#OmSwami.os(me)

I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Om Swamiji for sharing his wisdom and experiences with the world; it has helped me cope with the harsh realities of life in balanced manner which would otherwise have wreaked havoc on my mental and emotional health.

Both my life experiences (natural occurrences) and Om Swamiji taught me valuable lessons; nature presented me with harsh realities of life that made me uncomfortable and compelled me to seek explanations. Om Swamiji, through his books and discourses, has assisted me in comprehending such harsh realities and seeing life in its true form and from a spiritual perspective.

To demonstrate this, I will share a tragic event that occurred in my life. In 2018, I lost my happy and healthy 5-year-old son in a road accident, I was traumatised, empty and lost, as any mother would be – it truly is the scariest and most unfortunate experience that a mother can ever go through.

I was constantly blaming myself for what happened (e.g., I wish I hadn’t driven that day or I wish something could have avoided this from happening). Two of the many questions that troubled me and I wanted answers to were “why did it happen to me? And why did it happen to my innocent son?” Especially since neither I nor my son has ever intentionally hurt or suffered another life. Yes, this shook my faith in God in those times.

Following that incident, many unpleasant truths about those who I thought cared about me (left my side when I needed them the most) revealed; I was already traumatised, and such revelations exacerbated the pain.

I did not know much about Swamiji or his journey at the time, but I had heard about him from my other half earlier. One day, while I was lost in my grief, my attention was drawn to one of Om swamiji’s book (If Truth Be Told: A Monk’s Memoir) This is when I came across chapters in where he wrote about his ability to read astrology and foresee death dates. He also stated (in summary) that he was aware of his mamaji‘s coming death date but did not intervene with nature to alter or prevent it. He not only explains difficult concepts like death in a way that soothes the pain and hurt, but he also provides the spiritual perspective to it. For example, “it’s a beautiful pause, just a small pause. This is not the end. Just like when on a long journey, you tend to take a break, either for a pit, a bite or simply freshen up…”

To summarise, life has taught me that death can strike at any time and to anyone. Om Swamiji helped me digest this harsh truth. He helped me understand that death is not the end of the journey of the immortal soul, and that each soul’s journey is unique.