Sivashankar Baba

Siva Shankar Baba, called "God Uncle" by many of his followers, is a man who claims to be the "Messiah of God", giving spiritual counseling to the grieved and needy, healing and curing various ailments and solving the problems of human suffering with his prayers. He runs a self-realization centre in Chennai, India called Samratchana.

His Life

Siva Shankar was born on January 28, 1949, in a small village called Aalangayam, in the North Arcot district of Tamil Nadu, India. His parents are Shri Narayana Sharma and Tmt. VijayaLakshmi. He graduated in Chemistry from the University of Madras and also finished his Post Graduate Qualifications from the Chartered Institute of Transport (UK), the Indian Institute of Road Transport (Pune) and the Institute of Rail Transport (Delhi).

In the year 1968, Siva Shankar who was then working as the Branch Manager of an All India Transport Company, came in contact with Ratnagiri BalaMurugan Swamigal of Vellore, who brought about his spiritual growth. From 1968, he began his Sabarimalai pilgrimage, every year, spurred by his father who was a great devotee of Lord Ayyappa. Whenever the Irumudi was kept on Siva Shankar's head, he would be filled with divine ecstasy which was confined only to that particular moment in those days.

During the years 1968 to 1978, Siva Shankar became the Regional Manager in the same organization for entire South India. It was in 1978 that Ratnagiri BalaMurugan Adimai Swamigal asked him to start his own business. Even though Siva Shankar was not very keen in starting his own business, he reluctantly obeyed his Guru's command.

Between 1978 and 1983, he was a transport fleet owner, transport contractor, redistribution stockist of various products for Mysore Sales International Ltd, Geoffrey Manners, Detergents India Ltd; Producer of Documentary Commercials, owner of a public warehouse, and was in the management faculty of A.M. Jain Institute of Management, Madras. He became the President of The Madras Goods transport association, Managing committee member of Andhra Chamber of Commerce, Chartered Secretary of Rotary Club - Anna Nagar, Managing committee member of AMITC, IRTDA (Jakarta), Institute of Transport and Traffic Engineers, FICCI and several other organisations.

He was a news reader and comperer in the Madras Doordarshan Television, President of a cultural association called "Vani Sangeet", and Founder Director of Madras Institute of Transport Technology. As a highly qualified Management Professional, and Associate Member of The Chartered Institute of Transport, UK, The Indian Institute of Road Transport (Pune) and The Institute of Rail Transport (Delhi), he was connected with various government committees and the "Syllabus Formation" Committee of Anna University.

He participated in various symposia and seminars and presented several commendable papers on Management. He was the editor of the transport journal named "Trans-Reporter" and "Transport News", correspondent to the magazines "Road Carrier" and "Road Transport" published from Bombay and Delhi respectively. He wrote a few books on Transport management and was on the panel of Baroda University for evaluating Ph. D papers.

Spiritual Awakening

He instated an idol of Lord Ayyappa in January 1983, in his bungalow at Anna Nagar, Madras, and worshipped Him ever since. In May 1983, Kanchi Kamakoti Jagadguru Peetathipathi Jayendra Saraswathi Sankaracharyar Swamigal, paid a visit to his bungalow and performed pooja to the idol worshipped by Mr. Siva Shankar and he said, 'This Ayyappa idol here is very powerful. Why don't you construct a temple for him?' Siva Shankar never took it seriously then. But, in November 1983, he approached Ratnagiri Swamy regarding the construction of the Ayyappa temple.

Swamy advised him to construct a temple in the South-West corner of his bungalow. On November 16, 1983, he went to Sabarimala and had a darshan of Lord Ayyappa. Later, he came in contact with Mr. T.S.Sambhamoorthy Sivachariar, Head Gurukkal of the Kalikambal temple at Thambu Chetty Street, Madras, and Swami Ramdas of Thiruverkadu. With their advice, a temple was constructed and the Kumbabhishekam was fixed on December 13 - 15, 1983. Again, after the kumbabhishekam, he went to Sabarimala and had darshan of Lord Ayyappa on January 16, 1984.

Around the same period, one day in Agastya Ashram at Palghat, Kalasa Abhishekam was done, with the chanting of Shyamala Kanaka Sankarshini maha mantra to Siva Shankar by the priest there, Shri. Nochur Swamigal. After this, he started visiting the Kaligambal temple at Thambu Chetty Street, Madras, quite regularly. During this time, Vidhvan Lakshmanan (popularly known as BalaJosier), gave Ganapathi Mantra Upadesham to Siva Shankar, as per the command of his Guru Brighu Rishi.

On January 26th 1984, when the annual trust Abhishekam was being performed to Lord Murugan of Ratnagiri temple, Siva Shankar kept crying continuously for more than 1 hour without knowing the reason for the same. On a piece of paper, Ratnagiri Swamigal wrote "Within this month-end there will be a welcome turning point in your life. God's blessings".

On the same night, after reaching Madras, it was in the early hours (around 3.30 a.m.) that the greatest turning point in his life occurred. Swami Raghavendra of Mantralaya appeared physically before him and gave him a vision of his own dead body, by separating the body from the soul. That minute he had the same experience which Venkatraman had before he became Bala Ramana Maharishi. This experience is also predicted in the Sahadeva Nadi of Siva Shankar which says "The body and soul were separated and the soul saw the body."

This experience was followed by another one in which a snake originated from Siva Shankar stood to the left side of Lord Muruga, and then vanished to become a seer with a Golden Face who said, "For every full moon, Rupees Eight, Eleven Full Moons, Swaminatha Venkateswara, Swaminatha Venkateswara, Swaminatha Venkateswara." This vision was to indicate that Siva Shankar was destined to receive Ashta Maha Siddhis (In the language of Siddhas, eight rupees means Ashta Maha Siddhis) within eleven full moon days, with the mantras of Sadakshara (Swaminatha) and Ashtakshara (Venkateswara).

Following this, Siva Shankar went to Thiruvannamalai regularly every full moon and started receiving various Siddhis as was ordained by HIM. During Guru Purnimas in the year 1984, Siva Shankar was blessed by Yogi Ram Surat Kumar, God Child of Thiruvannamalai. Yogi Ram Surat Kumar graced Siva Shankar with mantras of Rama and Govinda and blessed him.

Exactly after eleven full moons from January 1984, his business collapsed. His Sadhana continued despite all the hurdles and trials he had to encounter in his life during his quest for God - the period when God played hide and seek with him. With a bag slung on the shoulder of his strained body, having taken the vow of silence, Siva Shankar resolutely searched for God unmindful of his family or the profits and losses of his business.

His feet became Lord Rama's feet as he walked on in search of God, in severe summer and winter, without footwear, stumbling against stones and thorns. All his relatives and family who thought high of him when he was wealthy, now looked down upon him. His pilgrimage continued. He visited the Holy shrines of Thiruvannamalai, Palani, Kasi, Kailash, Kanyakumari, Amarnath, Badrinath, Mahendragiri, and several others. Blessings from Spiritual Masters overflowed.

Many miracles happened to those who were with him during his search for God. Siva Shankar was gradually being elevated to greater and greater levels in Spirituality until a time came when He realized Him and God were one and began having the bliss of experiencing the Divine within Him. From then on, the power of His penance and grace rose so high that there was no power greater than Him - He became, verily, the Supreme - the embodiment of Truth, Wisdom and Purity. That having attained which there is nothing more to attainThat having sought which, there is nothing more to seekThat power is this 'Siva Shankaram'

His Message

Knowing that this world is a luxury, you must be grateful to God for blessing you with a human life. Do as much charity and as much penance as you can. That is your passport to the other world.

This world does not accommodate the poor, and the spiritual world does not entertain those who lack Divine Grace..

Earn. Work. Be with your family. Do charity in some way, may be sharing your knowledge, serving others, do anything you can. This will help your sojourn in the other world. Give without hoarding.

Wealth, if not used for good purposes, is equivalent to a toxic tree that poisons airWhen a noble person gains some wealth, he immediately uses it to uplift the needy, like a well that gives water to everyone. And it must be rendered on time. Water quenches thirst, but what is the use of fetching water after someone collapses from thirst? Timely service, small though it be, is greater in value than the Earth, itself.

Therefore, the first step towards self-realization is: understanding that worldly possessions are false. Next step is: knowing that God is the only immutable power and He is our only refuge. And subsequently embark on the voyage towards the Ocean of Blisscalled God. Do charity while you are prosperous. Perform poojas and sing the Lord's praises.

He who knows that the world is an illusion, seeks the 'Maamaayan'
(One who is beyond illusion). 'Maamaayan' means the One beyond everything. Till you realize this, you will continue hankering after status and wealth. You are prepared to fall at the feet of politicians for your material elevation, but you consider it below your dignity to prostrate in front of the Lord! This is the sad state of the present day society.
Buddha said, 'This world is false. This world is filled with miseries'.

Desires do not vanish on their own accord. You must take the effort to free yourself from desires. It is you who are attached to the world, not the other way around. When you become aware that the world is transient, you will seek the Only Eternal Being, God. When you reach that state, you will learn the three ways of protecting your mind from disturbances as elucidated by Arunagirinatha, 'O Mind! Here are the three ways of safeguarding yourself from the onslaught of desires.

1. Give without hoarding -.

Do charity in some way, may be sharing your knowledge, serving others, anything you can. The fragrance of a flower remains in the hands of the one who has held it, even after it is discarded. You will find joy in giving, regardless of whether the recipient has felt the happiness or not.

2. Contemplate, always, on the Lotus Feet of the Lord -.
Whatever you do, have your thoughts focussed on the Lord, in any form you like, be it Perumal or Siva or Muruga. Have the Lord in your thoughts always. Sip coffee assuming that the Lord is sipping it from within you. When you bathe, imagine that you are performing ‘abhishekam’ to the Lord. Dress well, knowing that you are adorning the Lord. When you eat, consider it as ‘neivedyam’ to the Lord. Seek God within.

3. Know that the Lord is the Doer, you are His chosen instrument -
When you perform charity, it is possible that at one stage, you become conceited. To avoid this, remind yourself that you are the custodian of God's money; it does not belong to you. God has entrusted you with His wealth, so that you may perform more charity and therefore accumulate virtues on your way.'

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