How do I describe my remarkable meeting with Maitreya?! Eternally fresh and cherished. A mirror in front of a mirror. I found the greatest treasure in this life having encountered a live, fiery, outpour of love, compassionate Buddha, my master Maitreya. As Aladdin found his magic lamp, I found my master.
The search was over.
A Cold Night in December
It was during my travels in December 2020 where I was sitting by a lake on a chilly cold night, around 11:00 pm in Kashmir, when I told my friend sitting by my side what this life is all about.
I told him, “I am simply sitting in hope that one day something nice will happen. Something beyond this mundane world, something that can stay forever – that is what I want.”
He replied, “It’s like you are standing at the dock and ships are coming and going. You are waiting and waiting for your ship to arrive but ships are coming and going and you are stuck in your hope of your ship to arrive one day. Jump on the ship, don’t wait.”
I said, “But how do I know which is my ship?
He replied, “Just jump into any ship. Existence will take you where you need to arrive.”
And so I jumped.
Arrival in Rishikesh
I felt a strong calling to go to Rishikesh In February 2021, and that is where I had my first encounter with my beloved master Maitreya (known in the world as Shaurya Vardhen Pandey). We met at a cafe named Art Bliss, where he used to do Satsang back in those days.
He held my hand and asked me “Who are You?” It shook my whole spine, my body had frozen in fear, and I couldn’t utter a word. I knew this was the ship that I was waiting for for my entire life. In my being I already knew this is it but my mind kept fighting for one more day.
The same night I decided to cancel my tickets back to my hometown and stay in the grace of my master Maitreya.
First Satsang
Back then I had no idea what a master is, what satsang is but I continued to go to satsang and be in his grace, trying to understand what talk was happening. I relentlessly failed to understand what he was saying but my heart kept pulling me everyday to satsang and the pointings of Maitreya.
I felt so confused about what I was searching for. All I knew was I wanted peace. My whole life was nothing but anxiety, a run to find home, for I had never felt home anywhere throughout my life. I was running for my whole life, rebelling everywhere, until I fell at the feet of Maitreya. In his grace my everything died. I died. And then I saw the sunrise for the first time.
Immense Gratitude for Maitreya’s Grace
How can I ever repay him for holding my hand and taking me Home! I am indebted!
Since then my life has been a rollercoaster. What a blessing it is to be in the grace, wisdom, love and compassion of my master. His endless compassion formed into a womb – a sangha, Utsav Sangha. How lucky and blessed I feel to have found the people, the family I was looking for eternity.
I realised how I admired his every action, every word that he spoke, every single movement and I always felt, “If this is called freedom I want to be like that.”
He Taught me Everything
He kept cutting my endless roots of the unconscious mind and reminding me of who I am. He kept pushing me to my highest potential that I couldn’t see anyway. From therapies to music, from finance to clothing, from loving to celebrating he taught me all.
From Human to God, I saw it all in his eyes. I felt the juice of life only through him, I saw the Godliness in everything only through him, I saw the innocence only through him. Life is so abundant, joyful and celebratory and it lies in sharing how much I have in each day. Life has become a sharing of this endless fountain of truth in the grace of Yaahoo Baba.
Eternally in Gratitude!
Guiding, loving, shouting… thank you my master for your endless compassion! Thank you for your presence, thank you for waking me up from the deepest darkest sleep, thank you for never giving up on me. Thank you for taking me on your boat across the ocean of this delusional world to the open shore. Thank you for this freedom. My heart will reside forever in this gratitude. Thank you Maitreya. I love you so much.