We enter into what had been Swami Satchidananda’s receiving room and is now Swami Muktananda’s. This brings back such memories. I seek out “my place” on the floor where I sat so many years ago in front of Swami Satchidananda, but Sri Krishna insists that I take a chair he has placed near Swamiji.
At one point a swami enters in and takes pronam from Swami Muktananda. The swami exits out, what was said was not in English. Swami M. then tells me that a great saint and scholar, one Swami Chidananda Puri, is just now coming. I comment that not all scholars are saints, so this swami is a rarity. Swami M. agrees. He says he is very active and in charge of many projects going on all over the place, that he travels extensively.
We wait for a few minutes and a swami, perhaps in his fifties, enters in at a fast clip and sits in the chair provided. There is a rapid exchange between the two swamis as the room fills up with various devotees; their dialogue is not in English.
This lack of verbal understanding gives me plenty of opportunity to observe the man introduced as a Saint and a scholar. He is, of course dressed in orange. He is bearded, has short cropped hair but not shaved, and he has a solid white strip across his forehead that extends into his hair from front to back along the crown, denoting Shiva. He has a pleasing manner, can be quick moving but is not fidgety. Swami M., Swami Chidananda and I are seated in a triangle.
After some minutes I can tell Swami M. is saying something about me that includes “Yogananda Paramhansa.” The swami turns his attention to me as Swami M. has gone out for a moment. “You are from where?” “U.S.A.” “I am from near Calicut.” Then the Swami looks at me. I feel the power and Light of God spontaneously rise up in me as I hold his gaze. His demeanor changes as now he looks at me with unblinking eyes. Then his eyes shift upward above my head; he is seeing something about my nature.
Swami M. reenters and the two swamis return to their talk. Swami M. is explaining about how some of the Ashram projects are proceeding. Then the Swami Chidananda looks at me again with a clear gaze. He says, “You do the same work as I do.” I said, “I am just a little person, like a small child.” Others laugh, he smiles, but does not say anything.
After some more talk between he and Swami M., he stands to walk out. We all stand with him, as he is nearby I reach down and touch his feet. He draws me up and is smiling and laughing, filled with joy he gives me a hug. Then, with full-on directness he says, “You do the same work as I do.” I take this as his blessing, for he is a saint who knows God.