Shri Shirdi Sai Speaks- 1st July/ My first day of Kailash Parikrama

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Shri Shirdi Sai Speaks- 1st July/ My first day of Kailash Parikrama Posted: 01 Jul 2012 01:33 AM PDT Om Sai Ram Picture of the Day Yam Dwar Yam Dwar is located near Darchen in Tibet Autonomous Region of China enroute holy Mount Kailash. The literal meaning of the Yam Dwar in Hindi language is the gateway of the God of Death. It is the starting point of circumbulation of mount Kailash. In Tibetan it is known as Chorten Kang Ngyi i.e. two legged Stupa. On the first dayof the Parikrama of Kailash, we first went to the sacred Yam Dwar to pray and seek the blessings of the God of death to protect us and help us to complete the Kailash Parikrama safely. I have been told that teerth Yatras should be done only after you become a senior citizen. Infact , a couple of days before I was leaving for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra- one of my relatives told me that Deepa, you are not even 40 yrs old as yet and ur going for such yatras!!!Its too early- u should plan such pilgrimages after u turn 60-70 yrs of age!!! But according to me, the only elegibility that one needs to go for such teerth yatras is not ur age but it is God's Grace and His call for you..And honestly speaking, if age is a given factor - then most of the people can not hike at high altitudes where the oxygen level is less -after they turn 50 yrs of age unless, he or she is absolutely physically fit..So according to me, if one is planning to go - then go in ur 30's and 40's. Dont wait for urself to be a senior citizen. One has to make a lot of adjustments thru out this journey..High altitude, diet, open bathrooms, weather, long journey, living conditions and much more are quite difficult to handle with old age.. Anyways, This was the first day of  our kailash Parikrama and there were abt 76 people in our group out of which 15 of them decided not to go ahead with the parikrama either because they had fallen sick or because of their old age-  they were not too confident that they would be able to go ahead.. About close to 35 or 40 of them lost their confidence after they completed the first day of Parikrama and decided to go back down to Darchen and wait for the rest of the grp to complete the Parikrama..Some decided to hire a horse from the first day itself by paying abt 1500 Yuans..And some gave up and rented a horse on the second day.. Whatever, the case may be but one thing that I definetly have learned and experienced is that what ever happens, happens with God's will and grace.. People come in our lives for a reason and People move our of lives for a reason too. God's planning is quite complicated and difficult for us to understand most of the times but His plans are definetly much much better than what we choose or desire or plan for ourselves..What ever happens is because of our past karmas and his blessings and grace so lets just accept it gracefully.. One interesting thing about this Yatra that I will never forget was that I was suppose to be on this Kailash Parikrama track with 5 other friends but instead I was alone with a bunch of new friends that I made on this trip.. The very first one whom I had asked to join me on this trip was one of my best friends and she did give me a confirmation in november of 2011 that she will come with me but by the end of Jan 2012- She just backed off ..Even though , she is an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva but I dont know what got into her - To my surprise- All of a sudden ,- She just changed her priorities.. The second one was one of my fav uncle from the temple close to my house-- I remember before going to india in Jan of 2012 , I was telling him that something is definetly pulling me towards Kailash and I just have to go but I dont know how that would be possible..Anyways, I went to the temple in feb to attend a Jaagran of Maata which was being done by Rana Gill.. The aarti was going on and I was standing in front of Maata's Idol and praying that I really wish to go for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and I wanted Durga Maa to shower her grace on me so that I could go... and from nowhere , that uncle came to me and whispered in my ears- Deepa , dont go home until u talk to me.. Anyways, after the arti got completed , he came to me and said-- "Deepa, U wanted to go to Mt. Kailash and so do I ..Besides him there is one more couple who wish for the same so count us in.. Lets all 4 of us go.. U make all the arrangements and we will pay u the money.. You take us for this teerth yatra."....... I was speechless at this point ... Some magic definetly had happened !! I could not make out what was going on-- According to them, I would lead them but according to me, they were God sent angels who opened my doors for this sacred Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.. Anyways, I told my hubby abt it and it was finally decided that all 4 of us will go and I started to shop around seriously and started planning for the yatra. But , we forget where our thinking stops, God's planning starts right there.. Sometimes, He sends people to us who act just as a media.. When I was shopping around for the package deal to go on this yatra, I was told that we all would need a doctors certificate saying that we are healthy enough and fit to go at a altitude of 20, 000 feet above sea level.. So all 4 of us, headed to our respective doctors.. All 3 of us got a green signal from our physicans but that very uncle who told me that he wants to go to Kailash- He did not get the OK from his doctor..So , he dropped the idea of going .. And so now it was me and that other couple who went ahead with the planning.. There was one more person who dropped out after giving me a confirmation .. He was my rakhi brother from Mumbai. When I told him that I am going to Mt.Kailash and I have made the initial payment.He became very excited and wanted to join me on this yatra. He called my tour agent and made his initail payment too .. Vow ! I was quite happy that he will be joining me because he has always been there for me and I trust him a lot.. But our wishes and Gods plans for us dont always match.. He faced some family problem and had to drop out completely abt 20-25 days before the yatra..So even though , he made all the preparations for the Yatra and also made the initial payment- He still did not accompany me on this sacred Teerth Yatra. So now finally, I went with that other couple from the temple but as strange as God's leelas are-they are just difficult for an ordinary person like you and me to understand. All 3 of us reached Kathmandu only to find out that out of the 77 people in the grp- the aunty who  traveled with me did not get the permit /visa to enter Tibet.. which meant that she could not go ahead with the kailash Mansarovar Yatra and so she had to either go back to usa or then go to india for 12 days..Obviously, she was very sad that even though she travelled so far but unfortunately, Having the blessed darshan of Mt. Kailash amd the sacred mansarovar lake was just not in her destiny. So now,the aunty went to India for 12 days and I was travelling with uncle whom I have known for several yrs but when the time came for the Kailash Parikrama.. He started feeling short of breadth and decided that going further with the yatra would just not be safe for him..So he stayed back in Darchen and I continued with the Yatra all by myself with  a lot of new friends that I had made during this journey.. As strange it might sound but there I was standing at the foot of Mt. Kailash at the end of the first day of the Kailash Parikrama..I became friends with another family of 4 who were from Boston, USA and they treated me as if I was a part of their family. Our tents were set on the first night of Parikrama and it was bone chilling cold..I could not sleep that night.. I slept wearing 1 thermal wear , 3 tops , 3 pants and 3 jackets and had a sleeping bag but I was still very cold in that tent.. The dogs barked all night and that was another reason that kept me awake all night.. And then in the middle of the night, I had to go to the bathroom.. Everyone was fast asleep so waking them did not seem like a good idea . Anyways, I stepped out of the tent all by myself with my torch only to see about 50 -100 yaks sitting all around the tents..The minute I laid my torch on them , their eyes started shining..I was at the foot of Mt.Kailash with so many yaks sitting right there- it felt so obvious- it was like Nandi sitting at the foot of Mt.Kailash. The feeling that I experienced at that moment and the way my heart skipped a beat just can not be described in words..To witness something that I have normally just heard in the stories and to make perfect sense out of it was truly one more blessing and grace of Lord Shiva on me.. My Humble Pranams to this sacred Mt. Kailash which is truly the abode of Lord Shiva. It is filled with so much positive energy and heavenly vibes that your communication with the Lord himself is absolutely very very clear.. Sai bhakt, Deepa H Quote of BABA: When God is going to do something wonderful for you, He always starts with a hardship. when God is going to do something amazing for you, He always starts with impossibility.