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What is perfect has become so through the activities of the natural elements in space, and through body, mind, hearing, intellect, and consciousness. In these words, Dharmasamrāṭ Paramahaṁsa Śrī Svāmī Madhavānandajī—simply, Holī Gurujī—expressed the joy of the manifested life, the jīvātmā, within the body of the spirit. His entire human life was an invaluable opportunity to know himself and to know God. His desire for liberation and his complete devotion to his Gurudeva, Bhagavān Śrī Narendra Mahāprabhujī, raised his jīvātmā to the level of ātmā, the divine being, all the way to Paramātmā, to God Himself. Thus, the physical body of Śrī Madhavānandajī became a living temple and a living testimony of Paramātmā. For 80 years, Gurujī spent time in his physical body as a living blessing. After his 80th birthday, the inevitable came for that which exists in form, in time and space. Gurujī’s immortal, divine ātmā left its mortal abode. Like a worn-out garment, Gurujī’s body completed its mission in Jodhpur on October 31, 2003. Although our minds refused to accept this news, here in Jadana Ashram we prepared the last gift for Holī Gurujī. Every petal of a flower scattered along the path through which Gurudeva would pass was one of his disciples, a bhakta, a space under his holy feet. We waited, stunned, to come into contact with reality. With the sunset, reality arrived: the immortality in the passing of all material things. Gurujī’s body arrived, resting in Mahāsamādhi, in his final samādhi. Sandhyā, the sunset, perfectly depicted our loss. Our spiritual sun had set. That sun had always filled us with its brilliant light and indescribable warmth. What pain and dignity we carried for the One who had always carried us? In this ashram, pain stopped time; the loss was cosmic, and the pain was cosmic. In this world, nothing greater can be lost than our Guru’s pain, love, and gratitude. They are expressed by the prayer of the hymn to the Guru’s glory. The next morning began the first day without the Holy Guru—a day that would try to find solace only in prayers and bhajans. From all sides, bhaktas came to share the silent pain of one more physical meeting with their Gurudeva. They came for the last darśana, the last meeting with the diamond whose purity and firmness were the source of wisdom and mercy; the last meeting with the one who was the safe oasis in the cruel and dark jungle of life, Śrī Gurudeva. "Do not forget me, and let me never forget you." Among all of us, only Svāmījī knew what we had lost with Gurudeva’s departure from the physical world. The presence of Gurudeva was not an exaggeration, and his departure was not an exaggeration. Who cannot appreciate this smile of divine love, the sweetest of all? Though deeply pierced by personal pain, Svāmījī was a relief and a balm for the pain of all the bhaktas. But time never waits. It was necessary to build the final residence for Gurujī’s body. It would be here, in the heart of the great temple of Om Ashram. Here, Śrīmad Madhavānandajī, as Saguṇa, would remain in the form of the eternal center, the eternal heart of the temple and ashram dedicated to Om Nirguṇa, the unformed, eternal, ultimate Divine. Everyone was aware of the significance of the moment and of what they were building. In silence, the work of venerating Gurujī was performed. At the day’s end, a prayer. Yesterday, it was a prayer with him; now, it was a prayer for him. The bhaktas flowed in front of Mādhavānandajī’s samādhi. Their pain turned into a focus where knowledge and the words of Gurudeva defeated death. Time and space converged, giving a cosmic dimension to this moment of pain. It was the day of the final farewell. The ashram was filled with thousands of people, thousands of bhaktas from all continents. In this way, it was easier to bear the personal pain of losing Gurudeva. This divine body, this divine temple where the saint had lived, where Gurudeva had lived and taught, was moving on its final journey through this forest. Sitting upright and dignified—dignified in death as in life—Holī Gurujī was surrounded by a mass of people walking the known path. Every step, a bouquet of flowers; every step, full of memories. Memories filled with the pain of losing the departed, but also filled with a gentle gratitude for the imperishable that is given through the passing. The encounter with Śrī Mahāprabhujī once and for all determined the life of Holī Gurujī. Simply and permanently, Mahāprabhujī became his life. Mahāprabhujī’s face, Mahāprabhujī’s word, and Mahāprabhujī’s name were for him the embodiment of the Divine. Only love of such purity and intensity passes all obstacles and removes all barriers between us and God. This love is like madness, but only such love, without residue or calculation, saves one from the madness of the ego and from the madness of suffering and ignorance. A saint no longer belongs to himself; he belongs to God. He no longer has himself, but therefore he has everything; he has God. Gurujī is eternal, alive in the teaching and as a witness that this is possible. From such realization, he wrote numerous bhajans and Līlā Amṛta, the biography of his Gurudeva. With this book, he told a part of the eternal story of the divine presence on this planet through the lives of his spiritual ancestors: Śrī Alak Purījī, Śrī Dev Purījī, and Śrī Mahāprabhujī. After Śrī Mahāprabhujī, Gurujī took care of the ashrams in Kelash, Kāṭu, and Polagudi, and established new ones in Nepal, Jaipur, Jādana, and New Delhi. These ashrams are a spiritual nest for those souls ready to fly into the endless sky of freedom and the wholeness of the Ātmā. Gurujī shared the joy of being immersed in the divine depths of meditation with those who shared that blissful desire. The spiritual joy of the saints is complete when they have someone to share it with. The love and joy of belonging that Gurujī had with his Gurudeva, he transmitted to his disciple, Svāmījī Māheśvarānanda. Śrī Māheśvarānandajī was 13 years old when he connected his life with Holī Gurujī. He then handed over the pure vessel of his child’s being to his teacher to be filled with the divine nectar of immortality. The strength of Gurujī’s devotion, discipline, and knowledge found in Svāmījī a perfect, ready, and willing soul. They are extremely rare disciples who can completely surrender, who can comprehend the immense greatness of the blessing that Gurujī possesses and offers. Svāmījī is, as an incarnated Mahātmā, perfected in the complete Gurujī world. Not only was his spiritual awakening fast and complete—which every teacher desires for his disciple—but also, Māheśvarānandajī is the very incarnation of service. There are different types of manifestation of the divine blessing that fills the saints. Some saints live in the Divine. They move little and only teach those who come to them. They are like a lighthouse that radiates its light from one place. Others, carried by a deep feeling of universal love, walk the world, bringing that light from door to door, from heart to heart. Thanks to Svāmījī, Gurujī was able to live peacefully in his Viśvadīpa, in the divine light of the universe, knowing that his disciple, with the immense will of Mahāyoga and immense love for all beings, would—without wasting any time on himself or his own life—spread the wisdom of yoga and the glory of Viśvadīpa. Gurujī’s stillness and Svāmījī’s work perfectly fulfilled the dharma of both. Thus, they made each other whole, and made this world better. The air vibrated with mantras, prayers, and bhajans. Thousands of bhaktas were giving their blessings to their Guru. We slowly reached the place of the future temple, where Gurujī’s body would be permanently interred. "God bless you, God bless you, God bless you..." Carried in the hands of his sannyāsīs, for whom the Guru was a perfect example, Gurujī was placed in his samādhi. A sannyāsī who wanted nothing, a vairāgī to whom everything except God was insignificant. Placed on his royal throne, as a reflection of the pure spirit known and lived in this human body: Śrī Madhavānandajī. In Hinduism, it is tradition for the body of the deceased to be cremated, whereby the soul frees itself from the bondage of the dead body. The bodies of saints, mahātmās, and great yogīs are not cremated. Their souls are liberated by Ātmā Jñāna and Brahma Jñāna, and therefore their bodies are considered the temple in which God lived. Thus, their bodies remain as monuments and memorials for all of us. Everything vibrated with Vedic mantras, which are both a prayer and a testimony of Ātmā and Paramātmā. The mantras filled this space as the hymn of the Most High, the Divine—the Divine in which Gurujī lived and with whom he is now finally inseparable, one. Before us, in death, in Mahāsamādhi, Gurujī remained immensely beautiful and majestic. This will remain in the memory of his bhaktas and his heirs. The final moment, under the leadership of Śrī Narendra Nāṭa Śaṅkarācārya from Benares: a moment of reverence, silence, and tapas. In eternal glory of the One who blessed our lives so abundantly. Bhagavān, Hindu Dharma Samrāṭ, Dharma Cakra Vartī, Paramahaṁsa Śrī Svāmī Madhavānandajī has gone into eternity. We remain in the present, deeply impoverished by his departure and immensely rich in what he has given us. Holī Gurujī, who spent all his inner and outer life before the altar, became the altar himself. He became a divine mirror with a pure and eternal message: "I am not the body of ignorance. I am pure consciousness, endowed with wisdom." When Gurudeva went to Mahāsamādhi, his spiritual throne and spiritual responsibility passed to his spiritual heir. The tradition is that the heir is announced after 16 days. The spiritual lineage that led from Śrī Alak Purījī to Śrī Dev Purījī and Mahāprabhujī, and then to Holī Gurujī, now unequivocally passes to Māheśvarānandajī. Days passed, and the entire life of the ashram unfolded before and around Gurujī’s samādhi. Here, morning and evening, prayers of gratitude and remembrance took place. Bhaktas and devotees came for darśana every day. There, near the feet of Svāmījī, they found comfort, hope, and refuge in the paramparā, the uninterrupted lineage of the teacher, rooted in Guru Tattva, in spiritual recognition. From all sides, sannyāsīs and sādhus gathered to pay respect to Holī Gurujī as a spiritual giant who made everything that is spiritually difficult, successful and achievable. Among them were the Mahāmaṇḍaleśvaras, the most respected and responsible. The evening satsaṅgas maintained the continuity of spiritual unity among the people, the unity of the sādhus, and the unity of Guru and disciple. The past, present, and future united in the eternal truths sung in the bhajans. "At this time, if you want to see what the Guru can and cannot do... Anāhonī Guru Karsake, Honī Det Mitāī, Parabrahma Gurudeve, make everything good." The day of inauguration arrived, bringing several thousand sādhus and tens of thousands of devotees to the ashram. This was the day when a student of God inherits from his teacher of God. The unceasing flame and light of God’s presence through the Guru Paramparā would receive its formal confirmation. Yogīs, sādhvīs, and sannyāsīs, whose fundamental attribute is vairāgya, detachment, uphold such social ceremonies to ensure the purity of the inheritance of spiritual teaching. With this, they and everyone present accept Svāmījī as the bearer and embodiment of spiritual wisdom, accompanied by the direct meditative experience of a yogī and the grace of his Guru. The function which is going on is that the tradition of the monks, the sannyāsīs, proceeds in this way: after one [Guru], the successor is chosen. So Māheśvarānandajī Mahārāj, the present Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara, will now, today, at this present time, be declared the successor of Pūjyapāda Brahmaliṅga Madhavānanda Purījī Mahārāj. This is a succession function. He will now be the successor on behalf of Madhavānanda Purījī Mahārāj. The first step is the worship of sandalwood, the symbol of Gurujī’s holy feet. Gurujī’s throne is dedicated to it, upon which Śrī Māheśvarānandajī will ascend. Ancient Vedic mantras give the ceremony a cosmic dimension. Flower garlands precede the key moment of inauguration. The maṇḍaleśvaras, Śrī Niranjānandajī Purī and Śrī Muralī Manoharajī, with the help of the assembly, inaugurate Viśvaguru, Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara, Paramahaṁsa, Śrī Svāmījī Māheśvarānandajī as the full heir of Holī Gurujī and his majestic lineage of Gurus. The small bell, which was an inseparable and essential part of Gurujī’s life, now transfers to Svāmījī the blessing that Gurujī earned in the spiritual world. The moment is amazing and majestic. Everything belongs to those who give everything. The shawl in India signifies respect, protection, and acceptance. It was a great honor and privilege to be here and to place the shawl on the shoulders of Māheśvarānandajī. This shawl came from the Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia. Then came the bhaktas from all the ashrams. Mahāprabhujī, Gurujī, and Svāmījī—students shared with Svāmījī the pain of Gurujī’s departure and the significance of this inauguration. Yogīs and bhaktas know this heavenly love, which brings the same immeasurable admiration and immeasurable pain. The mutual acceptance between Guru and disciple is also a mutual participation. Gurudeva shares with the disciple the efforts of finding himself in turbulence, not only spiritual but also in everyday life. The disciple gradually, consciously and unconsciously, participates in what Gurudeva already is; he participates in the glory of Ātmā and Paramātmā. This is how yoga has preserved the living chain of knowledge, in which every disciple is a link directly connected to the teacher. This direct transfer of knowledge from Guru to disciple is called paramparā, which symbolizes unity in diversity. The Ātmā is the same in the Guru and the disciple, but the body and the ignorance of the disciple give them a sense of diversity. Under the Guru’s guidance, the disciple recognizes the One, the Eternal, and the Divine. Through the Paramparā, by the Guru’s grace, the disciple recognizes the Ātmā, which is hidden by the impurity and noise of the body, senses, emotions, intellect, and ego. Thus, and only thus, is the purity, authenticity, and completeness of spiritual knowledge preserved. That is why here in India, Gurudeva is the highest. He is the highest master because he is the greatest servant. His service makes this planet a treasure of the universe. His presence and his teaching give meaning to every moment, every drop of sweat, and every tear we shed walking our path through the jungle of life. Only when we become the dust of the dust from his feet do we become worthy of him and his blessing. The final ceremony is performed by the priest, and special gifts are given to sixteen chosen saints. And every great ceremony ends in the form of a sacrifice. The offerings are shared for the success of the inauguration. Svāmījī is inaugurated, and all participants proceed to the final bhandārā. The bhandārā is a form of sacrifice, a form of giving that is balanced and provides for what is received. Everyone present at the bhandārā receives a sacred meal. Preparations for this meal are intensive; the cooks are full of enthusiasm, and the cooking vessels are grandiose. One must feed a few thousand sādhus and tens of thousands of bhaktas. To host a sādhu, a monk, a man who has dedicated his life to God, is a special blessing for the host. Sādhus have traditionally received food (poshala) and some money, dakṣiṇā. Whoever feeds one dedicated to the Spirit, the Spirit will feed him. The Paramparā never dies, because the human longing for the greatest happiness, peace, freedom, and truth never dies. The light of the Gurudeva is, through the Paramparā, transferable, but never extinguished. Blessed is the body and being that becomes its carrier. Blessed are those sailors who orient themselves by that light on the ocean of life. Their ship may falter, but it will never break, not even in the greatest storm. In the end, their ship, by the mercy of the Immaculate Guru Tattva, will reach the harbor of all harbors in its Divine Home.