Sri Swamiji appeared as “Lord Dattatreya”. He had ‘Shankha’, ‘Gada’, ‘Padma (Lotus)’ and ‘Chakra’ in His hands. There was an Aura and a bright light surrounded His face.  We believe in the Datta Avataram of Sri Ranga Avadhoot Maharaj. Since the Datta Pariwara is following Sri Ranga Avadhoot Maharaj, we have joined the Datta Pariwara. We attend all the functions and celebrations of Datta Pariwara. We first met Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji at Mr. Ghanshyambhai Amin’s home in the U.K in 1978, when He came to London. In 1984 Sri Swamiji came to my son, Jitubhai’s home, but I was in America during that time. My son told me about Sri Swamiji and His wisdom. Since then I have become a devotee and I follow His teachings and guidance.
I like His bhajans, His music, His ragas and His pleasant voice. We have collections of His bhajans and chants and we listen to them regularly. It is very healing and gives us peace of mind. Sri Swamiji sits in our heart. All my children and family members are His followers. For any and all important events or celebrations we pray to Him seeking His blessings at the start of the ceremony.
In 1985, I first saw Sri Swamiji at the Heathrow airport in London. After that I met Him again in 1986 during “Janamashtami Celebration, Lord Krishna’s Birthday, in London. The celebration was in a big hall. Sri Swamiji came there dressed up as Lord Krishna. He was wearing a Crown and Peacock Feathers. He looked like an incarnation of ‘Lord Krishna’. It was very nice and pleasing to the heart. He also danced to the rhythms of ‘Raas Garba’ Lord Krishna’s favorite dance.
In 1987 we celebrated “Guru-Purnima” in London when He came there and we performed “Pada Pooja.” We also published Bhajan Collection of Sri Swamiji in Gujarati language and distributed to all devotees and attendees. At that time my grandson, Bansi, got sick. Sri Swamiji held him in His arms and played with him. He blessed him and he soon got better and his fever disappeared. It was our first miracle. We could not believe how fast he recovered.
Later, my husband passed away 1987, so we went to Mysore Ashram 1988 after to perform some Pooja. We were very sad and grieving. Sri Swamiji told us not to be sad and said everything will be fine. He touched our heads shoulders and consoled us all. It was a very peaceful experience and gave us lots of strength. He personally took care of our sorrows and helped us in time of need, which was very heartfelt. We followed His advice and made donations in name of my late husband, by donating cow, food, land, clothes and funds for education for unfortunate people.
In 1989 we went to Vijayawada with all the family members to celebrate Navaratri and the Dassera festival. All my daughters from America, my sons and everyone from their family came. At that time Sri Swamiji personally gave the “Paduka” that He was wearing during that time, to us as “Prasadam.” We accepted that as His blessings, put it on our heads and when we went back to London we took them with us. They are in our temple and we bow to them daily. This way we feel like we are seeing Him daily in our home.
In 1992 I went to Mysore on occasion of Sri Swamiji’s birthday. When I landed at the Bombay Airport, the customs officer stopped me and told me to take off the pair of gold bangles that I was wearing. I argued that “How come some people in line have so much jewelry on them and why are you just stopping me?” I was very scared and my heart was racing. Suddenly a young man, about twenty-four years of age appeared next to me. He was wearing ‘Bhagava (Orange)’ clothes and had a turban on his head. He looked like young coolie (porter).
He asked me if I was having problems at customs clearing area. I said, “Yes!” He told me to follow him. I was very apprehensive and worried that where this guy was taking me. Eventually he took me out of the customs area and I came out of the airport without any trouble, even though I was scared. My bangles were still with me. I tried to give him some dakshina, but he did not accept any money from me.
When I reached Mysore, Sri Swamiji asked me, “Amma, How are you? Did you have any difficulty at the airport?” Suddenly I realized that it was Sri Swamiji, who came to rescue me at the airport. What a miracle! I was still in shock and my heart was still racing. He just smiled and calmed me down. That was a true miracle.
At that time, I wanted to donate a few thing made of gold. The local goldsmith said that I did not bring enough gold and asked me for little more, so I took off my bangles and gave it to him. He made a spoon, a cup and a necklace with 108 beads and gold paduka. I offered all these at the Lotus Feet of Sri Swamiji in memory of my late husband. He then asked us if He could donate each bead of the necklace to a poor and unfortunate parent of a daughter, who cannot afford to give gold at the time of wedding. We said that it was fine. He then donated each bead to a worthy parent and we felt very honored and happy in our hearts.
At midnight on that day, we attended a prayer at the temple and offered flowers. There were lots of devotees there. Sri Swamiji appeared as “Lord Dattatreya”. He had ‘Shankha’, ‘Gada’, ‘Padma (Lotus)’ and ‘Chakra’ in His hands. There was an Aura and a bright light surrounded His face. We felt like we actually saw “Lord Dattatreya”. We were overcome with happiness and joy. Our hearts were in heaven. We felt very fortunate to witness such a miracle. It was one of the big experiences in our life.
One day Shakti, my grandson, was ill. He was very young at that time. There was no one at home except him and me. He was crying and told me that he was dying and he was not going to live because of this illness. He wanted to see his father. I assured him that he is not going to die and called his father (Jitu). I told him to chant Sri Swamiji’s name and pray to Him. He started chanting and praying. His eyes were closed and he soon fell asleep. Shortly after he woke up and felt better and his illness was gone. He told me that Sri Swamiji came and talked to him and played with him. Swamiji touched him and blessed him and his sickness disappeared.
We all believe that Sri Swamiji cured him that day and performed a miracle! Since then he is a staunch devotee. He starts all task or celebration by first praying to Sri Swamiji. When he was small, we used to play a cassette from Sri Swamiji, which had 108 names of ‘Lord Dattatreya’. He used to listen to that every night while going to bed. Over the time he remembered all these names and he chants these names daily before going to bed. He could recite these names whenever he was asked at very young age.
He likes to play soccer. One time, when Sri Swamiji was visiting, He told him that if he learns the “Gita” He will play with him as ‘Lord Krishna.’ He started learning ‘Gita’ and in a short time he could recite the 12th” Adhyaya (Chapter) very fluently. So whenever he played soccer, he recited ‘Gita’. He told us then that Sri Swamiji always come and plays soccer with him as ‘Lord Krishna’. He is a true believer in Sri Swamiji.
Once, when we were at Mysore ashram, there was a ‘Gita Competition’ for youths. All the small children were there. Swamiji was talking and teaching all of them. Then He asked the children to chant “Shloka” from ‘Gita’. All the children could not remember most of the ‘Shloka’. They were all fumbling and trying to remember. We coaxed, Shakti-who was very young at the time, to chant Gita. He started and chanted the whole 12th ‘Adhyaya (Chapter)’ of ‘Gita’ fluently. Everyone there was amazed that a child, born and raised in London, can do so well. Even local children, who were attending the ‘Veda’ school, could not chant. We were feeling very happy. Later that evening, when Sri Swamiji was giving His discourse, He called him on the stage, praised him for his achievement and gave “Gita” as his first gift. He was very excited and we all were very happy.  We all believe these are all His blessings and we all are very fortunate.
In 1987, Sri Swamiji was scheduled to visit the UK. Just a few days before His visit, I saw ‘Goddess Jayalakshmi Mata’ in my dreams. She came into my home and blessed me. I also saw Sri Swamiji sitting on “Sri Chakra”. I saw His head and shoulders on top of “Sri Chakra”. He blessed me and it was a very miraculous experience. During His visit, when I mentioned about my dream, He was very happy and pleasantly surprised. He told us that every house has ‘Goddess Lakshmi’. Every woman in every house is “Maha Lakshmi”. Then we presented a sari to ‘Jayalakshmi’ idol.
In our family, everyone is very well settled and prosperous. All our children, daughters and in-laws are doing very well. They are all happy and content. Everyone is a devotee of Sri Swamiji. We all follow His teachings and believe in His message.  We have performed Janoi, thread ceremony for all our children and grandchildren. During these ceremonies we have donated gold and silver coins to needy and poor, as per instructions of Sri Swamiji. Our lives are happy and prosperous. We believe that these are all His blessings.
We had a nanny (Manchchaben), who took care of our children. Later, she also became a devotee, when she met Sri Swamiji; she used to pray to Him daily. Once she fell sick and suffered a heart attack. She was admitted to the hospital and the doctors revived her. She told everyone in her family and all doctors at the hospital not to keep her alive on artificial life support. She told them that she has seen Sri Swamiji, so she already has seen God in the form of Sri Swamiji and she is very happy that she has lived a full life. She was very peaceful and had no regrets. In short time she passed away.
Before that, she once lost an idol of Lord Dattatreya, which she received as a gift. She was very upset about that. When she mentioned this to Sri Swamiji, He assured her that “Lord Dattatreya” is in her heart and soul, so she need not worry about a lost idol. Then to make her happy, He gave her a small idol of “Lord Dattatreya”. She became very happy and was overcome with emotions.  She left a will at the time of her death asking her family and everyone else to pray to Sri Swamiji and remember Him before starting any celebration or any important work in life. She wrote that she is at peace and happy that she saw “Lord Dattatreya” in form of Sri Swamiji while she was alive. We remember her every time we have any important occasion or celebration or pooja.
I believe that these all are blessings of Sri Swamiji. We bow to Him every day and He is in our hearts all the time.
Jaya Guru Datta! Sri Guru Datta!