Chance encounter with Dada

CHICAGO IL — Right before the event, Dada walked in and a devotional fervor gripped the room. Someone informed him of the day’s program, and pointed to me as a guest.

Dada immediately motioned organizers to bring another chair and have me sit next to him(!); as I headed toward him, he got up from his chair (which is quite an ordeal since it requires the support of multiple people to lift him up) and gently whispered in my ear, “I’m so grateful to have met you.” I was immediately taken by his humility.

At the time, I didn’t know his story. He graduated from college at 17, and completed a masters thesis in Physics. By 19 he had met his spiritual teacher and become a monk. Until the age of 48, he was in training; and in the subsequent 48 years of his life, he has tirelessly promoted oneness, non-violence and compassion.

Sadhu Vaswani Mission runs schools and social welfare programs, and Dada is particularly known for his insightful talks and for authoring more than a hundred books. His simple messages reach multitudes.

“Each one of us is spirit. On the spiritual plane, unity is not to be worked out. It is already there. On the plane of religion, we still have to work it out.”
If I had to encapsulate Dada’s personality in one word, it would be humility. He didn’t leak any energy. He held himself as caretaker, servant and trustee of a sacred resource. That constant experience is what seemed to ground his humility.

“Spirituality is not taught. It is caught — by associating with those who are truly spiritual,” Dada says. I think I know what he means.