Divine Experience

“I had traveled to Bhopal by car. It was early morning and as my work would not begin before 11, I had a good amount of spare time. I approached a street-corner pan shop and inquired, “Are you aware of a solitary peaceful Shiv temple nearby?” A by-stander who overhead this inquiry replied, “Yes indeed, I know of such a place”. I requested him if he can guide me to that place and he agreed. He led me to a very quiet and serene Shiv temple. The pious and soulful atmosphere impressed me very much and the words came out of my mouth involuntarily, “It is an ideal place for meditation”. My guide responded by saying that if I really wanted to meditate, then there was an even better place that was not too far away and he can take me there. But though nearby, it was accessible only on foot, so we left the car and the driver at the Shiv temple and proceeded. As the guide had promised, we soon reached a lonely beautiful spot that was very calming. There was a small tidy cave with a scenic backdrop of water trickles running down a hillock. My companion assured me that it was safe to be there and the spot, though lonely, posed no danger. The morning time and the quiet, peaceful atmosphere were very conducive and I could transcend into deep meditation with ease. I was soon lost in sublime peace and profound joy in an animated state where time lost its perspective. He and I returned to my conscious self, I thought that the fifteen to twenty minutes of meditation was very rejuvena ting. On coming out of the cave, I tried to locate my companion, but he was nowhere in sight. I searched for him all around but could not find him. I even shouted out his name but it seemed that the person had disappeared. I returned to the Shiv temple and asked my driver, “The gentleman who had accompanied me here to show me the way, has he returned?” My driver replied, “No Sir, since you both left from here in the morning nobody has come here.” Hearing him referring to time, I reacted immediately, “What time is it now”, and the driver said it was five in the evening. I was awed and amazed to realize that my meditative sub consciousness in that beautiful calm spot had lasted from morning till evening! I again tried to locate my guide but without success. I went back to the street corner where I had met him and inquired with the pan shop owner about him, but even the owner of the shop said, “He was a stranger to us too. We had never seen him before this morning. We do not know who he is and where he came from”. This mysterious appearance and disappearance of my “guide” prompted me to think again and again who he really was! Soon thereafter, my duties took me to Bhopal again. I was naturally keen and curious to visit that sublime spot where I had meditated on previous occasion. I tried my very best to locate it and inquired about it with many people, but even in spite of my best efforts, I could locate neither the pan shop where the whole episode had begun, nor the Shiv temple nor the pious cave!”