Birth & Divine Origins
Guruji is the “Divine Light” that came on earth to bless and enlighten humanity. Guruji was born in his mortal avatar as Nirmal Singh Maharaj on 7th July 1954, in the Dugri village at Malerkotla, Sangrur District, Punjab (India).
Guruji was born into a humble family. This family had always been blessed by the birth of saints and fakirs through generations; but according to Mataji (Guruji’s mother), she had no idea that a mahapurush of such a high level would be born to her.
According to the midwife, the day Guruji was born, she saw a snake and a strange kind of a bright light fill up the room. When the pandit (priest) prepared the birth chart, he clearly told Mataji that this child is not just hers but belongs to the entire world.
Even as a little baby, there was a fragrance in his urine and he never soiled his clothes. As a young boy he was often found in the fields sitting in Samadhi (meditation), completely unfazed by the burning sun or strong rains. By this time his parents realised that their son was no ordinary person but God himself. Even His mother started touching his feet and calling him ‘Guruji’, as he was now called by everyone.
Guruji’s Divine Presence
School Days & Early Miracles
Guruji went to school at the Dugri primary school and Government High School. He did his college from the Government College at Malerkotla. Guruji was double M.A. in English and Economics. He spoke fluent English and had beautiful handwriting. Yet, just to put a veil on all of us, he would often ask us to spell certain words for him.
One of the earliest known incidents of Guruji’s penchant for the spiritual was spending time at the Dera of Sant Sewa Dasji at Dugri. Santji was a saint of high order who had renounced worldly life and had a large following. Guruji would often go and sit at the Dera much to the dislike of the family who wanted him to spend time studying rather than sit amongst sages.
At times he would be locked inside a room, but soon they would find it unlocked and Guruji would be found sitting with the sages at the Dera. The sages would often tell people to leave the young Guruji alone as he was the ‘lord of all the three loks’ himself and should not be interfered with.
Guruji’s schoolmates recall his famous feat of filling empty inkpots by just touching them with his finger. Once during an examination a classmate asked Guruji for some ink for his pen and Guruji just touched it with his finger to fill it up! He took great pains to suppress his supernatural powers in front of others and appear normal. But often would leave his teachers perplexed by his sudden disappearance from the classroom seat and be back the next moment!
One of Guruji’s classmates often narrated an incident where he went to pick up Guruji for college on his scooter. On reaching Guruji’s house, Guruji told him that he had some work and would meet him in college. Guruji never possessed a scooter, yet Guruji was standing and waiting for his friend at the college premises. Just to test him, Guruji’s friend rode back to Guruji’s house to find Guruji present at his house as well. There have been various incidents where Guruji has been seen present in more than one place at the same time.
In another incident, Guruji’s friends wanted to teach him how to swim. Since he never liked getting wet he would often resist. One day they all got together and decided to throw Guruji into the village well. When Guruji was pushed into the well, his friends were shocked to see that he didn’t hit the water but was in fact floating over it. His friends got scared and before they knew it, Guruji was out of the well besides them — with his clothes completely dry.
Spiritual Journey
Guruji told us that by the age of eight, he had full control over all his desires. He devoted all his time to meditation. Guruji left his village and home in 1975 and after college he briefly worked for the Punjab School Education Board, in its field office at Sangrur as a clerical assistant in 1983.
After some time he left home to fulfill his spiritual journey in this world. He would often appear in the house of one of his acquaintances — stay for a few days and then move off — to wherever he felt and even disappear for days at a stretch. No matter where he stayed people thronged to him for deliverance from disease or any other problem they had. Soon the news of his powers spread all across Punjab and people sought him out no matter where he was.
Guruji’s father never believed nor liked Guruji’s way of life. He thought his son was just pretending to be a godman, until a day in Jallandhar temple, when in the early hours he woke up to a strange sound. He saw Guruji walk into a room with a big lion behind him. He got scared and woke up the caretakers only to be told that that particular room is locked and that Guruji is sitting in meditation. After that day Guruji’s father understood that his son was no ordinary human being and that he was special.
Guruji’s Mandirs
He stayed intermittently at Jallandhar, Chandigarh, Panchkula, Delhi, Mumbai etc., finally settling down in a house, now known as his temple in Defence Colony, Jallandhar. He shuttled between Delhi and Jallandhar till 2002 when he finally settled down in the Empire Estate house on MG Road in New Delhi, known as the Chotta Mandir.
During the 90s he also made the Shiv Mandir in Bhatti Mines area in Chattarpur, known to his devotees as the Bada Mandir. It now houses his samadhi.
Guruji’s Swaroops
Guruji’s Vachans (sayings) state that his Swaroop is Guruji himself in a living divine form, and his photos have his powers and will listen to his devotees. Guruji told his Devotees that his Photos are not just images, but actual manifestations of him and that his blessings follow those who seek him through his Swaroop and will receive help in times of need.
Guruji’s Swaroops are a source of Power and Blessings, and Devotees are encouraged to directly communicate with Guruji through his Swaroops as if he were physically present. This belief underscores the importance of treating these images with reverence and keeping with purity and sanctity.
Devotees must not alter, deface or place them in places which is considered disrespectful to Guruji’s divine presence. He instructed that his image is not a commodity and must not be used in and for commercial purposes and that his legacy must be preserved with silence, depth, purity and surrender and not spectacles.
Guruji is a constant companion with his devotees who holds your hands through your hardships even when others leave your side. When approaching his Swaroop or Temples, Guruji asked his Devotees to leave their Ego and Intelligence outside with their shoes because it is of no use when they come before him.
Guruji is Maha Shiv — the Creator Himself. He is the Universe. He is Maalik (Master).
Miracles & Healing Powers
Guruji was Lord Shiva incarnate and had revealed himself in the divine form to many of his devotees. Guruji emitted the divine fragrance from his self which was akin to that of heavenly roses. Even today, long after he is no longer there in his physical form, his fragrance is felt as a proof of his presence very much in spirit!
Guruji in his short journey on this earth touched the lives of millions of people, also of those who had never even met Him. He would read the persona of a devotee by looking at him and knowing all about his life — past, present and future. He would then bless the person as he thought fit for them.
Guruji cured thousands of all kinds of diseases. He helped people to get out of difficulties, giving peace and happiness to all who came to him. He blessed even those who had never even seen him but their relatives and friends would come to him and beg for his help to overcome their problems.
During his Sangat — as the daily congregations were called — melodious Gurbaani and Shabad would flow in the hall where the devotees would be sitting on the floor in front of him and meditating. He would bless them, not by touching them, but by altering the path of their lives merely by his spiritual powers! Often he would cure, heal or bestow upon his devotees things they did not even think of asking!
Guruji’s doors were open to the high and low, poor and rich, and people of all religious affiliations. From the most ordinary of men to the most powerful of politicians, businessmen, bureaucrats, armed service personnel, doctors, and professionals, everyone came to seek his blessings. All were equally in need of him and Guruji blessed all alike.
What mattered most was complete surrender and unconditional faith reposed in him. Guruji was a giver, he never expected or took anything from anyone. “Kalyan karta”, Guruji would say and “Blessings always” is what the devotee would get. He once explained that his “Blessings always” were not for this life alone, but ended with nirvana.
Satsangs & Langar Prasad
The shower of Guruji’s blessings began to fall on the earth to lessen the sufferings of hundreds of thousands of people and satsangs began happening. It was here that people came from all over India and other parts of the world to seek his blessings. The tea and langar prasad (blessed food) served at Guruji’s satsang had his special divine blessings.
The devotees experienced his grace in various forms: incurable diseases were healed and the entire matrix of problems ranging from legal to financial to emotional were solved. Some members of the sangat also had divine darshans (visions) of deities. There was nothing impossible for Guruji, for he wrote fate, and could re-write it.
Guruji never delivered any sermons or prescribed any rituals, yet his message was received by the devotee in ways known only to the devotee. This “connection” with him was not only elevating and energizing but also a deeply transforming one. It lifted the devotee’s life to a level where joy, fulfillment and peace came easy.
Guruji’s form exuded a divine fragrance, similar to roses. Even today, his fragrance is felt as proof of his presence by his devotees.
Each sangat would end with a generous helping of langar served to all. Guruji’s langar had his divine blessings and there are endless incidents where devotees would get cured just by partaking in it. The same is said about the tea served as prasad during the sangat.
The Devotee’s Path
To have Guruji’s darshan is to be blessed forever. To take refuge in Him is to touch the hem of Immortality, which grants you the courage to laugh off worries and diseases. To be led by His guidance is like being in a fort, protected against all odds, unscathed by the bad times.
To be granted to follow Him is to touch the wellspring of life itself, of love, of sweet sanity; it is to walk the humble road of service and devotion.
Any devotee can testify to Guruji’s saving grace, which steers him away from troubled waters, in any and every hour of need. And hundreds of thousands who have come to Him — troubled by disease or mental strife, discouraged by the world — have not only found the divine healing touch but also the way out of suffering, the way to beat the strain of modern, material life.
While many preachers in this world help a person progress on the path of salvation, Guruji is into action. His is an entirely practical approach that leaves no room for doubt. He takes the burden of His devotees upon Himself. Their problems become His and He spirits them away. Like a loving father, He stands guard over the faithful, He brings smiles into not only the devotee’s face, but also into the lives of those whom the devotee holds dear.
Nothing under Guruji’s protective umbrella is by chance, everything is by His choice alone. And His choice, revealed through His hukm (order), assuredly drives you towards the brightest destiny possible, one that is often beyond the limits of the devotee’s imagination itself.