I never did any spiritual disciplines when I was with Baba. I was too blown away to do anything at all. But one day I did fast, very quietly and without making a big whoop about it. I was simply absent from meals and stayed in the White House during the meal hours.

That afternoon I was hanging out near his office, knowing that he was inside, hoping for a little recognition. I saw a hand reach out the door and wave me inside. I had never been alone with Baba and I was shitting bricks.

I was sitting by the tucket when an Indian devotee read a newspaper (monotone voice) in Hindi to Maharaj.

Arrogantly, I must admit: I got bored, annoyed, and thought to myself why is this boring man reading this mundane stuff to M aharajji....

The next thing I knew, my kundalini was rising--what a rush--and my heart was filling with overwhelming Love, but before the energy reached my crown chakra,

Maharajji placed his hand on my head and it all stopped.

Who was He ?

Baba Neem Karauli a Saint and popularly known as Maharaj. He belonged to the state of Uttar Pradesh (Akbarpur) in India. He lead a simple life, wearing only a dhoti and a blanket and sometimes in all seasons. His devotees are spread all over India and also in many parts of the world including America.

Why is He called Saint ?

Baba was a saint as He had a dual personality. The divine and the human, one who had freed himself from worldly attachments and things [that] are mundane. He did not have any worldly possessions of physical nature except the spiritual power and this sustained Him throughout His life for spreading the message of human service of the highest order. He used to say "Love All, Feed All, Serve All." Sabki Sewa Atmn Gyan. Service beings leads to self realization, therefore it can be said that Baba Neem Karauli was an exceptional human being. When a person can in His contact he/she would become His disciple by the sheer force of His Grace.

One warm February afternoon in 1973, I met Neem Karoli Baba-ji at the Sankata Mochana Hanuman Mandir on Parikrama Road in Vrindaban. Early the next morning Maharaj-ji left for His ashram at Kainchi Dham in Nainital Jila, Kumoan.

A few months before meeting Baba, I had received funds from the USA. When I left the Brajbasi plains for Kumoan to follow Baba, I passed through New Delhi where I cashed $100 into rupees, which left me with $300 in American Express traveler's checks. The exchange rate was Rs/7.38 rupees to the dollar. In my bag I had some rupees and fifteen traveler’s checks in twenty-dollar denomination. The checks had come in a blue plastic AmEx envelope, which I kept in an inside pocket of my shoulder bag.

"Maharaj-ji was very much in motion. Before the ashrams were built He traveled very much. And when He stayed in houses He would frequently change the room in which He resided. And even when He stayed in the same room He would often change His position where He stayed (and slept) in the room."

Maharaj-ji and Gurudat Sharma were in Bhumiandar and they were staying at the ashram there. A group of local Ma's were in the habit of doing aarti to Maharaj-ji at the ashram each day. But today Maharaj-ji was not at the ashram. He was with Gurudat a couple of kilometers away sitting by the side of the road. After a while, the Ma's heard about Baba-ji's location and came and wanted to do aarti to Baba-ji right there by the side of the road. He would not allow this and sent them away again and again. Maharaj-ji said it wasn't right that they be would be doing aarti is this fashion right there on the road. Still they came back again..., and again. Gurudat told Maharaj-ji that the he didn't think that these Ma's were going to go away until they had done aarti to Him, as was their practice. Maharaj-ji relented and the Ma's were very happy. They had no matches to light the buti for the aarti lamp. They asked Gurudat, who replied that he did not smoke, so he had no matches. What could be done? Finally Maharaj-ji, took the buti in His hand, held His hand high in the air and in thirty second or so the buti was aflame. Thus these Ma's were able to do aarti to Maharaj-ji.