During our pilgrimage to Israel we visited the
place of Eliyahu and Leehee Holly in Jerusalem (www.jerusalemhug.org)
They invited Sri Swami Vishwananda to hold a
Satsang there. Late afternoon, on Tuesday the 3rd
of July, our group boarded the bus and off we went to the outskirts of
Jerusalem and after half an hour we reached their place, a very nice spacious
house with a lovely garden. We were warmly greeted and soon set up the
place for our beloved Guruji to hold the Satsang.
The most amazing fact is that Eliyahu is bound
to a wheelchair, he cannot move at all by himself. His peace-movement is well known in Israel and
he is a very wonderful person with glowing eyes and a very bright mood. He was so happy to have us and that Gurudev
came and was very, very open for whatever happened in spite of the fact that he
did not have much of an idea who our Master really is. His house is decorated with pictures of various
Saints and Masters, also a picture of Babaji could be seen.We at once felt comfortable there. After a while
a lot of people whom he had invited came.
So we were about 40 people of our group and
about 30 Guests. Some of them spoke Russian, so they could communicate well
with the Russian members of our group.
Some people wrote down questions and when
Eliyahu’s wheelchair was put in a spot where he had a good view of Swami, the
Satsang started.
Gurudev started of course by singing Bhajans
and everyone enjoyed it very much and our host was most touched. Gurudev made
some women guests sing and so we all chanted some Israeli songs.
When Gurudev started to speak, of course he
stated, while answering the questions, that love is the most important goal and
the aim of our soul.
Some asked what Atma Kriya is about and Swami
Sharada and Anantaananda gave a short summary of it.
Very interesting was that Gurudev said, “Everyone
knows the King – does the King know you? The King resides in the forbidden
zone.
He resides there only with his dear ones. So we
should strive to make ourselves known to the King. This is where devotion
arises. And we can approach the Queen – she is always very important as the
King cannot refuse the Queen :) and everybody smiled and nodded.
Other questions were: What is the purpose of
life? Answer: To love, nothing else.
What is the next step to enlightenment? When
unconditional love arises. Your Sadhana, your Kriya brings you closer. For a
Bhakta enlightenment is not the most important, to attain HIM is the most
precious!
After a few more questions, Gurudev led us into
a short meditation, where we spread our love to our neighbours, city and
country and to the whole world. It was very, very lovely. Gurudev received some people who were very
happy to be able to talk to him.
Our host Eliyahu, his wife and children also
got a blessing and were able to talk in private with him. They are a really
amazing couple.
Eliyahu is overall positive and all the guests
really appreciated his invitation. Leehee is supportive and at the end of our
stay we helped her quickly to clean up the place after Gurudev asked us: Shall
we leave the place like that?
Imagine 80 hands helped – it was very fast.
One thing to be mentioned and very important:
Many of our group had brought a little present for the family – some small
things from their country, maybe sweets or incense or little figures (e.g. from
Latvia).
And we collected some donations to be given to
Eliayahu for his peace work. He gladly accepted the gifts and imagine! - gave
the donations back to Gurudev to help him to let Springen and our organization
grow.
This was also something very special.
The love that Eliyahu is radiating goes deep
and he was so happy and touched about Swami’s visit, the Satsang and his
Interview. For sure he got a glimpse of who he really is! We hope to come back
to this place and surely will stay in touch with this amazing man and his wife.
Thank you Eliyahu and Leehee for hosting us!
We all went back, once more grateful to our
Guru for giving us another wonderful opportunity in experiencing love. And this
in the once and again war-stricken land of Israel – for sure a sign of good
hope!
Anuprabha
11.07.2013