My first meeting with Yogiji was in 1995. Let me narrate the chain of meaningful incidents, which led to this meeting. 1 had gone to the Holy Town of Tirupati for a darshan of Lord Balaji in 1993. I am on a wheelchair as I suffer from a disease called Muscular Dystrophy. Normally, they do not allow anyone on a wheelchair to go inside the sanctum sanctorum. I was fortunate to get a beautiful darshan in 1993 and 1994 due to the help I got from Mr. Venkat Ramaiyya, who was the Joint Executive Officer in the temple administration. It was Mr.Venkat Ramaiyya who first told me about Yogiji in 1993.

He said," I want my Guru to see you just once and once He sees you He will keep you in His mind and then He will work on you" . This was in 1993. Mr. Venkat Rainaiyya told me to see Yogiji once again in 1994. I had an open mind, but was not too keen. The reason was because I felt it would be too hectic and tiring to go all the way. There was also a feeling that in a country like India that is blessed with all kinds of saints, some are genuine and some are otherwise. Since it is a common occurrence for people to recommend the saint they are influenced by, I was not too affected by Mr. Venkat Ramaiyya's words and in fact was not too keen to meet any saint.

In 1995, I was in Tirupati, once again but by now Mr. Venkat Ramaiyya was transferred. His son helped me to get a good darshan at Tirupati. This time I felt in my heart that I must go and see Yogiji. I did manage, with the help of Mr. Venkat Ramaiyya's son, but it was not too easy. By some coincidences, (or maybe divine obstructions) although I was fully prepared to see Him, yet the planned trips got postponed twice in mid 1995. I was in Madras, staying in a hotel, on two separate occasions, and I planned to go twice. Both the times, the trip did not materialize for some reason or the other. Finally on the third try, I could reach Tiruvannamalai and we met Yogiji.

It was a strange meeting, because no sooner had we reached, and met Him for hardly a few minutes, He told us to go back to Madras! I did not listen to Him, I delayed the drive back, as we wanted to circumnavigate the Holy Hill called Arunachala in the area. When we started to get back after that, we had a lot of trouble as we were caught for hours in the midst of a traffic jam caused by sudden riots in the city. So this was the first meeting.

When I returned to Madras, I felt that we should have listened to Him. I felt drawn towards Him. So I went back to see Him a second time from Madras. On this visit I was luckier, as He spent a lot of time with me.

Thus began my association with Him. In the beginning, my attitude was only half involved. Yet I felt something towards Him. Something in Him made me feel drawn towards Him. I started visiting the Ashram whenever I was in Madras for any business, but I would never stay there. It would be a visit lasting for an hour or so, which meant I would go to Tiruvannamalai, see Yogiji and go back on the same day. As my attraction for Him kept growing, I felt this inexplicable destressing whenever we met.

I would feel as if all my muscles have been relaxed or soothened. My whole body and mind would feel refreshed. Just like soaking in a hot bath after a very tiring day. As if the soul had been fed.

So somehow, even for the slightest reason or excuse, I would plan a trip to Madras. Although I would not do that for any other city in the country, I would plan to go to Madras for the flimsiest reasons, so that I would have an opportunity to see Yogiji.

Yet I thought that the benefits are all physical. I did not feel any spiritual transformation was taking place. Therefore for many years, my attraction towards Him was for the physical benefits, which I received. I felt a physical attraction, because there was a physical benefit on a tangible level, which I could feel, and experience each time we met.

My initial attraction to Him, I thought, was for this reason . It was much later that I realized that deep inside me, something else was happening. Some transformation was taking place. I was also receiving subtle benefits which were much more important than the physical benefits. However, I was not even aware of the subtle effects for many years.

Had someone told me that I would be spiritually touched, I would not have been so attracted to Him. After my experiences with Him, I now feel that the physical attraction was His way to keep me involved, in order to take me towards the spiritual plane. We as human beings live on a material plane. We find it difficult to accept how saints can help us at a subtle level. This might also be the reason why saints work at gross levels and make us experience the physical transformations at first.
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