Upasani Baba Maharaj of Sakori

On a trip to Shirdi, this week I was guided to visit the ashram of Upasani Baba Maharaj at Sakori. A disciple of Sai Baba, Upasani Maharaj was an enlightened master! His ashram is less than 10 kilometres from Shirdi and is still a pristine hidden space, in the village of Sakori.

The peace in the ashram was addictive! So much stillness that the mind-body just dropped into silence. Don’t be duped by this grand looking exterior of the building. This is quite literally a facade. Inside it’s simple and yet stunning. This area was a crematorium, when Upasani Maharaj moved to live there. He built a four wooden pillar shack which is still preserved in the building inside. He lived there, taught from there and once created a bamboo enclosure, inside which he isolated himself for 14 months. And oh, he was also one of Meher Baba’s teachers.

What truly blew me away was learning that Upasani Maharaj’s lineage is of women disciples. He was apparently encouraged by Sai Baba to do that as well. At a time when women were kept away from traditional knowledge and scriptures, he went against society and ordained women into the spiritual path. I was told he even got into trouble with society and the law because of this. But even today the ashram, Upasani Kanyakumari Sthan, is under the charge of two women teachers.

As someone who has been fascinated with the life and stories of women mystics, as someone who always asks Baba “how can I truly find my Oneness with God, when so few women have,” the visit here was truly inspirational to me.

Women have a different relationship with spirituality. It is a journey of devotion and dissolution.. Not necessarily to a deity or identified God. It could also be an inner faith. But this faith, this devotion is what carries us onwards. Away from the pain of our attachments and responsibilities, and towards an unconditional love we crave. Upasani Maharaj seemed to get that a woman was as entitled to a spiritual quest as a man. Standing at the ashram, I remembered what I truly crave and I was heartened at the idea that it’s possible. Faith and patience… all that is needed to walk this lost path of devotion of truly knowing “who I am.”

#saibaba #saibabaofshirdi #upasanimaharaj #meherbaba #womenspath #devotion