand on the bridge and bask in the energy there; tears were flowing from my eyes. On the actual night of Mahashivratri we all went to bed very early so we could wake up and listen to Swami’s live broadcast from India. I woke up and pulled a muscle in my back, but I ignored this and went up to the meditation room; it was quite painful to sit but the moment I connected the collectivity of pure souls I didn’t feel the pain. The energy was very strong and when Swamiji started to give his discourse my chitta immediately went to Dandi, I was walking along the beach with an Indian sadhika (who I had met whilst at the ashram when I had stayed there for a month), we were singing love songs to each other! Then I felt like I was diving into the ocean, next thing I knew I opened my eyes and the live transmission from India was finished 2 hours seemed like a second!?

3^rd visit – September 2015

I was blessed again by His Grace and visited Voigstdorf in September this year, with a party of ‘Britishers’. It was so exciting – to be in the collectivity of sadhaks and sadhikas I knew well, and also to visit Voigstdorf after Swamiji, Guruma and Ambaresh had actually stayed there. What Joy! At the beginning of our stay we all met in the Art studio downstairs to create a programme for the week. As I walked in to the studio I felt my whole being going completely to the Sushumna nadi – it was so powerful that I couldn’t even think about the programme and became an actor observing myself joining in. The feeling the vibrations of bliss pulsating through my whole being were gentle but awesome. At the end of the group discussion someone asked if Swamiji had been in this room, and apparently GuruMa, Ambaresh and their group had had a meeting on the floor in this Art studio. At 5 o´clock each morning we all found a place to meditate in isolation with our soul for an hour. One morning I decided to go to the Yagya Shala for this. I settled down in front of the fire pit and a candle. I could hear the sound of the trickling stream and squirrels on the roof, and felt the cool air of the moon surrounding me. The energy was so strong in the yagya shala I decided that I would definitely try this again if the opportunity arose. In the middle of the week everyone decided to visit a local farmer’s market but I wasn’t sure why but I really wanted to experience if there was a difference between the vibrations in the yagya shala and the vibrations sitting on the veranda of what had been Swami’s kuttir, which had been specially converted for his visit (from a 100 year old bee house).  As it was a beautiful sunny day I walked around barefoot and felt very connected to nature. First of all I meditated in the yagya shala, which again was a very powerful experience, where time seemed to stand still and space seemed to open up. I felt as if I was in the Himalayas in the presence of Swami’s Gurus – both in terms of nature and purity. After a long time I found myself on the veranda of Swami’s kuttir, basking in the sunshine. This felt like a more personal experience like I was with my family safely at Home. I must’ve lost track of time because I suddenly found myself walking towards the kitchen and remembered that I had put 2 pumpkins in the oven quite a while ago  – 1-2 hours! They were burnt! Luckily a local sadhika had popped in for a visit and switched the oven off for me. The room was a bit smokey but all I could smell was sandalwood, I could even taste it dripping down the back of my throat. This smell of sandalwood carried on intermittently for the rest of the day. The other sadhaks arrived back from their trip and Heike and Johannes asked what sort of day I’d had. I explained that I enjoyed being alone and wanted to investigate if there was any difference between meditating in the yagya shala and on swami’s veranda outside his kuttir; so that’s what I had spent the day doing. So then they asked what difference had I experienced? I said “well in the yagya shala I felt like I was with the Gurus in the Himalayas and outside Swami’s kuttir it felt like I was at home”. Heike said that all made sense as Swamiji had inaugurated the yagya shala by bringing down the consciousness and energy of one of the Himalayan gurus using his special mantra. During the whole week I felt myself gravitating towards a sofa in the kitchen. Every opportunity we sat down to eat I chose to sit down on the sofa which was much lower than the table and not as comfortable as sitting on a chair to eat, but still I had seemed to have fallen in love with the sofa. I had many a deep blissful and empty meditative; long episodes on this divine sofa without realizing what was happening. This made sense to me on the last day when Heike asked us to write in the special book of experiences that all people who stay in Samarpan house Voigstdorf write in before they leave. The book was on the windowsill behind the sofa and as I flicked through it and started reading other people’s experiences and messages I noticed that Swamiji had written a world peace message in the book in his own handwriting. The vibrations were so powerful, so it all made sense as to why the sofa seemed so attractive all week. The last day we had a silent day of gurukarya, which I found quite wonderful.On this afternoon a sadhak and myself ended up standing under the tree that Swamiji had stood under, for half an hour as the vibrations were very strong there. I could hear the words ‘I love you, I love you, I love you’ repeatedly which was a lovely way to end this magical time in Voigstdorf.

Epilogue; In Voigstdorf Self, Soul and Swami merge together in Nature, under the umbrella of pure and holy souls that are all collectively heading in the same direction towards Moksha; the Universal ocean of love, Paramatma. The blessings and grace that are consistently being showered on us all are full of Truth and Splendour. We are all so blessed to have such a Sat Guru as Swamiji who has created a highway for us to travel along together as Souls until we are ALL HOME. Collectively as Souls WE Are God!