Sri Kaleshwar and Me A Saint Teaches An Executive To Live, Love and Lead

SRI KALESHWAR AND ME

A saint teaches an executive to live, love and lead.

by

Gary Taylor

Smashwords Edition

Published on Smashwords by:

Gary Taylor

Sri Kaleshwar and Me

A saint teaches an executive to live, love and lead.

Copyright 2010 by Gary Taylor

Originally published in 2010 by

Sri Kaleshwar Publications Pvt. Ltd, India

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal use only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

This book shares impressions and experiences of the most remarkable and important ten years of my life. This is the story of how my real life finally began thanks to my greatest friend and mentor, Dr. Sri Kaleshwar. Among other things I once called him the best CEO I have ever known, but he is so much more. He is a uniquely modern saint for our times considered by India to be a national treasure. Whether he is wearing a suit or traditional Indian dress, addressing VIP’s or simple villagers, Dr. Sri Kaleshwar travels the globe working tirelessly to fulfill his Divine mission. One way he has stated the Mission is:

My mission is to create success in every soul. Heartfully, it’s my huge mission, ambition and aim to create huge success in each soul. That’s it. I’m happy to work day and night, night and day whatever the energy will access to make it done. I’m happy to do it. I already offered Mother Divine, ‘Use me in whatever way you want. Make my students successful.’ The number one priority is to who really has an open heart.

When I had the gift of seeing Mother Divine with my own eyes wide open, she asked me what I wanted to do, and I answered, to open hearts. Sri Kaleshwar told me later that she began singing, after I answered. My mission is the same as Sri Kaleshwar’s. I recognize open-heartedness begins with me; anything I can do and anywhere I need to go, I open heartedly accept as part of this mission—my greatest friend and I are One.

This book is dedicated to Sri Kaleshwar who helps me see in a remarkable way why I am here and the reality of who I am. I call him many things: Divine Master, saint, the greatest leader I have ever known and most of all my dearest friend and greatest well-wisher.

This book also is dedicated to my Elephant Group family and to many others especially clients and friends who all teach me daily that with leadership and unity everything is possible.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

AUTHOR’S NOTES

ONE: JOURNEY TO THE BEGINNING

• In the Beginning I Raise My Hand and My Real Life Begins

• From Destiny to Despair to Hope

• Taking the First Step Toward the Divine: Coming to India and Meeting Swami

TWO: DISCOVERING MY SOUL

• Swami Comes to Our House and I am Afraid We Will Have to Move

• Christmas and the Millennium in India—A Cross Bleeds and the Cobra Strikes

• The Flight Home—Cobras, Quitting, and More Champagne Please

• Just Loving Him Meant Delaying Our Return to India

• I Go Crazy, Swami Twirls His Finger and We Come Back to India for a Bit Longer Than Expected

THREE: MOTHER DIVINE AND MY NEW FAMILY

• The Night of the Orange—You Never Know Where, When, How, and With What Your Life is Going to Change Forever Once Again.

• Darshan of Mother Divine—She Takes My Anger

• Living-Room Talks with Swami—Laughing, Learning, Washing Blocks, and Growing Up

FOUR: SERVING BABA’S TRUST AND LIVING IN HIS HOME

• The Shirdi Sai Global Trust—Representing Baba’s Nature and Work

• Life in the Dwarkamai—Baba’s Home Becomes Our Home

FIVE: STANDING IN THE FIRE OF LIFE

• Setting My Life on Fire—The Garden Talk and My Life Plan

• You Have to Stand Somewhere so the Divine Can Move You if Needed

• Winning Two More Lotteries—How Lucky Was I Willing to Be?

SIX: THE ONLY RELATIONSHIP THAT MATTERS IS ALWAYS WITH ME

• Like an Elephant in a Teacup—Love, Relationship, and Attachment

• The Two Roses

• The Time Away—Swami Fulfills a Promise

SEVEN: RETURNING TO BEING ONE

• Making the Real Pledge the Second Time Around

• Returning—Recognizing How Much I Was Already Living My Real Life

• Replaying Moments with the Master—A Practice to Reveal Who I Really Am

THANK YOU

EPILOGUE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

"A leader creates peace."

— Sri Kaleshwar

PROLOGUE

Writing this book has been an interesting and remarkable experience mostly because I never thought I could write anything longer than a 15-page paper, which I did at university. But one day I started writing and then I could not stop. Dr. Sri Kaleshwar said to a group of us who have been with him for a number of years, Tell your stories. The world will want to know about your lives. I had the willingness to consider his recommendation even if I did not think I could do it. I kept asking myself, if I were to write a book, what would I want to say and who would I want to say it to? The answer to the second question came fairly quickly and easily. I wanted to speak to anyone who was interested in knowing and experiencing the deeper purpose of life, the reality of God and being human, the nature of creation, how to heal the suffering in ourselves and on the planet, how to have a truly successful and happy life and what spirituality and Divine Masters have to do with all of that anyway.

Specifically, I wanted to share with family, friends and people I have known on my spiritual journey some of what I have discovered in hopes it might help them on their journeys. I also wanted to share with people in business, government and non-profit organizations, who have the day-to-day leadership challenge of helping to make their organizations work for the good of all. I have dedicated a fair part of my professional work life to helping leaders and their teams at all levels of organizations to be more effective. In spite of some success on all of our parts, essentially, we have not turned the tide regarding the failure of leadership and teamwork/unity on the planet. Finally, in the last ten years working with Dr. Sri Kaleshwar, I have come to know, experience and begun to work with what will make the difference for leadership and for all of us. From my observation a large part of the problems we face on the planet are caused by a failure of leadership, particularly in business, and a failure of working people to be responsible for the success of their leaders and their organizations. Therefore, a large part of the solution must come from business leaders and employees alike. So along with everyone else, this book is directed to leaders wherever you are, whether you are in a position of authority to make things happen or you are simply committed to making something happen, standing for it and implementing it even though no one necessarily hired you to do it. One of my personal golden statements after 30 years of working with leaders and organizations around the globe is everyone needs to be a leader and everyone a follower, no matter what your position or authority. If you read all the way through this book, you will hopefully recognize if you are working for the good of others, then for certain God hired you, whether or not you have any worldly authority or position.

The answer to the first question about what I would want to say is, This book itself is what I wanted to say. I never could figure out before I started writing what I wanted to say. I just knew I wanted to share my friendship and work with Dr. Sri Kaleshwar. Writing this book was an act of love. It is my personal story based on ten amazing years with the most remarkable being I have ever known. Any misrepresentation of the facts of my time with him or misunderstanding of his teaching and work is purely my mistake. However, even if I made some mistake in chronology or in a quote or whatever, everything I write about I saw, experienced, and tested myself. For many readers it will sound strange or perhaps unbelievable, but again everything I write about really happened. It is just not a reality that we are ordinarily used to. If you are reading this book looking for the one-minute pathway to enlightenment or to effective leadership do not waste your time; although, should you read it anyway, hopefully you will find it at least entertaining. The last ten years of my life have been the most challenging and useful years of my life, but also the most entertaining.

Whether you are reading this book for insights into spirituality or life or love or leadership you will have to do the work to derive the value for yourself. Like I said, I just started writing and then I just kept telling my story. There are no 10 things every leader or every lover should know. Unfortunately, I could not make it that easy for you. Although the 10 things might be there for you to find, it is just as likely there are 10 other things for someone else. Occasionally, in writing, I had the thought this might be a useful point about life, love or leadership, but mostly I just told my story. During the writing process I would share excerpts with various people as a test to see if it was useful in any way. It seemed to be helpful so I kept on writing. I would love to hear from anyone who derives value from this book, but more importantly if something is valuable to you then share it with others. Anything that contributes to life, love and leadership in the world should be shared and used. If you are like me I suspect you also will discover that when you share something that matters to you and has helped you, then the gift is not simply what you are offering, but the reflection you are receiving back that it made a difference.

Above all, whatever your belief system about religion, spirituality and God including you who do not believe in any of these things, I urge you to have an open heart and mind when reading this book. Dr. Sri Kaleshwar is bringing ancient knowledge that was nearly lost to us and he is bringing it in a new way with proof and an assertion that you have a right to directly experience that which most people think they can only take on faith. Also historically this knowledge has only been accessible to a select few. Now it is being made available to all of us. Its power is that it works—it can and must be proven in everyone’s life. It is our Divine birthright.

AUTHOR’S NOTES

In recognition of his extensive humanitarian contributions to society Sri Kaleshwar was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Open International University of Complementary Medicine, Malaysia. Rightfully, he is now called Dr. Sri Kaleshwar or Dr. Anupati (using his surname). Because of his honored status he also is often referred to as Sri Kaleshwar or Sri Sai Kaleshwar Swami—Sri, Sai and Swami are used in India as terms of honor and respect. India considers Dr. Sri Kaleshwar a national treasure. Generally, however, Sri Kaleshwar does not use the Dr. with his name and that practice is honored in this book. Also, because I could not simply tell this story in a chronological and linear fashion, timelines and tense may seem a bit challenging in some places. Hopefully, you will accept and be carried along by this as something that enhances the story by capturing more of the real nature of my life since I met Sri Kaleshwar—it has been a wild ride. Enjoy!

ONE

JOURNEY TO THE BEGINNING

"Divine is divine. Once we are here on this planet, we have to do something great for the world. Your life has to be a great message to the world."

— Sri Kaleshwar

IN THE BEGINNING I RAISE MY HAND AND MY REAL LIFE BEGINS

Sri Kaleshwar, my greatest friend, teacher and Divine Master, has told me many different times, "Now your real life has begun." He said it when I had darshan of Mother Divine (seeing Her in front of me with my eyes open) and at the conclusion of several other important spiritual processes over the ten years I have known him. But I know my real life truly began the moment I put my hand up and said to my good friend and fellow business consultant, Jonathan that I wanted to go to India with him and meet a young saint he knew called Swami Kaleshwar. That was in 1999 in the living room of my home in West Seattle, Washington. Jonathan had asked me and my wife at the time, Victoria, if he could use our