Parvati Markus and Pete Holmes join Raghu to share stories from Parvati’s new book, Whisper in the Heart, on the ongoing presence of Maharaj-ji.
Parvati Markus is an author, a devotee of Neem Karoli Baba, and longtime friend of Ram Dass. She recently released the book, Whisper in the Heart: The Ongoing Presence of Neem Karoli Baba. Pete Holmes is a comedian, actor, writer, producer, and podcaster. You can listen to him on his podcast You Made It Weird. His book Comedy, Sex, God offers a comedic and autobiographical philosophical inquiry on living a spiritual life.
FOMO & The Big Maharaj-ji
Welcoming Parvati Markus & Pete Holmes to Mindrolling, Raghu invites Pete to read his Maharaj-ji story from Parvati’s new book, Whisper in the Heart: The Ongoing Presence of Neem Karoli Baba. In his story, Pete explores spiritual FOMO (fear of missing out) with Maharaj-ji, the mystical Guru whose love and grace Ram Dass first shared with the world in the early 1970s. Despite Maharaj-ji dropping his body in 1973, Pete describes his connection to the continued presence of the “Big Maharaj-ji.”
“Maharaj-ji isn’t gone, he’s just changed. As a friend once told Krishna Das when he was devastated that Maharaj-ji had died, ‘Your Guru isn’t gone, your Guru is what’s looking out your eyes right now.’ That’s good news. Maharaj-ji isn’t done with us. He’s still at work, or perhaps more accurately, he’s still at play. His dance continues in surprising and unexpected ways.” – Pete Holmes
Parvati Markus, Mirabai Bush, Nina Rao, & Radha Baum talk Maharaj-ji, on Ep. 65 of the Guest Podcast
Testing God & Crying For Help // Love, Death, & Guru (12:30)
Discussing Val’s (Pete’s wife) story in the book, they contemplate the fine line between “testing God” versus “crying for help,” and how our faith in God often wavers with mood and circumstances. Then, before discussing love and death through the eyes of the Guru; Raghu tells a story of Hanuman Das from the Tao Ashram going to visit Siddhi Ma in India, and how she told him in full faith: that as a devotee, share authentically with Maharaj-ji what one needs, and it is the Guru’s duty to respond.
“Siddhi Ma said it is the duty of devotee to communicate what it is they need in this life – we are human. And it is the duty of the Guru to respond.” – Raghu Markus
Krishna Das taps into the heart space of Siddhi Ma & Maharaj-ji, on Ep. 117 of Pilgrim Heart
Peanut Butter & Jelly, Tenderness, & Father Greg (24:20)
Raghu relays India stories reflecting how concerned and caring Maharaj-ji was in all aspects of the lives of his devotees. Through this lens, Parvati and Pete chew on how Maharaj-ji’s ‘feed everyone’ instructions can be applied both to literal peanut-butter and jelly, and with offering moments of tenderness. From this space, Pete shares wisdom from Father Greg Boyle.
“Honoring the Mother… The old yogic mode is you start from the bottom and you go up to God the Father. But in fact, it works this way too, when we come down into the Mother, into the Earth, into the humanness of the whole situation. That’s equally spiritual as anything that happens up there.” – Parvati Markus
Mukti Ma & Ram Dev trade stories of Maharaj-ji & Anandamayi Ma, on Ep. 82 of Healing at the Edge
Whisper in the Heart // Sub Ek (32:23)
Raghu invites Parvati to recount more mind-blowing, heart-opening Maharaj-ji stories from Whisper in the Heart. Exploring how Maharaj-ji still makes his loving presence known despite no longer being in a body, Pete discusses the intuitive power of our imagination for connecting us in communication with the divine. From here, they discuss Siddhas, God, miracles, and Sub Ek (all one). To close, Parvati shares a Maharaj-ji story which sparks contemplation around how the Guru knows each of our hearts perfectly.