The first official event in Salvador was a Satsang held at a beautiful little retreat centre around 20 minutes away from the main city. However the traffic on the road was so bad it took us almost one and a half hours to get there!
As always Guruji sat patiently answering all the questions from the people gathered. It was cute because at the beginning of the event itself, Guruji asked the crowd if they were familiar with Hindu culture, to which he received a general answer of 'no' from the audience. Perhaps it was because of that that he went on to tell so many stories of prominent figures in the Hindu culture and other concepts.
One story was particularly nice to showcase the power of surrender to the Guru. Once there was a guru and a few of his followers walking through a village. On their way they encountered a well with a very large tree growing over it. When the Guru looked into the well he saw that all the water was contaminated because this tree had branches that were covering the opening of the well and this meant that always leaves would fall inside and render the water undrinkable. Thinking out loud, the Guru said, "It would be so nice if the tree would not cover the well. That way the village would have drinking water readily accessible!".
Without even thinking twice, a disciple among the devotees started to climb the tree to cut down all the branches that were hanging over the well. All the other devotees became extremely agitated and worried for him. They could see that if he cut this branch then he would surely fall into the well and die. They all tried to stop him but he was resolute, saying, "Guruji was clear as to what his wishes were. I am simply fulfilling that request". So hearing that, all the devotees ran to the Guru to ask him to stop the disciple since it would seem he would only listen to his Guruji. The Guru tested him and told him, "You know it's true, if you cut these branches you will most likely fall and die". The disciple replied, "That changes nothing. I would happily give my life to fulfill your wishes". So upon hearing that the Guru simply told him, "Ok".
Indeed he did fall after cutting the branch off and everyone who saw it rushed to the well to look inside and see what had become of the disciple. What they saw shocked them. There he was at the bottom of the well, being carried by Narayan who was lying on Adishesh. Such is the power of complete surrender to the Guru. God Himself will do anything for such a disciple!
After Satsang, Guruji spent plenty of time speaking with many people one-on-one, counselling them and showering them with his love and blessings. The people were truly happy to have Guruji among them for the first time!