Mahasmadhi Retreat 2000

Shri Anandi Ma, heir to Dhyanyogi, speaks on the meaning of feet and sandals

 Sunday, August 20, 2000

From Shakti, Vol. XVII, Nov. 2000 (Dhyanyoga Centers Newsletter)

           The significance of the sandals of the Guru has been spoken and written about in great length, in various scriptures, including the Guru Gita. Tulsidasji has written in the Ramayana that if the entire collection of oceans was an ink and all the trees in creation served as pens, yet it wouldn't be enough to write the glory of God, to write the glory of the Guru and the sandals of the Guru. No matter what is written and how much is written, it is still just a drop of the infinite.

            In the Ramayana, when Bharatji found out that Lord Ram went away to the forest, he went to the forest requesting Lord Ram to please return home. Bharatji was very sad that the Lord had to go through all that pain and suffering because of him. He felt he became the cause of all that, and so he said, 'I'll take your place, if you would please return to Ayodhya.'

            But Lord Ram, naturally, didn't accept that. He said it was His dharma to fulfill the promises, and it was Bharatji's dharma to continue what was said as a part of the boons with Dahsharathji. Lord Ram gave Bharatji His sandals, which he brought back to Ayodhya. Bharatji ruled for the next fourteen years with the sandals as a witness, as a presence of the Lord.

            When Tulsidasji describes what those sandals represented, he says that they were given to Bharatji and to the people of Ayodhy. The sandals were like a little jewelry box that contained the pure love of Bharatji for the Lord. And the two sandals also carry the essence of the two letters of the Lord—Raa and ma—which are the aspects of Shiva and Shakti, which become the key process for liberation for the individual soul.

            Tulsidasji writes further that the sandals served as an armor of protection for the Raghu dynasty. The two hands were to support positive and the best of all actions, of all karma. The two sandals represented the two eyes of the Lord, which were constantly guiding and protecting. They gave the vision of what is true action, true dharma.

            So with all these aspects of the sandals, Bharatji was filled with joy that through the sandals he had the very presence of the Lord with him. . ..

            The sandals of the Guru carry tremendous power and significance. Just as Raa and ma represent the two sandals, Gu and ru—the two syllables of the word Guru—are also contained in essence within the energy of the Guru's feet and sandals. They are very much present at the subtle level in terms of their energy within the sandals.

            The Guru may often have to leave His or Her ashram for various reasons, and again, when the Guru enters Mahasamadhi and leaves the body, the physical presence of the Guru has been known to continue through the sandals. Many, many experiences have been had, even while the Guru is in the body but away. The sandals have proved that the physical presence is absolutely there, and years after the physical departure, the sandals have continued to prove that the Guru is very much still there. Many people have received shaktipat simply by touching Guruji's sandals" (pp. 3-5).

            "Another tremendous aspect of this retreat was the presence of the Divine Mother, at the fire ceremony. We had the murti which brought me the awakening and the experience leading to my meeting Guruji, the murti through which I had that initial experience of the brilliance of light—of thousands of suns put together—and my final merging with that energy. . . ." (p. 6).