The spirit is formed of ether and so has a subtle vibration. The physical body is far more effective than the spirit at magnetising subtle vibrations. As a result, it can help its spiritual counterpart by rapidly multiplying and magnifying its energy!

The purpose of human existence is to amplify the energy required by the spirit in its non-physical incarnation following death.

The spirit’s energy manifests as an electromagnetic field, or aura, surrounding the physical body. Therefore, the larger your aura, the more powerful your spirit.

The aura serves as a protective shield around the body. When a person’s defences are compromised, they are more vulnerable to infection/disease and attack by negative spirits. Spiritual hygiene is about specific practices that support the maintenance and magnification of your aura.

COPPER BRACELET (KADA)

Almost all devotees of Gurudev wear a copper bracelet or kada. Before being worn, the kada is usually blessed by a guru. In blessing the kada, the guru willingly infuses some of his energy into it. When worn, the guru’s aura circulates within the wearer’s aura, connecting the wearer to a higher source of consciousness. Being a good conductor of electricity, copper minimises energy leaks from the body, protecting the aura.

While camped at Srinagar in Uttarakhand, Gurudev instructed me to drive his boss, Pratap Singh ji, to Dehradun. We were to visit Pratap Singh ji’s sister-in-law, who was critically ill. On meeting her, I decided to get her a kada but could not locate a jeweller to make it. Then I decided to take her photograph to Gurudev so that she could be treated. When I arrived in Gurgaon, the mahaguru had returned from Srinagar but was in paath. All attempts to meet with him for nearly three days were in vain. Finally, unable to wait any longer, I took the lady’s photograph and slid it under the door of his room. Seeing that, he opened the door inquiring whose photograph it was. When I told him, he said, “She died last night”. I was shaken. He was visibly upset. He told me he had sent me on a mission to help her and asked why I hadn’t thought of giving her my kada to save her life? If I had made her wear my kada, I would have automatically linked her to the guru’s protective grace.

FOOD, LIQUIDS & CLOTHES

Gurudev was careful about eating food cooked by others. While being prepared, food can be affected by the cook’s thoughts, mental disposition, and the aura transmitted through the eyes. A negative aura not only infects the food but also disturbs its consumer. White-coloured foods get infected easily. Therefore, it is prudent to change the colour of the food before consuming it. For example, milk can be tinted with turmeric, yoghurt flavoured with cinnamon, etc.

At the sthans, the seva of kitchen management is usually assigned to those with higher levels of thinking.

When Gurudev wanted to share his energy with others, he would give them his sipped water to drink or ask them to eat from his used plate. When a saintly person allows you this liberty, he transfers some of his aura to you. Saliva is a carrier of aura; drinking or eating from a person’s used glass or plate can infuse his aura in you. While the aura of a powerful person can expand your aura, eating from the used plate of someone under the influence of negative energies can infect you with that negativity.

Another way Gurudev transferred some of his aura was by giving us his used clothes to wear. He even specified the number of days we would have to wear them.

The mahaguru preferred to wear specific colours on certain days of the week to maximise the effect of planetary rays on his aura. He mostly wore white on Mondays, yellow on Thursdays and black and white on Saturdays. Browns on Tuesdays, blues on Wednesdays, greens on Fridays, and red on Sundays were also his recommendations.

He typically favoured wearing half-sleeved shirts and open sandals. He kept his arms and feet bare because it helped him sense ethereal energies, including spirits.

THURSDAY RULES

Every Thursday (Guruvar) of the week, a set of rules (or restrictions) are observed by devotees and disciples. Since Jupiter’s planetary rays are most dominant on this weekday, it is wise not to indulge in any practice that disrupts or contaminates the aura. These include head massage, shampooing, cutting hair, clipping nails, washing clothes, drinking alcohol, eating non-vegetarian food, and sexual indulgences.

There is some auric loss whenever we cut or discard any part of our body. While physical hygiene necessitates trimming one’s hair and nails, spiritual hygiene necessitates containing the resulting auric loss. Considering this, cut hair and nails should be offered to a running stream of water instead of being swept from the floor into a trash can. As a result, their aura can contribute to the energy of water and be considered a repayment of your debt to nature.

We open ourselves to being influenced by the energy imprints of others when we allow them to enter our space, either physically or mentally. For that reason, be sure with whom you sexually connect. Similarly, opt for vegetarianism because eliminating meat from your diet keeps your aura free from lower-order animal energies. Besides, meat-eating is a tamasic practice that contradicts the sattvic qualities of Jupiter’s rays.

Alcohol is a downer since it plays with brain chemistry in such a way that your body movements become less cohesive, and your mental processes become slower. After the initial high of rajas, the tamasic effects of sloppiness, inertia, drowsiness and irritability take over, and sattva reduces.

YOUR AURA & YOU

Aura is the crown jewel of the spiritual realm and is always in high demand. It can be expanded, downsized, disrupted, contaminated, and stolen, making it a fragile treasure, challenging to conserve, and even more to magnify.

The mahaguru could channel his energy and root it wherever he desired. When he opened sthans, he would store some of his energies there. Over time, those energies would multiply due to the collective energy deposits of the sevadaars and the sthan’s visitors.

Every so often, Gurudev carried his photograph in his pocket when he set out for important missions. This gesture implied that the mahaguru would take along his nirman kaya on critical assignments.

Gurudev taught us to stay low-key. To do what had to be done without gaining recognition. We can walk around in public places and not be recognised because we neither allow media exposure nor publish our photographs. He wouldn’t let us photograph him. If we defied his instruction and did so discreetly, the camera’s roll would turn out to be blank when developed. It was the same story for many of us! The mahaguru took a lot of trouble to avoid recognition so that he did not have to bear the burden of fame.

FINAL STATUS

Technically speaking, your aura is your cosmic currency. It is the measure of your final status in this life and the determinant of the quality of your existence in the afterlife.

The spirit needs its energy to exist, travel and protect itself. It can attain this energy through deeds done in its name, either by itself (in physical form) or by others. This is why we indulge in seva while alive or do charity in the name of our ancestors. Gurudev suggested that we observe the period of shraddh to serve our ancestral spirits.