I love hearing and sharing these stories too. Yet I often find myself returning to another question: how much attention do we give to practising what he taught?
After a story has moved us, there is still an ordinary day to live. Someone needs our patience. Someone could use our help. There is a difficult truth to tell, a task at home to share, or a person we have forgotten to ask about.
His teachings belong in those moments too.
That thought is at the heart of With Maharajji: Simple Teachings for Everyday Life.
I wanted to bring Maharajji’s teachings closer to children, in language they could understand and through situations they could recognise. A child can begin to understand kindness by noticing someone left out. They can practise honesty when admitting a mistake feels difficult. They can discover service by helping with something small, without waiting to be asked or praised.
These everyday choices give children a place to begin.
This illustrated book introduces ten teachings through remembered accounts of Maharajji and Sri Siddhi Ma, original everyday stories, gentle questions and small practices to try. Love, sharing food, service, remembrance, truthfulness, patience, forgiveness, care for family, humility and contentment become things to explore in daily life.
My hope is that children will recognise something of themselves in these pages and begin to ask, “What could I do today?”
There is something here for parents as well.
We often read to our children thinking about what we hope they will learn. Then a sentence makes us pause, or a question feels unexpectedly close to home. We ask children to be patient while we are rushing. We encourage them to listen while our own attention is elsewhere. We teach them to apologise, and sometimes we need to show them how.
I wanted this to be a book we could read together, with room for the grown-up to learn too.
You might read one story at bedtime, spend a little longer looking at a picture, or choose a teaching that fits something your family is going through. Ask your child what they notice. Listen to their answer. Share something you are still learning yourself.
There is no need to rush through the pages. One honest conversation, followed by one small act of care, can be a meaningful beginning.
For families who already love Maharajji, this book offers a way to share his teachings with the next generation. For those meeting him for the first time, it offers a gentle introduction through familiar experiences and simple acts of kindness.
I hope With Maharajji becomes a book families return to as they grow, finding something different in a teaching they have read before.
Maharajji’s leelas give us so much to remember. His teachings give us something to practise today.
Explore With Maharajji: Simple Teachings for Everyday Life by Sumati Joshi, a book for children and the grown-ups reading beside them.
